TVL Magazine #2

18 Reviews! Latest Games! Developer Interviews!

The Vita Lounge M A G A Z I N E

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The Vita Lounge M A G A Z I N E

www.thevitalounge.net THE VITA LOUNGE TEAM EDITORIAL Executive Editor / Paul Murphy @pmurphy1978 Editor-in-Chief / Kyle Wakeling @teflontactics Deputy Editor / Charlie Large @charlielarge Podcast/Media Editor / Tyler Olthoff @imsohappy77 NORTH AMERICAN TEAM Brad Gruetzmacher @vongruetz Lateralus1082 @lateralus2801 Will Hernandez @PlayStationator EUROPEAN TEAM Liam Langan @liamhangover Colin Byrne @ColinJByrne Stephen Guy @stefarno CONTRIBUTOR Shizuka from NeoGAF MAGAZINE DESIGN Jhonatan Carneiro @JhoCarneiro Original TVL logo designed by Buramu SPECIAL THANKS Image & Form @ImageForm Drinkbox Studios @DrinkBoxStudios Oddworld Inhabitants @OddworldInc Blue Maxima @BlueMaxima PRINT EDITION If you want to pledge and aid The Vita Lounge financially and also get a print copy of future issues of The Vita Lounge Magazine, please head over to www.patreon. com/TheVitaLounge and consider supporting us!

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Hello Vita gamers!

Welcome to the second issue of The Vita Lounge Magazine, ...and thanks to everyone that supported us with the first issue!

Being gluttons for punishment we had to not only do this again, but do it sooner – the amount of content we have to squeeze in means that this issue covers April and May, and what a lot of content we have!

You asked for more unique features, so we have two interviews for you - one with Steamworld Dig developers Image & Form, and Paul Murphy one with Canadian coders Drinkbox Studios talking about their PMurphy1978 latest titles. Alongside that, Oddworld Inhabitants tell us all about Founder the journey that New ‘n’ Tasty has taken from PS4 to PS Vita, our friends from Punk & Lizard tell us all about their favourite Vita experiences, and we have a Q and A with MrPsVitaReviews - who avid TVL fans will recognise as our very own Tyler Olthoff.

Despite the shorter frequency between issues, we have almost as many reviews as last month, with Broken Age, Stealth Inc. 2, Disney Infinity 2.0 and Toukiden: Kiwami some of the more high profile releases. This time we also have a new import review feature, with our import expert Lateralus telling you all about Gundam Breaker 2. Also we have the return of our top ten games that you should be excited for, and some more community Minecraft creations!

We hope you enjoy our second issue as a lot of hard work and Vita love has gone into making it! We have taken a lot of feedback from the first release and hope that you like the new design tweaks!

Whilst you are reading, we will be hard at work planning issue three – if you want it to happen then please consider supporting our Patreon – it would really be appreciated and would go a long way to supporting what we do! You can find our Patreon page at www.patreon.com/thevitalounge.

Thanks for checking us out!

meet the TEAM...

DISCLAIMER The Vita Lounge is an independent PlayStation Vita enthusiast website. All content featured is used with permission, and is used to promote existing and upcoming titles for the PS Vita.

We are not endorsed or affiliated with Sony or PlayStation, or any of the companies featured. © 2015 The Vita Lounge

Kyle Wakeling

teflontactics Editor-in-Chief and Jack of all trades at The Vita Lounge. Hailing from Canada, he's a long time gamer and aspiring writer - just hoping to spread the word of PlayStation Vita to the darkest corners of the internet... and beyond.

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Charlie Large

Chaz3010 Deputy Editor of The Vita Lounge, he has been a part of the site for almost 18 months. Recently he has not given his Vita as much attention as it deserves, but titles such as Broken Age and Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair have got him hooked on the handheld once more!

Tyler Olthoff

ImSoHappy77 Our Podcast Host is in love with almost all types of games, the only type he can't stand (and that's probably because he sucks at it) is fighting games.

His favorite genres would have to be shooters, RPGs, and adventure games.

Brad Gruetzmacher

vongruetz A video game enthusiast and family man. He's been gaming since the days of the Intellivision, and while that indicates he's been doing this for quite some time, he doesn't intend to quit anytime soon.

Currently he's trying desperately to convince his daughter that there are more games than just Minecraft (unsuccessfully so far).

Contents

The Vita Lounge Magazine | Issue 2 | June 2015

04 INTERVIEW

13 REVIEWS

06 JAPANESE REVIEW

14 16 18 19 20 22

DRINKBOX STUDIOS TALKS ABOUT SEVERED, THEIR PAST GAMES & MORE

SHOULD YOU IMPORT GUNDAM BREAKER 2?

CHECK IT OUT IN OUR REVIEW

08 DEVELOPER DIARY ODDWORLD INHABITANTS TRACK THE PROGRESS OF NEW 'N' TASTY TO THE VITA

10 INTERVIEW IMAGE & FORM GAMES & THEIR FISTFUL OF STEAMWORLD ON VITA

Lateralus1082

Lateralus1082 Gaming since the 80s and can't seem to get out of the 90's when it comes to music. I enjoy all types of games and long walks on the beach. A huge supporter of the Vita and I import pretty much everything underneath the sun.

24 26 28 30 32

34 36 38 39 40 41

Colin Byrne

EnterCole A gamer since the age of 10, Colin was brought up on Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon on the PS1. After a five year spell of being a 360 owner, Colin has returned to the world of Sony through the PS Vita, and is loving every second!

42 HOT TEN

TEN UPGOMING GAMES THAT YOU WILL HAVE TO OWN

Toukiden: Kiwami MLB 15: The Show Run Sackboy! Run! Monsterbag Flame Over Stealth Inc. 2: A Game of Clones

44 PUNK AND LIZARD TOP TEN RECENTLY ENJOYED VITA AWESOMENESS FROM OUR PUNK AND LIZARD FRIENDS

Broken Age

45 MEIN KRAFTING MINECRAFT MASTERPIECES FROM OUR COMMUNITY

Bloxiq Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters Scram Kitty Dx Krinkle Krusher

Shovel Knight

46 MrPSVITAREVIEWS

Disney Infinity 2.0 Marvel Super Heroes Tennis in the Face Home Titan Souls htoL#NiQ: The Firefly Diary

Liam Langan

liamlangan Vita enthusiast and once declared as 'Champion of the Vita', Liam's love for Sony's handheld know's no bounds.

He's happy playing most Vita titles and most recently found himself enjoying indie titles, but will totally give you a good run for your money in any beat-em-up

TYLER OLTHOFF, AKA MsPSVITAREVIEWS, AKA OUR PODCAST HOST, ANSWERS QUESTIONS FROM OUR FANS

47 DIRECTORY

THE BEST 2015 VITA GAMES SO FAR

Will Hernandez

I_AM_NOT_A_FISH Will was cursed with the inability to ever be satisfied with his trophy level. You can catch him talking about football, basketball, and gushing about how good Mega Man 2 is on his Twitter page.

Stephen Guy

Stefarno88 An overopinionated gamer who spends more time talking and complaining about games than actually playing them. Stephen can be found via our forum (among other places) under the username Stefarno.

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TALKS ABOUT SEVERED, THEIR PAST GAMES & MORE THERE'S A GOOD CHANCE THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE HEARD OF DRINKBOX STUDIOS, OR AT LEAST PLAYED ONE OF THEIR GAMES. TALES FROM SPACE: MUTANT BLOBS ATTACK AND GUACAMELEE! ARE FANTASTIC TITLES, AND CHRIS MCQUINN FROM THE TORONTO BASED DEVELOPERS SPENT SOME TIME TALKING TO US ABOUT THEIR UPCOMING VITA EXCLUSIVE SEVERED, THEIR EXISTING TITLES, AND WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT THE VITA. It's been a while since we last spoke! How's Severed coming along?

It has been a while! That’s what happens when we cage ourselves up making games. Severed is coming along well. The studio has finally arrived at the point in a project where we have all cylinders firing and are very focused. I'm not sure if cylinders can be focused, but let’s say they can.

What I'm trying to say is production is going well.

So what exactly is Severed about? What can we expect to see going through the game?

In a nutshell, Severed is a touch based dungeon crawler with some light RPG elements. There will be a range of offensive and defensive techniques available to be used against a variety of enemies. There’s also exploring too, branching routes that will require some thought to solve blocking puzzles. The environment itself is set in a surreal dream world and the story is about your effort to discover the reason behind the disappearance of your family. Mix all those together and you have Severed.

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Guacamelee! Was well received in most quarters and is easily (in our opinion) one of the best indie Vita games. As a studio how did that affect your approach to Severed?

Guacamelee! gave us a lot more confidence as a studio. Although our previous title Mutant Blobs Attack was well received, the resulting number of people who actually played the game was relatively low. One of the nice things about having a successful game is that people aren't afraid to tell you they like it (the flip side is that people are not afraid to tell you they don’t like something…). This positive encouragement spills over onto Severed.

The Vita struggles with games that are unique to the system, especially in this age of cross buy/save, but Severed looks like it was built purely for the Vita. Do you plan to release it elsewhere in the future or is it Vita only for now?

Right now we’re focused on the Vita since it provides a nice combination of a D-pad with an excellent touch screen. Whether we bring a game to additional platforms later on usually depends on how it is initially received, and also if it makes sense. For example we’re not going to bring a touch based game to a platform that won’t provide players a good gaming experience.

What was the inspiration behind Severed?

The inspiration for Severed originated from the feelings of loneliness when living away from family and friends. How one copes with these emotions is explored in Severed's gameplay as you take on the role of our main character to battle monsters.

As we noted earlier, we loved Guacamelee! Can we expect a sequel at some point? If so do you already have some ideas of where this could go?

At the moment the studio needs a Guacamelee! break. If (when?) we do return to that world it should only be under the pretext that the entire team is enthusiastic about doing so. From a creativity standpoint sometimes you just need to walk away for a little while and let new ideas subconsciously seed themselves in your brain somewhere. The last thing we want to do is force a sequel. Forced sequels can be a real let down to fans.

Mutant Blobs is another of your noted series, do you have any plans to revisit this in the future?

Well, this is much more divisive in the office. There are two camps in the studio, one who want to do a new Mutant Blobs game, and the other camp (we call them the no fun camp). Who knows what the future holds, but rest assured there are people here always pushing for it (this includes me).

Whenever I speak to other developers, your name is always mentioned as an inspiration. Which studios and games most impress you?

Too many studios to mention, and that’s just in Toronto alone. I think some small teams have really done an excellent job staying within scope to produce interesting and fantastic game mechanics like “Papers, Please” or “Gone Home”. Then there are some larger studios that are constantly producing games in completely different genres, like Klei and Capybara. To me, this is really brave and impressive. After coming back from PaxEast I’m blown away at the quality of games coming out of the indie dev scene.

Is there anything (other than Severed!) that you are most looking forward to on the Vita this year?

Off the top of my head I’d say I'm looking forward to playing the Banner Saga on the Vita, that game should really pop nicely. There are some other great games coming, I’d also add onto that list Super Time Force Ultra and Mighty No. 9.

What is it that you most like about developing for the Vita, and the Vita community?

For me one of the best parts of developing a game for the Vita is the chance to meet all the hardcore Vita owners at game expos. The Vita community comes up to us with big grins, flash us their Vita, and immediately jump into some fun nitty gritty video game talk. It is really enjoyable. It feels like we’re part of a super secret club.

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JAPANESE REVIEW GUNDAM BREAKER 2

To many Western Vita fans, the Gundam Breaker series is well known as the franchise that Bandai Namco absolutely refuses to localize - so in order for English speaking fans to enjoy the greatness that is the Gundam Breaker series, they must plop down a sizable chunk of money and instead import it online. With prices as high as $70 US, one can understand that it’s a bit tough to break open the wallet with only the word of social media and/or friends to go on... and that’s where we come in. Is Gundam Breaker 2 worth the hassle of importing? Let's take a look.

Disclaimer: My Japanese is rough and this review will mostly cover gameplay, upgrades and comparisons to the first game - ignoring most text and spoken content.

For the uninitiated, Gundam Breaker 2 is a hack and slash Dynasty Warriors type game that takes place in a Gunpla VR simulator. In this VR simulator, you can mix and match parts such as legs, arms, bodies, guns, swords, and backpacks from the various Gunpla enemies that you face. Upgrading those parts is what gives the game its legs (no pun intended) - as the better parts you find, the easier it becomes to fight enemies as the game goes on.

limited edition Gunpla models that will make every Gundam fan completely happy. The great part of the extensive line of kits is that they are all completely unlockable; there are no signs of any DLC that unlocks them from the start. These kits can be bought in the console store with in-game currency - earned by going through the story, playing online, or replaying levels.

In the original Gundam Breaker, parts found on the battlefield were given a star quality rating to indicate their worthiness to you and your overall build; in the sequel, parts can be upgraded with material dropped in the battlefield and can also add to your abilities. In some cases, you can even transform parts into something completely different - such as turning it into a part from a different suit.

Gundam Breaker 2’s gameplay takes place in several various locations such as the Gundam Café, space colonies, and other places that are found in the Gundam series. Unfortunately, each area only has one map that expands at every stop you make - so if you’re looking for a variety of locations, you won’t find it here... something I found rather disappointing.

If you’ve played a Dynasty Warriors game, you’ll feel right at home as Gundam Breaker 2 shares the simplistic control scheme that musou gamers have known to love. Attacking is pretty Not only can you build body parts with that material however, but basic, with normal and heavy attacks mapped to square and you can create weapons and shields as well. Weapons such as triangle respectively. X is used to jump, however holding it will swords and guns are divided into long and short categories, with activate boost until your meter runs out. Your same close action shields also separated into small, medium and large - each of these buttons are used to open up crates with a long press. This can be having different characteristics and play style. As always, there’s particularly annoying since the first game allowed you break the never a one size fits all sword/gun/shield setup; so mixing and crates with a simple attack; not sure why this change was made, matching is the most likely road to success in Gundam Breaker 2. but I don’t like it.

In this sequel, there’s quite a bit more variety when it comes to the models the AI enemies use. The game breaks away from the vanilla plastic models that the first game used, going all out with

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Holding the right trigger along with square and triangle will unleash your EX actions. There are different EX action that you can map to your face buttons and they range from powerful attacks

The Vita Lounge would like to thank BlueMaxima for providing screenshots for our review. youtube.com/user/BlueMaximaC099

and healing. Blocking is done with the left trigger, though it's notable that too many blocks can cause your shield to break.

During the course of battle ACE points are awarded by chaining long combos, defeating gangs of enemies at the same time, or in other words; wrecking shop.

Collecting as many ACE points as you can will give you great rewards such as rare parts and/or materials.

As with almost every Bandai Namco game, the camera and lock-on are something that is more annoying than helpful. With lock on being automatic, you follow the selected enemy all over map without ever losing it - the only problem being that the camera likes to lock to the farthest enemy while there are two or three others standing much closer to you. For me, this meant that it always seemed to ignore the enemy that I wanted to attack.

In a fast-paced game, I’d expect the lock on system to work a bit better that that - but it seems to be an issue more linked to the developer than the game. Because of this issue however, the platform and flying stages have become an exercise in patience; not only do you have to fight tough enemies, but you have to do so with a lock on system that simply refuses to work in your favor. At times, the AI does some wonky things too; for example, there are instances where the AI will just stand there without moving until it has been attacked - even though you can see clearly that you are in their vision. This goes the same for your AI sidekicks; while they're certainly an improvement on the first game, that alone's not saying much in this case.

Often, I’ve watched my teammates just stand there like mannequins and get beat down, or pass by me without reviving my beat up carcass - neither a good practice in a helper. When they aren’t statues however, your teammates are mostly serviceable and will assist you in passing on to the next level.

For those times when the AI just can't seem

to help you though, you can rest assured that multiplayer's back in Gundam Breaker 2... but it's back with one glaring omission; no more cross-play. In the original Gundam Breaker, PlayStation Vita players played together with PlayStation 3 owners in all levels and there was no way to even tell who played on which console. This cross-console play meant a higher population of players to help you out to beat the game and/or grind for parts. This time however, the player base is now split between the two consoles - and you immediately see the consequence of this; fewer rooms available to join than there were at the same time after the first game's release.

Multiplayer is accessed through the console in the hangar (central hub of the game).

With options as level limits and up to four players, it’s enough to satisfy those who crave multiplayer. Most of the time, you’ll see a great majority of the rooms password protected, and even among those that aren't you may often be over and/or underleveled - but it is certainly possible to find a suitable match even now.

When in a multiplayer game, the host or other members may select missions for the entire group. You can use this to your advantage to beat the levels where you need help and still be able to level your gunpla up with parts and material.

Graphically, Gundam Breaker 2 is a visually stunning game. With a lot going on, there’s frame drops here and there but nothing game breaking (in my opinion, anyways).

Running at thirty frames per second, the action still feels smooth and there doesn’t seem to be a big difference between this and the PlayStation 3 version - other than the higher enemy count and post processing not included in the Vita version

(for obvious performance reasons).

Despite the fact that Gundam Breaker 2 is almost in full Japanese, it is mostly import friendly as all the menus are in English alongside the tabs for building, painting and multiplayer. The biggest hurdle for importers (other than the price) would have to be the submenus and item part names, as they are only in full Japanese.

With Gundam Breaker 2 being a popular title however, you will have no problems finding menu translations with a simple Google search - and after a few hours in the game, the need for the translations will be gone as you’ll remember what everything is (the fact that upgrades are color coded makes it that much easier).

With that being said, people on the fence shouldn't worry; this is an excellent game despite the few flaws. With an import price that's close to double the cost of a retail game in the US, it's a hard pill to swallow - but for those who don't mind paying the extra money, you will not be disappointed. Gundam Breaker 2 improves on the original game in almost every way.

Despite the minor flaws, Gundam Breaker 2 is a must have in every importer's collection. With lots of replay value and multiplayer, upgrading your gunpla with the best gear available will never feel like a chore.

With excellent graphics, great sound and solid game play, I feel that it's worth the high import price.

Presentation

Gameplay

Lasting Appeal

The Vita Lounge

Execution

4.1

TVL MAGAZINE

DEVELOPER DIA

RY

long day to get to Los Angeles (when before we board a plane that’ll take another June 6th, 2014. It’s approximately 12 hours people at the video game industry’s of nds thousa of front in time first the for Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty will be playable in public office. the s an incoming message from biggest annual event - the E3 Expo) and there’ n areas due to some low-level - New ‘n’ Tasty is running a lot better in certai Thankfully, it turns out that it’s some good news replace the one we’ve already to build new this to need to move fast if we want work with the engine recently - but we’re going extensively tested, and the with a rather impor tant caveat: they’ve not been approved for E3. And these optimizations come than normal! game’s currently making the PS4 run a bit hotter decision on what to do next - and call - he needs to make a rather spontaneous Lorne Lanning - Oddworld creator - gets the build and try it for ourselves. It’s the grab to the airpor t with the test-kit PS4 there’s a rush to an internet connection nearer next few hours, we’re going to the over out holds it if and areas n certai in true - the game’s running better: closer to 60FPS down. locked is before the whole thing need to find a way to try and get this out there expo) repeatedly; and then an even (we were showing up to Monsaic Lines at the Cue a long night of playing the E3 demo areas visible and playable on the likes of game the get the hand baggage space in order to longer flight with the PS4 taking up most of ed firmly seated inside a wallet, and a an emergency USB stick with the game install GameSpot’s live show and Sony’s floor stage, g in LAX. rather nervous first check of our email on landin opted-out in favour of one that’d One that had been tested for weeks had been It was happening, we’re swapping out the build. session the day before, and ed extend an been played not much more than al”. We had three days of press iment “exper as bed descri were that s tweak had to be writing previews that going were they and game, booked up to play the Tasty based on a version ‘n’ New of would ultimately determine the reception office had. the in people most as much as bly proba they’d played

reaction was great, the game Turns out it was all just fine in the end. The press in retrospect. At 5PM on n decisio right the clearly held up nicely and it was g around switching off all walkin was the Thursday of E3, just as the Sony rep looked across at Lorne We day, last very the on booth the up the TVs to close week - smiled, and entire the hout throug iews who had been hammering interv said “we did it.”

Oddworld was back. e a game that so many people It’s a common question: why would you remak Oddysee, released on PlayStation Abe’s al hold so dear in their hearts? The origin that it was always going to be hed cheris and bered remem fondly so is in 1997, as well as try to create a rich fans ng life-lo our something of a battle to satisfy be interested. It goes well would enough experience that those new to Oddworld s development process Tasty’ ‘n’ New orld: Oddw act ing balanc beyond a simple the way to ensure the of step every at ction involved constant community intera ambition. lofty ee’s Oddys to up ed match least at ct final produ

should remake Abe’s Oddysee in In fact, it was our community that decided we fanbase what we should do next the asked rld.com oddwo on poll the first place. A Stranger’s Wrath for PS3 and tered remas (after developers Just Add Water had helped decide on some of the tely, our community named the game and even Ultima r. winne clear the was ee Oddys and PS Vita) trophies and achievements. just a ‘HD remaster’, and oppor tunity to turn the project into more than But with the prospect of such a task came the - whilst true to that game own its remake, eventually becoming New ‘n’ Tasty would become a fully ground-up Mudokon feet. In own its on up stand to g startin was it like felt Oddysee’s characters, storyline and spirit grenades, gameplay mechanics (like the ability to drop went proper physics, analog movement, new a fully 3D free-scrolling areas, new few a and ing) throw im free-a and talk to multiple Mudokons ee was suddenly alive. camera and fully animated backgrounds. Oddys

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lent Green, the ning will reference Soy Series creator Lorne Lan h influences are suc ile wh but n, exploitatio 99%ers, capitalism and never intends to push e gam the dworld themes, the clearly present in the Od decode the subtleties of ferring to let the player pre n bee ead ays inst d, alw har has too orld them said, Oddw h the cut-scenes. That and Oddysee rt, hea ne’s plot, told mainly throug Lor to r h topics very much dea ply enjoy the games as a story-based series wit - but many players sim one day m fro ne sto in set that thrown in. with a dash of puzzling adventure platformers, ‘n’ Tasty ’s slapstick physics in New ugh, is the humor. Abe a grenade blast, r afte What does stick out, tho ges led on up - he’ll get caught through the air as gunwere designed for hilarity Mudokons will catapult ow fell or , dly correct in the wil ng legs swingi far t button, present and everyone remembers the brand of security. And

ir own heavy-metal happy Sligs dish out the . rse cou it’s still of remake, ay, with New ‘n’ Tasty, olutionary and even tod rev s m to follow wa the this get , 97, ons 19 dok in can talk to other Mu - at the time, back eak Abe esp ce. pla Gam of re’s via a set of out the e, er n nev gam the And ensure it’s natives later in the olutely distilled down to Abe to converse with the characters ws er allo oth also tain great fun to use and abs cer eak esp sess pos Gam to ddus - work for him. pled with Abe’s ability cou , eak esp Gam al. him, wait and - in Exo Says ritu ember. out like a simple Simon ntities that people rem whistle puzzles played its many important ide of one nd bra ter the s on Oddworld, give with the lovable charac te to Abe, they grew up rela ld cou ple peo e popular gam audience. t made Oddysee such a g else when we polled the We think it’s all this tha it remade over anythin see to nt wa s fan the - and it’s what made ...

Tasty are clearly based environments in New ‘n’ and zles puz new and the of ny But while ma to make everything feel we changed just enough you’ll see now but l, ina orig the on those from Oddysee, g at your memories of pan l rolling wil s pat tion see sec ’ll e you ; Som exciting. elty meat snacks ding up Scrabs for nov tching off into stre ert des working machinery grin ren bar a d; a working furnace; nal, Sligs in the far backgroun t the world is a functio an omnipresent sense tha re’s the and the distance Abe’s there or not. grounded one whether inhabitants. and requests. feeling from the game’s ponsive to Abe’s wants much more emotion and they’re much more res and he’s lying (with ies ere alit wh son And with all that came to per up ual ll erous, they have individ m mad, and they’ll stro the num re kes mo ma he are en ons wh dok Mu d with Abe travels. other, they’ll get annoye too many bullets in his They’ll chatter to each hapless hero takes one our if od blo the up e t, but there’s always a soapy cloth) to wip oints are more frequen a little smoother. Checkp e s is less of an issue. gam tion the sec h or oug err thr ndss l-a tria the player’s progre m some of the game’s fro m the fact that ion fro etit ne We also tried to make rep bor ng stly ani ride, although that’s mo wherever it’s needed, me ier ve eas ksa at qui to pped around ewh lity swa som a abi the ‘n’ Tasty’s y. We even moved and le difficulty levels, New gotcha here eFarms originally anywa tur odd Rup the of g Coupled with the multip pin out it kee l ke stil ma ile s never managed to ease new players in, wh to s tion sec l oria tut so many Oddysee player subtle beginning and added in some areas in the very ards the end of Zulag 1. tow r doo ’ ned dem ‘con ers. and there, like the resonate better than oth par ts of the game that e ical som crit be to the g and goin h sly wit are obviou wanted to experiment uilt from scratch, there nt, back efro for the brand that we for ion the ect When everything is reb to dir k a s bac ent Abe res t New ‘n’ Tasty rep was important to bring But we’re confident tha of those lofty targets. It ted that we’d hit a few munity. ges com sug the nch to lau d at ene se respon we’re really glad we list ls leve us ero num on into the fold, and ... we’re dworld: New ‘n’ Tasty, n Vita version of the Od atio promise ySt com Pla lar the ticu to par es any com t When it ation 4 version withou ySt Pla le the litt of t a n por l dow looking at a faithfu we’ve had to squeeze bile the same game, but one l mo stil the It’s s ay. suit epl ty Tas gam ‘n’ to the that New The real bonus here is e sections, and visually to make it all fit. e ‘on the go’ with bite-siz hav to e gam at gre a format perfectly - it’s te. commu ideal title for the daily quiksave means it’s an 12 months e at E3 this year, a full PS Vita for the first tim on e has been e gam gam the the g n: win the e sho sinc We’re wn. A lot has changed sho t firs s ng the way wa alo s sion che ver pat after the PS4 many updates and Xbox One and PC, with e launch. But sinc ty Tas ‘n’ New of released on PS4, PS3, s multiple aspect at us - and we’ve adjusted we can’t wait to see wh once again been our foc lve months of feedback, twe last the off ing - but the community has com and knowing that it’ll be now it’s the Vita’s turn, it. of people think create something Again, we’re wanting to ng stages for Exoddus. nni ath HD) and pla Wr ly er’s ear ang the Str in , HD we’re now ld of remasters (Munch mo t As for the future, well, ren of Abe’s cur end the es the tak be -up, that n that’s not going to special, from the ground just beginning. logical conclusion. But eve y st onl mo lly ir rea the is to ty) orld dw Tas story of Od remakes (New ‘n’ adventures - indeed, the

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TVL MAGAZINE

WE ARE BIG FANS OF STEAMWORLD DIG HERE AT THE VITA LOUNGE, SO WE WERE RATHER QUITE EXCITED WHEN STEAMWORLD HEIST WAS ANNOUNCED IN LATE 2014, OFFERING US A NEW GAME IN THE STEAMWORLD UNIVERSE ALBEIT WITH DIFFERENT GAME PLAY MECHANICS. WE MANAGED TO CATCH UP WITH BRJANN SIGURGEIRSSON, THE CEO OF IMAGE & FORM AND ASKED HIM A FEW QUESTIONS ON THE SERIES, AND WHERE IT COULD BE HEADED NEXT. First of all, SteamWorld Dig released on other platforms first, what was the main push to bring it to PlayStation Platforms, and most importantly, Vita?

Both PlayStation 4 and Vita were important to us.

You of all people know how it is. We released Dig on 3DS first, and I told my family about it. No reaction.

We released on Steam after that. The same blank stares. Then I told them we'd released on PlayStation, and suddenly my mom stopped nagging me about getting a real job. In a word, PlayStation is legit. For many people it's synonymous with video games. And for us it was quite exciting - here was this brand new PlayStation console, that was even simple to port to!

With Vita there was another important thing as well.

A month prior to releasing Dig on PlayStation 4 and Vita, I was doing some research to form an opinion on what we could expect from the platform in terms of sales, community and so on. I accidentally came across an article on IGN that was published some time in the first quarter of 2013, that is, the article was about a year old at the time. Can't find it now, but the gist of it: it was time for Sony to face the facts, that Vita was a failure, and perhaps they just ought to kill it.

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I thought it was very interesting, because it felt that all kinds of things had happened in the span of a year, and my feeling was that Vita was both fresh and rife with good games. I met with Sony reps who confirmed that it had been a do-or-die situation - and they weren't about to let it die. Luckily it coincided with what may later be termed The Indie Revolution: so many small developers were tired of wasting time and money making mobile games and decided to approach the traditional platform owners, who welcomed them with open arms.

How was the initial reception to the release, did you get a lot of feedback from Vita owners about that specific version of the game?

We got very positive reactions, both long before the release and afterwards. It wasn't hard to see why Dig looks absolutely gorgeous and plays like a dream on Vita. I think also our decision to make it a crossbuy game helped. For all purposes, that was an easy decision - the PS4 and Vita versions are quite similar, and I don't think we would have gained much from trying to sell it twice. Instead we were greeted as good and generous guys giving away a version of the game for free, and I think it may have tipped the purchasing scale in our favour for a few people.

INTERVIEW The game hit PlayStation Plus in November 2014, was this any easy decision to make? Would you recommend other developers to allow their games onto the service?

This was also a simple decision - at the time. We released Dig on PSN in March 2014 and had sold the game for eight months by the time it hit PS Plus. I was a bit surprised, because by then we had sold a *lot* of copies and here was this opportunity to perhaps make more money in one fell swoop than we could during the rest of the game's lifecycle. It felt very generous. But it obviously and radically changes how your game sells afterwards.

I would definitely recommend developers to take it into consideration, but it's good to weigh it carefully. First, it closes certain doors - there are other platform owners that cannot offer similar deals after you've been featured on PS Plus. Second, your PSN sales will flat line for a long time afterwards. I would say it's a great idea if you can have your game featured towards the end of its lifespan. Try to determine when that is, try to get it featured then. Also try to figure out how much you would make without a PS Plus deal, and act accordingly. PS Plus will give you a lot of downloads, so it makes sense to include some sort of DLC if you can. Even with that, it's quite possible the people who download via PS Plus aren't the spending type. In any case, PS Plus will give you a fair share of exposure, which can be used wisely.

I also remember reading a forum comment when we were about to release on PlayStation. One guy soberly stated that "Nah, I'll wait for it to come out on PS Plus, it'll be there in less than six months."

I was surprised and thought it was overly clairvoyant, because I had no indication Sony would ever want it on the service. It turned out he was wrong - it took eight months - but with the above paragraph as our lesson, I can assure that guy and others we won't jump the gun as quickly with our coming games. For example, we don't expect SteamWorld Heist on PS Plus within at least a year after release on PlayStation.

You announced SteamWorld Heist in September 2014, how was the initial reaction from fans?

SO VERY POSITIVE! And we almost flubbed the ball - when we sent out the press release, two journalists missed that it was under embargo. It was like trying to contain a forest fire - it went up on those two prominent sites, was taken down immediately, then the fire ensued on Twitter and got taken down there as well.

We had the embargo set in the evening in order to accommodate for American sites, and sat until well after midnight making sure the release went as smoothly as possible.

And as you'd expect, we got a lot of comments about Vita. We're glad that we can say for sure that Heist is coming to Vita - with Dig we didn't even know we'd release it on other platforms than the 3DS. But we're in a different spot now, having ported to all kinds of platforms.

Where is the game at the moment in terms of development?

Heist is nearing the end of production, but there's still a lot that has to be implemented. Over the Easter weekend we had an office-wide (what a big word, there's still only 16 of us) bring-ithome-and-play session, and it was very exciting. Not to our loved ones, I suspect, but still.

While you initially targeted the game for Spring 2015, you recently delayed the game to any point in 2015, was this a difficult decision?

Yes, having to let people down is per definition a let-down, also for the one handing out the disappointment. And definitely no, we needed the extra time. Which was pretty much everyone's reaction - "take the extra time and deliver a great game" - and the negative ones were more endearing than sour, like "Oh noooo! I need it NOW!" Sometimes things don't progress as quickly as you'd hoped. We've developed Heist since January 2014, and in the beginning I was hoping we could have it done by, say, December 2014. That way, I reasoned, we'd be a Game of the Year contender two years in a row. Well, by September it was obvious that we COULD have it out by year-end, but that if we did it would by no means contend for any awards at all. It just wasn't ready. So after that I was hoping for February and then March, and we thought it'd be ready by then.

But "Spring 2015" turned out to be unrealistic as well. A game is simply ready when it is.

I really need to learn to shut my trap in matters like this one.

Nobody benefits from us talking release dates or periods before we know for sure. Until then it's anybody's guess.

You recently brought a demo of the game to GDC, PAX East and EGX Rezzed, what was the reaction from people who tried the game?

It was unanimously positive! At GDC in San Francisco I shared a hotel suite with my friend Klaus Lyngeled of Zoink Games, who showed their upcoming hilarious "hackventure", Zombie Vikings.

We only met the press there, and it was very gratifying to read their reactions afterwards.

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At PAX East in Boston SteamWorld Heist won a Best in Show award, which felt huge.

Since we only had two stations there, the reactions from bystanders were equally important. The demo was balanced quite well, so those who tried it weren't guaranteed success. There were a lot of baited breaths and people shouting out suggestions while others were playing. Great fun!

I didn't get to go to Rezzed, but our community manager Julius did. It was his first time at a fair, and what a baptism!

Narrow space, noisy and crowded. A perfect game show.

SteamWorld Dig was more of a Metroidvania game while SteamWorld Heist is headed in a totally different direction, has the transition to a totally different genre been an easy one?

Well, I guess you could say that both Dig and Heist are Metroidvanian games, as they share that sweet upgrade loop. For a long while we were experimenting with Heist as more of a roguelike - or roguelite, if you like - but the punishment for dying was simply very harsh. You could die without being very sloppy, and the cost for it - either having to start over or losing a character for good - was steep. So we rethought it and now it feels much, much sweeter.

Otherwise, and apart from the 2D side perspective, it's hard to imagine how the games could be more different. Dig was a mining game, and Heist is turn-based combat, tactics and strategy. And that's an important thing about SteamWorld as a franchise: we use the world to tie together wildly different games - games that we want to make and play ourselves. It's fascinating to do so, because you get to insert all the things you like and/or found lacking in similar games.

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out of SteamWorld Dig before James called them. After that, it was no big issue getting to terms.

When can we expect to start hearing some of the soundtrack?

You can actually sample it already - when we announced that SPG would be making the original soundtrack for the game, they recorded a video for one of the songs, "Prepare for boarding". You can find it on Youtube!

With two genres under your belt, what can we see next from your team?

Yes, what could it possibly be? We've SteamWorld Heist’s soundtrack is coming actually made quite a few other games as from the steampunk influenced band Steam well - the first game in the SteamWorld Powered Giraffe, how did that collaboration series (only available on Nintendo 3DS come about? these days) is a role-reversal tower defence It was actually a big coincidence. There's game called SteamWorld Tower Defence, this company called IndieBox who rang us And we've made a brilliant top-down castle up and asked if we wanted them to make a defence line-drawing strategy game called collector's edition of SteamWorld Dig with Anthill for iOS and Android. Hell, we even lots of extra goodies. They run a PC/Mac/ made a Mexican whack-a-mole dance game Linux subscription service, and will send you for mobiles! a new indie game every month. When we initially discussed what would go into the I guess what we do best is mixing and box, their CEO James Morgan mentioned matching different game genres. It's very, that he'd talk to a band that could be right very interesting. up our alley.

Are you tempted to try a new franchise or And the next morning he sent a new e-mail is the SteamWorld series your main project saying that he'd talked SPG into making a for the foreseeable future? bonus track for the Collector's Edition of Dig. I think it's pretty safe to say that also the game after Heist will be set in SteamWorld.

I immediately thought their music was And perhaps the game after that... unless great, and was amazed to see what they we get a radically different idea for a new were: a band masquerading as steampunk game franchise. We're pretty prone to robots, singing songs about robotic exploring new things. everyday life. It was too good to be true, so I asked them if they had time to meet at E3 We'd like to thank Brjann for his time last year, which was then just around the and wish himself and his team the corner. They drove up from San Diego, and best of luck with SteamWorld Heist, it turned out that they had played the crap which is out later this year!

REVIEWS 14

Toukiden: Kiwami

22

Stealth Inc. 2: A Game of Clones

24

Broken Age

34

Shovel Knight

36

Disney Infinity 2.0 Marvel Super Heroes

16

MLB 15: The Show

18

Run Sackboy! Run!

26

Bloxiq

38

Tennis in the Face

19

Monsterbag

28

Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters

39

Home

20

Flame Over

30

Scram Kitty Dx

40

Titan Souls

32

Krinkle Krusher

41

htoL#NiQ: The Firefly Diary

OUR SCORING POLICY:

5 OUTSTANDING

Full marks indicates an almost perfect game- or at least as close as it can be. It will almost certainly be the best example of what can be achieved on the Vita and simply must be in your collection. It could also be argued that these games are worth buying a Vita for. That’s if there were loads of them, it will also be very rare to see a game get this score.

4+ EXCELLENT

Scoring above 4 means that this is something that should definitely be in your collection.

These games are very good indeed, and serve as great examples of what can be achieved on the Vita.

3+ GOOD

On a five star scale a three is slap bang in the middle and above average. We class these games as good.

Perseverance will yield some some fun. These games may suffer with slight presentational issues or have cut back features.

2+ POOR

1+

Hardcore fans of the series or genre may find something worthwhile but generally speaking this is one to avoid.

RUBBISH

The genre may be to your tastes but try as you might you will struggle to enjoy the game.

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REVIEW TOUKIDEN: KIWAMI

Reviewed by Liam Langan Tecmo Koei Games has been one of the biggest supporters of the PlayStation Vita; they brought Ninja Gaiden and Dynasty Warriors to the console on the handheld’s launch, and have continued to bring it’s well received library to the console. They even went as far as to give the Vita it’s own series with Toukiden: The Age of Demons in early 2014.

Toukiden: Kiwami is an expansion to Toukiden: The Age of Demons released as a full price title; what this means to you is that it includes both the content from The Age of Demons as well as new content. There have been a small amount of changes to the gameplay, but it is still as good as it was in the original version; as such, I’d recommend reading the review for that game as well as this one by visiting our site if you’re a newcomer to the series.

Starting by reading the review of the original will give you get a better idea of what the game is about, as it focuses more on the introduction to the series than this review does.

The new content in Kiwami is structured into chapters (much like the original game), with each chapter containing a number of different missions for you to complete.

Sometimes you’ll have three missions to choose from, other times you’ll have to complete a specific mission in order to progress. These new-to-the-series missions are split once again into teambased and solo missions, with the team missions significantly easier as you can be revived by your teammates when you die. Being that I only played the first two chapters of The Age of Demons (thanks to the Toukiden: Kiwami demo) before transferring my save and starting the new content, this help came in handy quite a lot for me as I was severely under-

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2 experienced.

The original name for Toukiden: Kiwami was Toukiden: Extreme, and it’s clear to see why as soon as you jump in; the Oni are bigger, the battles are more intense, and the difficulty ramps up. This all starts at Chapter 8, which picks up straight from where the original leaves off as a new wave of Oni have begun to attack the village.

Your mission, as you’d imagine, is to take them out.

Combat in Toukiden: Kiwami plays out in real time. Using the square button executes a standard attack, triangle allows for a heavy strike, circle gives you the ability to power up your strikes (at the cost of your stamina), and the X button is a dodge mechanic. It’s all fairly simple and after your first couple of missions it’ll become routine – if not slightly repetitive, especially when you get into some of the harder/longer missions (where it can take you up to half an hour to slay som of the bigger Oni).

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The Mitama system is also incredibly easy to get used to. Holding the right trigger while in battle gives you access to their abilities, which can be used a number of times. The exact number is shown on the button icon, and these abilities range from healing your character to giving your character temporary stat boosts. Abilities can be refilled by finding altars in the battle areas, so you’ll have to keep an eye out for those if you’re looking to continually use your stronger attacks.

is an excellent starting point. All of the content is here and the game does pacing extremely well – the missions getting progressively harder as you move through the game. That said, progression of difficulty is always at such a steady pace that it never leaves the player feeling out of their depth. This alone is one of the reasons I enjoyed it as much as I did, especially since I came into Kiwami under-experienced.

My one major problem with this game is that it can get a little repetitive at times and missions can often seem a little

The new gear, techniques, and Mitama that your character can acquire can be leveled up even further in the Kiwami section of the game, allowing players to take it up a notch in order to face the incredibly tough missions they will now be tasked with. That said, being able to level these things up takes a lot of work, and slaying tonnes of demons and dying seemed to work for me when it came to that.

The game’s story and characters evolve as you play, and it teaches you the history and the lore of the Oni in a steady way. Even so, all of this can be revised in your character’s home by using a book – so if you didn’t understand something the first time, you can access that book and brush up on what you might have missed.

Battles with a party are incredibly good fun.

They normally run ahead and take out most of the enemies, however you can change their role in the party so that they hang back and stay defensive if you’d like. There’s a lot you can do when it comes to tinkering with the gameplay, so missions can be different if you play about with different strategies.

Another thing I liked a lot about Kiwami

is the game’s supporting characters, which are a mixed bag when it comes to emotions. You have your serious characters like the commanding officer, but you also have the fun and quirky characters like Hatsuho; who in the cutscenes likes to make a joke or two towards whoever’s available.

With regards to graphics, Toukiden: Kiwami contains the best visuals I’ve seen in a Vita game. It’s absolutely stunning to be honest, with some of the screenshots posted for this review being from times the game took my breath away. The giant Oni look incredible in their introduction videos, and even in gameplay they look stunning; it really adds fuel to the fact that the Vita can indeed produce console quality graphics.

For first time players, Toukiden: Kiwami

bit dragged out, especially those where you fight bigger Oni. You can spend up to an hour trying to defeat them, and the constant attacking and dodging can become just a little bit frustrating.

Overall, I think that Toukiden: Kiwami is a must-purchase for any PlayStation Vita owner – and if you’ve given up on ever getting a real Monster Hunter game in the West, then this is a perfect substitute.

While players who enjoyed Toukiden: The Age of Demons will love Kiwami for the fresh new challenges it offers, newcomers who are wanting to give the series a go will be equally happy with the 40+ hours of untouched Oni-slaying content.

The question therefore shouldn’t be “should I get it?”, but “am I ready for it?”

– and the answer to that is up to you.

Toukiden: Kiwami offers demon slaying on the go, and it's a fine example of what the PlayStation Vita can do, people who have previously experienced the series will lap this up in an instant, while people wanting to give the series a go for the first time should jump straight to Kiwami as the original content, which is included in this package, makes for a perfect warm up to the intense challenges that this game offers.

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4.5

REVIEW MLB 15: THE SHOW

Reviewed by lateralus2801 Spring has officially arrived that means two things; a brand new season of Major League Baseball, and the release of MLB 15 The Show. Going on its 4th season on the PlayStation Vita, the question remains… is this yearly update worth the price of admission?

As a whole, Sony boasts that MLB 15: The Show is the most feature packed game in the history of the franchise. With modes and features such as Diamond Dynasty, Road To The Show (RTTS), Inverse Kinematics, and directional hitting, fans of the series will be happy to hear that it’s constantly improving year after year.

8 aim where you want to hit or throw the ball. It’s fitting that people say that hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports, because it’s certainly no different here – as you’ll find out if you play the game I’m sure.

For the beginner or new to the series player, Sony was kind enough to include a beginner mode where timing isn’t essential and will ease a player into the art of hitting a baseball. Eventually however, this becomes a bit too easy and games will likely resemble football scores rather than the low scoring affairs baseball can be famous for.

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gives you control over where you want to hit the ball. Are you facing a pitcher who likes to throw low junk? Aim towards the plate and make him pay. Are you a left handed hitter that wants to hit a homer at the short right field fence? Aim towards the short right field fence and give him what he wants. This directional hitting ability gives you a ton of flexibility in your offensive strategy, and much more control over the ball than past versions offered.

Defensively, the game is as good as ever with pitching options such as classic, pure analog, pulse pitching, and the always dependable meter pitching making their return as expected. While every other option works relatively well on the console, I cannot recommend using pulse and/or pure analog pitching on the Vita because the analog sticks seem a bit too sensitive for this precise style of pitching. Attempting them will likely lead to frustration that’s out of your (lack of) control to remedy.

Once the ball is in play however, you have the option of having full AI control of your fielders or taking control of them yourself – the latter making throwing to the bases a simple task as the Vita’s face buttons are programmed to correspond to each base on the diamond.

For Vita fans however, (with the exception of directional hitting) MLB 15 The Show is more or less the same game as last year’s release; but unlike FIFA who has taken to this practice before, more of the same might not be such a bad thing this time ’round.

The fundamental gameplay elements of The Show have not changed since the series’ debut in 2006; hitting and pitching are done with the face and shoulder buttons, and you use the analog sticks to

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On the flip side, playing on Legend will give you an authentic experience where timing, reflexes, and having a sharp eye will rule the diamond. Granted, this mode will more likely frustrate newcomers and impatient hitters who will want to swing at every pitch thrown – so it’s best to come back to this mode once you’re a seasoned veteran or when you’re not looking to relax with some easy gaming.

New for 2015 though, Sony has added directional hitting in all modes. This mode

In All-Star difficulty, you’ll also have to be wary about how you throw the ball. If you hold the base button too long, you’re likely to over-throw the baseman; and if you don’t hold it long enough, it’ll be a slow and short pass – the kind likely to let the hitter on base with an infield hit. With enough practice, all of this will be second nature and won’t be difficult to pull off… but again, it’s a mode not really geared towards beginners.

Unfortunately, MLB 15 The Show is fundamentally the same as last years version when it comes to game modes.

Where as the PlayStation 4 version boasts Diamond Dynasty mode (think FIFA’s FUT

mode) and an improved online mode, the Vita version includes none of this. While RTTS, Franchise Mode and Homerun Derby (the only cross-play multiplayer mode available on the Vita) make their return, it feels the lack of proper online play brings down the replay value of the title some.

For those who do not know what Road To The Show is, it’s a game mode that lets you groom a user-created player from the minor leagues all the way to “The Show” (the famous nickname for making into Major League Baseball). You pick a position and work through the season to prove your worth at the high level. By meeting several game generated goals, your points increase – the points able to be applied to your player’s stats. Think of RTTS as the RPG of baseball; the more you succeed, the better your player will become. It’s the one mode that has the most (and best) replay value, and an invaluable part of the game… especially now that the online modes have been cut back.

One cool feature that the game brings is The Show Live. This mode lets you play the current day’s game with the same roster that the actual teams will bring out on the field, giving you that extra sense of realism and “being there” that’s missing from most sports games.

Along for the ride in the feature department is also the cross-save that’s been a staple on the Vita for a few years now. Cross-save (for the uninitiated) means that you can start a franchise or RTTS player at home on your console of choice, and then transfer it over to your Vita to take on the road (or off the TV). This makes the Vita version

as the best baseball game out there.

Also a familiar sight (so to speak) is Matt Vasgersian, who is back on the mic with the play by play, trivia and stats for the game. While the commentary is great, playing through 162 games you will hear a lot of phrases that will be repeated.

That’s the nature of the beast with video game announcing however, no matter which sport you’re playing. The rest of the

a wonderful companion if the console versions are your cup of tea, and a great way to continue a game on the go.

Looking to the graphics, not much has changed from MLB 14. Every MLBPA player and MLB stadium is represented in their full glory and still looks like their real life counterpart. The game looks good, but it doesn’t stand out compared to other games – an example of an issue being where parts of the stadium and scoreboard can look blurry (as well as the first and third base windows). MLB 15 is also obviously not at native resolution, and it’s still fair to say there are those same frame rate issues that’ve been plaguing the Vita entry since 2012 – but other than those quibbles we’ve already been dealing with, the game does well to stay true to its roots on the console

gameplay audio is well done with cheers and boos coming from the crowd depending if you are playing home or away, and the stadium PA helpfully announcing the upcoming batter and relief pitchers.

Stepping back to look at the game as a whole, it certainly seems like Sony has successfully refined The Show on PlayStation Vita. This year’s iteration feels more fluid and closer to its console counterparts gameplay-wise than previous releases – and while the lack of true exhibition online play in ’15 is disappointing, it’s not a surprise to see it go since San Diego Studios just couldn’t get it right in previous versions. What we’ve been given this year is a good baseball game that works well on Vita, and for $19.99 US I’d say it’s not a bad deal at all.

With modes that will keep you busy during the longest season in professional sports, MLB 15: The Show delivers as a great portable baseball title at a great, low price - and that's nothing to scoff at.

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3.9

REVIEW RUN SACKBOY! RUN!

a great job recreating the feel from the series, which also extends to 80 collectible stickers themed into 20 sets. Completion of these sets will reward you with additional bubbles, extra life hearts, or even character costumes for use in other LittleBigPlanet titles.

Reviewed by Paul Murphy I’m a big fan of LittleBigPlanet PS Vita; it was my first foray into the franchise and I was as impressed with everything it had to offer. From the exhaustive (and exhausting) supply of user created content to the magical single player mode, I loved almost everything about it. Run Sackboy! Run! is set in the same universe, but rather than being a fully fledged experience it’s a free-to-play endless runner that could very easily have been made in the creation mode of the Vita title. It’s also not a new title, having made its debut last year on mobiles.

If somehow you are blissfully unaware of what an endless runner entails, the objective is to progress through the level as long as you can whilst accumulating the highest score possible. Scrolling from left to right, everything is touch activated to aid your progression – with a tap to jump, a tap/hold to jump higher, and a swipe to dash quickly. These moves are needed to reach higher platforms in the randomly generated levels, avoid obstacles like pink goo and spikes, or simply to evade the Negativtron – an enemy that wants to eat you like a morbid snake/vacuum hybrid probably would.

Along the way you will encounter “bubbles” which serve as the title’s currency and allow you to purchase new costumes and upgrades to the in-game equipment, or even to activate your shield if it’s charged enough. Costumes do not change anything in terms of controls, but they do enhance your multiplier which may result in a higher score (aka; the ultimate objective).

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So, it’s free, looks quite pretty, is fun and addictive, and has rewards for other titles.

The perfect little title, right? Not quite. The 1 3 9 270 MB biggest problem with Run Sackboy! Run! is that you soon hit a brick wall with the amount of bubbles and missions you have, and whilst the game is very playable without using actual money to complete all of the trophies and get as far as you can in the game, you will need to grind for a significant period or face spending some cold hard cash. This is typical of most F2P titles, but with only a few basic enemies, levels Equipment that you find within the levels and content available it soon gets very will also help in different ways – a magnet repetitive – which is a shame, because (which draws bubbles and stickers to you), a there is something very likable here. jetpack, and a glider thrown in the differing Probably the biggest complement I can environments; and able to last longer when give Run Sackboy! Run! is that it makes upgraded using the in game cash you accumulate.

The game also sets you differing targets (labelled as missions) and you have three in play at any one time.

Completion of these will result in you earning a higher level, and effectively increase your multiplier. It’s all very simple, and surprisingly very effective.

Each run through never lasts very long, but I still found myself returning for more and chasing those higher-end scores.

me want even more LittleBigPlanet action, which isn’t a bad thing in and of itself.

It does also help that it’s very catchy and looks quite stunning, it has to be said; there are different environments and it is all crafted using that same LittleBigPlanet style. Developer Firesprite have done

It’s free – so there is no excuse not to get it – and you probably will be hooked and charmed by it; but that hook and charm isn’t going to last very long, at least without frustrating you.

It's free, it's fun and will fill some of your time up but it will get very repetitive and offers no real longevity.

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REVIEW MONSTERBAG

Reviewed by Will Hernandez On the outside, MonsterBag is everything I love about the modern era of gaming we live in; an era where games being made by hundreds of people can co-exist on a console with a game made by only a few. In this era it’s the smaller studios, like IgauanaBee, that aren’t afraid to think outside the box – no art style is too crazy, and no story is normal.

IguanaBee let their creative juices flow into MonsterBag, a game about a monster back-pack named V, and his journey to reunite with his friend Nia. Unfortunately, that’s where MonsterBag’s appeal ended, and where actually playing the game became a painstaking task.

Playing as the little monster V, your one and only goal is to catch up to Nia (a friend you were separated from to start the game). Although the premise seems urgent, the game manages to stay relatively cheerful throughout most of the adventure – the game both looking and making you feel joyful… at least at the beginning.

Characters look like they’re straight out of a Cartoon Network show and serve to make up most of the game’s spirit, giving great contrast against MonsterBag’s lifeless environments – for most of the game at least. It isn’t until the later half of the game that situations become more dire; backgrounds get darker, the game gets harder, and the pressure to succeed feels even greater.

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the atmosphere-matching soundtrack that follows you to the end. While there isn’t one track that stuck out among the rest, the music definitely did its job of immersing me further into the ridiculous situations that V got himself into.

Looking to the gameplay, MonsterBag is a stealth game of sorts; nobody likes you, most humans are actively out to get you, and just when you think it can’t get any worse some aliens get thrown into the mix and want you erased as well. Because of this, you’re supposed to sneak your way through stages on the backs of others – avoiding their glare and keeping incognito.

In the beginning it’s simple, as there will only be a few angered humans looking around trying to find you… but things change, and the game ends up neither easy nor straightforward.

Once the game becomes invaded by space blobs, puzzles become redundant and the stealth mechanic is everywhere. By the last couple of levels, every single alien will be on the lookout for you – as opposed to the few angry/agitated humans in the beginning.

Getting past the AI becomes annoying due

to their synchronous tendencies, and on top of that you’ll have stupidly-small windows to make your move; making the game one of patience and not skill. Combine all that with the hassle of getting sent back to the same checkpoint over and over due to trial and error, and you’ve got a game that starts great but ends up getting quite annoying.

Looking back, my play-through was full of trial and error due to me not fulling grasping every concept as it was given.

While I’m all for figuring games out on my own, it got to the point of being counterintuitive; there were valves that wouldn’t respond to me turning them all the way, and a door at the end that refused to respond to my fingers because I didn’t touch it early enough. I did enjoy the puzzles (that worked) and their progression, however, like being given a picture and having to figure out its color pattern on an in-game computer screen (with limited hints).

For me though, I found that my favorite parts of MonsterBag were ones when I was doing more platforming than anything else.

The first boss battle where I had to avoid a giant blob from eating me by maneuvering through people’s backs was a high point, and if there’s ever a sequel or spiritual successor I hope that the platforming is the bit they build upon.

In the end, MonsterBag is a fun and imaginative puzzle/platformer that delivers a tear-jerking narrative through visuals and sound alone. Unfortunately, the gameplay doesn’t share the same set of ideas, making it better to look at than to play. A short game, it should also take you no more than three hours to complete – unless you’re in it for trophies, which may take you a bit longer. Aside from those few trophies you may have to go back for, however, there’s no real incentive to re-play the main game other than new mode called “Oblains” which offers more of the same only harder.

While I applaud IguanaBee’s acceptance to do something different, I can’t wait to see what they do next.

IguanaBee hit the nail on the head of creativity and capturing my attention with their unique character and world design. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the gameplay, which is unusually redundant for such a short game.

This is all amplified a step further thanks to

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2.9

REVIEW FLAME OVER

Starting a New Game in Flame Over will see our hero given a five minute time limit to beat the blaze and escape from the building. With three hearts representing your life you are thrown into the midst with a hose, an extinguisher and water bombs at your disposal.

Reviewed by Charlie Large As a kid I longed to be a fire truck when I grew up, not a fireman as many people tried to correct me – but a fire truck. The dream-shattering reality unfolded as I grew a little older and realised that this dream was going to be nothing more than that, with memories of my younger years when all I used to care about was what the next episode of Fireman Sam would bring.

The one thing that you will notice when you first start playing Flame Over is that the game is difficult! There is no tutorial at the start of the game and you are left to your own devices to work out the best plan of 5 10 20 771 MB action. For the first few hours of play I found myself not getting very far at all in the game, often dying before I made it to the second stage of the first area.

Laughing Jackal are here to correct this oversight and have spent the last few years Death is all around you in this game. There putting together a game that gives you all are people trapped in each stage that you the hoses, axes, burning buildings and a will have to try and rescue before the real sense of heroism that the profession smoke and flame consumes them. Getting so rightly deserves. these civilians to safety will earn you an Flame Over is best described as a 3D extra minute on the clock per person, so isometric roguelike (or Pyro-guelike as the ensuring they all safely make it to the fire devs like to call it) where you will battle exit is beneficial to your progress. Leaving them too long will cause for them to perish, meaning that the extra time available will deplete – making your progress through the levels even more challenging. If the clock reaches zero the Grim Reaper will appear and will chase you around the stage. One touch here and you will die, so try not to let him catch you!

They say that video games allow for us to live out our dreams – be it donning the colours of your favourite football team in FIFA, driving supercars to pole position in Gran Turismo or even exploring the world as an adventurer (with a fondness for genocide) in Uncharted. We can often unwind after a long day in school or at work and get lost in the worlds that games take us to that allow us to escape from reality.

through randomised levels tackling fires and rescuing those that are trapped inside the burning building. Playing as the aptly-named, moustachioed hero Blaze Carruthers you will single-handedly respond to an emergency at the towers of Inferal Industries where you will need to tackle the overwhelming conflagration that threatens to raze the sixteen-storeys to the ground!

It can be said though, that one profession that is absent from videogames that will have been the dream of many a child (including me and my absurd vision) is that of the Fire fighter. British indie studio

Starting off in the buildings Office levels you will proceed to work your way through sixteen stages (including Executive offices, Laboratories and ) in an attempt to put out the wildfire that is engulfing the structure.

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Each stage also has a cat that needs leading to safety. Helping the office’s feline friend will earn you an extra (much needed) heart to help you on your way to the latter stages. In every other stage there is also Miss Ion (mission, get it?) who will give you a quest that needs to be completed before she will follow you to the exit. Completing Miss Ion’s quest will not only earn an extra minute on the clock, she will also gift you with an upgrade token – which is ultimately the most important thing you can acquire!

Getting these civilians to safety is a walk in the park once you have doused the flames that get between you and them in the first place. At first the sight of the first few rooms full of flames can be a little overwhelming, especially when the fire you have just spent thirty seconds or so tackling reignites thanks to a ball of flame that has been flung from another, nearby object that is burning away wildly.

I learnt from many failed attempts that, even though the clock is ticking in Flame Over, it is best to take your time. If you run into the middle of the action all hoses

Blazing (excuse the pun) then you will almost certainly meet your maker in a matter of seconds. Getting to close to the fire will cause a circular meter around our hero to fill. If this meter fills to make a complete circle you will lose a heart, lose all of your hearts and it is game (or Flame) over!

The other meters that you need to be wary of are the ones that show you how much water and powder your hose and extinguisher have left. The last thing that you want is to have a wall of flame separate you and a source of H2O when your hose is fresh out of water. Luckily, Flame Over is generous in the sense that there is always a source of water not too far away. You can use water coolers, sinks and even hot tubs to fill your tank – although it is worth noting that some take longer than others to replenish your equipment.

Firing these apparatus is as simple as using the PlayStation Vita’s Left and Right triggers. Squeezing the Left trigger will produce a shotgun-like burst of powder – especially effective on electrical fires, whilst the Right trigger will fire water from the hose. The hose is great from a distance and I found the best tactic to be to strafe and fire the hose, using the extinguisher to douse any area that seemed prone to reigniting.

One thing that I learnt after a short while was to utilise the game’s map as soon as a stage started. Pressing Select will bring up a larger version of the mini-map that is displayed in the corner and this will allow for you to spot areas of interest in any particular stage. I found myself making a

beeline for the fuse box as soon as I figured out where it was located in each level as switching this off would cut all electricity in that particular stage – taking electrical fires out of the equation and leaving me with one less thing to worry about!

Dousing the flames that dance around you

will earn you money which can be spent on upgrades. I mentioned earlier that Miss Ion will give you quests on every other stage you play. In the stages that Miss Ion does not appear in you will meet another character called the Caretaker who will offer you items to purchase (Tip- try firing your extinguisher at the items he has for sale) that can help you tremendously in your current playthrough.

Here lies what I believe to be Flame Over’s biggest dilemma. Spending your money at the caretakers store does give you access to items that may be beneficial in your current game but if you die, the items die with you. The upgrade tokens that you collect from Miss Ion will unlock permanent upgrades that you can purchase when you start a new game. The cash that you earn from putting out the fires can be used to improve these permanent perks but as soon as you re-enter the Infernal Industries towers any spare cash that you did have is

immediately donated to charity. So the question is, do you spend the cash midgame to boost your current run or do you save it and spend it on upgrading Blaze to improve the run-throughs that will follow?

With the levels procedurally generated (similar to Spelunky and Rogue Legacy) I found that I did not mind the difficulty of the game and replaying the same areas until I could successfully move onto the next area. The randomness of the stages and the beautiful animations within each one made for Flame Over to be extremely appealing and difficult to put down. The cartoon-style animations for the characters that fill the stages to the beautiful colours and behaviours of the flickering flames that engulf them only helped to draw me in to the game and encouraged me to push on through the levels even when I had encountered death more times than South Park’s Kenny.

The only fault that I can find with Flame Over is that the soundtrack for the game leaves a little to be desired. The sound effects are brilliant, with the roaring of the flames and the different environmental noises adding to the atmosphere. The music is pretty samey throughout, with a similar sounding jazz-style track playing throughout each of the stages that you tackle. I would have liked to hear a little differentiation and distinction between the tracks that accompanied each area.

Other than that, Flame Over is a great game that is sure to get Vita owners hooked with its simple to pick up, difficult to master style of play that will have you wanting to better your previous run every time you pick it up. Releasing for the PlayStation Vita in the same month as other indie titles such as HELLDIVERS, Hotline Miami 2 and OlliOlli 2, Flame Over certainly braves the elements and offers challenging fun to those that wish to tackle it. Laughing Jackal have done a stellar job with this release and I’d wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone that has the slightest interest in it!

Trust me, pick this game up – you won’t get burnt!

Perseverance pays off for those that wish to take on and tackle the burning inferno that is Flame Over. With tons of replay value and gameplay that will challenge most, Laughing Jackal's fire fighting pyro-guelike is a sure-fire hit for the handheld!

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4.5

REVIEW STEALTH INC. 2: A GAME OF CLONES

Reviewed by Charlie Large I never managed to complete Stealth Inc: A Clone in the Dark, the predecessor to Curve Studios Stealth Inc. 2: A Game of Clones. That game was very good at making me look bad – with death being a common occurrence whenever I loaded up the title.

So when I received Stealth Inc. 2: A Game of Clones, I was a little hesitant about playing through the game; with memories of the rage quits that the original title brought about flooding back to me. However, Stealth Inc. 2’s undeniable charm and excellent design shattered the hesitation and I quickly found myself unable to put the game down, no matter how hard it got!

You play the game as one of many clones – little robotic fellas who have been created in a lab so that scientists can carry out tests on them. Once the clones have served their purpose and meet their doom, the green goggles that each clone wears are then used as a child’s toy and are actually given away with fast-food.

Once the clone becomes aware of this, the race is on to escape the facility – which contains different areas to explore that require Metroidvania-style upgrades to reach. Each of these areas consists of eight

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test stages that you will need to complete the game like this – with the whole setup in order to reach the next area and continue kind of reminiscent of Valve’s brilliant firston. person puzzler Portal.

Each area’s test stages serve the purpose to introduce a new equipable item that you will need to put to use to complete

said stages. These are a new addition in to the series, and have been implemented impeccably well – from the Inflate-a-Mate to the Jack Boy, each of the items that you unlock adds to the overall quality of the gameplay. In addition to their introduction here, once you complete the eight tests in a particular area that gadget is then yours to keep to aide your exploration of the PTi Testing Laboratory.

This leads me to another neat touch that Curve Studios has added to its stealthplatform title; the world outside of the test stages is a level within itself. Exploring each room of the facility is a must, as you need to track down the stages in each area in order to complete them. There are also briefcases hidden around the map that will unlock hats and outfits so that you can dress up your clone if you so wish! Being able to explore and having to find your own way around the facility is pretty fun, and I am glad that Curve decided to structure

Getting about in the game is very intuitive, with the left analogue stick controlling your character’s movement, X as jump, and Circle enabling you to crouch. As you unlock the gadgets that are available in the game they will be mapped to the left and right trigger, whilst Select will bring up the map of the facility should you get lost. Another great design element is the detection alerts, which are shown via your clone’s goggles.

If the goggles are green it means that you are out of sight, with orange being partvisible, and red meaning that you have been spotted – so keep it green if you wish to stay alive and make it through the game!

Unlike most other games in the stealth genre, Stealth Inc. 2 is a game that urges you to tackle its many levels as quick as you can. Each playthrough of a stage is graded with a letter, with S-Rank being the best possible outcome (I rarely saw an A, let alone an S!). These are marked using three simple criteria; the amount of times you died in a stage, the amount of times you were spotted by the many different

make for some brilliant reading, if you care to take the time (and you should!).

The lighting and audio in the game are also top-notch, though given the way that they are used in-game as part of the gameplay, you would expect them to be good. The only downside for me was that although the environments are an improvement on those that were in A Clone in the Dark, they are still a little drab and gloomy. I know that is down to the game’s setting and theme, but I think a little more colour would truly highlight how great this game could look!

enemies in a stage, and how long it took you to reach the end gate. Alongside being graded by the game on your performance, there are also online leaderboards built into the title – meaning that you can judge your efficient traversals of stages against other gamers across the world.

In addition to the leaderboard social feature, there is also another which has been introduced in Stealth Inc. 2; the ability for players to create their own stages – a la LittleBigPlanet. Although I didn’t try my hands at creating a stage (as I am pretty rubbish with level editors), I did play through some of the levels that the community had created so far and they were pretty impressive. The addition of player-created levels are certainly a welcome addition to what is already a game

packed with levels for you to work your way through!

Looking at the levels and graphics themselves however, they seem to have been given a bit of an upgrade when comparing them to those in the original title. Characters and objects appear to look a little more 3D than they did previously, and the environments have a little more character to them. The game will even flash up messages on the walls of the game that

When all is said and done, Stealth Inc. 2: A Game of Clones improves upon everything that was great in the original title to give us a game that is even more fun. Although the difficulty seems to have been lowered for the sequel (either that or I am getting better – although I doubt that!), there are still moments that will have you scratching your head or screaming at your Vita as you die for the ump-teenth time trying to figure out a solution to a troublesome puzzle. This still makes Stealth Inc. 2 a challenging title and completing a tricky section will give you a great feeling of accomplishment – not unlike the triumphant feeling that must have been felt in the developer’s office when they finally unleashed this brilliant little gem on the PSN earlier this month!

Stealth Inc. 2: A Game of Clones is a fantastic follow-up to the brilliant Stealth Inc.: A Clone in the Dark. With smart, stealthy puzzle-platforming the nature of this title you can expect some fun, sometimes frustrating, but always rewarding gameplay ahead of you if you purchase this game!

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4.1

REVIEW BROKEN AGE

Reviewed by Brad Gruetzmacher Broken Age represents the return of the classic “point-andclick” adventure game; it promised to feature the same wit, humor, and odd-ball puzzles that made games like The Secret of Monkey Island and Day of the Tentacle such timeless classics.

I grew up during the hey-day of the point-and-click computer games and still have a box filled with floppy discs for games such as Monkey Island, Monkey Island 2 and Day of the Tentacle. My sense of humor was shaped by the comedy that Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert wrote into their games.

Now, after a controversial development, Broken Age arrives in full on the PlayStation Vita making one thing absurdly clear: it makes good on everything it promised. It is an adventure game that is as deep and rich as any I’ve ever played.

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but they also question what is real in the world around them.

More than anything, what they really want, is to peer behind the curtain and discover the truth.

The story in Broken Age is a deep and philosophical one that ironically doesn’t take itself too seriously. Shay lives on a spaceship where his companions are all knitted out of yarn, while Vella comes from a place where young women compete to be eaten by a monster. It’s the juxtaposition of these conflicting ideas that brings an elevated sense of humor to the story…

Wow, that was deep. What I’m trying to say is that despite the underlying story, the surface is full of wild and wacky elements that are not only fun but hilariously funny. Often times this humor is derived from our two naïve heroes entering strange, new situations. Shay is a bit of a bumbling hero, much in the vain of Guybrush Threepwood from Monkey Island, while Vella is a headstrong go-getter with only one thing on her mind. Their dry comments in the oddest of situations would frequently make me laugh out loud, sometimes uncontrollably.

And it’s good to have a sense of humor when playing a puzzle game like this. The puzzles presented in Broken Age feel very familiar and fresh at the same time. They’re the same twisted puzzles I grew up with where clues hide in plain sight and the answer is often more absurd than you’d think. Sometimes these puzzles get solved in a matter of minutes while other times you may have to think about them for a few hours.

Broken Age tells the story of two young adults with one thing in common; they’re unhappy with their lot in life. Shay is a young man who has spent his life aboard a spaceship and has had his every need catered to by an overly mothering computer. The only excitement in his day is when he embarks on scripted expeditions to “rescue” creatures in peril. Day after day his life trudges on the same, and day after day he goes through the same charade – wishing each time there was something more.

Vella is a young woman who lives in a village of bakers. Every 14 years the village offers up the best maidens in town as an offering to a horrible monster that ravages their land. Despite having such an honor bestowed upon her, Vella wonders why the people of her village cower in fear rather than fight the beast. She has chosen not to be a sacrifice; she has chosen for something better in life.

Shay and Vella are both unhappy with where their lives are going,

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The game is broken up into two acts. Act I introduces us to our two protagonists and allows us to guide them on a new

times befitting the heroes’ journey, but it can also be tender and intimate. It’s by far one of my favorite game scores to come out in a long time.

As great as Broken Age is, it’s not perfect. I often had trouble with the audio late in the game where the characters would speak but audio would be delayed for several seconds (or get drowned out by other noises). It’s a problem that happened in isolated areas but it was persistent. It also appears to be a Vita issue as the same problem would not occur on the PS4. I also had problems with the game crashing occasionally which seemed to go hand-inhand with the Vita losing a connection to PSN. adventure. You can play as either Shay or Vella and switch between them at any time. The puzzles are challenging with a number of “A-ha!” moments, but it goes by rather quickly.

Act II starts with you having to deal with the consequences of your earlier actions.

Shay and Vella want to peer behind the curtain, but what do they do once they have? The second act is much longer than the first and the puzzles get more intense.

In total it took me around 13 hours to complete the entire game.

The interface for the game was designed with a PC in mind, and while it does make the transition to a controller fairly well, it still feels a bit awkward at times since you use the thumb sticks to move an on-screen cursor and interact with the environment.

A nice feature is that the right stick will automatically snap to “clickable” objects so you don’t have to scan the entire room for something to click. It works decent enough, but it’s still not very precise. However, the PS Vita does have an advantage over the PS4 version – you can use the touchscreen to select items in the game. It works amazingly well and really speeds things up.

Visually, the game is absolutely stunning.

The 2-D art style retains the feeling of the pixilated adventure games of old but adds a brilliant layer that creates a hand-drawn look to the game. The characters have a bold and unique style to them and the environmental art is all top notch. Everything runs smoothly with the performance never being a problem.

Likewise, the voice acting is superb. With notable talents such as Elijah Wood, Jack Black, and Wil Wheaton (whom I didn’t even recognize until the credits rolled), the characters are all given a great sense of depth and humor. And as good as the acting is, the musical score is even better.

It’s composition is grand in ambition at

Any other issues I could point to would be nit-picking. It would be nice if there were more areas to explore, and it would be cool if the world felt a little bigger. Some characters get criminally underused while others get a bit too much screen time. In the end, I found it clever how the story would weave back into itself and reuse a lot of the same locations.

Broken Age is a masterpiece. It manages to capture everything that made pointand-click adventure games great in the first place. It is the perfect blend of interesting characters, wacky humor, and head-scratching puzzles that constantly have you wanting more, and represents everything that made these games so wonderful to play.

Broken Age promised to be a return to the classic pointand-click adventure games from yesteryear and manages to succeed on that promise in every way. It's a game filled with brilliantly absurd puzzles wrapped around a beautiful story that's told with wit and humor. It is both laugh out loud funny and head banging frustration.

Broken Age manages to blend all these elements into a wonderfully charming game that should not be missed.

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4.6

REVIEW BLOXIQ

Reviewed by Will Hernandez “Okay, I got this” I said after completing world one of Bloxiq‘s seven world cube-based puzzler – but it only took until world two to start doubting not only my video game skills, but my critical-thinking ability in general. I had no clue about the madness I was stepping into, and apparently a developer over at Blot Interactive even called it “the Demon Souls of puzzle games.” Boy, am I glad I didn’t read that before hitting the colorful Bloxiq bubble on the Vita’s UI for the first time.

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brain lit on fire (…and I’m tempted to add “literally”).

I’ll put this really simply for you; playing Bloxiq feels like getting smacked across the face with a Rubik’s Cube – a really big one.

Each stage has one master cube, with smaller colored cubes inside of it. Four or more smaller similar-colored cubes make a match, which is done by moving the rows on the master cube. Early on most of your tasks will be to match all colored cubes, but it gets much deeper than that with time limits and move counters.

Time run out? Bloxiq doesn’t care how close you were to solving the puzzle; it’s game over. Did you move the cubes too many times? Have fun wanting to throw your Vita across the room, bus, restroom, nightclub, etc.

It’s hard for me to start with anything but the masochistic intentions set by Blot Interactive. Bloxiq is for gamers into puzzles; and when I say puzzles I don’t mean those goofy shoot-the-target game mechanics found in Zelda, I mean puzzles that will have your

Sooner than later, different puzzle mechanics start getting thrown at you a little too quickly. In order to match cubes as you progress, layers, multimatching, chains, bombs, and many, many more road blocks are put down in your path to becoming the world’s biggest

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nerd (and yes, you read that correctly; beneath the top layer of colored cubes is another layer which you’ll have to match with the top layer). My god, this game is insane.

My favorite part in Bloxiq was having to make sure that other similar-colored cubes stayed as far away from each other as possible before I moved forward with my plan to match another set of cubes. A plan that had to be scoped out along with the dozens of scenarios that ran through my head simply because it was better than taking the risk to make one wrong move and starting all over.

Initially, chains and multimatching seem like easier ways to get past the Professor Cube (the really big Rubik’s Cubes I mentioned) in Bloxiq, but just like every other insane mechanic put in by Blot Interactive they make it even harder to manage your available cubes. For example, I matched four blue-colored cubes only to have two other green cubes fall into the bottom layer, where they matched up with the two green cubes waiting down below – the thing is, I still had two more green cubes left… so game over. Oh yeah, and there’s also something called a Bomb Cube which will end your game if it reaches zero.

Fun. The upside of Bloxiq wanting to bring out all the anger ever stored within you is how satisfying completing most levels can be. I mean, I’ve played some hard video games –

but there was nothing like putting the final four blocks together in a level that took an hour of my life away. Yeah, that happened… a lot.

A nice surprise was the use of the Vita’s touchscreen, as your finger will allow you to move the cube from left to right, side to side, and diagonally. The two thumbsticks do the same thing, but the touchscreen made moving the cube a lot more convenient and natural – it just feels right. Addtionally, the rows on the cube are moved by holding down either L or R, and moving the row in any way you wish.

Bloxiq isn’t a cheap game with regards to mechanics, it’s just really, really hard if you aren’t aware of the challenge Blot Interactive set out to create. I constantly took breaks just to think about how incredible it was that just a few human beings were able to make 100 of these intricate puzzles across seven worlds (spanning an empty classroom, the desert, and space itself) in such a way that they will so easily suck dozens of hours away from your life. The people at Blot are truly

geniuses.

Speaking of the worlds, each of their 1015 levels has one song out of the Bloxiq soundtrack in it. These songs tend to blend into your surroundings – like the mundane beat inside of the classroom and the stereotypical desert tune heard throughout decades of media – however they make for relaxing background music. That said, once I started seeing red and cursed every single cube in the world, the last thing I wanted to hear was the game’s version of elevator music.

Looking back, it seems like Blot Interactive wanted to make a puzzle game that is easy to learn, but difficult to master – and they went too far. Bloxiq is not for the weak-minded; this game will tear you down emotionally, maybe even enough to manifest itself physically and make you smash the next Rubik’s Cube you see into a thousand pieces. It’s a hardcore puzzle game made with puzzle fans in mind, and it’ll make life harder for even the most skilled gamers out there.

Bloxiq is a cube-based puzzle game made with hardcore puzzle fans in mind. Unfortunately however, this means that it leaves people looking for a game with a moderate degree of difficulty in the dust.

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4.1

REVIEW TOKYO TWILIGHT GHOST HUNTERS

Reviewed by Shizuka “Where do we go when we die?

Heaven? Hell? Or do we wander forever as ghosts? No one knows. No one’s ever reached that place… Nor do we know what happens to those who die. Maybe nothing is certain in this world. But… Ghosts do, in fact, exist. Especially <there>.

Amidst uncertainty lies the truth. And therein lies the key to solving the mystery.“ Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters is a weird game – weird in a good kind of way, but weird nonetheless. I’ve started the review with the first scene of the game, just to show how the game doesn’t take itself lightly and wants to pick your curiosity.

Being a Vita owner, there is nothing quite like that on the platform – and it’s worth noting that while I started the game hoping for a visual novel with gameplay, my final impression was something else altogether.

The story is divided into chapters, which in turn feel like separate episodes (much like anime or even your regular TV show). At the beginning of the chapter, the introduction will play and when you finish the chapter, the ending plays to signify that the story is solved. You’ll meet new people, face new ghosts and maybe even solve the mysteries by choosing the right combination and achieve your sixth sense.

The game though, starts with you (the protagonist) on your first day of school – meeting new people and getting to know your surroundings. In your first day, you meet the snarky class president, a calm and collected young guy in a wheelchair, and the CEO of a magazine that focus on the occult; all of whom will play an important role in your school life. At the end of your first day, you’re involved in a supernatural event by running into a real life ghost… and this is where the story truly begins.

One of your new classmates appears after the encounter and explains that ghosts are real, you’re one of the few people that can see them, and that he’s part of a group in

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1 charge of defeating the ghosts haunting the city – heavy stuff. Without giving away most of the story it’s up to you and the other members of this group to get rid of the ghosts that appear on the city, as they’re misbehaving by haunting and hurting people everywhere.

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when the choices are prompted and you’ll end up ignoring the character, but where’s the fun in that?

By choosing one emotion and one sense, you make a combination – which will then have an effect (either positively or negatively) on your relationship The gameplay for the title is therefore with the character you’re divided into two sections: dialogue bits and interacting with. Friendly touch battle bits. For the dialogue bits, it’s your will result in handshakes and standard visual novel with a twist; you talk hugs; good and harmless choices with other characters, advance the plot that will work most of the time, and make a few choices along the way. however angry touch will revolve The twist here is the way you interact with in punches and hitting people, people during the dialogue however, as due which is not a good choice in to the senses system they’ve implemented most situations. You can also you can angrily smell them, listen choose the creepy love and quizzically or even lick them sadly. It’s weird taste combination, that’ll and it’s fun, and that’s kind of the point. scare the characters and make them call you a The way it works is that whenever the pervert. The choice is choices are presented, you have to choose yours to do with as one of five emotions and one of the five you please, and senses. Emotions are divided into sad, that’s what makes angry, loving, friendly and investigate. The it interesting as a mechanic. five senses are the standard ones: sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. It’s also The battles on the other hand worth noting that you can also do nothing are a far more tricky subject,

and I can see a lot of people dumping the game after the first couple of chapters because of the difficulty curve in learning how to battle. They’re rather complicated at first, which mostly boils down to a lack of a proper tutorial or indication of how most of the systems work. Even the ailments aren’t explained properly, and you’ll have to discover practically everything on your own.

If you do happen to endure long enough to “get” the battle however, you’ll see that the combat is rather easy and is simply a game of “predict where the enemy will land on the next turn and attack that position beforehand”. The game will show you the tiles where the enemy might move to and if you manage to attack the right tile just before it gets there, you’ll hit it and maybe even take it down.

Each character uses a different weapon and every weapon has a different range. Stronger characters will have a limited range of close-quarter attacks, while weaker characters will be able to target enemies from a long distance – but it’s still just a matter of attacking the right place at the right time and hoping the enemy will move to that place.

even get a small surprise if you’ve built up enough of a relationship with any of the characters – either platonic or otherwise – so make sure to nurture those social links (as you should be).

see in these games, and even though they are in a loop (if you stay in that screen long enough), it’s a sight to see and gives the scenes much greater depth.

As for the soundtrack, while it’s great at first, like most of its kind it gets repetitive with time. You can change the background music for the combat while you’re preparing for the battle however, though I found that I was just fine with the main one and didn’t change it that often.

The game itself isn’t long for your average visual novel or even RPG, but that’s not a bad thing because in turn it doesn’t overstay its welcome. In the end, you’ll

Looking back however, the game doesn’t shine as a visual novel or as a role-playing game; it could be something else altogether, but it doesn’t quite get there. If the battle system was more fine-tuned (with a more helpful tutorial at the beginning of the game), and if the story went deeper with the mystery and included a few more plot twists along the way, the end result would have been a more well-rounded game that may have appealed to more people.

As it is though, Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters turns out to be a game that satisfies neither the visual novel nor role play itch, and instead finds a niche as a unique Vita title unlike anything else for the system. It’s not great, but it’s worth experiencing.

There is a limited amount of turns to each battle though, called “minutes” for the sake of being a bit more real. If the main character dies or you run out of turns though, it’s “mission failed” for you. From that point you either get to retry it right from where you began if it’s a story mission, or you’re kicked back to the club room if it’s a side mission (and penalized a few dollars).

During the visual novel sections and the attack segments, lustful and lively animations will occur. Those animations have their own name; Graphical Horizontal Object STreaming, or GHOST for short. The characters aren’t the static cut-ins that we usually

Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters is a nice addition to the Vita’s library, and is different from most games that are being released for the system lately - just don’t expect to be too impressed; ghosts exist, and middling games as well.

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REVIEW SCRAM KITTY DX

Reviewed by Stephen Guy Meow-nificent, or just what the cat dragged in?

Scram Kitty DX, the deluxe version of last years Wii U indie game Scram Kitty and His Buddy on Rails from Dakko Dakko, is now available for Vita. Is it meow-nificent, or just what the cat dragged in?

While from the screenshots you may be expecting the game to be predominantly a 2D shooter, and fundamentally it is at heart, the game is equally as much of a platformer. The objective of the game is to rescue four cats from each level from space mice; the first is always at the exit, one requires you to defeat the level boss, another is obtained by collecting 100 scattered coins, and the final kitty requires you to chase after it – effectively a timed checkpoint race across the level.

Your character is on rails – literally – and these rails must be strongly magnetised, as you will be returned to them as if by a bit of elastic unless you’re able to reach another platform. Not all rails are the same, and you will encounter some which propel you in one direction, prevent you from jumping, slide you around, or result in injury. Pressing jump again before landing gives you a higher jump and turns you into a fireball, enabling you to destroy enemies and certain parts of the environment. Also, rather strangely, the more

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heath you have, the higher you can jump, which does make some longer jumps trickier when on low heath.

The game is not one to hold your hand – aside from four short tutorial levels demonstrating the requirements to capture the four cats, there is effectively no guidance at all, and particularly at the start of the game, you’ll find yourself approaching something of a learning cliff rather than a learning curve. The controls, particularly combining the double jump with the orbit effect of the magnetisation pull, take a lot of getting used to. At times you are required to either have great speed or exacting precision, but you never feel that you are able to do either reliably.

As a result of the above, the first hour or so is incredibly frustrating, and will inevitably turn people away from the game.

While faced with this battle against the controls, a stream of new gameplay mechanics are thrown at you, which you are left to solve for yourself. If you can persevere beyond that, the game comes alive as you start to get a feel for what you can do, and deaths become predominantly as a result of your own incompetence or impatience rather than a battle with the controls.

Obtaining all the cats becomes an addictive obsession, and at points you start to develop a feeling of a risk/reward ratio, in

The difficulty seemed rather variable between levels and challenges, although this is helped by a non-linear progression which is very generous about letting you move on to another stage without having to collect all, or even most, the cats from the previous ones.

Once you’re got to the end of the 24 nontutorial levels and defeated the final boss, with each stage having the same goals the game starts to feel a little repetitive, although your longevity will depend on how determined you are to go back and rescue all the cats on each level.

The deluxe version sees the introduction of cross-save with the PS4 version (the game is also cross-buy) and a challenge mode – which consists of trying to collect all the cats on a level within a time limit – with the clock reduced for damage taken. The challenge mode leans heavily on speed of movement, which was the part I struggled most to get to grips with, but it was a nice variation from the standard level goals.

The challenge mode also has leaderboard support, enabling you compete against your friends for the best time.

If you have the patience and determination to get though a tough first impression and learn to adapt to the controls, you will find a good, enjoyable game that effectively combines a 2D shooter and a platformer into a unique mix, but many will understandably have thrown in the towel before this point. deciding whether to gamble as and try and bringing back an additional kitty, or banking the ones you have already.

Your default weapon can only fire at a 90 degree angle to the side, which can cause a few awkward moments while you look for the right angle of wall or just for the enemy to move to somewhere you can shoot at it.

There are three alternate weapon pickups which can really change the feel of combat, they more powerful and are required to break through into new areas or activate switches, but are more limited by range or rate of fire.

The retro-inspired art-style means the game looks great, and appears well polished – despite all the action underway at times, I didn’t notice any performance issues, although there were a couple of times where I was warped back to the start of the level following contact with a moving object.

A unique 2D shooter/platformer hybrid held back by a tough controls and a steep learning curve. If you can persevere, you'll probably find yourself getting hooked.

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REVIEW KRINKLE KRUSHER

Reviewed by Tyler Olthoff

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that mean?” Well if you are able to complete a level with three stars you are rewarded with a jewel. By using the jewels you can go to the Mage’s Room and upgrade your rings and your base’s health. The cool thing about this is you can upgrade something and then take away the jewels and use it on something else if you didn’t want it on that ring anymore. The only thing that’s a drag about being able to upgrade your rings is the fact you have to acguire 10 jewels before you can even access the Mage’s Room. Oh and those 10 jewels you used to unlock the Mage’s Room are now gone, which really grinds my gears.

Krinkle Krusher is a touch-based tower defense style game that tasks you with fending off many different types of invading Krinkles in order to protect the castle during a great feast. If you’re looking for a great story to sink your teeth into you’ve got the wrong game, but if you’re looking for some good gameplay then this one might be for you.

makes you stop reading, it actually works for this game. By using certain gestures on the touch screen you activate the corresponding ring; for example, if you just tap the screen a lightning bolt attack hits the ground, or if you swipe up a whirlwind attack goes all the way from your castle to the far side where the Krinkles are coming from.

You play as a glove that has unique powers given to him by a wizard in the form of rings. You learn that the Krinkles have been attracted by a giant cake’s aroma, and they’ve begun to attack the city folk for the food – but by using the power of the rings you can defend the castle and save the day.

To make things fair and more of a challenge you can’t just spam these attacks, as doing so would break the ring (and cause you to wait a certain amount of time before you can reuse that ability). The game does a good job at warning you prior to breakage however – with a sound effect chiming to warn you of over-use.

Krinkle Krusher is just like any other tower defense game which tasks you with stopping the onslaught of enemies from reaching your base. One of the things that makes it unique however, would be that it’s touch only. Now before that

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Speaking of the rings, unlike a few tower defense games I’ve played Krinkle Krusher has an element of somewhat permanently upgrading your rings. Now you say “somewhat permanently, what’s

Even with all these rings you unlock, that’s not all you can use to stop these Krinkles; there are also abilities and/or items that can only be obtained during a level or acquired through killing a certain Krinkle. These items are used by pressing the face buttons, and perform tasks such as distracting the Krinkles by dropping a food cart right in the middle of the map (useful for grouping them all together to drop your lightning attack). With all this variety at your disposal, it makes Krinkle Krusher a very unique experience every time you play – something

The only major issues I’ve come across in this game would be frame rate issues and loading times. During the later levels when there’s a lot of Krinkles on screen things can get a bit choppy, and when picking levels it can seem to hang for a bit. This bit of chugging combined with less-thanstellar load times makes for a bit of an annoyance, but one that’s easily dealt with and doesn’t detract from the game much.

I think tower defense fans will readily appreciate.

Tower defense games would be nothing without their enemies however, and of course there’s a few here. Each type of Krinkle does different things to try and best you, with some Krinkles running in unpredictable patterns and others getting stronger if you use the wrong ring on them.

There are also boss Krinkles that are very strong and really test what you’ve learned from previous levels. All of this adds up to a very challenging, but equally rewarding (and possibly familiar) game.

Now let’s jump into how the game’s view of the map is – I’ll try my best to explain, but it’s kind of tricky. Imagine you’re holding a ball and you rotate the ball towards you to see more of the other side. That’s kind of how the map is set up. Your base is at the spot where you started and by rolling the ball towards you (using the analog stick) you then begin to see where the Krinkles are coming from. This makes for an interesting battle scenario as sometimes

you may not notice what’s coming or if one of the Krinkles got passed you. After a few minutes of messing with it I started to get used to it however, and I’m sure it won’t take you too long either.

Designed in a cartoon style, the graphics aren’t really something to worry too much about – though it’s worth noting that it delivers a vibrance of colorful art with minimal muddiness. Though not exceptional in any way, I can’t really find anything bad to say about the art… but on the flip side I would like to point out that those adorable little Krinkles can bring a smile to your face even when they’re trying to ruin the castle’s fun.

As for Krinkle Krusher’s sound bits, they seem to work quite well for the style of game; I’d even go as far as to say that I enjoyed the music. It has a unique song that can get stuck in your head (for better or for worse), and does well to entertain without annoying you too much. It’s also notable when zapping the Krinkles with your lightning attack they make goofy sounds to that effect, which can be quite funny depending on your timing. All in all, they really did a good job at setting a tone with the audio and making sure each portion of the game went well with the soundtrack it was paired with.

If you’re a fan of the genre, then Krinkle Krusher might not show you anything new – but that’s not to say it’s a bad game at all, and it may even provide a great place to begin for newcomers. For a pick up and play title, it does a great job of giving you a challenge without beating you up entirely – and maybe that’s just what we need sometimes.

Even though Krinkle Krusher doesn't have an overly unique take on the Tower Defense mechanic, it's still a fun enough example of it - and works well to cater to both genre veterans and newcomers alike.

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3.9

REVIEW SHOVEL KNIGHT

Reviewed by Liam Langan If you ask anyone what they thought of 2014 as a year of video games, they’ll probably come back with responses such as ‘game delays’ and ‘broken, unfinished titles’ – but most people will mention one particular game when you ask them what their biggest surprise was, and that game will most likely be Shovel Knight.

Shovel Knight was developed by Yacht Club Games, a studio formed by ex-employees of another studio named WayForward. They took to Kickstarter to try and raise funds for the game and it proved to be popular, raising $311,502 thanks to 14,749 backers and proving to be one of the site’s biggest successes.

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and the wait began; thankfully it wasn’t too long.

of the boss fights seemed rather easy and didn’t offer too much in the way of a challenge – with the exceptions being In Shovel Knight you play as the titular hero, narrowed down to only two boss fights (for who one day ventures to the Tower of Fate me at least). with his beloved Shield Knight. Upon arrival they are both attacked and his beloved is In between the game’s eight main stages, kidnapped – so (in typical cliche style) the there are often random occurrences that hero ventures forth to rescue her. Upon appear on the map. These can include venturing forth however, he is introduced treasure dash levels which allow you to to the Enchantress and The Order of no grab as much treasure in a level as you Quarter… who happen to be the ones can before reaching the end of it, or even guarding her. random rival encounters with enemies who aren’t members of The Order of no Quarter.

The game takes place on a mini map, which These random occurrences don’t really do is a gateway to a number of different levels, anything more than add little tid-bits to as well as the way to the villages where you the story of the game, but are fun to play through anyways.

The top of the screen shows your life bar, where each circle represents two hits – moving only from full, to half full and then to empty. Likewise, the boss bar at the top of the screen also represents the boss’ health – and fills only upon encountering the boss of that level.

You attack enemies by hitting them with your shovel, though some enemies will

Upon it’s initial release on PC, Wii U, and 3DS, Shovel Knight was met with praise all across the board – and a yearning for the game to reach other systems began.

Then, on December 5th, 2014 it received the Indie Game of the Year award at The VGA’s, and within twenty four hours of that it was revealed to be coming PlayStation platforms. It was at this moment that I realized I needed Shovel Knight in my life,

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can purchase upgrades and power-ups for Shovel Knight. Power-ups include health upgrades and armour upgrades, though it’s worth noting that not all upgrades will leave you better off than you were.

Each level is based around the boss of that level and his abilities, and as such every level is unique and will offer new challenges and skills to master. That said, the majority

require more thought and strategy to defeat than just that. This is where one of Shovel Knight’s most interesting mechanics comes into play, as jumping in the air and then instantly pressing down and square will activate the pogo technique. This special technique allows you to bounce off multiple objects, as well as giving you the ability to jump over enemies who are simply too big for your jumping technique.

Each of Shovel Knight’s skills are fun and simple enough to master, but they become ever so useful as you encounter new platforming challenges and enemy types to defeat. Likewise are the other skills that you find, these use the item counter at the top of the screen and come in the form of fire blasts, ice blasts and even a fishing rod! These items are easily replenished as they are dropped by defeated enemies any time your item count isn’t topped off, so don’t worry about using them as need be.

There are also a bunch of different collectibles to be on the look for throughout the game – the main collectible being treasure, which works as currency. Treasure is scattered about throughout every level and is used to buy upgrades, armour and new abilities. The catch with the treasure mechanic however, is that when you die you lose some of it and it gets split into as many as three bags that float around the area where you died (ready to collect again).

This is a pretty interesting mechanic.

Along with the treasure, there are also music sheets and fishing spots scattered around each level. The Music Sheets are found in hidden areas and can be sold to a villager in the game’s first village for 500 Gold. What I found interesting about this was that upon selling them, the villager

would give you some backstory on the tune as well as allowing you to listen to it any time you talk to him in the village. As for the fishing spots, they require the fishing rod to use and are found by looking for a sparkling area near a bottomless pit. Here, you can deploy your fishing rod and catch a fish – which often will net you a temporary stat boost.

absolutely a few areas where I personally felt that it could be improved. For example, some of the platform challenges felt just a little bit cheap – like they were deliberately difficult. This was especially true for me in the Lost City level. Also, some of the puzzles required an extra bit of thought and skill, which then slowed down progress in the game.

The presentation in the game is very admirable, playing homage to the classic 8-bit era of gaming. You can tell that it takes visual cues from games like Mega Man and Ducktails, one of the characters in the game even joking about the fact the developers used a limited colour pallet to stay true to the retro style graphics that are present.

The main addition to the PlayStation version of Shovel Knight is the exclusive boss fight against Kratos from the God of War series. Unlocking the boss fight is easy enough to do, and unfortunately the same can be said for beating him. It’s not a difficult fight and not quite as epic as I’d have hoped – however the unlock that you get for defeating him is pretty cool, so watch out for that if you meet and defeat him yourself.

The soundtrack is one of the standout areas of the game, playing host to a chiptune style sound. All of the tunes were catchy, fun, and lasted long enough to not get repetitive. They did an amazing job of creating melodies which matched the style and atmosphere of each level, and then increasing the pressure and tension in boss battles by adding a fast paced, devilishly sounding tune.

The thing with Shovel Knight is that it’s almost a perfect game, but there is

Shovel Knight is truly a game that lives up to the hype surrounding it. It’s amazing and frustrating in equal parts, and is absolutely well worth your time if you’re looking to a homage to the days when gaming was fun, simple and all about discovery and platforming. While there are a few small problems that could easily be fixed in a sequel they can easily be looked past, as Shovel Knight is definitely worth digging in to.

Shovel Knight is a wonderful throwback to the days of retro gaming, it's tough as nails platforming sections combined with it's unique and varied boss fights make it a very special game, and the story is also incredibly well done. This is definitely a game worth investing your time and money in to, the hype surrounding it was absolutely necessary and correct.

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4.4

REVIEW DISNEY INFINITY 2.0 MARVEL SUPER HEROES

Reviewed by Paul Murphy Ever since the Vita version of Disney Infinity 2.0 was stealthily announced back at E3 last June, I have avoided the other iterations of the game as much as I can. With a seven year old Marvel-crazy son, you can probably imagine that this has proved quite difficult – compounded further because he has the game on another system and many different Infinity figurines – but avoided it I have. This has been quite a mission in itself, especially given that it arrived on all major gaming systems last September… but not ours.

The original Disney Infinity released on other systems to a positive reception, so I suppose it was inevitable that Disney would ensure that this became a regular release. A large stable of characters and such a diverse range of properties have allowed the studio to refresh the game with a new look and direction – and for the cynical amongst you, even sell a large amount of figurines to those that simply have to catch them all. It’s worked to great effect for Activision with the Skylanders series, and even Nintendo have got in on the act. It’s a nice little earner and particularly effective for them, but less so for unsuspecting parents and gamers.

Disney Infinity 2.0 is the first release for the Vita though, and whilst intended primarily to be a children’s title it is very much a game of two halves.

One part Marvel branded with a maximum of three stories to play through, but only one included, unlike the console versions of the game your story begins in New York with the Spider-Man Play Set thanks to the included character packaged and exclusive to the PS Vita; the symbiote-infused black suit Spider-Man. The game opens with a cut scene which serves to explain the basics of the plot, including the fact that the Green Goblin is planning world domination by invading and conquering via an army of cloned venom symbiotes. After the introduction, you are then thrown into a mission which explains the basics of the game – jumping, swinging and combat mechanics coming into play whilst you chase after Mysterio.

You’ll learn that the X button controls jumping (with a second tap launching you higher), and holding X down will activate a super jump or flight if your character has that ability. You’ll also learn that square controls interactions and picking things up, while circle is your drop/block/dodge and even roll if used with the left stick;

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attacks are executed with triangle, and the triggers are used for aiming/prolonged flight (L) or shooting/throwing (R).

After that first mission you will find yourself deep in New York City, which acts as a central hub to your Playset. Seeking out some of the supporting cast from Spider-Man’s Ultimate adventures – such as White Tiger and Power Man – you will obtain new missions towards the campaign and a final face-off with the Goblin, as well as minor missions to help level up your character. These are typically “go there” and “do that” style missions which are really just there to bulk up the play time, but you are still looking at around 4-5 hours in the story, and that’s without completing many of the 200+ challenges, or “feats”.

As you progress through the campaign however, you will accumulate skill points to apply to your character – allowing for a degree of customisation with their abilities. With a maximum level cap of 20 per character, you can tailor how the character plays somewhat more to your liking, adding additional health, strength or boosting up your characters special move. This is activated via the touch screen, with some being far more effective than others.

Spider-Man’s Play Set is quite an enjoyable romp and really gives you the feeling of being in the adventure, even with the filler missions. As it’s the only Play Set included package it’s also all I will cover here, but we may be reviewing the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy Sets separately. As we are just focusing on the included set though, I have to mention that the only figures that are compatible are those marked as Spider-Man characters; Spider-Man, Nick Fury, Iron Fist, Nova, Venom and the Green Goblin. Cross-over tokens hidden within the hub will allow for Iron Man and the Hulk to feature too, but that’s only eight of the over twenty figurines that can actually be used with this Play Set. The other half of the game is where the “Infinity” mechanic comes into play: The Toy Box. Once you have got the introductions and simplistic tutorials out of the way, what you are left with is essentially a blank canvas upon which to let your imagination flow.

With a impressive variety of objects at your disposal you can create almost anything you can fathom, and fill it with a whole host of Disney related paraphernalia. I’m terrible at this sort of thing, but, I can tell you that some of the community created content that you can download already is very impressive. This mode is where you

As already mentioned, not all of the characters work across all of the sets, so caution is advised when buying your favourites as they may be locked out of the main game.

For those of you that are particular about visuals and frame rates, you may be disappointed. Like I mentioned above, it is noticeable and can be an issue but it is still playable. I should also mention is that this version is single-player only. The custom Infinity base has only two slots, one for Play Sets and Discs, with the other for a single character, with no local or online multiplayer.

can use every character that you can collect, and where you may spend a large portion of your time.

If you have got this far into the review and you are looking at the screens, you’ll probably have noticed that it has taken a bit of a hit visually. With some very washed out textures and character models the game certainly isn’t going to win any awards for visuals, but it is worth noting that these compromises have enabled the full console game to be present. The hub between missions is open world and the approximation of New York looks fantastic – even at this resolution. There are significant frame rate implications when there are a large amount of enemies on the screen however, and the final mission in the Play Set noticeably struggles – but for the most part it’s functional. Despite the limitations that the visuals bring to the table, it still manages to pack a lot of atmosphere and you can really get a feel for the Marvel universe.

If you are looking for reasons not to buy the game, the additional Play Sets and figures are a good starting point. There are two additional stories to play through, which are unlocked through either the Avengers set or the Guardians of the Galaxy set, but these scenarios are essentially already on the cartridge; you have to buy the sets to access them. The additional characters will also cost you a bit, with more than 20 Marvel branded characters to obtain and many “Disney Originals” on top of those that were available for the first title. If you are a collector, or have an obsessive child, be prepared to shell out way more than the base cost of the game.

It’s also essential to point out that despite coming with an exclusive, Black-suited Spider-Man figure, it is the only character you get; whereas the consoles all received Iron Man, Thor and Black Widow in the box.

So, should you pick this up? The problem with releasing this version so much later than the others is that like my son, most people that actually wanted it will already have it. The game has dropped in price for other systems and has already had a successor announced – the news Star Wars branded 3.0- before this version had hit the stores, which kind of negates the impact for this title further. Disney/Sony are relying – or hoping – that people will have waited for this version, or that the prospect of the title on the Vita may well tempt a few parents and die-hard fans to get a system just for this.

If you have waited, or you are looking for a Marvel adventure to get into then you won’t be disappointed, but it’s certainly not “Best on Vita” nor is it without its issues. It is, however, a tremendous amount of fun and if that’s what you are after – either for your child or the child in you – then you should be entertained.

The game features the same voice-over and cast that was present in the console version and is just as effective, including many voices from the current crop of Disney’ Marvel TV shows as well as one Samuel L. Jackson as well. All in all the presentation is very impressive, and I spent a large amount of time just flying through the city with Iron Man, taking it all in. If you get the chance, try it.

Included in the box you will find a specially designed Bluetooth base unit and two extra Toy Box discs which include additional modes for use in the Toy Box. It’s hard not to appreciate the level of detail that has been put into the package. The game even has a manual in the case!

If you can overlook the visual limitations you will find a very enjoyable and long lasting Marvelflavoured experience here. It could get expensive, but Marvel fans - and children - will love it.

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REVIEW TENNIS IN THE FACE

want to do next.

Reviewed by Liam Langan Developer 10tons haven’t been shy when bringing it’s mobile style games to the PlayStation Vita. We’ve had it’s Zuma influenced Sparkle series, the rock tossing (and incredibly weird) King Oddball as well as a top down slaughter fest, Crimsonland. Tennis In The Face sees the developer return to the platform, this time with a game very much in the style of Angry Birds.

There is no multiplayer component to this game, but that certainly doesn’t mean that there’s no competitive value here. Thanks to the addition of online leaderboards, you’ll be able to track your scores for some of the mini games and check where you match up against other players. If getting to the 1 4 7 94.3 MB top of charts to prove your dominance is your thing, then Tennis in the Face certainly caters to you.

Balls aren’t the only tools at your disposal however, as later levels see you throwing cans of Explodz at enemies too. In these cases, instead of launching it in a specific direction you have to work with angles in order to get the right curve on the can to explode in the enemies faces.

The game takes place across eight different stages, which are split into a grid that contains sixteen different squares. Fifteen of these squares are levels, and one of them is either a progress tracker screen or a mini game portal. Mini games include tasks like replaying stages with less amount of balls, and there’s even a stage where you get to beat the actual developers of the games by delivering Tennis to their faces.

If for some reason you are unfamiliar with Angry Birds, that game tasks you attaching birds to a catapult and launching them off structures in order to destroy pigs. Tennis In The Face uses a similar tried and tested formula however you play as a Tennis player who has to serve Tennis balls in order to defeat a series of different types of enemies.

You play as a shamed Tennis star by the name of Pete Pagassi , who has recently been caught in a scandal involving an energy drink named Explodz. As the press gets hold of the scandal, Pagassi starts to go insane from the damage to his career prospects and so he decides that the best way to resolve his problem and find a suitable form of justice is to use his main skill, Tennis – in the face.

The gameplay is very simple, moving the left stick allows you to aim where you want the ball to go, and then the right stick controls the power at which you hit the ball. The aim is to destroy all the enemies on screen using as few balls as you can, though you are limited with how many balls that you have so you’ll need to plot your strategies on beating the level carefully.

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Some of the later levels can be quite challenging, and you’ll find yourself having to try a couple of times in order to finish some of them, or jumping out of that particular level and revisiting it at a later time (which the game allows). This actually brings me to a point I liked about this game – it’s not linear, and finishing one level on the grid opens up the levels on the grid close to it, so you get to pick which one you

Tennis in the Face is actually quite a pretty game, the cel-shaded graphics add to the comedic value of the game and really give you a feel for the scenario and slapstick humour of the game. The problem with the presentation however is in regards to the soundtrack, which is generic, bland and very repetitive – so much so that I spent most of my time with my Vita’s volume turned off.

Another major problem with this game is that it’s just too short. Most people will finish the game in an afternoon, especially if you’re naturally good at these types of games. For those who are perfectionists however, finishing every level with the correct amount of leftover balls and cans should keep you busy for an extra couple of hours.

Tennis in the Face is definitely a game that appeals to a more casual audience, however it’s clear that hardcore gamers can also get quite a lot of fun out of it from the right angle. If you’re looking for something quick and easy to play (as well as cheap), this is a game worth picking up.

Tennis In The Face is a great game at a good price, it'll keep you occupied for a few hours - but that's the games main problem, it only takes a couple of hours to complete. Casual gamers will enjoy it but hardcore gamers will be left feeling disappointed.

Presentation

Gameplay

Lasting Appeal

The Vita Lounge

Execution

3.5

REVIEW HOME

experience unqiue, and the game should be commended for having so many story outcomes based on your choices. Certain paths can only be unlocked by finding a particular object and sometimes the search is justified, whereas on other occasion you fell slightly short changed, but it is definitely worth exploring every single area to get the most out of Home.

Reviewed by colinjbyrne Lets get one thing straight. I am a wimp when it comes to gaming. I am allergic to jump scares, and thus actively avoid horror games. Five Nights at Freddys?

Dream on. Slender? On your bike. You see, its the fear of not knowing when exactly I am going to get scared that has led me to fear these titles. Give me a game like SAW any day, at least in that I know what is after me and when.

So when I picked up Home for the first time, and the on screen instructions brightly informed me to turn all the lights off and put headphones in, I politely declined, turned off my Vita and went on my way.

Unfortunately I was only delaying the inevitable, so I made a compromise. I would use headphones, but my light switch was staying firmly in the on position.

So what did I experience in my 90-minute playthrough? Developed by Benjamin Rivers, Home boasts itself as a “Unique Horror Adventure’. The story starts with you awaking in a House that is not your own, with an injured leg and no memory of how you got there. Your only desire is to get Home. But as you further investigate your surroundings, it is quickly apparent that something is a miss, and you are quickly swept up in a murder mystery.

Praise must be first given to the developer, who manages to create a atmospheric and ominous world with a simplistic pixelated art style. Playing with headphones in is definitely the best way to experience Home, with every creak, bump and unknown sound magnificently timed to make you jump at the smallest of noises. The sound of a rusty door opening, a piercing cat meow or an almost inaudible floorboard creak all added to the tension, and by the end I really was on the edge of my seat.

You are equipped with just a flashlight, which casts a circle of light on your immediate vicinity, the rest of the world is shrouded in darkness. As I walked through

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1

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an area, I felt an immense sense of dread, as I feared what I might find in the gloom.

With such a limited visibility radius, you really do feel claustrophobic and a sense of being trapped. By the end, the tension almost became too much and I dreaded to see what awaited me at my final destination.

Home is indeed a unique experience, in the fact that you the player ultimately decide how the story progresses. As you make your way through each environment, you will interact with a host of different objects.

There are no voices in Home, your thoughts are relayed via a text screen, which will appear whenever you interact with an object. You can choose throughout whether to take certain objects, or ignore them. Your choices open up different story elements, and all lead to your own story conclusion.

Of course I am the sort of person who has to pick up everything he finds when exploring a game world, though as I delved deeper into the story, I did start to question some of my previous choices.

At certain points I even fully regretted taking certain objects, as they potentially incriminated me. This really does make the

But what does it all mean? That was what I was left asking myself once my playthrough was complete. What had happened? Why had it happened? In the end, ultimately it is up to you to decide the outcome. It really is a choose your own adventure, and although I did like this idea, it did leave me feeling slightly cold. You do get the sense that perhaps more could have been done to help players reach a better conclusion. I was so invested in what I was discovering, I felt I deserved a better explanation. I was left wanting more, and I straight away started a second play through to see what other choices would mean to my outcome.

As you might expect, Home indeed feels right at Home on the PS Vita. The game runs smoothly, sounds great and just fits nicely onto everybody’s favourite handheld.

Movement with the joystick, and interacting with objects using Triangle all worked extremely well, and you can’t help but feel that the PS Vita is the best place to play it.

With Home, the more you give, the more you will get from it. It has a compelling story, which will have you questioning everything right up to the final credits.

It is a psychological horror that really gets under your skin. Things don’t make sense, and by the end you will be left scratching your head as to whether you are satisfied or not. Regardless of the less than satisfying conclusion (which you the player choose!) I really was hooked, with the suspense and tension gripping me right to the end. Home expects you to use your imagination at times, and this will make everybody’s play through unique. It is a short experience, but a memorable one which will keep you coming back for more. Maybe I’ll consider turning those lights off during my next playthrough…

Home showcases a haunting atmosphere, with a compelling story that will leave you with more questions that when you started. But thats not such a bad thing when the journey is so gripping.

Presentation

Gameplay

Lasting Appeal

The Vita Lounge

Execution

3.9

REVIEW TITAN SOULS

Reviewed by Paul Murphy 7

8

12

instantly sets about removing your threat, you simultaneously trying to determine what you need to know and do at the same time. You’ll need to carefully assess your situation, but standing still isn’t going to do you any favours either as it will ultimately result in your death (and a bit of a trek back to do it all again).

594 MB

I’m not the best gamer in the world.

Usually this isn’t an issue, because games typically have difficulty settings and often a generous health allowance to allow you to complete the task at hand.

Titan Souls, however, doesn’t. This caused me quite a problem because as a result I died… a lot. And to enjoy Titan Souls it’s something you’ll have to get used to, because thankfully for me it’s not just limited to my gaming ability; everyone I have spoken to about the game also died many times over.

The reason for this is that if your hero receives a blow of any kind will instantly kill you, but thankfully this mechanic is also applied to the bosses that you will face in the game. Their version of the mechanic comes with a cunning twist however; you will have to determine their weakness first.

It’s not as straightforward as you might think, and compounded further by the fact you only have one weapon – a solitary arrow – and you are going to have to play very tactically to overcome the odds.

Titan Souls doesn’t present you with an awful lot of information. You are thrown straight into a pixilated top-down world – very reminiscent of the original Zelda games on the NES – and left to work it out yourself. The world is barren and devoid of any of the filler material or enemies that games in a similar vein contain; it’s just you, your arrow, and your senses as you traverse the empty, ruinous landscape in search of the titans.

This is where the main strength of the game comes into play. If you have ever wanted to play a game where you faced off against an increasing assortment of challenging boss fights, then this is certainly for you as walking into a new area usually means a titan encounter. The game doesn’t aid you in any way – you’ll get some ancient text scroll into view as the boss

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Many of the fiends have glaringly obvious weaknesses, and as mentioned already a successful blow will result in their instant demise – but this is where it gets tricky.

Sometimes you have a minuscule window of opportunity to get the shot off before you are hampered by the hazards in play such as bubbles, fists, or even an electrical current in a pool of water. One early boss will use his icy breath to push you away and into danger, so needless to say patience for the right moment to attack is crucial. It is incredibly satisfying when you do succeed however, with the game awash of light and explosions as the enemy falls at your feet… an empty carcass belying the trouble you probably had to go through to get to that point.

The game has a very simple control scheme with only two buttons used, one for rolling – or running if held – and one to launch your arrow. The same button is also used to recall you arrow should you need, however caution must be applied as you will be unable to move and extremely vulnerable at this time. You can just collect it by walking over it, so this may be of more use to you at times, but when summoned back the arrow can be just as lethal as it was when you launched it so that’s something to think about as well.

Developed by AcidNerve, this three man team from Manchester have created a game which carries off the ancient and abandoned look quite well. Your character is tiny and the game adopts a very withdrawn view of your surroundings, but once you start facing off against some of the more monstrous behemoths you soon see why. Some of these enemies have had a great deal of thought put into their look and design and Acid Nerve have to be applauded for that. The lack of any real interaction outside of the encounters does add to the empty nature of the world,

but that is kind of the point. If you are not a fan of the pixel-art look or retro inspired graphics, then this isn’t going to be the game to win you over – however I will say that the graphics are very artfully and pleasantly done for their style. The audio in the game is fabulous as well, the eerie tunes and effects all cheep in very effectively to add to the atmosphere. Make no mistake, despite the minimalistic approach, the game is very polished.

It’s also very challenging. Well I say challenging, but that word could just as easily be substituted with frustrating. Your skill level and reactions will be tested, and as already mentioned with regards the number of deaths you will accumulate it will predominantly be your patience that is pushed to the limit – meaning only you can say how much fun this will ultimately make the experience. This leads me to the biggest drawback (or possibility for one) of the game; you may find yourself stuck on a particular fight for many deaths before finally succeeding, and the manner of victory in the end might actually have been down to a lucky shot.

Successfully besting the twenty-odd titans will reward you with a new game + mode and allow new mechanics to come into play – such as no rolling, or iron mode. The game also comes with cross-buy, cross-save, and a platinum trophy along with a pretty inventive and challenging trophy set – so aside from the difficulty, the game will last you quite a long time that’s for sure. The problem is that much of that will be down to repeated encounters with the same boss, and only you can say how long you can put up with that. For myself, it wasn’t very long before it beat me – but that’s just me.

With some fantastic enemies and well thought out puzzling gameplay you will find a very challenging and satisfying game here, but there may well come a point where that challenge transfers into frustration and rage, and outside of the boss encounters the game really doesn't offer much else.

Presentation

Gameplay

Lasting Appeal

The Vita Lounge

Execution

3.5

REVIEW HTOL#NIQ: THE FIREFLY DIARY

Reviewed by Brad Gruetzmacher 6

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Mion wakes up alone in a grim and brutal world. She’s a small girl with big, adorable eyes and two branch-like horns growing from her head. Her memory is gone and the only companion she has is a bright green firefly named Lumen.

The world around her is dark, dirty and full of shadows. Hiding in those shadows is another guide for Mion: Umbra. With the help of these two whisps, Mion must navigate around the deadly obstacles of this strange world and try to remember her past.

htoL#NiQ: The Firefly Diary starts off as a mixture of fiercely dark and overly cute.

Pronounced Hotaru no Nikki (and which I will just call The Firefly Diary) the game’s unusual title is a portend of things to come.

Normally a game with an unpronounceable title and oddly assorted characters would scare me off. Yet after spending several weeks with The Firefly Diary, it seems strangely fitting. It perfectly describes a confusing, beautiful experience that is equal parts frustration and joy. However, it is all very morbid.

The Firefly Diary is a 2D puzzle/platformer where you control a colorful flying sprite named Lumen and wherever it flies, the little girl will follow. Aside from a few basic tasks, such as sitting or pushing an object, Mion by herself doesn’t do much. It’s up to you to figure out how to navigate Mion through this world without dying while using objects in the environment to beat down the bad guys.

But die you will. A lot. Over and over. And each time you do, you see Mion’s crumpled body collapse. It’s not pleasant, and due the brutal nature of a number of areas in the game, you see her die quite often.

Many of the puzzles in the game aren’t complicated so much as they are a matter of precise timing. Most of the challenge in The Firefly Diary comes from the fact that to avoid death you need to be near flawless

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in where you put Lumen. If you waiver even slightly from the perfect path, Mion will die. This seriously increases the frustration levels at time as you attempt the same section over and over again until not a single mistake has been made.

Adding to the challenge is the world of shadows, which you can switch to and use the sprite Umbra to interact with select objects. Sometimes a monster will need to be stunned, and Umbra can do it. If a switch needs to be pulled or a button pushed, it’s usually up to Umbra to get it done. This magical creature only exists in shadows and therefore can only navigate where a shadow has been cast. Timing again becomes key because you’ll have to wait until the exact moment when the shadow align perfectly to provide a path for Umbra.

I have to admit that I found this combination of light and shadow very interesting. I also thoroughly enjoyed most of it. There are times when things get extremely frustrating because of the level of accuracy needs to be so spot on, but there’s something extremely charming in The Firefly Diary. Guiding little Mion through this dangerous world feels fulfilling and collecting the memory fragments that are spread throughout the game help to flesh out the girl’s grim history.

The game offers several different control options. You can either go all touchscreen and use your finger to tell Lumen where to go and thus guide Mion. Or you can change it and use the sticks to accomplish the same task. Personally, with few exceptions, I found it much easier to use the physical controls. The rear touchpad is used to control Umbra, which can be tricky, or there’s the option to to press Triangle which freezes time and places you in the shadow world.

The controls do feel very sluggish most of the time and moving Mion around is half the challenge. It feel like you’re trying to turn the Titanic: you tell it what to do and eventually it happens. It’s just not very fast or responsive. The good news is that this sluggishness is consistent throughout the

whole game and easy to adapt to.

Something I had a hard time adapting to though was the stuttery way in which Mion moves throughout the game. Her animation movement is as though the framerate drops to ten frames per second or less. This however is by design and adds to the hand-drawn art style that heavily inspires the game. I just feel as though it’s not a good decision and the jittery/jumpy feel never gets very comfortable.

The art however is very beautiful, even if it is dark and terrifying. The game relies heavily on the brown and black color palette and rarely deviates. During the memory fragment areas, things turn retro and lighten up a bit, but it doesn’t last long.

The music is equally as haunting and grim.

The atmosphere of the game is full of quiet yet pulsing audio. It’s a foreboding world and this is brought through very well in the game’s sound design.

htoL#NiQ: The Firefly Diary is not a happy or pleasant experience.

It presents to you a world filled with implementations of death and quite often the crumpled up corpses of other victims.

Everything is trying to kill you and quite often it does. This provocative work of art succeeds in extracting an emotional response from the player, usually terror or disgust. It creates this horrible place so well that it often becomes uncomfortable to play.

It’s hard to say that The Firefly Diary is an enjoyable game, but it does provide a uniquely emotional experience that is seldom found elsewhere.

htoL#NiQ: The Firefly diary is a grim and morbid game.

The challenge of safely leading little Mion through the world can be overwrought with frustration at times, but the terrifying world is so brilliantly crafted that it's easy to forgive the flaws. The slow staccato of the animation is unsettling and the controls take some getting used to. In all, htoL#NiQ is a decent platformer that is wrapped in a truly beautiful and terrifying experience.

Presentation

Gameplay

Lasting Appeal

The Vita Lounge

Execution

3.1

SEVERED Still our most anticipated title, we should see the latest Vita game from Guacamelee! developers DrinkBox Studios this summer. With touch mechanics to unleash offensive and defensive mechanics (and lopping of enemy body parts), this adventure from a "fully stylised twisted reality" is one to look out for. Check out our interview this issue with the studio!

NOT A HERO This has just released on PC and we are both incredibly jealous and more excited than ever. Coming to you from Bafta-award winning developers Roll 7 and featuring some clever mechanics and humour thrown into a 2.5D side scrolling cover shooter, you serve as the anthropomorphic rabbit/mayoral candidate BunnyLord - rather violently cleaning up the city during the course of your election campaign. Vote Bunnylord!

DANGANRONPA: ANOTHER EPISODE: ULTRA DESPAIR GIRLS Filling the gaps between the two existing Danganronpa titles - Trigger Happy Havoc and Goodbye Despair - you are put in the shoes of Komaru Naegi and Toko Fukawa as they attempt to escape a city full of despair. With third person adventure sequences, new riddles, some puzzles, and even some familiar faces to encounter... if you loved the two previous titles this one should most certainly be on your radar.

VOLUME Slated for release this summer, we are really starting to get excited for Thomas Was Alone creator Mike Bithell's newest title. A reimagining of the classic Robin Hood story (and featuring a great voice cast, including the talents of Andy Serkis); if you love stealth games and puzzles, this one will really keep you busy.

PERSONA 4: DANCING ALL NIGHT A rhythmic spin-off of Persona 4, this new title is set some time after the events of Inaba and begins with the Investigation Team reforming to investigate a series of local disappearances. With over 30 tracks - many remixed from the original title - fans of rhythm titles and/or the Persona series will no doubt be entertained.

WANT TO KNOW IF THE SHOULD BE GETTING EXC UPCOMING VITA LINE UP? WANTED VITA TITLES WH THIS YEAR! DO YOU AGR

ERE IS ANYTHING YOU CITED ABOUT FROM THE WE TELL YOU OUR MOST HICH WILL BE OUT LATER REE WITH OUR CHOICES?

RESIDENT EVIL REVELATIONS 2 We know that this episodic survival horror title has released on other systems already, and all we have is a "summer" window for our Frima Studio port - but we're still quite excited for it.

Set between Resident Evil 5 and 6, the game features Claire Redfield as the main protagonist; and this time around you can be sure to expect a decent story to go with the zombies and horror.

STEINS; GATE It will already be out by the time you read this, bur anticipation for this visual novel has really gone up a level. When a group of friends from Akihabara discover a way of sending messages into the past, they are dragged into a world of conspiracy where one choice can change the course of history.

BASTION For many gamers the first experience of the genius that is Supergiant Games may have been Transistor, but their first title was actually the Action/RPG title Bastion - which launched to critical acclaim back in 2011. We are very excited for this Vita port, which features some great visuals, gameplay, and a fantastic story.

J-STARS VICTORY VS PLUS Also out this month, this epic battle game features anime and manga characters from all over the spectrum, as well as a story mode which sees you battling through each character's pre-fabricated universes. With 2-vs-2 battles and an exclusive arcade mode, you have three ways to kick some Japanese class across the Dragonball Z, One Piece, and Bleach spectrums - to name a few.

MIGHTY NUMBER 9 Sigh; we know the Vita version won't be releasing at the same time as it's PlayStation siblings, but this "spiritual successor" to Mega Man is still exciting us. Coming from legendary prouder Kenji Inafune and bringing in almost $4 million in Kickstarter revenue, you play as Beck; the ninth in a series of "Mighty" units and his mission is to discover and defeat the villain threatening the fate of the planet.

After a violent yet strangely polite squabble between ourselves, we at Punk and Lizard have come up with a list of Vita games from the last year that deserve a special mention. These are games that have made us over-boil our potatoes, lose friends, slam doors, skip dinners, take sick days and hug random lampposts. This is by no means a definitive list as there have been so many spectacular games in the last twelve months we had to close our eyes and play pin the tail on the best.

HOTLINE MIAMI 2: WRONG NUMBER

The first one took a baseball bat to the back of our skulls and floored us so much that both Punk and Lizard bagged the platinum. The second one shot us through the eye-socket and left us begging for both more and no more. Equal to its predecessor but with bigger layouts, more enemies and added death, Hotline 2 is monster hard and deliciously bloody.

“SEQUEL OR NOT, IT’S STILL THE MOST ADDICTIVE BLOODBATH IN TOWN” 9/10

DON’T DIE, MR ROBOT

You’d be bananas not to love this one.

Save your little robot by zooming about dodging nasties and exploding fruit in their smug little faces.

Cheerful arcade fun with fruit. One warning, though: may cause severe distraction. Our editor had a run in with a wheelie bin while collecting a plum.

Not to be played on the move!

“DON’T DIE, MR ROBOT IS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL. IN FACT, YOUR VITA WILL DIE WITHOUT IT. YOU DON’T WANT YOUR VITA TO DIE, DO YOU?” 8/10

DANGANRONPA 2: Never before have we been so charmed by a GOODBYE DESPAIR murderous, unhinged, psychotic teddy bear.

His schoolmates are dropping dead one by one and Hajime Hinata needs to suss out and unveil the murderer in a class trial or face his own execution.

Bizarre, barmy and bang on the best teddy bear whodunit you’ll ever play.

“YOUR CLASSMATES CERTAINLY ARE AN ODD BUNCH. SOME OF THEM YOU’LL WANT TO SLAP, ONE OR TWO NEED SECTIONING, AND THERE’S AT LEAST ONE YOU DEARLY HOPE WILL SNUFF IT FIRST” 8/10

FLAME OVER

We were just burning to play this one and it didn’t disappoint. Put out some fires, save some peeps, don’t get burned to a crisp. Sounds easy, but Punk ran his Vita battery flat and wore his thumb down to a shiny nub. Tough enough to challenge any hardened gamer, buying this game should be of cardinal importance.

“IF YOU LOOK AT FLAME OVER AND SEE A CUTESY LITTLE GAME ABOUT PUTTING OUT FIRES THEN YOU’VE FAILED TO SEE THE INTRICACIES AND THE SUBTLETIES ON SHOW IN THE GAMEPLAY. THIS IS SPELUNKY DOUSED IN GASOLINE” 9/10

Race a solar-powered geometric craft across a randomly generated geometric landscape before the sun sets. Sounds quietly average, but we were stunned by this little endless runner from developer Flippfly. Don’t fret too much about the sun setting; you’re much more likely to smack your craft into a windmill long before your solar engine becomes an issue. Expect a cataclysmic death every few minutes and expect to love it.

RACE THE SUN

“PROOF THAT YOU DON’T NEED NEXT GEN GRAPHICS FOR AN ADDICTIVE EXPERIENCE” 9/10

FINAL HORIZON

STICK IT TO THE MAN Taking a brief respite from our Recently Enjoyed

“BRACE YOUR TOWERS AND BRACE YOURSELF – THE SWARM ARE COMING” 9/10

“IMAGINE A DARK LITTLEBIGPLANET WITH A LITTLE ROALD DAHL THROWN IN.” 9/10

Although he turns as red as a sunburned tomato dipped in a pot of red paint if anyone dares to mention it, our very own Lizard was the first person in the known universe to platinum this one. We all went crazy for tower defence game Final Horizon.

Fast, strategic and unrelenting. Put away your rolled-up newspaper and battle evil mechanical insects with just your Vita and some handy lasers.

DISGAEA 4: A We’re a slightly strange bunch here at Punk and PROMISE REVISITED Lizard and we enjoy slightly strange games.

Disgaea 4 and its sardine-loving vampire and penguin groupies ticks all of our oddly shaped boxes.

This Japanese turn-based strategy RPG is hilarious, challenging and beautifully weird. From Valvatorez’s fishy battle cry to the flawless cartoon-style graphics, if you’re into SRPGs you can’t fail with the Disgaea series.

Awesomeness and whisking you all back to Less Recently Enjoyed Awesomeness, 2013 saw the release of hilarious platformer Stick it to the Man. The 2013 release on the PS Vita reminded us exactly how much we loved Ray and his mind-reading spaghetti arm. Comical cartoon graphics and enough laughs to tickle a grumpy crocodile, Ripstone and Zoink Games really stuck it to us.

CRIMSONLAND

Another brilliant carnage-filled shooter.

Spider-phobes beware, because those crawling nightmares are scuttling over your screen and close to spilling all over your twin sticks. Tight graphics and beautifully retro gameplay, Crimsonland is fast, furious and challenging.

“IF I EVER GET INTO A FIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF TESCO, I WILL BE SURE TO SHOUT ‘SARDINES!’ BEFORE I SWING MY CRUSTY BAGUETTE” 9/10

“WHEN A LEVEL IS CALLED BEETLEMANIA DON’T THINK YOU’RE GOING TO BE SAT IN A CIRCLE SINGING YELLOW SUBMARINE” 8.5/10

Who doesn’t love turn-based strategy? Okay probably a few of you, but we love them. Frozen Synapse Prime is an incredibly intricate science fiction strategy game by Double Eleven. Lead a rebel faction to overthrow a powerful corporation. Fight, hack, sneak, play alone or challenge friends. We battled it out with The Vita Lounge and I’m positive we utterly crushed them.

Unfortunately we don’t have enough page space to mention any more awesomeness. Oh how we wish we did, but The Vita Lounge said ten games only and absolutely and strictly no more. *cough*

FROZEN SYNAPSE PRIME

“FROZEN SYNAPSE PRIME ONLY REINFORCES THAT DOUBLE ELEVEN ARE A HUGELY CLASSY OUTFIT WORKING WITH STUNNING GAMES. THEY ARE WHAT THE VITA DESERVE” 9/10

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LaMulanaExAxiomVergeTitanSoulsElement4l PoltergeistOlliOlli2RetroCityRampageDXNidhogg *cough* Who said that?

PUNK AND LIZARD IS A PS4 AND PS VITA NEWS AND REVIEWS SITE THAT ALSO BRINGS A FRESH TWIST ON INDIE NEWS AND TROPHY TALK. DESCRIBED BY PAUL MURPHY, OWNER OF TVL, AS "THE VITA SITE THAT HE GOES TO", PUNK AND LIZARD IS BASED IN LONDON, ENGLAND. WWW.PUNKANDLIZARD.COM

TWITTER USER @ASTROCORB HAS A GREAT CITY, AND HERE ARE A FEW SHOTS.

ELI SAHARAN PROUDLY SENT US A LOT OF SCREENS!

STHEMBISO SIBISI'S PETROL STATION

Have you got any Minecraft masterpieces? Any buildings, cities, art or anything that you want to show off? Take a Vita screenshot of your creation and email it with a description to magazine@thevitalounge.net

The Vita Lounge Magazine | 45

CHECK OUT MRPSVITAREVIEWS ON YOUTUBE TO WATCH HIS SWORD ART ONLINE: LOST SONG GAMEPLAYS

Hey everyone MrPSVITAREVIEWS here - if you know who I am great but for those who may not. I'm a PlayStation Vita YouTuber that covers well the Vita and that's it. I record videos of gameplay, I do Let's Play videos, giveaways, and anything I can if it involves our Vita. I've been doing this for over three years now and have as of writing a total of 7,500+ subscribers and I've had a blast doing it. The Vita doesn't get that much love besides from the die hard fans like yourselves, The Vita Lounge guys, and the select few YouTubers out there. Even though it doesn't get that much love I know theres an audience that just loves it as much as I do, and seeing TVL bring a Vita magazine to our fingertips just makes me so happy. Being able to be in it is a whole other thing! I never imagined being in this especially for my little YouTube channel, but here I am and I hope I don't disappoint!

I figured what would be a cool thing to do for my portion of the magazine would be to have you guys ask me questions and in turn I'll do my best to answer them - so I did just that and you guys didn't disappoint! Let's get right into it shall we!

MrSlime246 via YouTube Why do you think more people should buy a PS Vita?

Well MrSlime246 I'm a huge Vita fan and it baffles my mind why more people don't own one. It has a massive library of games that I myself am having a hard time playing through all of them. It also has Netflix/Hulu, you can play your PS4 games via Remote Play, and tons more that I don't see why everyone doesn't have one.

Douglas Lloyd via YouTube Do you think sony will have something other than indie games made for the vita?

Yes! We're getting Resident Evil Revalations 2 soon and we just got Disney Infinity 2.0. Also Japan is a power house of games as of late if you haven't looked lately you should see what's coming from there.

GreenPiggies 321 via YouTube What is your favorite vita game of all time?

Good guestion! Also a very hard one to answer. I've got a lot of favorite Vita games. My top 5 would be Persona 4 Golden, Tearaway, Killzone: Mercenary, Freedom Wars, and Gravity Rush.

xtemma via YouTube What's your favorite games developer? (The one that you feel like have been making games just for you.)

Oh man! That's tough, but I think that SCE Studio Japan have really been the guys and gals to deliver the most in quantity and quality of games. Two of my all time favorite games have come from them infact!

Lorenzo Samaniego @ZoSamaniego via Twitter How has the PSVita impacted your gaming and personal life?

Well a lot actually. I pretty much game exlusively on the system. Every once in awhile I'll jump on PS4 or my 3DS but I love that damn thing! As for my personal life well I know I've upset a past girlfriend since I played it way to much and well now she's an EX hahaha :P

Thank you everyone so much for all the questions I'm sorry I couldn't get all of them. You guys are the best and with the continued support of my channel, the Vita, and the people behind projects such as this magazine you never know what the future can hold for our favorite little handheld!

46 | The Vita Lounge Magazine

/mrpsvitareviews /mrpsvitareviews /mrpsvitareviews

DIRECTORY THE BEST 2015 VITA GAMES SO FAR

4.9

3.0 GB 2 7

38

4.6

OLLIOLLI 2: WELCOME TO OLLIWOOD

KICK & FENNICK

4.6

4.6

436 MB 6 8

12

3.2 GB 2 11

36

26

2.8 GB 6 3

4.5

38

4.3

4.6

2.9 GB 4 10

26

HOTLINE MIAMI 2: WRONG NUMBER

808 MB 1 1

13

4.6

403 MB 8 6

14

465 MB 6 3

28

2.5 GB 5 16

15

SHOVEL KNIGHT

771 MB 5 10

20

642 MB 2 1

4.4 HELLDIVERS

JOE DANGER 2: THE MOVIE

ORESHIKA: TAINTED BLOODLINES

4.3

3.7 GB 2 16

FLAME OVER

TOUKIDEN: KIWAMI

4.5

ATELIER AYESHA PLUS: THE ALCHEMIST OF DUSK

BROKEN AGE

GRIM FANDANGO REMASTERED

11

4.3

The Vita Lounge Magazine | 47

The love for the Vita that some of our fans has is incredible, but the belief in us and this magazine that the following readers have shown is truly incredible. Thank you for your support guys! If you see them on your online adventures, please say hello!

Patrick Albrecht

@albrechtpatr I'm loving Japanese games since I've had a PS Vita. Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment or Phantasy Star Nova are my most favourite.

Tom Grinnell

TomNinetyTwo @ TomNinetyTwo Favourite Vita games: Unit 13, Toukiden, Killzone Mercenary Playing this month Borderlands 2

Lorenzo Samaniego

@ZoSamaniego I have been an avid Vita supporter since the slim version was launched. The main reason I love my Vita is because of its versatility.

Great Vita games, access to PSOne Classics, and Remote Play make it a beautiful trifecta! My favorite games include Freedom Wars, Velocity 2X, and P4G.

Carl Jennings

almighty-slayer @PooWithEyes My favourite Vita games are Tearaway, Velocity 2X and Gravity Rush. I'm trying to get back into Persona 4 Golden but always get distracted.

Curtis

While not as passionate or devoted a fan as some, I'm nonetheless very fond of my Vita. I am in desperate need of a life, a haircut and more SRPGs to feed my crippling addiction - an addiction the Vita feeds quite nicely with access to older games and the new. Since it's on the smaller side, I feel right at home as a part of the community too. The Vita has everything I like in gaming and lacks most of the things I find irksome - if you ignore the community outrage after every Sony press conference, that is

Gary Huss

@hussnothuff I've been gaming since the NES and I've owned many consoles, but the Vita is really the only handheld that I've truly gotten into. I have a PS3 and PS4, but the Vita gets most of my attention these days. A few of my long list of favorite games are Danganronpa 1&2, KZ Mercenary, Freedom Wars, Dragon's Crown, and Shovel Knight. As long as the Vita keeps getting the localizations and indies, I'll be happy.

Liam Allen-Miller

@2BFLiam or SuperBestFriendsPlay.com I'm Liam from Super Best Friends Play, and I've been a huge fan of the Vita since day one. I love handheld games, and Vita is the absolute cream of the crop. My favourite Vita games are Freedom Wars and Danganronpa!

Thulsa790

Thulsa790 @Thulsa790 A Vita owner since launch it quickly became my favourite console of all time, everything about it is perfect to me. For the first time I want to own every game that comes out for it, I'm going for a full English language set which I can pass on to my son when he's a bit older.

Top 5 - One Piece PW 2, SAO Lost Song, Ys Memories of Celceta, Don't Starve, Neptunia Rebirth 1

Kody Storm

@Updated8Seconds youtube.com/Updated8SecondsAgo (Youtube Commentator) Featuring PS Vita, PS4 & PC Games.

Home Of The Series One Night Stand.

Jens Brinkmann ite! ebs t! w s he ut t podca o k l! e c Che n to th forum! channe e List on the outube t Pos h our Y c Wat ge

n Lou a t i e eV ung /Th o L a eVit h y T / ePla g n u /Lo

*All content subject to change

Jens Brinkmann generously pledged to appear here but we could not get in touch with him to fill this section. Thanks for your generous support Jens!

Also, a big thanks for all you who supported us and made this second issue possible!

Daniel Crane, Kevin Espinoza, Kyle Hanson, Juha Luoma, Wilson, Cliff Johnson, Andrew Brewer, Chris Boers, Stephen Guy, Will Hernandez, Adam Klarich, Lei Zhang, Todd, Benjamin Kolz, Joe Hutchings, Danny Silvester, Shabbir, Bradley van der Avort, DeathMoJo, Matt Amato, Kelvin Bombach, Daniel Skantz, Juan, Rick SalasVelasquez, Jacobo Montero, Erick Ocampo, Tom Little, Parth Bagaria, Gabe Jackson, Christopher Downey, Steven Bryan, Richard Fernandes, Devin Hudson, Ricardo Benitez, Nicholas Cory, GadgetGirlKylie, Tim G, Lars Thormeyer, Ashley Barrett, Jonathan Crosbie, Brian Goycochea, Daniel Hinchcliffe, John Brownsill, Andreas Stiller, Jan-Hendrik Kรถbel, Carl Jones, Brian Trieu, Docjus, Steffen Danielsen, Britta Stabenow, Shelley Hollis, Neil Chatterjee.