Brain Training World Championships – The Next Esports Frontier

The next big esport of our generation has emerged. There will be no fighting, shooting or platforming in this championship. Just pure brain power, concentration, focus… and maybe a few scratched screens.

Today was the day. I had prepared my whole life for this. Writing answers on the chalkboard in Maths class was just practice for the 25x calculations time trial. I knew something like this was coming, even before the technology existed. After dropping Maths in Year 10, I still continued to hone my skills in Brain Training on my DS, dominating the leaderboards in my household (good effort though, Mum). After such extensive experience, how could I not enter the Brain Training World Championships? This was my calling.

Continue reading “Brain Training World Championships – The Next Esports Frontier” →

Yooka Laylee & the Impossible Lair – Kong & Tonic

Impossible, huh? Pffftt, I’m a skilled gamer! Just a bit of platforming? No problem. Hey, these platforms are moving pretty fast. That’s a lot of spikes. Okay, there’s nowhere to land. Guess I’ll die. No more lives? … I’ll be back later.

Imagine a spiritual successor to Donkey Kong Country came out without anyone noticing? That’s what we have here. After years of hype for Playtonic’s debut 3D platforming game Yooka-Laylee, it received quite a bit of backlash for not being the best game ever made. It was pretty much what people asked for, a Banjo successor that revived open 3D platforming, but unreasonable expectations developed over the years. Playtonic took a completely different approach to Impossible Lair, announcing it and launching it very quickly in the same year. All they really needed to sell this game was a trailer with new David Wise music, roll-jumps and barrels.

Instead of purely catering to kickstarter backers demands, Impossible Lair is a passion project that takes advantage of the 2D platforming genre to fix all the problems the original game had. The “empty” and “unfocused” level design of a 3D wasteland becomes very focused and tight when you can only move left and right. I recently finished all 40 levels and the Impossible Lair itself, and I really have to commend this game. I’m a huge fan of Donkey Kong Country and especially Tropical Freeze, and I’m bursting to talk about this. Impossible Lair is the real deal.

Continue reading “Yooka Laylee & the Impossible Lair – Kong & Tonic” →

Pokemon HOME – Making the Journey from 3DS to Switch

What year is it? 2020? Good. Don’t mind me, I’m just a little bit dizzy from traveling through time and space. That means I’ve just gone through the process of transferring my Pokemon from my old 3DS games to Pokemon Shield. A few things surprised me so I thought it was worth doing a writeup to clear things up and explain the process. The most important thing to say first is that this requires the Premium Plan of Pokemon HOME. That means, unfortunately, you have to pay for this transfer. The Basic version you get for free on Switch is very barebones. You can only store 30 Pokemon, and Let’s Go and Pokemon Sword & Shield are the only compatible games. All you can really do with that is get a free Pikachu, some starters, and Mewtwo.

Continue reading “Pokemon HOME – Making the Journey from 3DS to Switch” →

Crackdown 3 – New World Chaos

Welcome to the island of dreams. Blackouts have destroyed many major cities and millions of refugees have found this one place that was previously off the radar, “Terranova”. By some miracle, it’s the only major city that wasn’t attacked. Must be great! Everyone get in line.

This place reeks of filthy propaganda and corruption to the point where it is literally projected in the air. What a wonderful direction technology has gone. Join us for a wonderful future! Sure, what could possibly go wrong? What could possibly be fishy about one organization deciding all the information you will hear? Good thing this is just a videogame. That would never happen in our world.

Continue reading “Crackdown 3 – New World Chaos” →

The Evil Within 2 – The Art of a Good Sequel

It’s been 3 years since the incident at Beacon Mental Hospital. Coincidentally, there’s also a 3 year gap between the release of The Evil Within 1 and 2. Is this real life? That’s a question Sebastian asks himself again too. Free from the evils of the STEM mindscape, he’s found himself in a brand new horrific situation. With questions unanswered and a shattered sense of self dwindling into alcoholic indulgence, a new adventure might be exactly what he needs.

Continue reading “The Evil Within 2 – The Art of a Good Sequel” →

Squidlit – Squishy Platforming

Hello. My name’s Plip and I’m a Squidlit. I’m no magic Squizard, but I can jump, shoot ink downwards, and move my little squidlit body left and right. That’s all you need to get through life really. Oh, and a healthy supply of muffins.

Thanks Cheflit, now I’m all set. A catapult shoots dozens of muffins into the distance, as they scatter across the upcoming levels. It’s nice to finally see some valid lore for health pickups.

Continue reading “Squidlit – Squishy Platforming” →

The Evil Within – Season Pass of Horrors

After taking control of the evil within myself, I sought out more forms of evil to overcome outside. I found the perfect challenge that comes in the form of a “Season Pass”, full of broken dreams and empty promises. The Evil Within has 3 single player DLC campaigns made after the launch of the game, and they are quite unique. I played through all three of them and thought I’d offer my thoughts. Was it worth it? Allow me to summarise my experience with each one. Continue reading “The Evil Within – Season Pass of Horrors” →

Rush Rally 3 – Rookie Developer Defeats Champion

5 right, into 3 left. Hairpin right. 6 left. Over crest. 22 dollars. Available on the eShop now. *thud*

Oops, I was meant to be giving directions. Welcome to Rush Rally 3! A rally driving game on Switch made by a single person Indie team called Brownmonster Limited. This is not the official rally game but who needs that, when you can race against Sebastien Lube and Marcus Groanholm instead?

Continue reading “Rush Rally 3 – Rookie Developer Defeats Champion” →

The Evil Within – Insanely Good

You didn’t even click on this article. Last thing you know, you were on Twitter. But there’s no Twitter tab open, and no back button. You look up at your browser and the menu has frozen. Discord won’t open. You look away from the screen, and the door in your room has disappeared. There’s nowhere to go, nothing else to look at. The only thing you can do is read this.

The Evil Within is a horror game that creates strong feelings of fear and despair. It bends reality and breaks the rules of logic with its environments and gameplay. Walls disappear, enemies morph, traps await. You don’t know how you got here, or how to get out. All you can do is adapt and stay as sane as possible through all the crazy.

Continue reading “The Evil Within – Insanely Good” →

Forza Horizon 2 – Private Playground

Don’t tell anyone, but Forza Horizon 2 is still open. You won’t find it on the Xbox Store anymore, but the disc still works. Once installed with a light 2GB patch, you’ll find yourself in a delisted wonderland. Why is it delisted? Playground Games have moved onto Forza Horizon 3 and 4 and I guess Microsoft want you to buy those instead. It could also be licensing issues with the soundtrack, a fate that buried the Tony Hawk classics and threatens the longevity and relevance of GTA games. Here we are though, in Europe. This is the setting of Forza Horizon 2 and it’s absolutely beautiful.

Continue reading “Forza Horizon 2 – Private Playground” →

Brain Training for Nintendo Switch – Staying 20 in 2020

It’s nice to see you again, Dr Kawashima. This must be the first time I’ve ever been excited to see a doctor. Brain Training is back, the game that elevated Nintendo DS into the stratosphere outside traditional gaming. This “non-game” took off as a great way to use the touch screen and features of the DS and 3DS systems, but how does it hold up on a home console hybrid? It’s a little different. I picked up the new Switch version today and thought I’d write about the experience.

Continue reading “Brain Training for Nintendo Switch – Staying 20 in 2020” →

Bury me, my Love – Phone in Hand

Bury me, my Love sounds like a psychotic murder mystery at first, but it’s full of heart. This is a common saying used in some countries when your loved one goes on a trip they might not come back from. Whether it’s an unstable country, a warzone, or the game awards, it’s said with much love and confidence that they will be fine. It means you will be the one to bury me, not the other way around. So you’re saying their journey will be very safe. It’s beautiful. You die first… no you die first… no you! This game gives a great look into the life of a couple who want to escape a dangerous home in Syria and start a new life.

Continue reading “Bury me, my Love – Phone in Hand” →

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice – Psychosis Simulator

Is this really worth writing about- you didn’t enjoy it- you liked it- you don’t know if you liked it- you can’t write- you should write- this game might be misunderstood- you can do it- every experience is different- the game isn’t worth it- the game is worth it- at least it’s interesting- don’t hit that submit button there’s no going back.

These are my friends from Hellblade who stayed in my head. This game has a very large emphasis on sound design, as everything you do is narrated by dozens of tiny voices whispering at you constantly throughout the game. It’s made to imitate the feeling of psychosis and mental illness and warns you of its heavy themes before you start the game. Senua’s Sacrifice is a very personal journey where you explore very detailed environments and the dark corners of your mind.

Continue reading “Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice – Psychosis Simulator” →

Pietriots Radio – Episode 5 (The Game Awards)

It’s been abandoned and haunted for a few years, but we are BACK in the Pie Studio with an all new episode of Pie Radio! Join Grubdog, Bill, Deguello, Matto, Pro Daisy and Roland as we discuss the recent Game Awards show, talk about the announcements and discuss our very own favourite games of 2019. Special guest Denis76686846 calls into the studio with even further insight!

download link (some browsers might struggle playing the file because it’s so long)

0.00 to 1:05 – Game Announcements discussion (Xbox Series X, new trailers, Godfall, Bravely Default 2)

1:05 to 1:08 – ???

1:10 to 1:43 – Game Awards discussion

1:43 to end – Pietriots Games of the Year

Thank you for listening! Please let us know if you enjoyed it and we’ll keep making them.

Resident Evil 2 – Raccoon City Limits

Gotta get to the Police Station. There’s so many of these things… what the hell happened here? Bang! … Bang bang bang! Damn these things are strong. I gotta be more careful. 4 bullets left? Dozens more of them. Can I do this? I gotta be fast but also not get grabbed. Phew that was close. One bullet in this one will slow it down, I can make the gap. I can make it. I’m gonna make it.