Ready or not, here they come
Plus why kids' games need a buddy system, chocolate Azul, and looking back at the SNES
Hello Button Buddies,
Are you well rested? Have you put aside a lot of free time for the rest of the year?
Well, with only eight weeks or so of 2022 to go we’re approaching the part that (unfairly) tends to include both the bulk of big game releases and the bulk of obligatory family holiday gatherings. So to help you plan ahead and set your priorities, here are the …
15 biggest games of the rest of the year
By Tim
Sonic Frontiers, Nov 8: Sonic’s 3D adventures have a very poor hit rate, but there’s every reason for optimism for this open world effort.
God of War Ragnarok, Nov 9: Following up one of the greatest character action games of all time is no small feat, but even if Ragnarok is just more of the shame it stands to be something special.
Vampire Survivors, Nov 10: The minimalistic but extremely addictive PC indie hit is coming to console.
Tactics Ogre Reborn, Nov 11: A 1995 tactical RPG classic returns remastered and with fully voiced dialogue.
Atari 50, Nov 12: The latest historical compilation from archival experts Digital Eclipse, 90 playable games are joined here by documents, interviews and trivia.
Pentiment, Nov 15: A classical art themed narrative adventure from revered RPG studio Obsidian, I’m not sure what to make of this one yet. But it’s sure to be interesting.
Somerville, Nov 15: Limbo and Inside are two of my favourite games of the 2010s, and this alien platforming adventure comes from their co-creator at his new studio Jumpship.
Goat Simulator 3, Nov 17: Skipping 2 and going straight to 3 is the kind of dumb humour you can expect from a new Goat Simulator, but sometimes that’s what you’re looking for.
The Devil in Me, Nov 18: The annual Dark Pictures Anthology games usually hit in time for Halloween, but we also got The Quarry earlier this year so I’m not complaining.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, Nov 18: New monsters, a new region, new gimmicks. It’s your standard mainline Pokemon. But now fully open world!
The Callisto Protocol, Dec 2: A spiritual successor to Dead Space, expect gore, horror and oddly satisfying dismemberment in a sci-fi setting.
Marvel's Midnight Suns, Dec 2: Another tactics RPG, this time from X-COM makers Firaxis, but with Spider-man and friends.
Need For Speed Unbound, Dec 2: Everybody just wants a new Underground. Is this 25th entry in the series finally it? We’ll find out in a month.
Crisis Core Final Fantasy 7: Reunion, Dec 13: Cynical remaster or necessary revival of a forgotten gem? I suspect your perspective depends on whether you played this on PSP.
High On Life, Dec 13: From Rick and Morty’s Justin Roiland, a gross sci-fi shooter where the guns talk incessantly.
What to play
It’s a new month, which means new bonus games with your Sony and/or Microsoft subscriptions, and November brings a nice mix on the PlayStation Plus Essential front. Subscribers at any tier can add souls-like Nioh 2, wonderful physics puzzler Heavenly Bodies and the Lego Harry Potter Collection to their libraries.
Meanwhile, is someone at Xbox intentionally sabotaging the Games With Gold lineup? Because it’s definitely getting more dire each month. For November we have real-time strategy Praetorians and twin stick roguelike Dead End Job. Ok.
New on Game Pass this week, we have a pair of new and worthwhile-looking games. First is The Legend of Tianding, a charmingly rendered kung-fu beat-em-up that was extremely well received on PC and is now making the jump to console. Then later this week is cosmic horror metroidvania Ghost Song, which I (Tim) am very keen to jump in to.
Over on Apple Arcade this week you can download Battleheart Legacy+. It was the App Store Editor’s Choice in 2014 and it appears to be an RPG with the potential to eat all of your free time. So, have fun.
Also on Apple Arcade is SongPop Party. This isn’t a new game, but I (Alice) have been playing a lot of it this past week and while it’s a bit broken on Apple TV, it is a lot of fun on iPhone and iPad, and is nice to play with someone else in the same room and compare musical knowledge. The labelling of the musical theatre songs is a bit off (So many artists just show up as Broadway Original Cast, which is unhelpful), but the other genres are well sourced.
Games for kids should have a co-pilot mode
By Alice
I was lucky enough to go to Hawaii recently to preview Sonic Frontiers for Kotaku, and I had a lot of fun playing the mixed-bag of an open zone game, even though I couldn’t quite tell what the game wanted to be in the 6-ish hours I spent with it.
But what I was sure of the whole time was that I wish it had a couch co-op option. Granted, I wish that for almost all games, but it goes doubly for games aimed at kids. The difficulty level was crushing at times, and that could almost definitely be because I was pressing the wrong button to parry at the start. But if I, a slightly jetlagged mid-30s game reviewer who plays games all the time, missed that detail, a 7-year-old playing their first game might miss that too. Being able to have a parent or older sibling jump in as a buddy or helper would introduce a whole new generation of gamers to different game styles in a kind way.
The argument against couch co-op I often hear is that in an open world that would stretch the bounds too far, but it doesn’t even need to be a separate character with autonomy. Super Mario Galaxy was a really great example of this with the little star character. It allows the parent/child to help a little, and you can swap controllers at the relevant times, without having to have two separate characters trying to walk off the map. Or just find a way for the two separate characters to be attached in some way. It’s a video game with people being sucked into an alternate dimension, you can think of a reason why two characters would need to stay attached. The world is your oyster (or cleverly disguised mechanic).
There are very few games that wouldn’t be instantly improved by adding in the ability to play with a loved one in the same room (depending on the loved one), but with 10 teraflops of power available now, there’s less excuse to not do this in kids games.
Bricks, Boards and Beginnings
by Alice
This won’t come as a surprise to regular readers, but I really love the board game Azul. Sorting the tiles and competing with others to get them is oddly meditative, particularly when the tiles are so beautiful.
This past weekend I had the opportunity to play with the brand-new Chocolatier limited edition Azul. It’s basically the same as regular Azul, but instead of working at a tile factory, you work at a chocolate factory, so you’re sorting chocolates.
Friends, I cannot emphasise enough how much I wanted to eat these little tiles, particularly the caramels. They look delicious. The one that I did put in my mouth didn’t taste good, however.
It continued the odd tradition of having a three/two split between tiles with patterns and just plain colours. Do they just run out of ideas for patterns after three? Is there an extra cost for doing more than two-three patterns? Why not make all five plain, in that case? It is a mystery. But at least this time the five colours are more distinct, so it’s easier to discuss them while playing.
The rules are all basically the same, there isn’t a new pattern on the boards, and it doesn’t come with the handy little plastic board covers that came with the first expansion. However, if you turn over the factories, there are extra little things you can do with them for the first time in the Azul series, which is exciting. On the other side of the factories they have instructions, like putting extra tiles of the same colour on that one, and it makes the stakes for getting to go first higher.
If you already have the base game, I’m not sure if the factory detail makes it worth shelling out the extra money for this edition, unless you’re a big fan or particularly like the tiles. However, if you haven’t already got the original Azul, I would recommend this edition because it has more to offer than the original and is just so darn cute.
Retro Esoterica
by Tim
The Super Nintendo is one of the top 10 most successful consoles of all time, but in terms of cultural impact and long-lasting appeal it feels like it’s higher on the list. At the time, Nintendo and many of its most prominent publishing partners had honed their 2D game design craft over many years, and the SNES was where we saw the fruit of that labour.
So what’s it like to revisit the console today? Luckily, for people that don’t want to mess with original hardware, there are endless easy ways to re-experience the games. You could get a Switch Online subscription, pick up a used SNES Mini, or get an emulator on practically any device you own, and you’ll get excellent versions of some of the best games of all time; Super Metroid, Mario World, A Link to the Past, etc.
But I do love having an old console on hand for maximum warm fuzzy vibes, and they’re built tough so if you’re looking to grab one there’s only a few things you need to be aware of.
If you already have a collection of games, grabbing an Australian or European SNES is fine, but if you’re starting fresh an NTSC console (that’s US or Japan) will get you a smoother and faster experience. I favour Japan’s Super Famicom. The square purple design of the US SNES is off-putting, but it will get you easier access to English games. Note that an Australian SNES power adapter will kill NTSC consoles; you’ll need an aftermarket solution.
For video your standard composite plug works fine on CRTs, but you’ll need a scaler for it to look good on a flatscreen. And if you are getting a scaler, you might as well get an RGB SCART for your SNES for maximum sharpness; games look surprisingly good out of the unmodified 30-year-old system with the right cable.
Finally, you can get some new gear to help modernise your SNES. A Super Everdrive or FX Pak Pro cartridge can hold an SD card full of games so you can play translated games and never have to swap carts again, while a Bluetooth controller adapter can eliminate cross-loungeroom cables. It even works with the official Switch Online Super Nintendo controller.