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expertmodegaming · 1 year

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Disney Speedstorm

There’s no shortage of character based arcade racers on the market these days, and equally no deficiency in the gacha game department.

So it was only a matter of time before the house of mouse somehow dipped their toe into one of the more popular trends in gaming today.

The game in question, Disney Speedstorm is the latest collaboration between Disney and Gameloft with their previous venture Dreamlight Valley proving quite lucrative.

There’s no actual story in the game proper, it's all about the fan service baby!

And let me tell you this game has so much of it.

A who's who of Disney Legends

The game currently has a modest roster of 18 racers, with the likes of Baloo and Mowgli from The Jungle Book, as well character from Hercules, Mulan, Beauty and The Beast, Monster Inc., Pirates of The Carribean, and of course Mickey Mouse & Friends!

With plans for season passes on the horizon, you can bet that this roster will be on par the likes of Super Smash Bros.

Characters come 4 different flavors.

The class system is pretty standard with what one would expect in cart racers, You have your Speedster (what they do is in the name) Defenders are your tanky racers who can take a beating, Brawlers for the more agressive racer, and Tricksters for the showboater in your life.

For game that copies homework from other companies, it's okay.

The controls are fine, I haven't explored every racer yet as of this writing, but character like Mickey and Mulan had like your most basic racers in any other cart game.

The occasional difficulty spike isn't a game breaker, but it's frustrating and quite noticable.

The visuals are a mixed bag, I love the character designs for the selection screens, they remind me of the late Disney Infinity.

In game designs and graphics are another story, if you want frame rate drops, we gotcha frame rate drops. Also the dark tones make it hard to appreciate the level designs.

It doesn't fare much better in the audio department either, The tracks unique to the game are unimpressive, but the new arrangements of classic Disney are pretty solid, when you can hear them. The in game audio for the vehicles drowns out most of the game's other sounds.

Disney Speedstorm is free-to-play so in order to keep the lights on, and the microtransactions are in full force here. Thankfully the items on the display are strictly cosmetic so, and any characters that can be bought are available can also be earned through hefty amounts of grinding, but still run on a loot box system.

Disney Speedstorm is definitely Gameloft title, it's pretty okay and if that's enought for you then I highly recommend it.

I give Disney Speedstorm which is availble on all current platforms (in Early Access) a 3 out of 5.

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expertmodegaming · 1 year

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Trophy

During PAX East, I made it a point to check out as many indie booths as possible, as they seem to respect the art of video game creation way more than AAA game developers.

And I got the opportunity to meet with an ambitious indie studio called 8-bit Legit.

They are a studio dedicated to bringing the glory of 8-bit gaming to a new generation. Creating titles inspired by games that the people a part of this brand grew up with.

One such game is Trophy.

In Trophy, you play the titular automaton as he faces a plethora of challenges in a bid to get revenge against your former master, the enigmatic Dr. Q.

I liken Trophy to an aunt attempting my Nana's cooking, it's not quite the same but I love that feeling of nostalgia.

The music, is fast-paced and gets your blood pumping as you attempt (and do mean ATTEMPT) to battle your way through nine brutally challenging levels.

And the game's difficulty is not a slight against the title, but it definitely reminds me that I have NEVER beaten a mainline Mega Man (or X for that matter) game.

Visually it's a mixed bag, while I loved many of the boss designs (The Giant Robo Spider Boss being my personal favorite), I was unimpressed by many of the in level mook enemies, the cutscenes and Trophy himself. The promo art looks amazing for him, but in game he looks like a skinless T-100 from The Terminator franchise.

Trophy is an impressive labor of love from 8-bit Legit, the fact that they put this much effort and polish into this game far surpasses any of the (minimal) complaints that I have.

And at 10 bucks, it is definitely worth giving a look.

I give Trophy for The Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and NES (yes they have physical copies!) a 3 out of 5.

#8 bit legit #nintendo #nintendo switch pro controller #nintendo switch #platform games #megaman #capcom #nes #xbox one #famicom

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expertmodegaming · 1 year

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PAX East 2023 Highlight and Lows

PAX East 23' is a done deal, and is was as always a very big deal. Game studios, publishers, and developers from all over the world brought their "A-Game".

For those who have no idea what I'm talking about what I'm talking about, PAX East is a gaming convention run by the company that produces the web comic Penny Arcade.

PAX stands for Penny Arcade (E)xpo, and is actually the second of its kind, the original is called PAX West.

There were some amazing games on display this weekend, however I didn't get to play many triple A titles, I'm more interested in what smaller developers have on display.

I fell in love with a lot of indie developers, such as The Deep End Games' Romancelvania, one part dating sim and the other is a metroidvania.

Fight for love in this indie adventure.

Developer Passion Republic Games showcased a title that is a love letter to Kaiju/Tokusatsu cinema called GigaBash which introduced Godzilla DLC. Which ironically the gameplay reminded me of a specific Godzilla title, Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee.

Crush some Kaiju

I checked out Yacht Club Games' booth, and I checked out a Legend of Zelda inspired game called Mina the Hollower. A top down action/adventure that is sprinkled with a touch of Brian Jaques' Redwall series.

This mouse means business

I also got to take a look at the upcoming Toxic Crusaders game, which is a name that might only be recognizable to 80's babies like myself, it's a fun time but not quite ready for primetime.

A blast from the past.

Lastly, I tried Gollum, based on the character from The Lord Of The Rings franchise. This one needs a lot more time in the oven. But hopefully it gets all the time that it needs.

This game is not quite precious yet.

It wasn't all work though, I got to play at a couple of parties.

I checked out Discord's and Xset's after parties, great venues, bumping music and lots of energy. Just how PAX should be.

A special shout out to Amy Roberts for the invite

This weekend was lit.

I had a lot of this year at PAX East this year, and I got to see a lot of amazing stuff. I can't wait to see what 2024 has to offer.

#pax east #pax east 2023 #gravity circuit #mina the hollower #gollum game #xset #toxic crusaders #tokusatsu #gigabash #godzilla #romancelvania #lord of the rings #clinton sparks #discord

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expertmodegaming · 1 year

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Potion Permit review

Potion Permit

So back in 2009 (which feels like a lifetime…), not content to simply surf the wave of living a carefree life of sponging off his 2 famous parents; Nick Simmons decided to try his hand creating manga (well it was a comic, but just stay with me.) But here’s the thing, he can’t draw; so, what does he do? trace over an actual artist! He traced over a good number of various panels from the manga Bleach!

So why share this anecdote? Because the game I’m about to discuss feels eerily similar. The game in question is called Potion Permit which is brought to us by Masshive Media.

Who is MassHive Media? Established in early 2014, MassHive Media is a growing indie game developer resides in Bandung, Indonesia. We are small yet independent company striving our best to deliver the best quality game products for various platform. With an amazing team with deep passion towards games, illustrations, animations, we aim to be to be one of the leading game developers in Southeast Asia.

They are responsible for indie games like Vimala: Defense Warlords, Chillout Zombies, Azure Saga: Pathfinder and this title. Each one more derivative than the next, but does this game follow the tradition of this relatively young company? Yes, but let’s discuss this case of homework copying.

In Potion Permit, Moonbury's residents need healing, and you're the best chemist around! With your trusty tools, a brewing cauldron, and a canine companion at your side, you'll need to diagnose symptoms, gather ingredients, brew potions, and cure ailments in this open-ended sim RPG.

I’ll get the praise out of the way, the music and visuals are pretty but feel like something out of RPG maker and wouldn’t be surprised if they took assets from it, given their pedigree.

Combat is meh, enemies are damage sponges which is a cardinal sin for me. While the controls work, nothing about them felt intuitive.

The story is very much the same game that you’ve played before, and it’s been told by much better games.

The puzzles while interesting pose next to no challenge which I found almost insulting.

I really wanted to like this game way more, and there is so much potential that completely goes to waste.

The potion mechanic, (you know the titular aspect) was so dull and forgettable and that was the thing about this game that initially drew me in.

But if you like isometric open world farming RPG hybrids for the switch, Go play Rune Factory 4 or wait for the remaster of RF3.

I give Potion Permit a 2 out of 5.

#nintendo #nintendo switch pro controller #nintendo switch #nindies #potion permit

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expertmodegaming · 1 year

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Fixture S1 Review

Joy-con drift, you know it, you hate it.

It’s something that the big N refuses to properly address, maybe because they are too busy slinging cease and desists like they were frisbees.

However, during PAX East I got to meet with the fine folks and fixture gaming.

And I think I finally found someone who hates Joy-con drift more that I do; cuz they actually did something about it…

Fixture gaming is a team of designers and gamers who strived to build a “better mouse trap” in gaming, creating accessories that are both comfortable and functional.

Fixture gave me their S1 model device, and after playing around with it for a few weeks, I definitely can say whole heartedly that the hype created by the You Tube video game community is real.

The Fixture S1 is a harness that physically connects your Nintendo Switch monitor to a Nintendo Switch pro controller.

Which is perfect, if you are one those gamers who love to use the Switch’s NFC reader to scan amiibo figures and cards.

The lock in mechanism is strong and sturdy, but may take a little getting used to especially if you have a lizard brain like mine which took a week to figure it out.

The S1 can also be used as a stand if you want to play with friends in a public area such as cafés. Which is especially ideal if have friends with their own controllers.

The developers are working on a version for the Nintendo Switch OLED model, so you will have to wait a little longer.

Prices for the device start 35 bucks, but you will most likely want to invest in the fixture bundle that comes with a carrying case that can hold your controller and screen for 54 bucks.

I give the Fixture S1 a huge thumbs up.

#nintendo #nintendo switch pro controller #joycon #joycon drift #nintendo switch

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