Twinworld Game Reviews

Archive for June, 2022

Dueren, Germany – June 13th, 2022 – Via a new release date trailer that debuted today at the Guerrilla Collective showcase, Headup and Sluggerfly announced that that their obscene 3D platformer, Hell Pie, will be cooked and ready to serve on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch and PC on July 21st. This old-school-inspired 3D platformer takes bad taste to the next level in an adventure full of insane environments, repugnant characters and fun grapple-based platforming.

In Hell Pie, you grab the horns of Nate, the ‘Demon of Bad Taste’. Your task is to gather the disgusting ingredients for Satan’s infamous birthday pie. Venture out into the overworld and do whatever it takes to ensure those ingredients are secured in time, or there’ll be hell to pay!

Luckily Nate isn’t alone on this quest, with his ‘pet’ angel Nugget ready and able to offer support. Nugget offers his holy insight when needed but, more importantly, is chained to Nate, so he can be used as a grappling hook or swung around as a weapon. Nate can also equip horns he finds across the world to give him new hellish abilities, from charging through enemies and boulders , to gliding through the air.

Together, Nate and Nugget will explore wild environments, meet tons of unsavoury enemies and characters, and witness some truly shocking sights in the seriously twisted take on the classic mascot platformer.

“Hell Pie is a game that we’ve had a lot of fun making and we can’t wait to share all the obscenity and silliness with the world at large when it comes to PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and PC on July 21st,” said Christian Patorra, Sluggerfly’s CEO. “We’re sure anyone who shares our love of classic 3D platforming is going to like what we are cooking up!”

Source: PR Email

Paris, June 13, 2022 – Microids is pleased to announce a demo for the indie game Scrap Riders is now available during the Steam Next Fest, from today until June 20. The game will launch digitally on Nintendo Switch and Steam on September 21^st, 2022.

Scrap Riders is a pixel art beat’em up adventure game set in a cyberpunk future, developed by Spanish studio Games for Tutti. You play as Rast, a member of the outlaw bikers gang Scrap Riders, and make your way through the wastelands as well as a big metropolis controlled by corporations. Act as a smuggler with caustic humor to survive in this post-apocalyptic world.

Fight your way through this 2D beat them up using your fists and guns, but beware: the wastelands are not for the faint of heart. There, violence is always the answer, but it won’t be enough! Without your wits you won’t last long. Talk to the right people, gather clues, and kick bad guys’ asses!

Key features:

• A unique gameplay mix: Scrap Riders offers an original combination of Beat ’em up gameplay and old-school Point’n Click adventure puzzles & dialogs. Fight, point & click your way through the story!

• A retro art style: Embrace a unique retro vibe with lovely pixel art visuals and a 16-bit soundtrack!

• Crazy humor and references: Have some laughs with zany dialogs from quirky characters and try to identify all the meta jokes and pop culture references hidden throughout the game!

• A fascinating cyberpunk world to explore: Wander through the diverse environments of this post-apocalyptic universe, from wastelands to a big neo-punk metropolis controlled by corporations.

Scrap Riders will launch digitally on Nintendo Switch and PC/Mac on September 21^st, 2022.

Scrap Riders is a new game joining the Microids Indie label, after Grand Mountain Adventure: Wonderlands, Fallback, Murder Mystery Machine, Lornsword Winter Chronicle and the Kingdom Majestic compilation. Microids Indie is a publishing label aimed at providing support to indie studios and developers with the creation and launch of their games.

Source: PR Email

13 JUNE, 2022 – Indie publisher Digerati is happy to announce it’s bringing UNDETECTED, a top-down stealth action game with a classic feel, to PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S later this year (Q4 2022).

Created by Mexican developer Merlino Games, UNDETECTED is the studio’s second stealth-focused project, following its 2021 debut, The Chameleon. UNDETECTED offers classic, top-down stealth action against the backdrop of corporate conspiracy in a turbulent near-future divided by social and political unrest.

Players take the role of Tenoch Kaan, an expert in non-lethal infiltration and agent for the revolutionary group, Los Desplazados. Players must use stealth tactics to sneak past guards and avoid detection. Kaan’s cybernetic eye enhancement allows players to survey their surroundings, while a selection of non-lethal bullet types and explosives can be used to help Kaan stay one step ahead of the enemy.

Retro textures and models give an authentic, old-school visual style to complement the classic gameplay, while a dynamic ‘sneak camera’ perspective ensures moments of wall-hugging sneakery feel extra tense and dramatic.

About the game

Yucatan, Mexico – June 07, 2063. A cell of the revolutionary group ‘Los Desplazados’, including their leader Gloria, has gone missing while on operations around the site of the Chicxulub Perpetual Energy Station.

Tenoch Kaan, a Desplazados rebel and reformed agent of the shadowy CIMACORP group, is deployed to find Gloria and her team. Fitted with the latest in biotechnological enhancements, Kaan’s mission is to find the missing Desplazados without alerting CIMACORP to his presence.

UNDETECTED is a top-down stealth game with a non-lethal-only approach.

Key Features

• Stay hidden: Avoid detection by hiding in the shadows and staying out of sight. Turn off lights and create dark areas to sneak through. Be careful not to leave footprints.
• Use sound wisely: Every footstep, surface, weapon and item can make a noise that will attract enemy attention. Stay as silent as possible, or use sound tactically to gain an advantage.
• Scout mode: Slow the action and assess the lay out of an area with an augmented top-down view of your surroundings. Observe enemy positions and plan your next move.
• Non-lethal action: Deadly force is not permitted. Instead, use stealth to avoid enemies, or melee attacks and an array of weapons to incapacitate and immobilize them.
• Tactical tools: Use a variety of non-lethal bullets and explosives. Includes rubber bullets that can be fired at light switches, and a slime explosive used to mute the sound of footsteps.
• Rescue captives: Find Desplazados members captured by CIMACORP to increase your max health, max batteries (used for armor and to restore health), and to gain key cards (used to access more areas).
• Difficulty modes: Choose from four scaling levels of challenge. From a forgiving and relaxed stealth experience, all the way to ‘Mexican Extreme’, which wipes your save if an alert is triggered!

Source: PR Email

Paris, June 11, 2022 – During today’s Guerrilla Collective showcase, Microids unveiled the very first gameplay footage for Arkanoid – Eternal Battle in a brand-new trailer. Developed by French studio Pastagames, the game will invite players to discover or rediscover the iconic block breaker in a fully modernized and revamped version. Arkanoid – Eternal Battle is set to release in October 2022 on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One consoles, Xbox Series X|S and PC. Arkanoid – Eternal Battle will offer a cross play online multiplayer experience.

As a reminder, Arkanoid is an iconic arcade game developed by TAITO Corporation in 1986. When the mother ship ARKANOID comes under attack, the small spacecraft VAUS manages to escape but ends up warped into another dimension. Wandering in an inter-dimensional labyrinth, VAUS must destroy blocks called “spacewalls” in order to defeat “DOH”, the creator of the maze responsible for ARKANOID’s destruction.

Arkanoid – Eternal Battle marks the return of the emblematic block breaker game in a surprising, renewed version. The new gameplay trailer introduces the four game modes:

• Retro: Teleport yourself in an old school arcade parlor back in 1986 and enjoy the original game like if you were there!

• Neo: This solo mode expands on the classic gameplay with brand-new levels, a modern and stylish art direction & sounds as well as new unique blocks, bonuses and effects!

• Versus: Play locally with 2 to 4 players on the same screen!

• Eternal Battle: For the very first time, 25 players can challenge each other online in an exclusive Battle Royale mode! Use your power ups to gain advantage and aim at the top score to be the last one standing and win the game!

Game features:

• 4 game modes to (re)discover the famous block breaker game, alone or with friends: Revisit the original game as if you were in the mid 80’s arcades with the retro mode, discover the modernized Neo mode and its exclusive levels, challenge your friends locally on the same screen or play against the entire world in a 25-player Battle Royale craziness with the Eternal Battle mode!

• Brand new content: On top of the brand-new game modes, players will discover or be reintroduced to the emblematic block breaker game in a fully modernized version. Arkanoid – Eternal Battle will of course feature classic elements from the franchise as well as new effects, bonuses and features guaranteed to take veteran players by surprise!

• An adaptive original soundtrack: Composed by Xavier Thiry (Pang Adventures, Homo Machina, Labyrinth City), the game score will take you on a synth-wave journey like no other where the rhythm and intensity will go crescendo as your combo meter goes up!

• Cross-Play: This feature will allow players to battle against everyone, whether they play on PC or consoles.

• Online leaderboard: Available for both Neo and retro modes, the online leaderboard will go live at launch! The Battle Royale mode will also keep competitive players on their toes with monthly updated score types… The high score madness is for sure making a comeback!

Stay tuned for upcoming information about the Eternal Battle mode!

Source: PR Email

Stuttgart, Germany – 9 June 2022 – Strictly Limited Games is delighted to announce that they will publish an exclusive limited edition release of the critically-acclaimed Heaven’s Vault for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 (PS4), in partnership with the award-winning developers at inkle. Praised for its narrative depth and gameplay around exploration and deciphering an ancient language, Heaven’s Vault is already a timeless classic. The boxed release now secures a permanent physical legacy for Heaven’s Vault and includes unique collectibles transcribed with never-before-seen Ancient text, well-aligned with the theme of archaeology in the game. Pre-orders will kick off on June 12th, at 12 AM CEST (midnight) only at Strictly Limited Games.

Nominated for the BAFTA, winner of the Independent Games Festival in the category “Best Narrative” and honored several times as one of the top 10 games of 2019 (The New Yorker, Mashable, GamesIndustry.biz), Heaven’s Vault is an adventure game unlike any other. Every choice counts, as the adaptive narrative reacts to your decisions and the game expands on every replay, unlocking deeper secrets.

About Heaven’s Vault:

Welcome to the Nebula: a strange network of moons linked by rivers in space, where ancient robots coexist with humans. Its ancient history has long been forgotten and only fragments remain, written in a lost hieroglyphic language. Join archaeologist Aliya Elasra and her robot sidekick Six on a trail of discoveries that will lead to the very edge of the world and to the ancient secret of Heaven’s Vault.

Ancient, the hieroglyphic language at the center of Heaven’s Vault, is a full language created for the game that consists of around 3,000 words. A language that an active fan community is continually discovering, discussing, and even expanding beyond the scope of the game. But it’s not only the language that makes Heaven’s Vault special. Progress through the game in any order you choose; the game’s fully adaptive narrative remembers every choice you make, every discovery, and every action you take, influencing what happens next. Meet a diverse cast of characters who remember everything you say, and whose attitudes toward you will change based on how you act. Who will you trust? What will you find? What will you risk? You will have to decide for yourself!

Features:

• Find artifacts and translate their hieroglyphic inscriptions to piece together the history of the world.
• Make tough decisions and interact with a large cast of characters who remember everything you say.
• Sail Aliya’s ship, the Nightingale, through an open world of fast-flowing space rivers and lost moons.
• Freely explore a variety of locations, from ruined palaces to desert moons, market towns, and farming villages.
• Marvel at the unique art style, blending beautiful hand-drawn 2D art with 3D environments.
• Play it again – Heaven’s Vault is highly replayable thanks to massively flexible choice-driven gameplay and translation puzzles that expand on every playthrough, revealing new secrets.

The two unique limited editions for Heaven’s Vault are available for pre-order exclusively via the Strictly Limited Games online shop.

The Limited Edition is limited to 1,900 copies for Nintendo Switch and 900 for PS4, at a price of 29.99€, including a colorful game manual.

The Special Limited Edition is limited to 900 copies for Nintendo Switch and 400 for PS4, for 49.99€, including lots of additional collectibles:

• Special Limited Edition Box
• Colorful Game Manual
• Original Soundtrack with previously unreleased bonus tracks
• 10 Puzzle Cards
• Timeline of the Nebula
• Archaeologist’s Notebook
• Bookmark
• 4 transparent Stickers

Both editions can also be purchased as an exclusive bundle with the two official Heaven’s Vault novels by Jon Ingold, inkle’s narrative director. Only 100 of these bundles will be available for Nintendo Switch and PS4 respectively.

Source: PR Email

You’ve been falsely accused of a crime you didn’t commit and must pay with your life, unless you can prove otherwise. Hop into the BR (Brain Reality) system and take control of your Yurukill Fighter to battle for your innocence!

Watch the demo trailer and enter the Yurukill Demo Contest for your chance to win a Limited Edition copy of the game!

Think you can survive the trials of Yurukill Land? Test your wit in the Yurukill Escape Room and see how you fare!

Learn more about Yurukill: The Calumniation Games on the official website. Don’t forget to preorder your Limited Edition copy today!

Yurukill: The Calumniation Games is coming to PS5™, PS4™, and Nintendo Switch™ on July 5, 2022!

Source: PR Email

Stuttgart, Germany – 3 June, 2022: ININ Games and Bliss Brain are happy to announce that Wonder Boy Collection launches today, digitally and as a boxed version, on PlayStation 4 (PS4) and Nintendo Switch. The collection features four essential titles of the beloved franchise with new filters and shaders and additional features – perfect for newcomers and retro enthusiasts alike.

Immensely popular throughout the 1980s, 1990s and beyond, the Wonder Boy franchise received several entries and remakes over the years, building up a huge following all over the world with their enjoyable blend of energetic platforming and action RPG. With very few releases in the West, ININ Games and Bliss Brain are happy to bring this carefully curated collection for PS4 and Nintendo Switch to everyone.

Now available at amazon.com and many other retailers worldwide (a retailer list can be found at iningames.com), the Wonder Boy Collection includes these four cult classics:

Wonder Boy (1986)

Console Port version: Arcade (SYSTEM 1)

Help Boy to rescue his girlfriend Tina, who got captured by the evil King. Guide him carefully through different areas and battle the devious enemies that await you on your quest. Use a variety of items that help Boy on his adventure. Face the evil King in various battles to reach your aim and rescue Tina!

Wonder Boy in Monster Land (1987)

Console Port version: Arcade (SYSTEM 2)

Years after the adventures of Wonder Boy, peace in Wonder Land was once again threatened, by the invasion of a dragon with its evil monsters turning Wonder Land into Monster Land. Help protagonist Book fight the monsters, defeat the dragon and restore the peace to the land and its people again. On your journey, you can collect equipment and magical spells to help you in your battles. But beware – every round has a time limit so you got to be quick!

Wonder Boy in Monster World (1991)

Console Port version: SEGA Mega Drive / Genesis

Guide the young, adventurous Shion and help him on his quest to defeat the evil BioMeka and his army of monsters that are threatening the land. However, Shion is not alone! Accompanied by the four spirits Priscilla, Hotta, Shabo and Rotto, he explores the different regions of Monster Land. Collect money, weapons, armour and magic spells to get stronger and banish evil for good!

Monster World IV (1994)

Console Port version: SEGA Mega Drive / Genesis

The young girl named Asha sets out on her mission to save the four spirits that were captured by the evil wizards. With the help of Asha’s loyal companion Pepelogoo, they overcome every obstacle and fight their way through various enemies!

Source: PR Email

Madrid, Spain, June 2nd 2022 – Indie studio Retro Forge, working in partnership with publisher Dear Villagers (The Forgotten City, ScourgeBringer) is happy to announce that its 16-bit inspired action-RPG metroidvania adventure Souldiers is out now on Switch, Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation platforms.

Souldiers wraps metroidvania exploration, crunchy soulslike combat, RPG customization,and precision platforming into one gorgeous pixelart package. Players take on the role of either scout, caster or archer, battling for freedom in Terragaya, a mystical land on the border between life and death. Each class has its own unique attacks along with different agility, attack, defense, and health stats. Your character can further be customized through branches of unlockable skill trees, offering a huge degree of freedom as you venture through Souldiers’ fantastical realm.

Outwit cunning enemies, solve nefarious puzzles, upgrade your character, and explore every corner of a dazzling, intricate 16-bit world. Souldiers is a handcrafted retro epic for the ages.

“Souldiers represents the fruits of our labour across several years as we assembled our dream game that mixes old and new sensibilities,” said Alberto Hernández, creative director at Retro Forge. “Souldiers’ 16-bit inspired aesthetic may recall SNES classics, but its approach to customizing your character and choosing between classes gives it depth and replayability above the 90s fare that inspired us. It’s a very emotional day for us to finally share the culmination of all our hard work with you all today.”

Features:

• Choose your class: Unleash the fury of your sword with the scout, summon the wrath of elements with the caster, or rain down arrows on your foes with the archer.
• Gripping combat: Slash, parry and dodge your way through an ever evolving roster of enemies, upgrading your skills and equipment to find a combat style that’s perfect for you.
• An interconnected world: Discover a sprawling handcrafted landscape filled with treasures, tough-as-nails bosses and secrepathways.
• 16-bit sensation: Terragaya comes to life with vibrant world-class pixel art packed to the brim with details.
  Smart moves: Solve environmental puzzles and leap from place to place using an ever-expanding moveset.
  Language options include English, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Brazilian Portuguese.

Source: PR Email

23rd May 2022 – Hound Picked Games, together with Wako Factory, a French indie development studio, is excited to announce Samurai Riot Definitive Edition, after its successful launch in 2017 is soon to be rereleased on Nintendo Switch and PC. With constant community and forum requests for a console version, the Nintendo Switch releases on June 1st 2022 with new features and enhancements to make it as a 2D, solo or co-op arcade beat’em up not to be missed!

New, bigger, better, a must play!

Since the original incarnation this new definitive version offers lots, lots more,

New features:

• New animations @60fps
• New dialogs
• Pixel perfect stability and optimization (10 times lighter than the initial version)
• Slicker and improved combos (easier to make huge combos for average player)
• New updated backgrounds and ambiance

Fans of this genre can look forward to a visual treat, where a backdrop story compels the player to really think about their decisions in game and the ramifications of their choices . Having been hired to bring peace and tranquillity to the warring land, each choice you make as a Samurai, Tsurumaru/ Sukane, will have an influence on your destiny and, with an arsenal of deadly attacks at your disposal, the fight to make it through each battle will require guile, skill and forethought!

“We wanted to release Samurai Riot Definitive Edition on Switch because it’s an “old-school” cooperative game and the switch perfectly embodies the “couch game” aspect that we imagined, both in your living room or at a picnic table.”

-Charlotte Buchet – art director and co-founder of Wako Factory

Samurai Riot offers a plethora of choices and features including both solo and cooperative play, where the story immerses both players equally, with a multi-branching storyline, complete with eight different endings. Conversely, you could enter a PVP fight against your partner to win the lead! The more you play, the more you accumulate points to unlock new fighting schools for better replay value.

Easy to pick up and play, but difficult to master, Samurai Riot Definitive Edition rewards the more demanding gamer with deeper content. Players can choose from 14 fighting schools that add a plethora of gameplay variation to the character’s moves and the devastation they can unleash upon their enemies.

Features:

• A unique cooperative system with devastating combined attacks
• Multi-branching storyline with moral decision making
• 8 different endings
• 2D Arcade Gameplay
• Strong replay value: change your gameplay by choosing between various fighting schools
• Superb in game music and SFX

A skillful and delightful honed beat-up-up with a cool couch co-op option!

Source: PR Email

Stuttgart, 1 June, 2022: ININ Games together with TAITO are pleased to announce a major update, available for free for G-Darius HD (Nintendo Switch/PlayStation 4) releasing today! The update comes with three new versions of the game and loads of features and gadgets that fans should not miss out on.

Three new versions

In addition to the two versions that are already part of G-Darius HD – which are 1997’s G-Darius and its high-resolution version G-Darius HD – TAITO’s major update adds three new awesome versions that will delight retro fans and owners of the game for both, Nintendo Switch and PS4.

• G-Darius Ver.2 was first released in 1998 and is an updated version of the original G-Darius which was initially published one year earlier. While the story remains the same, G-Darius Ver.2 comes with a beginner mode, rapid-fire function and a lot of adjustments to the gameplay.
• G-Darius Ver.2 HD comes as an HD version of G-Darius Ver.2
• G-Darius for consumer adds the 1998 Japan-released console port of G-Darius

New gadgets, modes & settings

Besides the three new complete versions of G-Darius, there are several new gadgets, modes and settings that will be implemented in G-Darius and G-Darius Ver.2 that improve your gaming experience. Learn more about the weaknesses of the enemy bosses with the Boss Gadget, improve from an overall Zone Map and keep track of the remaining time until YAZUKA appears with the Yazuka Timer!

Customize your parameters to train for the real battles in a newly added Training Mode and check out your most glorious fights in the Replay Gallery.

For a detailed list of all the amazing new features and content, check out the G-Darius HD gamepage.

This major update will be available for G-Darius HD (Nintendo Switch/PS4) which is sold as a single game available in the US via amazon.com and at selected retailers in the EU, a full list of which can be found on iningames.com. The update is also available as part of Darius Cozmic Revelation (Nintendo Switch/PS4) that is available in limited stock via Strictly Limited Games.

About G-Darius HD

Developed by the masters of remastering at M2, the side-scrolling shooter G-Darius HD is a beautiful port of the original game from the late 90s, that was well known for its epic, boss versus player beam-battles, a superior soundtrack and the aquatic creature-based enemies like FIRE FOSSIL and G.T. Experience the rise of the Silver Hawk in glorious HD – available since 2021 for modern consoles.

Source: PR Email