Twinworld Game Reviews

Paris, September 16th 2022 – Tokyo Game Show 2022 – Microids is delighted to announce Operation Wolf Returns: First Mission with a handful of screenshots. Discover or rediscover Operation Wolf, the cult classic arcade game developed and published by TAITO in 1987, one of the very first games to offer side scrolling rail shooting action.

Developed by the French studio Virtuallyz Gaming, Operation Wolf Returns: First Mission remains faithful to the original game whilst offering a brand new art style. Players are invited to experience the mood of an 80’s action movie thanks to a non-stop frenetic gameplay!

In the game campaign, play solo or co-op locally as special agents tasked to fight a criminal organization. In addition to drug and weapon trafficking, the organization lead by the mysterious General Viper seems to have developed a weapon of mass destruction! Following the discovery of several of the group bases, the agents are sent on location to dismantle the consortium, eliminate the weapons and free the hostages from various prisoner camps.

Game facts:

• Comeback of the 1987 cult arcade game!
• New art style
• Non-stop action
• A campaign for one or two players
• A survival mode (endless waves of enemies)
• A full blown arsenal (smg, shotgun, grenade launcher…)
• A leaderboard

Operation Wolf Returns: First Mission will be released fall 2022 both digitally and in retail with a Day One Edition for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 & Nintendo Switch and digitally only on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC.

The VR version of the game for Meta Quest 2 will launch in 2023.

Source: PR Email

Nantes, France, September 15th, 2022 – Behold! Just as the prophecy foretold, Alkemi and Dear Villagers’ innovative narrative-based card game Foretales has been summoned on the Nintendo Switch eShop and Steam! In Foretales, narration and experimentation blend with decksploration mechanics to create an all new kind of card game where what happens next is entirely up to you!

Our story begins long ago in the realm, where the avian thief Volepain and his friend were asked to steal a magical lyre. They outwitted the guards with an ace up their sleeve. And by “ace” I mean pocket sand. The point is it worked, and our heroes snagged the lyre undetected. Unfortunately, it was no sooner that they had gotten their hands on the lyre that Volepain began to have terrifying visions of the end of the world!

To combat this catastrophic prophecy, Volepain knew he had to assemble a team of companions. His potential allies included the tiger archer Léo, the gorilla Karst, the elephant Isabeau, and the parrot Pattenbois, among other eccentric allies. He knew each party member came with their own strengths and weaknesses that would have to be deployed strategically if they were to succeed in their quest.

Of course, Volepain and his friends need your helping hand to guide them on their journey. Choose whether to approach a scenario by using stealth, creating a ruse, making a trade, or engaging in good old-fashioned fisticuffs. If you play your cards right, Volepain and his ragtag squad could prevent a terrible fate!

Our boldest adventurers can sweeten the pot by tossing in some extra coin – approximately €23.99 / $23.99 / £18.78 – for the Deluxe Edition, containing Foretales’ original soundtrack and a digital art book.

“We’ve always been fans of both tabletop games and video games, so we wanted to bring the former to life using the technology of the latter,” said Alain Puget, founder of Alkemi. “Foretales uses gorgeous art, a stirring score by Beyond Good & Evil and Rayman Legends composer Christophe Héral, and narration by prolific character actor Travis Willingham, to create a wondrous storybook world that really pops off the page – or should I say screen? We’re very proud of how it’s all come together and are brimming with excitement to share it with you all today!”

“Foretales has always stood out to us as a novel blend of genres that we think will appeal to fans of not just card games, but all kinds of open-ended adventures,” said Guillaume Jamet, Head of Publishing at Dear Villagers. “We haven’t seen anything quite like it, making Alkemi stand strong as a unique voice in gaming.”

Source: PR Email

Gothenburg, Sweden – September 15th, 2022: In collaboration with the LEGO Group, Thunderful are excited to announce that their highly anticipated brick-building adventure, LEGO Bricktales, will be hitting PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch on October 12th.

Developed by the team behind the Bridge Constructor series, LEGO Bricktales sees you journeying across 5 beautiful LEGO themed biomes as you search for inspiration to help your grandfather reinvigorate his rundown amusement park. An intuitive new brick-by-brick building mechanic will help you solve the many fun puzzles you encounter on this adventure and bring your solutions to life.

With the power of your imagination, LEGO Bricktales tasks you with putting together cool aesthetic creations, such as market stands and music boxes, as well as testing your building skills with functional physics-based puzzles like building cranes and gyrocopters. You’ll need them to help out the LEGO Minifigures you will meet in each diorama and unlock new skills through your good deeds.

LEGO Bricktales’ adventure will take you through the green foliage of the deepest jungles, the scorching sand of sun-drenched deserts, the hustle and bustle of a city corner, the epic sight of a towering medieval castle and the paradise of tropical Caribbean islands. In each, you will find a variety of construction spots with their own sets of bricks – it’s up to you to figure out a unique build that will work. Whether you’re being asked to put on your designer hat and build a throne fit for a king or testing your engineering skills to build a bridge that will get a digger across a river, how you construct your builds and meet the challenges you’re being offered is up to you!

“The response to LEGO Bricktales from both fans and media since we’ve revealed the game and given people a chance to go hands-on at events like gamescom has been incredible,” said Dieter Schoeller, Vice-President of Production at Thunderful. “It’s been thrilling to see people discovering the essence of LEGO play in the creativity offered by the game’s brick-by-brick building and I can’t wait for everyone to get their hands on it for real when LEGO Bricktales releases across PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and PC on October 12th.”

Source: PR Email

Paris – Tuesday, September 13, 2022 – Today, Microids in partnership with Paramount Consumer Products announced the brand-new Garfield video game they are collaborating on: Garfield Lasagna Party! Be ready to devour some succulent party games with the iconic orange cat and his friends when the game launches this November on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One consoles, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch.

You’re invited by Garfield, Odie, Arlene and Nermal’s to their new purr-fect celebration: a huge Lasagna Party! And guess what’s on the menu? A dynamic party game filled with crazy (and tasty!) mini games: pizza square slicing challenge, snowballs throwing competition, obstacle race and more!

Be ready to give your best to finish ahead: Win the most mini games, summon all your luck when throwing the dice and use special items to have your way at the best time!

Whoever you side with, whether you love lasagna or not, Garfield Lasagna Party is THE game to enjoy a great appetizing time with friends and family, in the company of your favorite characters!

Game features:

• 30+ mini games in famous Garfield environments such as Jon’s house, the pizzeria or Dr. Liz’s pet clinic
• Play as one of the 4 iconic characters from Jim Davis’ iconic comic: Garfield, Nermal, Arlene & Odie!
• Up to 4 players locally! Enjoy a classic board game experience with the Lasagna Race mode, practice your favorite mini-games without the board game mechanics with the Lasagna Challenge mode or set up a tournament to play quickly with a predefined number of mini games with the Lasagna World Tour mode!
• Fun for all, whether you like party games, lasagna, laughter or simply have a good time with friends and family.

Source: PR Email

Paris – September 13th 2022 – Microids is delighted to announce the release of XIII Remake on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Owners of the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC versions can update their game free of charge to benefit from numerous upgrades and additional features.

As a reminder, this title is a remake of the cult classic cell-shaded FPS (First Person Shooter) released in 2003 adapted from the first five albums of the eponymous comic book illustrated by William Vance and written by Jean Van Hamme.

About the Story of XIII:

Who are you?

The country is still in shock after President Sheridan’s assassination.

You wake up injured and with amnesia on the shore of an east coast beach. The only clues about your identity are the number XIII tattooed on your collarbone and the key to a locker. Despite the memory loss, you realize not everything has been forgotten as you seem to have amazing reflexes comparable to a well-trained government agent. You will soon be on your way to uncover your past, discovering in the process your role in the murder of the US president and unveiling the most astonishing conspiracy in the country’s history.

Play as “XIII” – a man who has no memory about his identity – and try to find out the truth regarding the set-up of a major conspiracy. Follow XIII in his search for his identity through a thrilling solo campaign and brutal local multiplayer battles!

Source: PR Email

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