Twinworld Game Reviews

Archive for September, 2022

8th September 2022 – Indie publisher Ratalaika Games, joins together with Start Warp and Meridian4, to announce the up and coming release of The Dark Prophecy – a 2D pixel art, Point & Click, 90s retro inspired adventure game. Due out on the 16th September 2022 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Microsoft Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch, priced at $9.99 / €9.99, gamers are welcomed into a peaceful mediaeval village where life is calm and safe, but ominously its about to change, and not in a nice way!

The Dark Prophecy presents an atmospheric classic fantasy tale set in the Middle Ages, featuring magic, witchcraft, wizards, castles, kings and peasants plus a host of interesting cast and features.

At the beginning of the game, the main character, an ordinary village boy called Jacob, accidentally finds himself at the origins of an unusual situation. The goal is to progress through this story to the end, to its logical conclusion. More specifically, to get to the royal magician and talk to him; which is not at all easy for a simple village lad.

And now the adventure begins…

Jacob, sitting by the night lake, receives a message from one of the magicians of the neighbouring kingdoms. He must get to the arch mage of his kingdom, Merlin, in order to convey an important message to him – otherwise, Jacob’s entire kingdom and village will perish within a day. His path to the castle begins very modestly – right in his village. First, he will have to find a way to get into the village witch’s hut and then carefully study the familiar landscape in order to find something new and hidden from public view.

Features & Facts

• As in the good old quests of the 90s, the player can:
• look at something (study visually),
• explore the environment and find solutions to move the plot forward,
• try to touch everything that he meets on the way,
• start dialogues with other characters, choose answer options in dialogues,
• make the main character go somewhere,
• use items from your inventory on environmental items or on each other,
• solve puzzles,
• great replayability,
• visit 18 locations.

“One favourite puzzle is the task of making the best soup in the kingdom, where you have to select a combination of ingredients, and cracking the witch’s chest, where you have to select the correct sequence of water runes to open the lock. There are many on offer!”. Denis, founder of Start Warp

Solving puzzles, understanding and implementing multi dialogue answers is all part of solving and completing the long and challenging journey. With detailed and beautiful locations to explore, including hiding in underground settings and castle grounds, complemented with unique musical themes a wholesome and full experience is presented to the player together with a great story!

Roll back the years and and feel the retro atmosphere of a 90s classic adventure on your console!

Source: PR Email

Stuttgart, Germany – 8 September 2022 – ININ Games is happy to announce that Cannon Dancer by Mitchell Corp. is coming to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 (PS4), PlayStation 5 (PS5) and Xbox for the first time ever, with a planned release in Q1 2023. Originally only released for arcade machines in Japan and North America, ININ Games unearthed the game and will bring it to consoles as a digital download version for the first time ever – with a brand-new translation, additional features, and more.

After being released during the 90s fighting-game hype Cannon Dancer, also known as “Osman” in the US, slowly began to fade out of arcades due to the small number of units. Over the years, the title became a video game legend, with fans around the globe interested in getting their hands on it. Almost 30 years later, ININ Games has teamed up with two key members of the original development team to finally bring the game to modern home consoles: the game designer Kouichi Yotsui (also known as “Isuke” and famous for his work on “Strider”) and the artist Takashi Kogure (better known as “Utata Kiyoshi”).

Cannon Dancer will also be part of the ININ Games line-up at Tokyo Game Show 2022 and there will even be a meet-and-greet opportunity with Yotsui-san and Kogure-san on Saturday the 17th of September at the ININ booth in Hall 2 D6.

Limited Editions

For all fans and collectors looking for a physical copy, Strictly Limited Games is preparing limited boxed editions with additional collectible items that cannot be found anywhere else. A regular Limited Edition (physical copy + game manual) and a Collector’s Edition with many additional items will be available for Nintendo Switch, PS4 and PS5. Pre-orders will kick off on Sunday, September 18th, at 12 AM CEST (midnight), only at strictlylimitedgames.com.

The Collector’s Edition will include the following:

• Cannon Dancer Game + Game Manual
• High-quality Collector’s Edition Box
• Artbook (B5)
• Soundtrack in Jewel Case
• Tenugui (Japanese-style towel)
• Arcade Coin
• Acrylic Diorama
• Reversible Poster (A2)
• Arcade Instruction Flyer (A5)
• Calendar & Photo Frame (metal) with 2023 Calendar
• Postcards
• Marquee Sticker

About Cannon Dancer:

Cannon Dancer is an Action Jump & Run set in a dystopian late 21st century, in which the world is under the control of a single federal government. One day, a new threat known as “Abdullah the Slaver” – an evil sorceress who wants to take control of the world – appears, causing widespread terror and panic. This fear incites the abandonment of all economic activity and corruption in the government, which now undermines the foundations of society itself. Judicial Affairs Director, Jack Layzon, fears the worst and summons a lone assassin.

The player controls a Cannon Dancer called Kirin; a top-class agent in a mercenary unit known as “Teki”, and a highly skilled martial arts fighter. As he travels, he has to face not only Abdullah the Slaver and the government forces but also the other members of the Teki, who want him dead for personal reasons.

Features:

• Ported on modern consoles for the first time in history
• Classic retro games mechanics, praised for their speed and agility
• A total of six stages set in different, exotic locations
• Three different types of power-ups
• Tons of bosses and enemies
• Variety of wondrous retro scenarios and graphics with bright and even psychedelic colors, related to the final bosses of each stage
• Rewind feature
• Save and Load feature

Source: PR Email

September 2nd 2022 – Indie publisher Ratalaika Games, joins together with RedBlack Spade, to announce the up and coming release of Catmaze – a metroidvania that’s inspired by Slavic mythology.

Out on the 9th of September for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Microsoft Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch, priced at $9.99 / €9.99, secrets, magic and bounding around some enchanting settings are only a few of the compelling challenges on offer.

Variety is the spice of Catmaze

Creatures from Slavic myths cautiously keep their secrets in the magical forests and dense thickets that have become home to geese, kikimora, anchutkas, mermaids and many more mysterious forms. Now is your chance to unveil secrets where hidden paths will become visible and the road between worlds will be intertwined as you set forth…

Go Forth – Be Brave

The player assumes the role of Alesta, a teenage witch who finds her life turned upside down after a rather hapless experience. Wanting to bring her mother back from the world of the dead, Alesta soon enlists the help of cats that form the link between the world of the living and the dead, also known as Yavi and Navi. Alesta is a character with a strong spirit, but sadly not strong muscles, adding to the fact she does not attack monsters herself – others do it for her. All together there are 12 types of creatures in the game: some hit slowly and hard, some are weak and quick and others can poison enemies or freeze them.

Growing, Expanding Moving on

Throughout the game, you’ll explore the world that consists of caves, forest and villages to help her accomplish what initially was thought impossible. As you progress you will gather upgrades and new abilities that let you access previously inaccessible areas. Additional short sections of game mechanics give variety to enhance the experience – ride a wolf or fly on a broomstick, this is much more fun than solely moving all the way on our two legs!

As you advance through the Slavic villages facing some of the craziest, weirdest and spookiest confrontational encounters, ghosts, mean mermaids, bad mushrooms and more!. you must be prepared for the customary end of level big bad loathsome boss confrontations, who are devious and have some clever tactics. Fear not, it’s not called Catmaze for nothing, for some cute pussies, hedgehogs, and even birds will assist you!

Features and Facts

• Use Spells
• New Enhancements for Killing
• High Replay Ability
• Inventive Map to assist
• Hidden Rooms
• Save Feature
• Side Quests
• Platforming and action feast
• Top soundtrack
• Story branching
• Endearing Story and Cast

Catmaze is a pixel perfect mixture of fun and challenges to moving and jumping on mushrooms, and to deep and thought provoking puzzles within a huge play area.

Source: PR Email

Paris, September 1^st, 2022 – DON’T NOD and PortaPlay are excited to announce the launch of their brand-new narrative RPG-lite game, Gerda: A Flame in Winter today.

Gerda: A Flame in Winter is available on Nintendo Switch and Steam with a launch discount of 10% for the first week to complement the release.

Set during the German occupation of Denmark in World War II, players walk the path of Gerda Larsen, a nurse who must come to terms with the fact that she can no longer continue living her life as before. She is forced to act on the changes war brings to her front door.

Gerda is not a typical hero, and this is not a typical war game. This fateful story begins not on the front lines, but in the small village of Tinglev where Gerda was born and raised. The good-natured nurse has no weapons to wield and no army to speak of, relying instead on herself and her knowledge of the village and its people to try and save her husband, arrested by the Gestapo.

Gerda: A Flame in Winter is a meaningful narrative game inspired by real life events and real civilians who tried to stand up to oppression in any way they could during the German occupation of Denmark. Players will be challenged with moral dilemmas as Gerda attempts to navigate a much more complicated world, now full of dangerous situations and difficult choices, while trying to remain true to herself.

How far would you go to protect your loved ones?

Oskar Guilbert, CEO of DON’T NOD, says:

“We are honored to have helped PortaPlay bring this crucial story to life today. I’m very happy that Gerda: A Flame in Winter is the very first published game of ours that has been developed externally. This creation is very much aligned with our vision, and we feel that it has that special ‘DON’T NOD DNA’.“

Hans Von Knut Skovfoged, CEO and Creative Director at PortaPlay, shares:

“We are beyond excited to finally put Gerda: A Flame in Winter into everybody’s hands today and we can’t wait to hear what players think about the game. This title is very important to us, so we really hope they like it. It is inspired by true stories of those civilians who tried their best to face some of the struggles during World War II, including my own grandmother, member of the Resistance at the time. We are thankful to DON’T NOD for believing in Gerda and supporting us on this journey to tell this intimate story.”

Gerda: A Flame in Winter is available now, at 10% off, on Nintendo Switch and Steam.

Source: PR Email

Welcome to Car Mechanic Pinball – repair and pimp up cars for your clients! The more money you earn by flipping cars, the more you can invest back in your workshop to improve it. All of that nicely packed as an old school arcade pinball game with a voxel look and feel!

Car Mechanic Pinball features include:

• Fast paced arcade gameplay,
• Easy to grasp pinball basics with workshop management mechanics,
• Earn money to improve your workshop for car upgrades,
• Tons of cars to flip,
• Hit the mechanics to fix cars,
• Visit chassis, wheels, body, engine workshops and upgrade relevant car elements,
• Fuel up and drift around!

Car Mechanic Pinball Releases September 23rd 2022 on Nintendo Switch for $4.99/€4.99.

Source: PR Email

Stuttgart, Germany – 1 September 2022 – Strictly Limited Games, in partnership with Skygoblin and BlitWorks SL, announce that The Journey Down Trilogy will get an exclusive release with Limited Edition and Special Limited Edition for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 (PS4). Pre-orders for the fantastic point-and-click adventures with an Afro-Caribbean vibe will start on Sunday, September 4th, at 12 AM CEST (midnight), only at strictlylimitedgames.com.

In The Journey Down you accompany Bwana and his friends Kito and Lina on their adventure through the mysterious Underlands. Enigmatic puzzles await the trio as they find more and more secrets that foreshadow an unstoppable evil of great power. During your adventure, the game will adapt to your way of playing, giving you the choice between different mysteries to pursue. While getting steadily closer to the truth, the challenges of the Underlands will get more and more demanding, with everything somehow being connected to the disappearance of Bwanas and Kito’s father, Captain Kaonandodo. The art style blends hand-drawn 2D art with 3D elements and is accompanied by an amazing jazz-heavy score influenced by the Caribbean and African backgrounds of the characters.

Features:

• Point-and-Click gameplay with a great sense of humour inspired by the classics
• Get to know a diverse cast of characters with vastly different personalities, all voiced by outstanding voice talent who breathe life into each one of them
• Explore a variety of locations from sprawling cities to deserts, market towns, ancient ruins and desolate islands among others
• Marvel at the unique art style, blending beautiful hand-drawn 2D art with 3D elements
• A Jazz-heavy soundtrack, with Caribbean and African influences that sets the mood perfectly

Due to its special and fresh setting, as well as the striking character designs inspired by real masks crafted by indigenous African artisans, Strictly Limited Games felt that the Journey Down Trilogy deserves to get a physical legacy.

The Journey Down Trilogy Limited Edition is limited to 2,000 copies for Nintendo Switch and 999 for PS4, at a price of 39.99€, including a colourful game manual.

The Special Limited Edition is limited to 999 copies for Nintendo Switch and 500 for PS4, for 59.99€, including lots of additional collectibles:

• Game for Nintendo Switch or PlayStation 4
• Special Limited Edition Box
• Colorful Game Manual
• Wooden Pearl Necklace featuring Bwana’s mask
• Art and Riddle Booklet
• The Great Asili Tree Map
• 3 Disc Soundtrack
• Fish-curry recipe card

Check out all of the available editions and get ready for the pre-order start at the Strictly Limited Games Store.

Source: PR Email