Twinworld Game Reviews

Posts Tagged ‘Big Sugar’

27 SEPTEMBER, 2022 – The fun-filled, action-packed adventure Trifox will launch next month, publisher Big Sugar is delighted to announce.

The furry escapade begins 13th October on Nintendo Switch, and 14th October for Xbox and PC (Steam, Epic, GOG and other PC storefronts). PS4 and PS5 versions will follow shortly after (exact date TBC). Trifox will be priced $19.99 and be available with a 10% launch discount for a limited time.

The debut game from Belgian developer, Glowfish Interactive, Trifox takes inspiration from the team’s own childhood gaming favourites, such as Crash Bandicoot, Jak and Daxter, and Ratchet & Clank.

An action-adventure with a variety of ways to play, Trifox‘s titular hero is a fox on a mission: to retrieve his stolen TV remote! A multi-talented mammal, Trifox can use the skills of three different character types – Warrior, Mage, and Engineer. Each has its own unique set of class-based abilities which can be mixed-and-matched, allowing players to create a wily protagonist with a tailor-made moveset.

About the game

Trifox is a colourful and cartoonish action-adventure featuring a phenomenal fox with a multitude of talents! After his home is attacked and his TV remote stolen, Trifox sets out in pursuit of the mysterious looters in an action-packed adventure. Use magic, might, and marvelous gadgets to outfox foes across four danger-filled worlds as you fight your way to a final showdown at Villain HQ!

Key features

• Three different classes: Wield a giant hammer as a Warrior! Master magic and mystery as a Mage! Use a backpack full of gadgets as an Engineer!
• Mix-and-match styles: Customise your Trifox by combining different class-based abilities! Want to cast spells and fire a Gatling Gun? No problem!
• 30 abilities to unlock: Collect and spend coins to gain new skills, such as Spike Slam, Shield Bubble, Guided Missile, and many more!
• Four worlds to beat: Fight hordes of enemies, traverse platforming pitfalls, overcome environmental puzzles, and battle big angry bosses!
• A modern retro adventure: A new and fresh experience designed to evoke the spirit of classic 3D platformers!

Source: PR Email

25 August, 2021 – Publisher Big Sugar and developer Steel Mantis are excited to announce Valfaris: Mecha Therion – an action-packed side-scrolling shoot ’em up with a satisfying old-school feel and distinct low-poly art style. The game is scheduled to launch late 2022 for PC and consoles (Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S).

Developed by Steel Mantis, Valfaris: Mecha Therion is a shmup sequel to the studio’s highly rated action-platformer, Valfaris, which is ranked by Metacritic as the #16 Best PC Game of 2019. As the name suggests, Valfaris: Mecha Therion sees the return of protagonist Therion, only this time he’s piloting a metal colossus as he continues his pursuit of the diabolical Lord Vroll.

About the game

Therion returns as the hunt for Lord Vroll continues. Pilot an advanced machine of death and destruction in this explosive 2.5D side-scrolling shoot ‘em up, and sequel to the critically acclaimed Valfaris. Strap in and unleash mecha hell!

After escaping Valfaris, Therion’s hunt for the evil Lord Vroll has taken him across the galaxy. As the final, inevitable showdown looms, Therion harnesses the awesome combat ability of his secret weapon – Mecha Therion!

A formidable suit of weaponised metal, Mecha Therion can be equipped with an array of devastating firepower, including enemy eviscerating favourites such as Bringer of Mayhem, Skysplitter, and Therion’s trademark Hellwraith.

Key features

• Fight through multiple levels of hostile alien territory
• Master a range of Melee, Ballistic, and Destroyer class weapons
• Configure your Mecha loadout with your favourite weapon combos
• Earn Blood Metal to upgrade weapons and add-ons

Source: PR Email

5 June, 2021 – Publisher Big Sugar and developer Glowfish Interactive are delighted to announce Trifox for PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. The game is scheduled to launch Q1 2022.

An action-adventure with a variety of ways to play, Trifox‘s titular hero is a fox on a mission… to retrieve his stolen TV remote! A multi-talented mammal, Trifox can use the skills of a trio of different character types – Warrior, Mage, and Engineer. Each has its own unique set of class-based abilities and these can be mixed-and-matched, allowing players to create a wily protagonist with a tailor-made moveset.

The debut title from Belgium-based developer, Glowfish Interactive, Trifox has already been attracting attention. It was nominated as ‘Most Anticipated Game’ at the Belgian Game Awards, received honorable mentions at the Unfold Games Awards for ‘Best Level Design’ and ‘Best Character Design’, and was awarded a ‘Seal of Approval’ after being selected to participate in Yogscast’s Tiny Teams event.

Full-time development on Trifox started in 2019, although as Glowfish co-founder and developer Emiel De Paepe explains, the project has always been part of the studio’s plans:

“We had the first idea that led to Trifox in 2014, after we started the company and were figuring out what we wanted to do. The game back then was much more combat centric, with less focus on the adventure itself,” says De Paepe.

“Over time it grew as we added elements inspired by a bunch of games we loved while growing up, such as Crash Bandicoot, Ratchet and Clank, Jak and Daxter. Our aim is to bring the same joy to Trifox that people experienced when playing those kinds of games when they were younger.”

About the game

Trifox is a colourful and cartoonish action-adventure featuring a phenomenal fox with a multitude of talents! After his home is attacked and his TV remote stolen, Trifox sets out in pursuit of the mysterious looters in an action-packed adventure inspired by the golden age of 3D platformers. Use magic, might, and marvelous gadgets to outfox foes across four danger-filled worlds as you fight your way to a final showdown at Villain HQ!

Key features

• Three different classes: Wield a giant hammer as a Warrior! Master magic and mystery as a Mage! Use a backpack full of gadgets as an Engineer!
• Mix-and-match styles: Customise your Trifox by combining different class-based abilities! Want to cast spells and fire a Gatling Gun? No problem!
• 30 abilities to unlock: Collect and spend coins to gain new skills, such as Spike Slam, Shield Bubble, Guided Missile, and many more!
• Four worlds to beat: Fight hordes of enemies, traverse platforming pitfalls, overcome environmental puzzles, and battle big angry bosses!
• A modern retro adventure: A new and fresh experience designed to evoke the spirit of classic 3D platformers!

Source: PR Email

17 December, 2020 – Unto The End, the challenging combat adventure from developer 2 Ton Studios and publisher Big Sugar, launches today on Nintendo Switch. Unto The End will be downloadable from the eShop for $24.99, with a 20% launch discount available for a limited time.

Handcrafted by 2 Ton Studios (aka husband and wife team Stephen Danton and Sara Kitamura), Unto The End combines full-blooded combat with breathless adventuring, and is set within a hostile, but beautifully realised and richly atmospheric world. Gameplay is demanding but fair, and places player skill firmly at the heart of the experience.

About the game

Unto The End is a challenging combat adventure game in the style of a cinematic platformer. The story is simple: get home to your family. Master read-react combat in intense sword fights. Spot opportunities to trade and use items. An adventure told through your actions, how will you make it home?

Key features

• Read-React Combat: One of a kind combat system focused on skill and mastery, designed and built from the ground up specifically for 2D. Fight intelligently and strike tactically with your sword and range weapons in fierce one-on-one and group battles
• Handcrafted Encounters: The adventure unfolds through carefully crafted encounters, each featuring intelligent, worthy opponents, all with their own motivations and place in the world
• Player-Skill Focused: A challenging single-player experience with minimal handholding. All the father’s abilities are available from the outset and mastery of those skills, as well as keen observation of your surroundings, are key to survival and success
• Unforgiving Terrain: From cavernous underground ruins to harsh mountain peaks, overcome environmental challenges and deadly traps as you travel through a world of meticulously crafted landscapes

Unto The End is available on PC, Xbox One, PS4, Switch, and Stadia. It’s also available on Xbox Game Pass.

Source: PR Email

16 April, 2020 – Indie publisher Big Sugar is delighted to present the Valfaris & Slain: Back From Hell Double Pack, which is available to download now for Nintendo Switch in North America, and arrives tomorrow, 17 April, for Xbox One in all regions. The bundle arrives in the European eShop next Thursday, 23 April. A launch discount will be available for all versions for a limited time.

Developed by two-man team Steel Mantis, and featuring original soundtracks by former Celtic Frost guitarist, Curt Victor Bryant, Valfaris and Slain: Back From Hell are inspired by old-school gaming sensibilities, and heavy metal music and culture.

After a disastrous launch due to various design and technical issues, the original Slain! was withdrawn and taken back into development for several months. Repaired and polished by the newly formed Steel Mantis, the game was rebranded as Slain: Back From Hell and re-released in the summer of 2016.

It has since built a fan-base of players who appreciate its hardcore challenge, gory-but-gorgeous visuals, and relentless guitar riffs. Despite getting off to such an inauspicious start, and still being a game that consistently divides opinion, Slain: Back From Hell has clocked up almost 300K downloads.

Valfaris – the spiritual successor to Slain: Back From Hell – launched at the end of 2019 and, just like its predecessor, has been praised by players for its retro-inspired action, heavy metal aesthetic, and forceful soundtrack.

Source: PR Email

5 February, 2020 – Valfaris developer Steel Mantis has released a free ‘Full Metal Mode’ update for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One versions of its heavy metal action-platformer. A New Game+ variant, Full Metal Mode provides players who complete Valfaris with a more formidable challenge by remixing various aspects of gameplay, as detailed in the list below:

• All weapons, upgrades, and upgrade items carry over between runs
• Enemies have increased health, attack, and aggression
• Bosses receive the same buffs – with additional attack patterns
• Therion takes more damage
• New Destroyer Class Weapon

Full Metal Mode unlocks after completing the game, so if you’ve already got a ‘Game Clear’ save file, you’ll be able to jump into the – even deadlier – action as soon as the update has installed.

NOTE: This Full Metal Mode update is only for the digital version of Valfaris. A patch to update physical versions will be released in the coming weeks.

The release of Full Metal Mode on consoles coincides with Valfaris being one of this week’s Deals With Gold on Xbox One – Valfaris is discounted by 30% until 11 Feb.

Since its release at the end of 2019, Valfaris has won praise from players for its old-school inspired action, heavy metal aesthetic, and forceful soundtrack.

About the game

Set in a far corner of space, Valfaris is a heavy metal infused 2D action-platformer and the next game from the team behind Slain: Back From Hell.

After mysteriously vanishing from galactic charts, the fortress of Valfaris has suddenly reappeared in the orbit of a dying sun. Once a self-contained paradise, the grandiose citadel now plays host to an ever-growing darkness. Therion, a fearless and proud son of Valfaris, returns to his home to uncover the truth of its doomed fate and to challenge the arcane evil at its very heart.

Brutal combat. Deadly enemies. Stunning pixel art. Savage soundtrack.

Get ready to rip the galaxy a new wormhole.

Key features

• Skulls in space! Gore in space! Metal in space!
• Savagely reduce foes to piles of gibs with an array of brutal weaponry
• Explore a diverse range of tainted environments as you venture ever deeper into the dark world of Valfaris
• Dominate ranks of deadly enemies and bosses, from the weird to the grotesque (and some that are just grotesquely weird)
• Gorge your eyes on devastatingly awesome pixel art hand-crafted by Andrew Gilmour
• Feel the power of a seismic soundtrack by extreme metaller and former Celtic Frost guitarist, Curt Victor Bryant
• Forged from the ground-up by the team behind cult hit Slain: Back From Hell

Source: PR Email

15 October, 2019 – Ahead of its showfloor debut at this week’s EGX event at London’s Excel, publisher Big Sugar and developer 2 Ton Studios are delighted to share a brand new trailer for Unto The End, the upcoming combat-adventure coming to PC and consoles in 2020, including as a day one Game Pass title on Xbox One.

Anyone heading to EGX later this week or at the weekend will be able to try Unto The End for themselves. The game’s appearance at the show will be the first time it’s been publicly playable anywhere, and 2 Ton Studio’s husband and wife team, Stephen Danton and Sara Kitamura, will be on the stand (Booth RZ9) and happy to talk about the development of Unto.

“Our goal for Unto The End was to build something from the ground up that makes the most of our 2D side-on view, breaks from convention and challenges genre expectations,” explains game designer and animator, Danton. “We’re very proud of what we’ve achieved and super excited to have players give the first ever public demo a go at EGX.”

About the game

Unto The End is a challenging, handcrafted combat-adventure. Alone and outmatched, a humble father must endure a desperate journey to get back to his family. Armed with a sword, a dagger, and his wits, he must outfight and outsmart the creatures he encounters as he treks through unfamiliar lands, where every step brings him closer to home but is fraught with untold dangers.

Key features

• Read-React Combat: One of a kind combat system focused on skill and mastery, designed and built from the ground up specifically for 2D. Fight intelligently and strike tactically with your sword and range weapons in fierce one-on-one and group battles
• Handcrafted Nuanced Encounters: The adventure unfolds through carefully crafted encounters, each featuring intelligent, worthy opponents, all with their own motivations and place in the world
• Player-Skill Focused: A challenging single-player experience with minimal handholding. All the father’s abilities are available from the outset and mastery of those skills, as well as keen observation of your surroundings, are key to survival and success
• Unforgiving Terrain: From cavernous underground ruins to harsh mountain peaks, overcome environmental challenges and deadly traps as you travel through a world of meticulously crafted landscapes

Source: PR Email

10 October, 2019 – The wait is over. The time to rip the galaxy a new wormhole is now. Publisher Big Sugar and developer Steel Mantis are thrilled to announce that Valfaris, the gloriously over-the-top and riotously relentless heavy metal action-platformer, launches today for Nintendo Switch and PC (Steam, GOG, Humble).

Valfaris is priced $24.99 and will be available with a 10% launch discount for a limited time.

In addition to the regular version, a Valfaris: Digital Deluxe Edition is available to download for PC that includes the game, original soundtrack and digital art book.

• Digital Art Book: From concept sketches to final in-game imagery, this collection showcases the work of Valfaris developer Steel Mantis. Get a closer look at weapon, enemy, and environment art, as well as previously unseen – and unused! – designs.
• Original Soundtrack: Composed and recorded by former Celtic Frost guitarist Curt Victor Bryant, enjoy the savage sounds of Valfaris. The OST features 20 original tracks, including ‘Extreme Vehemence’ and ‘Chronic Dissolution’.

The Valfaris: Digital Deluxe Edition is priced $35.97 and will be available with a 10% launch discount for a limited time.

And the good news doesn’t stop there. We can also announce that developer Steel Mantis is currently working on a New Game+ mode for Valfaris called ‘Full Metal Mode’, which will be released as a free update across all versions at a still-to-be-confirmed date.

Full Metal Mode will unlock upon completion of the game, or will be unlocked straight away when installed if a ‘Game Clear’ file is present.

Here’s a brief summary of Full Metal Mode:

• All weapons, upgrades, and upgrade items will be carried over
• Enemies and bosses will be more aggressive
• Player will take more damage
• Players will have access to an additional Destroyer class weapon

We’ll share more details of Full Metal Mode soon.

Source: PR Email

26 September, 2019 – Publisher Big Sugar and developer Steel Mantis are delighted to reveal the PC and console release dates for Valfaris. The heavy metal action-platformer will be available to download as follows:

• October 10: PC (Steam, GOG, Humble) and Nintendo Switch
• November 5/6: PS4 NA/EU respectively
• November 8: Xbox One

In addition to the standard version, a Valfaris Digital Deluxe Edition will also be available at launch for PC and PS4 that includes the game, original soundtrack (composed and recorded by former Celtic Frost guitarist, Curt Victor Bryant), and digital artbook.

To celebrate confirmation of the release dates, please enjoy this brand new Valfaris trailer!

About the game

Set in a far corner of space, Valfaris is a heavy metal infused 2D action-platformer and the next game from the team behind Slain: Back From Hell.

After mysteriously vanishing from galactic charts, the fortress of Valfaris has suddenly reappeared in the orbit of a dying sun. Once a self-contained paradise, the grandiose citadel now plays host to an ever-growing darkness. Therion, a fearless and proud son of Valfaris, returns to his home to uncover the truth of its doomed fate and to challenge the arcane evil at its very heart.

Brutal combat. Deadly enemies. Stunning pixel art. Savage soundtrack.

Get ready to rip the galaxy a new wormhole.

Key features

• Skulls in space! Gore in space! Metal in space!
• Savagely reduce foes to piles of gibs with an array of brutal weaponry
• Explore a diverse range of tainted environments as you venture ever deeper into the dark world of Valfaris
• Dominate ranks of deadly enemies and bosses, from the weird to the grotesque (and some that are just grotesquely weird)
• Gorge your eyes on devastatingly awesome pixel art hand-crafted by Andrew Gilmour
• Feel the power of a seismic soundtrack by extreme metaller and former Celtic Frost guitarist, Curt Victor Bryant
• Forged from the ground-up by the team behind cult hit Slain: Back From Hell

Source: PR Email

6 August, 2019 – Publisher Big Sugar is thrilled to officially confirm that physical versions of its upcoming action-platformer, Valfaris, will be available at retail for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 this November. The boxed versions come courtesy of publisher and distributor, Merge Games. An exact release date for the physical versions are still to be confirmed.

The physical versions are in addition to the digital release of Valfaris across PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Xbox One. Release dates for the downloadable version will be announced in the coming weeks.

About the game

Set in a far corner of space, Valfaris is a heavy metal infused 2D action-platformer and the next game from the team behind Slain: Back From Hell.

After mysteriously vanishing from galactic charts, the fortress of Valfaris has suddenly reappeared in the orbit of a dying sun. Once a self-contained paradise, the grandiose citadel now plays host to an ever-growing darkness. Therion, a fearless and proud son of Valfaris, returns to his home to uncover the truth of its doomed fate and to challenge the arcane evil at its very heart.

Brutal combat. Deadly enemies. Stunning pixel art. Savage soundtrack.

Get ready to rip the galaxy a new wormhole.

Key features

• Skulls in space! Gore in space! Metal in space!
• Savagely reduce foes to piles of gibs with an array of brutal weaponry
• Explore a diverse range of tainted environments as you venture ever deeper into the dark world of Valfaris
• Dominate ranks of deadly enemies and bosses, from the weird to the grotesque (and some that are just grotesquely weird)
• Gorge your eyes on devastatingly awesome pixel art hand-crafted by Andrew Gilmour
• Feel the power of a seismic soundtrack by extreme metaller and former Celtic Frost guitarist, Curt Victor Bryant
• Forged from the ground-up by the team behind cult hit Slain: Back From Hell

Source: PR Email