@F7ovrdrv
If you miss Nintendo’s forgotten Advance Wars franchise and love a fantasy setting like Fire Emblem, boy does developer Chucklefish have a game for you (p.s. ARMS is garbage and if I could, I’d sacrifice it to resurrect AW, but I digress…). Wargroove is the latest addition to the Switch’s already formidable strategy game lineup. The story is typical fantasy fare: You’re a newly crowned queen that has to defend her land against evil forces, etc. You get it. While the plot isn’t groundbreaking, it is helped by its graphics.
The campaign cinematics are all told with the in-game engine. The impressive pixel art makes for some great little moments. The animations and art directions are littered with small details that really bring the world to life. It might be the start of the year still, but I suspect this game will be one of the best looking 2D games of this year. The “cute” aesthetic often hides a brutal AI though… Do not let the bright, happy art direction fool you; the AI in this game can be brutal. It will bait you, surround you, send the appropriate type of troop to counteract yours, and even make you give chase and really make you hunt that last enemy unit down. While great AI should never be something to complain about, I will warn you that it causes some matches to run for a while. Keep that in mind if you think you can just knock out a quick battle in a waiting room.
I admittedly don’t have a lot of experience with puzzle mode (basically tough challenges) and the map editor, which I’ve heard is incredibly robust (you can even create your own campaign, with cutscenes and all). Multiplayer is fantastic, giving you crossplay with PC and Xbox One players. There’s no PS4 crossplay because, well.. Sony is Sony. You can share edited maps, play co-op, and of course pvp. Arcade mode has you select a commander from the campaign (each has a distinct ability) and has you go through five battles. These battles are shorter than the campaign missions and take place in smaller maps.
In closing, if you love strategy games or honestly, just love pixel art, check Wargroove out. It has a surprisingly robust, challenging campaign and an insane amount of replay value. 4/5 Battlepups.
If you ever wonder “I wish there was a handheld Armored Core that has a touch of Virtual On“, I have good news: Daemon X Machina looks like it’s going to deliver. If you never had that thought, then the game is still coming out and it’s going to be great. DXM has a distinct visual style that combines the cel shading style with a surprising amount of detail (which you can appreciate when zoomed into mechs and environments).
While the combat and look might remind of you of simpler mech action titles, there’s a lot more depth to it. Like Armored Core, you have to manage memory usage (instead of weight) to make sure you can go, customize your loadout and body parts, but also keep an eye on the damage you take during combat. The more damage you take, the less money you make after repairs; you can’t just mindlessly go into the fray. The last thing that has me excited about this title? Huge boss battles– satisfying. 3.5/5 Bibles.
It releases don’t/know/when/2019.
-Felipe Crespo