Tag: Puzzle

Manifold Garden. Coming to Xbox series X, Not PS5

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker

Manifold Garden is a first person exploration puzzle game developed and published by ‘William Chyr Studio‘. Manifold Garden came out August 2020 on the Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PS4. October 2020 on PC. Most importantly Manifold Garden is said to be coming to Xbox Series X November 10th 2020 BUT not the PS5. Once again another game that’s coming to the Xbox Series but not the PS5. There’s a trend here. Now this game looks real cool. Let’s take a look. 

Manifold Garden is strange but cool. The story is… well… there isn’t really one from what we know. We do know that one of your main objectives is to restore this world, which has been described as barren, with vegetation and life. So maybe something happened that caused it to go barren or maybe it always was barren and you are somehow there to make a difference. Maybe. So all of that is mystery and not the focus of the game at all beside the garden/vegatation part.

Here is the entire description for the game, “Rediscover gravity and explore a beautiful Escher-esque world of impossible architecture. Geometry repeats infinitely in every direction, and falling down leads you back to where you started. Manipulate gravity to change your perspective and see the world in new ways. Master the rules of the universe…”. Now this is short and leaves out a lot but also says quite a bit too. Pay attention. This game is all about exploration. It’s a massive world that expands and pretty much keeps on going. Players have to get around the place but not by natural means.

It’s emphasises that physics don’t work normally here. Rediscover gravity means gravity can now swap, change and maybe even bend or not be there at all in certain places. The buildings have some of the most unreality but creative designs. The world itself has been described as infinite, so constantly moving in one direction won’t make a difference. Fall damage is non-existent. Matter of fact if you fall down, you will get back to where you “started”. Not only is gravity weird but you will have ways to change and mess with gravity yourself.

You can literally just walk up to a wall to start walking along it like it doesn’t matter. When you activate certain panels or area with the blocks you see the same colour run through what can be described as a circuit route to a door or whatever to activate it. Giving players clear directions and indications of what triggers what. The designs of the structures in the distance or nearby shows you that there is some resemblance to real structures but clearly impossible. You get to see how large the place is and that you won’t reach the end of the world anytime soon. You can even jump of the edge of your platform to fall to reach the other side because when you fall you land back where you were. It makes players have to open their minds more to get creative for what’s needed.

The green badge is here. You know what that means. Manifold Garden is one of those “Games built using the Xbox Series X development kit are designed to take advantage of the unique capabilities of the Xbox Series X. They will showcase unparalleled load-times, visuals, responsiveness, and framerates up to 120 FPS.” It’s optimised for the Xbox Series S too. Not only that but Manifold Greens has ‘Smart Delivery’. So if you bought it for the Xbox One, you will get it automatically on the Xbox Series X. 

We checked out some Manifold Garden gameplay and it looks real cool. There are small cubes with arrows on them which allows you to control various things around the world. For example they send signals to open doors, effect water, paths, gravity, move entire structures. All to solve puzzles and make your way around. It’s a growing world and there’s lots of mechanisms here. Lots of creativity. Sort not reminds us of Sable but off course going for a more chaotic, physics, puzzle world where things don’t have to make sense but the mechanisms do. It’s definitely a journey with no direction but an objective. The graphic style works very well here and makes things more defined and solid with the heavy lines design. The sounds though are very nice and suit what’s going on and quiet at times during puzzles for peaceful thinking. 

Overall Manifold Garden looks like a very good game. Simple in concept and design but complex in what goes on. We like that you go at your own pace and things are quite peaceful. The puzzles don’t seem too difficult or mind bending. It’s different from what’s out there currently for the most part. The developers ‘William Chyr Studio’ have done a very good job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker look forward to seeing what this games got. Now Manifold garden may have a limitless world but it’s embarrassingly limited when compared to… the ‘Earth Walk!’ 

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In Sound Mind. Funky stuff

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker

In Sound Mind is a new first person psychological horror game developed by ‘We Create Stuff‘ and published by ‘Modus Games‘. In Sound Mind is said to the coming out on the Xbox Series X, PS5 and PC in 2021. In Sound Mind is taking a risky sub genre for horror. We do hope they can pull it off though. They do have a cat though. Let’s take a look.

In Sound Mind (‘Sound mind’ is a phrase from the Bible but once again no shout out. Lame). In the world of In Sound Mind, you wake up and find yourself in the corridor of a building. Now this isn’t a regular building though. It sort of has a life of its own. The plot thickens though. The building leads you to a group of survivors or should we say victims. They all been effected by an “experimental chemical”.

Our character must be effected by the same experimental chemical as now we are seeing some strange things too as we try to figure out what’s going on around here. You now experience visions, crazy ones. Not only that but a whole load of what’s described as “imposing horrors”. this has to be referring to the dangers and enemies you will face. Not only that but there’s a cat. This isn’t just your cat sitting on a wall. This cat is weird and apparently it’s called Tonia. In Sound Mind has nothing to do with an actual sound mind.

Now remember gamers, In Sound Mind is a psychological horror. Meaning this is most likely just in the characters mind. It’s a mental thing. Unlike other psychological horror games, you can actually defend yourself. There are weapons. So expect a gun. There’s a flashlight to light your way, you know the drill. Oh there’s mannequins by the way but not regular ones as they are sentient. So have fun with that. It might be right behind you now.

Another thing that In Sound Mind is pushing hard is the puzzles. In Sound Mind has emphasis on these puzzles. Beating the bosses, that’s right… bosses, is a puzzle. There are certain mechanics and weaknesses that require gamers to use their heads… for a change (shots fired). Literally the game makes it clear that beat bosses by solving “mind-bending puzzles”. We know that the player will be stalked throughout the game too. There’s lots going on.

We checked out some In Sound Mind gameplay and it’s not exactly what we expected for some parts but more or less what we expected. You are jumping all over the place by going through door. You end up in many locations, all pretty much dark and atmospheric. We even saw smoke. There are ghoulish ghost enemies called watchers who are not friendly at all and can’t be defeated straight up. The inventory seems easy to use and understand. Some more solid enemies can be killed by firearms. A headshot can take down an enemy almost instantly. The graphics look good so far but the music is better. Sound track was done by someone called ‘the living tombstone’. Some of the tracks are very good. 

Overall In Sound Mind looks like it’s going to be a good game. We hope the puzzles are good quality and not annoying. That they are of varying difficulty and actually make sense. It’s psychological horror so it better be scary and confuse the player due to mental strain and not bad plot. There’s lots of work to be done in the game. We aren’t thrilled by psychological horror but maybe In Sound Mind can change that. Maybe. The developers ‘We Create Stuff’ have done a good job so far. We at X35 Earthwalker will have to see what In Sound Mind brings. Now In Sound Mind may have a cat, mannequins and bosses but none of those are remotely special when compared too… the ‘Earth Walk!’

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Inmost. Dark, atmospheric and action

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker

Inmost is a horror puzzle platformer game developed by ‘Hidden Layer Games‘ and published by ‘Chucklefish‘. Inmost came out on Nintendo Switch, iMac and PC. Inmost isn’t our type of game . It’s pixel styled and very simple controls. It did catch out attention at some point we can tell it is very good. Let’s take a look. 

Inmost is quite simple to understand. It’s a dark, sad world with danger. You play as three different characters: A knight, a stranger and a little girl but yet their stories are interconnected. The story isn’t suppose to be pleasant. There’s a warning on their website which says, “player discretion is advised. INMOST is an intimate story of loss and hope that some may find upsetting.” That should tell you quite a lot. You see. little girl get neglected, mistreated, afraid, bad dad, she cut herself and the mum didn’t care at all. Abuse, kidnapped children, a cursed knight, etc. This game is dark but the monsters are darker. This is a shorter game as it’s been described as something you are suppose to play and finish in one go on a dark stormy night. 3-5 hours long. 

When you play as the little girl it’s the heaviest with narrative and story driven. There’s no actual enemy or danger but just figuring out what needs t be done. You may need to move a table or chair. Carry certain things around the house. You even play hide and seek with a toy who thew girl has conversations with. You see her pain and what she goes through. With the stranger it’s the main part of the game. You platform, move around, evade hazards and dangerous creatures, you climb, collect items, cut away tall grass, break down weak walls, mine things, break down wooden structures and use your wits and to defat your enemies and survive. The knight is the action part of the game. You actually aren’t defenceless. You can slash and destroy your enemies easily, dash, grapple around etc. As the knight you are powerful and can take a hit before dying. Three different styles. 

The game is very silent for the most part which is a type of atmosphere still. Your footsteps and pulling stuff and interactions with environment are louder than anything else. So when something actually happens it acts as an alarm, alerting the player to take action. Some dangers are just like traps, a tentacle on the ceiling while others are small dark substances on the ground waiting for you to walk over it. Then there’s real threats like real monsters that pop up and chase you down. Dangerous and very hostile. You can beat them as the stranger and need to hide, out climb, duck and outsmart them. Players will need to think fast and do the right things to survive. It is a simple game at the end of the day with move, jump and action. It’s simple but very well done. Sounds, lighting, music and different play styles work well together. Not everything is consistent though like with the girl voice narrating the first section of the knight. You don’t hear her again until much later.

We checked out some Inmost gameplay and what it says on the box is what you are getting. It is dark as in there will be candles, fire, lights with some stuff you can’t see yet. Very atmospheric as most of the time things are quiet and your actions, movement are the loudest things in the game. Horror well the game itself isn’t scary but there are shadow and monsters of darkness that are real aggressive and jump out to get you. Thinking is needed to get through the area, and evade death and there is definitely platforming. Expecting climbing, jumping, moving stuff etc. The game is very simple to understand and it’s almost always clear what you have to do. The music or lack off does act to the atmopshere. The story was very predictable though even though they didn’t well to add emotions, sadness and disaster. The story connects up concerning the three characters you play in the game.  

Overall Inmost is a good game. It does what it said it would do, provides different styles of gameplay through the characters, a variety of enemies, dangers and even threats you will have to face later. Players have to be focused when playing and get strategic at times. Inmost’s graphics for a pixel style game is excellent. The music is very well done and adds to the experience. We didn’t get scared or emotional at all though so it failed there for us. The developers ‘Hidden Layer Games’ have done a very good job with this game. It something a number of gamers would get into. We at X35 Earthwalker  like this game and know it’s good even though it isn’t our style or our thing. Inmost may be telling a dark sad story but it has no effect on… the ‘Earth Walk!’

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Tetris Effect: Connected. Next level

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker

Tetris Effect Connected is a new arcade puzzle game developed by ‘Monstars Inc.’, ‘Resonair’, ‘Stage Games’ and published by ‘Enhance‘. Tetris Effect: Connected is said to be coming out 2020 on the Xbox One, Xbox Series X and PC. It’s Tetris, that alone should tell you what this is all about. Let’s take a look.

Tetris Effect: Connected is Tetris at the end of the day which means you got to place falling blocks of different shapes and patterns in places to fill up rows to get rid of them and score the big points. If you don’t know what Tetris is then you should be ashamed of yourself for the most part. We never cared about Tetris but we knew what it was. Now Tetris Effect: Connected is like Pac-Man Championship Edition 2… a bigger, better game with the same foundation formula but with new features, mechanics, more colours and more flashiness.

The Single player has been upgraded and levelled up. There are all new modes like ‘Zone Battle’ which has “time-stopping Zone mechanic” which can be the thing that helps bring someone from behind in the game or maybe in front. This shakes up the 1v1 battles. New features and mechanics means new tactics and new things to taken into account. There’s said to be over 10 modes in Tetris Effect: Connected so expect lots of things to do in this game. This isn’t the main thing nor what we care about that much.

What we really care about is the multiplayer as that’s the biggest upgrade in our opinion. The multiplayer has what’s called connected mode. This where up to three players can actually connect their playing fields together and play as a team. This team must do their best to defeat CPU bosses. A whole series of them and they keep getting harder and harder. So working together and doing your best is the solution. We don’t know if there is a difficulty adjustment for the number of players working together or not. 

Tetris Effect: Connected has the green badge of Xbox Series X approval. You know what this means. “Games built using the Xbox Series X development kit are designed to take advantage of the unique capabilities of the Xbox Series X. They will showcase unparalleled load-times, visuals, responsiveness, and frame rates up to 120 FPS.” So expect 120 frames per second of Tetris Effect: Connected goodness.

We checked out some Tetris Effect: Connected gameplay and it’w what we thought it would be just more flashy. There over 30 different stages to play on, more than 10 modes. The effects don’t make things hard to see. It’s Tetris at the end of the day, so don’t expect any sticky plasma grenades. Our favourite thing is clearly facing the CPU bosses like that scorpion. Tetrtic Effect: Connected will have both cooperative and competitive gameplay which will be both local (old for that) and online. There’s options. 

Overall Tetris Effect: Connected is looking like an excellent game so far. Tetris Effect was good but this new game is even better. It has all the previous great stuff plus more. The multiplayer is definitely going to be the best feature of this game and we like the flashiness and work that’s gone into this game. The developers ‘Monstars Inc.’, ‘Resonair’, ‘Stage Games’ have done an excellent job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker will have to see what else Tetris Effect: Connected has up it’s sleeves. Now Tetris Effect: Connected may have a new flashy upgrade but it’s incredibly dull when compared too… the ‘Earth Walk!’

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Scorn. A weird world coming forth

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker

Scorn is a new horror adventure game developed and published by ‘Ebb Software’. It is not clear when Scorn will be coming out. It is an xbox exclusive. It will come out on Xbox Series X and PC. The heavy themes here is horror and puzzles. Also, this is a weird game in case you couldn’t tell. Let’s take a look.

Scorn is set in a weird world. It’s been described as an open-ended world with different interconnected regions. That’s not the weird part but we will get to that. Each region is designed to be like a Maze. Various rooms and different paths. The weird part which you can tell just from looking is that this world is alive, literally and quite breathing. You see what looks like living organism entrails or whatever that grow along the walls like vines and plants. Some things bound to the wall are living things. Sort of like when the Gravemind from Halo with the flood takes over an area like the ship high charity. It becomes alive. Think of it like that.

There are no cutscenes Scorn. This means that everything concerning the story can be found and revealed in the game itself. So looking around and exploring is the responsibility of the player. Players have been given a warning though. The official website said, “the game won’t show you any sympathy if you miss something important on your uneasy travels”. This alone says quite a bit. This suggests that maybe Scorn can be beaten without doing everything but will result in a bad ending that doesn’t answer all your questions. 

Now it’s clear that this game wants to gross players out. This whole design, the character, the beings are all creepy, gross, sticky looking, you see what we mean when you look at gameplay. The game wants players to be fully aware of their character’s body and movement whatever that means. The developers also want players to have a realistic experience. As in you need to use your hands to pick up things (instead of just floating), also machines and certain instruments require the player to grab the levers, controls etc. 

Scorn isn’t some exploration game where you just walk and look around. There are threats in this world. Players will need to think things through and decide when to fight something and when to just hide. Not only that but we knew this game would also make your decisions have consequences as in effecting the world you’re in. You have an inventory to manage and it’s very limited space. So decide what you want and what you may need later etc.

We checked out some Scorn gameplay we can find and yep, there is definitely combat. We saw three different types of weapons which fire differently and all look alive-ish. They come apart and fleshy, with bits. They fire what looks like small pellets which through the organism gun makes deadly like a shotgun. Ammo must be very limited meaning players need to really decided whether to fight or not. The game looks icky and gross but very good. The visuals are very good and you know it’s improved from two years ago so must look better. The world is definitely alive, gross but very cool. It’s certainly atmospheric and we hope they pull of the horror well.Developers make sure not to forget terrifying enemies that you have to avoid. 

Overall Scorn does look like a good game just a very weird one that not everyone will be into. They will look at the game and get turned off. Yet there will always be gamers who will want to play it. We like how different this game is from other games. We like the risk the developers took and the game visuals and style. The developers ‘Ebb Software’ have done a good job wit this game. We at X35 Earthwalker will keep an ear and eye open for Scorn and what they do. Now Scorn may be risky and different but what’s not risky and hasn’t changed is… the ‘Earth Walk!’

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Call of the Sea. Calling us soon

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker

Call of the Sea is a first person adventure puzzle game developed by ‘Out of the Blue‘ and published by ‘Raw Fury‘. Call of the Sea is said to be coming out on the Xbox Series X, Xbox One and PC. The release date isn’t known yet (maybe we do know but won’t tell you). Now this game has got our attention. It can’t be that mysterious right? It’s just a wife looking for her husband… normal stuff… right? Let’s take a look.

In Call of the Sea players take control of a woman called Nora. She is looking for her husband. Basically on his last expedition, he disappeared. He’s missing. Being a caring spouse she goes to look for him. Her search leads to an island. Now off course this isn’t a regular island. It’s said that loads of secret and mysteries are on this island. So take a look around I guess.

Now when you see a game like this you think about exploration games like Beyond Blue,Shape of the Worldand Abzu. Except Call of the Sea isn’t just exploration. It’s a full on adventure with a story, objective and mystery. The fact that it’s classed as a puzzle game means that players will need to be very observant, pay attention to detail and mentally link things together to progress. After all, finding your husband isn’t an easy thing.

The previous expedition here has left traces and clues around… but what happened to them? One of the main objectives in Call of the Sea is to find out what happened here and to them. This means there will be ships to explore. If there’s a voyage then there’s a ship. Check their equipment, their records, their writings, what they found. Sort of feels like detective work too.  

The graphic style and visuals is the main attractor for us concerning Call of the Sea. The whole game is very colourful and inviting. This whole island is very nice to look at with lovely design. There’s definitely lots to see here. There’s even ruins. Not all games have good ruin design. In case you couldn’t figure it out, Nora isn’t your average woman at all. Nora has got skills and will have to put them all to use on this South Pacific island. Some elements in this game is surreal. We already like Nora as a character but she does sound quite confused concerning her self discovery.  

Remember that Call of the Sea is coming on Xbox Series X. Xbox stated on their website, “Games built using the Xbox Series X development kit are designed to take advantage of the unique capabilities of the Xbox Series X. They will showcase unparalleled load-times, visuals, responsiveness, and framerates up to 120FPS”.

We checked out some Call of the Sea gameplay and it’s what we thought. The game looks calm from a violence perspective as in we saw no enemies and don’t think there is really any. Not much action at all which was expected as Call of the Sea is focused around mystery, exploration and puzzles. We even saw what looked like a transformation on what looks like Nora. She had webbed hands like a reptile and was traversing the water easily. There’s definitely stuff going on here. Simple looking controls and how you move about play this game.

Overall Call of the Sea looks like a good game. Not something huge but definitely packed. There’s more going on than simply a wife searching for her husband. We hope they don’t take the self discovery part too far and focus on the island and what it contains. We liking the graphics right now and style. The developers ‘Out of the Blue’ have done a good job wit this game so far. We at X35 Earthwalker hope to see more concerning this game. Now Call of the Sea may have mystery but one thing more mysterious is clearly… the ‘Earth Walk!’

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Catherine: Full Body. What we think

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker
  

Catherine: Full Body is the puzzle horror-ish remake developed by ‘Atlus: Studio zero’. Catherine: Full body came out the 3rd of September 2019 on PlayStation 4. It was released earlier in Japan though. We definitely liked the Catherine games and want to talk about a couple things concerning the remake. Let’s take a look.

Let’s just go through these points as quickly as possible. First of all we didn’t get to play the game ourselves but saw the entire game. Now this isn’t just a remake as in a sense of just better graphics. There is new paths to the story, some changed and new dialogue, new scenes, a new character and just additional stuff.  They definitely kept the same style of visuals for both the gameplay and cinematic parts and that’s a good thing as they worked well in the original game. Things do seem smoother though when it comes to the cinematic. The additional cinematic scenes are primarily about the new character Rin (Qatherine). There’s more interaction between Vincent and his friends. Something you will need to see for yourself and the developers did good in these areas.

Let’s get straight into the gameplay. There is a new block altogether and we believe it’s called the Laser block. This block you only see in the very last extra levels of the game if you take the Rin path. These blocks literally just fire a laser which will kill you. Just wait for it to stop firing and then move by or whatever. Sadly they are the only new block and they could have added more. The next is the difficulty and we have a problem with this one. First of all we hate the idea of a very easy mode is embarrassing. X35 Earthwalker himself beat the original Catherine game with gold price for each level and beat all the Babel levels, easy difficulty is actually a complete joke. Yet very easy is unacceptable. If someone can’t beat your game they need to practice and use their heads. it’s a puzzle game after all. Then it gets worse as there’s a ‘safety mode’. WHAT!? Anyone who plays with that feature needs to put down the controller and back away from the game. You should be ashamed. 

This is what Gematsu said concerning safety mode, “In Safety mode, you can use the ‘Skip Feature’ to skip stages you have not cleared with the press of a button, and solely enjoy the event scenes. For players who want to see the puzzles, both Safety and ‘Easy’ modes have an ‘Auto-Play’ feature where Vincent moves on his own during the action puzzle segments”. Well the best use of this would be to just see the cinematic scenes and get the different endings quickly AFTER you have already beaten the game. We don’t like the ides of a safety mode at all. Just take time and practice, you even have undo in normal mode so you could figure things out move by move if you need to. 

Catherine: Full Body also a Remix mode which basically has “new mechanics and gimmicks”. For example you will see blocks that are all joined together and look like precious stones. They can be two blocks next to each other or even form a big shape etc. You have to move the whole thing as one big block, not separately. It does overall make the whole game easier but in less parts can really mess you up. Pull out a whole shape and end up hanging over the edge with no where to go. It’s a cool concept and we like the addition of remix mode to shake things up. Just play through once with remix and then another in classic mode. Also Catherine: Full body has better lighting with some places receiving some small changes. The stray Sheep is more lit for example. Some of the nightmare stages have less fog too.

Now we think Rin is a great edition to the game as she’s a very different person from both Katherine and Catherine. Players really can’t help but like Rin, she’s the happy, bubbly, optimistic person many wish they had as a friend. We would gladly have her as a friend but how they handled Vincent’s decision to be with Rin and his thought process is very bad. It doesn’t make any sense. Think about it imagine you are in a serious relationship with your girlfriend for 5 years (ladies you can reverse the situation to make it applicable to yourself). The choice of marriage is now a present thing and in your mind, she even told you that she is pregnant, don’t forget that you actually like your girlfriend and had such a romantic beginning. Would you then break up with her for someone you just met and have known for 5 days? Worse, that person has amnesia and remembers nothing of themself (they could be a terrorist undercover for all you know). Even worse, you thought that person was a woman but instead learn by accident that they are a man. Off course you wouldn’t. You have to be the biggest scum to do that to someone. There’s so many problems with this. Would Vincent have developed any feelings like that for Rin if he knew from the start that Rin was a man like how his friends Orlando, Johnny are men? Nothing from the original game or this game suggests he would go down that path. This whole thing is just clearly forced. 

Next that we believe doesn’t make any sense is Katherine’s reaction to Vincent admitting cheating on her. In the original she was on the calm side (the nightmare doesn’t count) but made it clear she was not happy about it ad that she wanted Vincent to leave her alone by ignoring her messages and call. Yet in the original, taking everything we mentioned earlier from our example into account, was even more calm than ever and remained friends. We can’t think of a single girl who would react like that to being cheated on with a man (he knew you was pregnant), have 5 years wasted and had to confront them about it. We know it’s just a game but that isn’t realistic at all. We definitely love Johnny’s reaction to the news of Vincent leaving Katherine for Rin. He gave him a nasty punch that floored him. Which does make sense since Katherine is also his friend. Vincent’s reaction to the punch by not fighting back or even getting angry shows that they are like brothers in a sense and good friends. Vincent won’t fight back but understands why Johnny did that, knowing he deserved it. They brushed off, accepted each others decisions and went back to having drinks and talking together. They are bros for sure and in some ways can relate to that. So we give a thumbs up for that interaction.

We didn’t like the great reveal that Rin is an alien. It feels completely out of place and makes no sense concerning other matters. For starters we initially though that Rin was an angel since Catherine is the demon and Katherine is the human but Rin could also appear in the nightmares, which Astaroth and Dumuzid couldn’t really do anything about it, until much later which made no sense, why didn’t they attack her, unless she was something powerful too on level or above demons like an angel. Astaroth knew Rin wasn’t normal at all and hiding a big secret. If Rin is not an angel then why is a god like Dumuzid who is a demon basically scared of her and her brothers? I can understand demons being scared of angels but not an alien. Aliens aren’t supernatural. Wouldn’t aliens go to alien hell and therefore demons can torment them? At night wouldn’t Dumuzid have the advantage? Or is he only useful in dreams (if so then what kind of lame god is he)? It just doesn’t go. Also the bunch of alien brothers look so out of place reminding us of the minions from Despicable Me. We thought they could have made the end game of Rin much better. 

There are additional stuff in Catherine: Full Body like how some items have new effects. The white block now creates white blocks in a 3×3 shape around the block you are standing on. The energy drink allows you to jump up two blocks but up to three times, when you decide to use it, giving players more control over it. The Rapunzel game has been renamed Super Rapunzel and has more levels with both a remix and classic mode. Rin’s piano can slow down the rate that the blocks fall away and how fast the boss moves after you. The undo system has been reworked, can view the back of the stage more easily, unlimited retries if you die, Babel and Colosseum have new stages (happy about this). O

Online has some new stuff going for it as well. If you play the story while online, you can see the spots where other players have died, which is quite useful so you know which parts can be tough. You get to see the number of deaths in that level nationwide and how they died, like by falling, crushed etc. Catherine: Full Body has gotten quite competitive as you can face and climb off against other players online. There’s even a ranking system too.

The last thing we hate about Catherine: Full Body is definitely the undo system. It’s basically impossible to die unless you are that bad at the game. If you step on a trap block and get spiked, you ‘undo’ and you’re right back where the block is, cancelling your death basically. If you fall off, same thing. Deaths don’t matter as much anymore. In the originally if you died, you died and had to go back to checkpoint or start of level. These changes make the game too easy. Even players who aren’t good at the game like Jay from the kubz scouts can beat Catherine: Full Body. No, beating the game doesn’t make you good at it. Eventually DSP beat the original too. Literally the second boss the immoral beast was the easiest level we have ever seen. It was a joke. Overall the game is easier than the original. We haven’t seen how difficult it is on hard mode though. We can only go by what we know.

Overall Catherine: Full Body is a very good game. We had more to say but it’s long enough as it is. The original Catherine had a better story. Catherine: Full Body is bigger with more features but the main thing that stands out about Catherine is the story so we say the original was the better game from the main part (story) but Catherine: Full Body is better overall with the cool additions, more options, better graphics, more scenes, longer gameplay, more endings, new character etc. It doesn’t have the same Catherine feel but a great game still.  

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Weakless. Use your eyes and ears

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker

 

Weakless is a new adventure puzzle game developed by ‘Punk Nation‘ and ‘Cubeish Games‘ but published by ‘Punk Nation’ only. Weakless is said to be coming out the 29th of November 2019 on the Xbox One and PC. It hasn’t been announced if Weakless is going to be on the Nintendo Switch and PS4 yet. Let’s take a look. 

Basically in Weakless players control two characters. Their kind is called weavelings. Their names seem to be ‘Deaf’ and ‘Blind’. What charming names right? Why are they called that? This is because Deaf is literally deaf and Blind is literally blind. This is also the whole point of the game. Players must have these characters work together to progress through this world. This world has what’s being described as challenging puzzles. Both characters are needed for success. 

Now in Weakless you might be wondering why not just have the one who can see lead the other one around as seeing is better than hearing. Well both of Deaf and Blind have more than learnt how to deal with their disabilities. They have developed some extraordinary abilities.  Blind is the older and way more calm of the two and is the one to look after Deaf. You can only control one character at a time which also means you can use their senses one at a time. So knowing when to use who and what they can do is key for Weakless.

So what’s going on in Weakless? What’s Deaf and Blind out here doing? Basically they want to protect their village and off course the weaveling people. This can be done by bringing back the flow of Resin, which is life energy for all living creatures in the Weakless world. Without the flow of Resin the world is in danger from the advancing rot. 

Now Weakless takes place in a very different world indeed. This world is full of different locations and areas. So make sure to take a moment to observe the surroundings. Players can expect natural basins, caves, ruins and more. A variety of locations is pretty much always a win in video games. 

We checked out some Weakless gameplay and it’s quite interesting, especially with the puzzles. Blind has exceptional hearing while Deaf can bring light wherever he goes. They truly have to work together. The puzzles and the environment in multiple ways do remind us of Pikmin. There’s a number of secrets in the world of Weakless. Deaf even has a sketch book where players can check out and see what Deaf thinks about the whole situation. 

Overall Weakless seems like another adventure with some puzzle elements. Sort of like Abe and Munch from Oddworld: Munch’s Oddysee where you must control both characters, think things through and use their skills. Just seems like a good game but we definitely like how different Weakless is. The developers ‘Punk Notion’ and ‘Cubeish Games’ have done a good job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker will have to see what Weakless accomplishes. Now Weakless may be about teamwork but even working together won’t help you beat… the ‘Earth Walk!’ 

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The Tower of Beatrice. Many puzzles

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker

The Tower of Beatrice is a puzzle point and click adventure game developed by ‘Fairy Forest‘ and published by ‘Sometimes You‘. The Tower of Beatrice is said to be coming out the 31st of July on the Xbox One but already out on PC. Now puzzle games are for a specific group of gamers and not a very large one. Does this game have what it takes? Let’s take a look.

In the world of The Tower of Beatrice, players control a thief who is currently working on a contract. Very little information is given concerning the client. That’s always a good sign right. Your task is straightforward. You just need to steal Beatrice’s Book of recipes. Now Beatrice is a powerful sorcerer who has her book in her tower. This means the player will need to get in the tower, steal the book and most importantly get out alive. Straightforward but not easy. 

Now this isn’t a regular tower. Inside expect all kinds of weird encounters. You will find a granny spider who might give you a gift. Have the opportunity to put a skeleton back together. Feed a snail. Enter the dreams of a demon. Fix a clocktower and get it running again. Even serve tea. Most strange and terrifying of all is… the puzzles! The Tower of Beatrice is loaded with puzzles and sections where players will need to use their heads. Expect fixing puzzle pieces together, matching symbols, memory testing, find pieces and more.  

Now from what we know, there are demons of different types like frost, dreams and off course fire. There are characters and beings in the tower and some are relatively friendly and harmless. There’s recipes that need to be found too in order to create certain potions through alchemy. So yep, potion making, multiple ingredients and multiple effects. There are said to be six floors to the Tower of Beatrice.  Each floor is said to e very different from each other having their own atmosphere and feeling.

We checked out some The Tower of Beatrice gameplay and it’s what we though it would be. Since it’s a point and click we knew that players can’t speed through this but take their time and look through the whole area for anything useful or clues. Strange creature like white chalk which shouldn’t be alive but it and can talk to you. Puzzles everywhere forcing players to take their time and use their brain. Getting headshots won’t help you here. The graphics are very good and the attention to detail is also very good as you can see the markings and more easily. It’s definitely creative, definitely clever and a different world indeed.

Overall The Tower of Beatrice seems like a good game for what it is. Gamers who like puzzles will enjoy this. Gamers who like fantasy, magical things will enjoy this. It’s not our type of game at all but we can see that it’s been made well. The developers ‘Fairy Forest’ have done a very good job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker hopes that things go well for this when it gets to Xbox One. Now The Tower of Beatrice may have tough puzzles but what’s not a puzzle is… the ‘Earth Walk!’

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Please Don’t touch anything. Updated version

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker
please don't touch anything

Please, don’t touch anything is a puzzle game that got updated and was developed by ‘Four Quarters‘. It is coming out the 8th of February on the Xbox One but already on Nintendo Switch. The update has stepped up the quality of the game. Let’s take a look.

Please, don’t touch anything has a very simple story for a initially simple game. Basically the player is covering for a fellow colleague who went of to the bathroom. This room you are in has an interesting set up. There’s a monitor screen that’s constantly displaying a city. It’s live by the way, so what you see is actually happening there and then. Also in front of you is a big red button and you are given one simple instruction… do not touch anything! Yep, we can see it… you’ve already decided you are going to touch everything. 

please don't touch anything

So yes, Please, don’t touch anything sounds like a simple boring game and you aren’t suppose to wait until your colleague comes back. Remember, this is a puzzle game. The red button has a function. Pressing it once may not do anything but pressing multiple times might. Also around the console in front of you are hidden secrets like more buttons, switches, hidden compartments, tools and much more. Players will need to use their heads to figure all these secrets as activating and doing certain things will trigger certain events, known as the endings. For example in one ending a UFO comes down and destroyed the city. In another ending it’s a giant monster.

Thanks to the update that Please, don’t touch anything got, things have been changed and improved around here. For starters, everything is 3D now, meaning you can look around the room itself. Check out the corners and see if their are clues or something to take notice off. Oh and the endings… there are now more than 30 different endings. Think you can find them all? So yes, get Botton pushing crazy as players will need to press everywhere. 

please don't touch anything

The graphics in Please, don’t touch anything have been improved and the endings have better visual effects and look much better than before. Sounds are better as well, so listen out for them. Yes Please, don’t touch anything can be played with virtual reality. So if you have a Oculus rift then you  get into the game and push that Button yourself.

We checked out some gameplay and it’s how we remember it from the original Please, don’t touch anything and it’s basically the same but just improved. There isn’t really much to say about the gameplay as it is simple. Touch everything, find clues and discover the endings. No enemies, no timer or anything like that. It’s simply a test. So you are either a gamer who likes this kind of stuff or you don’t.

Overall, Please, don’t touch anything, is a clever game and definitely requires patience and very good puzzle solving skills. The update even added an introduction. The developers ‘Four Quarters’ did an alright job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker aren’t looking forward to this game but we know there are some fans who would want this. Now Please, don’t touch anything may have many puzzles but what’s not puzzling is… the ‘Earth Walk!’

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