Perhaps I could interest you in a video?
So we're going to go ahead and kick this weeks thread off with the game that is the least of a retro-throwback; Radiant: Guardians of Light! It is at least only a retro throwback in that it kind of reminds me of Young Souls, and that came out a few years ago; hardly enough time to consider it "retro". And I loved Young Souls, so I am filled with a residual interest in it as a result.
Anyway, it's a beat-em-up with RPG elements, and I think it's got some gear crafting, hence my assumption it's like Young Souls.
And speaking of things that are banking on my existing enjoyment, that's a fair bit more earned with Turbo Kid, an adaptation of the Canadian/New Zealish indie movie which, I feel pretty confident, everyone who has ever seen has said "Oh, I bet Octo loves this". Even people who have never met me. Well, now it's back, and it's a Dirtbike Metroidvania. A Motovania? Excitetroid?
It's the year "Apocalypse", you're a kid with a cyber-active Mega Man Suit, a BMX bike, a nuclear wasteland and a whole dang army of Mad Max bad guys to explore and explode your way past.
The last Dirtbike Metroidvania I played I couldn't really progress in because I found the controls really uncomfortable to use so I have much higher hopes for this one.
Rather further down the list of things I am interested in for is The Edge of Allegoria, a game where the trailer alone had me go "Oh, there's something here..." and "oh friggin' come on..." over and over in rapid succession. At first blush it looks like the original Pokemon games, BUT HOLD ON BUCKO, because characters swear cusses and there's pixel-art exposed bosoms. And the eShop description seems to think that the most fundamental RPG conventions is something unique.
Like I said, I did say "Oh now hold on here... go on" a fair few times watching the trailer so maybe it's just really bad at selling itself?
Moving on to full-on remakes, we've got a game that's such a remake, it's got the word "Remake" right in the title; The House of the Dead 2: Remake which is a remake of House of the Dead 2 and is from the same peeps as what made the House of the Dead Remake. Which, as is often the case with Forever Entertainment games, was a mess at launch, then got patched enough that it eventually became Just Fine. There's no indication whether or not it has motion controls this time, but I have to assume so. I'll assume that Mouse Controls with the Switch 2 is outside the realm of possibility.
What's interesting is that, based on the trailer, they re-recorded all the dialogue and the VA is precisely as ridiculous as before while being completely different performances. That's the kind of attention to detail I encourage in a proper remake.
The other prominent remake this week is Fate: Hollow Ataraxia, a gussied up re-release of one of the earlier Fate games. It's a text-em-up with no other kind of gameplay attached to it, and that's not a genre that's in my particular wheelhouse, but I know the series has quite a few fans who are pretty darn deep in the weeds with their affection so I would be remiss if I dind't bring it up.
Now we're on to the Old Game Re-Release section and we're starting off with... hoo boy...
Okay, so... we have another one of those NES/Famicom releases in the Jalecollection, which offers not only both versions of the game, but also gives a more authentic localization of the Japanese version, in addition to the usual cluster of options you've come to expect from retro re-releases like Savestates and achievements and whatnot. In this case, you might want to... just stick with the Japanese version, as we have Saiyukki World 2/Whomp'em. The former is a loose adaptation of Journey to the West, you're the Monkey King, you've got a bunch of thematic levels to Mega Man your way through. It's a good time. The NES said "That's fine and all, but what we *really* need is some pretty broad Native American stereotypes all over the place".
Still takes place in Medieval Fantasy China, mind.
Speaking of retro re-releases that really go beyond what is required of them, we've got a brand new M2 release and, true to form, they went *kinda nuts* with it; we've got Gradius Origins, which offers no fewer than 18 variants of all 7 arcade-released Gradius games, including one brand new one; Salamander 3. Also the usual M2 rigamarole of offering a truly ridiculous amount of bonus features that really highlight the nitty gritty of each game.
If that's entirely too much extra content for a retro release and you want to pare things down to the most basic, Egg Console has you covered. This week the game they released but did not bother localizing is Xak Precious Package: The Tower of Gazzel. It's an Action RPG and I have absolutely no idea how much being able to read Japanese would help or hinder play since none of the screenshots show anything except Fighting Monsters.
OKAY, GO TO BED
So we're going to go ahead and kick this weeks thread off with the game that is the least of a retro-throwback; Radiant: Guardians of Light! It is at least only a retro throwback in that it kind of reminds me of Young Souls, and that came out a few years ago; hardly enough time to consider it "retro". And I loved Young Souls, so I am filled with a residual interest in it as a result.
Anyway, it's a beat-em-up with RPG elements, and I think it's got some gear crafting, hence my assumption it's like Young Souls.
And speaking of things that are banking on my existing enjoyment, that's a fair bit more earned with Turbo Kid, an adaptation of the Canadian/New Zealish indie movie which, I feel pretty confident, everyone who has ever seen has said "Oh, I bet Octo loves this". Even people who have never met me. Well, now it's back, and it's a Dirtbike Metroidvania. A Motovania? Excitetroid?
It's the year "Apocalypse", you're a kid with a cyber-active Mega Man Suit, a BMX bike, a nuclear wasteland and a whole dang army of Mad Max bad guys to explore and explode your way past.
The last Dirtbike Metroidvania I played I couldn't really progress in because I found the controls really uncomfortable to use so I have much higher hopes for this one.
Rather further down the list of things I am interested in for is The Edge of Allegoria, a game where the trailer alone had me go "Oh, there's something here..." and "oh friggin' come on..." over and over in rapid succession. At first blush it looks like the original Pokemon games, BUT HOLD ON BUCKO, because characters swear cusses and there's pixel-art exposed bosoms. And the eShop description seems to think that the most fundamental RPG conventions is something unique.
Like I said, I did say "Oh now hold on here... go on" a fair few times watching the trailer so maybe it's just really bad at selling itself?
Moving on to full-on remakes, we've got a game that's such a remake, it's got the word "Remake" right in the title; The House of the Dead 2: Remake which is a remake of House of the Dead 2 and is from the same peeps as what made the House of the Dead Remake. Which, as is often the case with Forever Entertainment games, was a mess at launch, then got patched enough that it eventually became Just Fine. There's no indication whether or not it has motion controls this time, but I have to assume so. I'll assume that Mouse Controls with the Switch 2 is outside the realm of possibility.
What's interesting is that, based on the trailer, they re-recorded all the dialogue and the VA is precisely as ridiculous as before while being completely different performances. That's the kind of attention to detail I encourage in a proper remake.
The other prominent remake this week is Fate: Hollow Ataraxia, a gussied up re-release of one of the earlier Fate games. It's a text-em-up with no other kind of gameplay attached to it, and that's not a genre that's in my particular wheelhouse, but I know the series has quite a few fans who are pretty darn deep in the weeds with their affection so I would be remiss if I dind't bring it up.
Now we're on to the Old Game Re-Release section and we're starting off with... hoo boy...
Okay, so... we have another one of those NES/Famicom releases in the Jalecollection, which offers not only both versions of the game, but also gives a more authentic localization of the Japanese version, in addition to the usual cluster of options you've come to expect from retro re-releases like Savestates and achievements and whatnot. In this case, you might want to... just stick with the Japanese version, as we have Saiyukki World 2/Whomp'em. The former is a loose adaptation of Journey to the West, you're the Monkey King, you've got a bunch of thematic levels to Mega Man your way through. It's a good time. The NES said "That's fine and all, but what we *really* need is some pretty broad Native American stereotypes all over the place".
Still takes place in Medieval Fantasy China, mind.
Speaking of retro re-releases that really go beyond what is required of them, we've got a brand new M2 release and, true to form, they went *kinda nuts* with it; we've got Gradius Origins, which offers no fewer than 18 variants of all 7 arcade-released Gradius games, including one brand new one; Salamander 3. Also the usual M2 rigamarole of offering a truly ridiculous amount of bonus features that really highlight the nitty gritty of each game.
If that's entirely too much extra content for a retro release and you want to pare things down to the most basic, Egg Console has you covered. This week the game they released but did not bother localizing is Xak Precious Package: The Tower of Gazzel. It's an Action RPG and I have absolutely no idea how much being able to read Japanese would help or hinder play since none of the screenshots show anything except Fighting Monsters.
