Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King is an action platformer adventure game developed and published by ‘Redlock studios‘. Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King is said to be coming out in the first quarter of 2022 on the Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch and PS5. It has come out on PC on the 27th of February though. We see a big world and it looks cool. X35 Earthwalker has the best eyes. Let’s take a look.
Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King is set in a big world The world of Hynos. Definitely big. Basically the king disappeared and the world is gone as in it’s messed up and not what it used to be. What happened? Well go find out. That’s the whole point. You are a wanderer in in this place. You must “piece together the fragments of reality”. You will retrace the fall of civilisation. Even get testimonies from survivors. Off course some survivor are more reliable and accurate than others. So figure it out.
Now we know you see that big ol sword. Yes there’s more than just a mystery going on in Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King. There’s combat. This world, this continent has foes, “mighty foes”. So as you are finding the secrets know that you will be engaged in what’s described as “experienced precision based combat”. It gets better. Think of the combat in Sekiro: shadows die twice, mortal shell. Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King is like that. Study your opponent, take your time, study their moves and get your attacks in.
These battles aren’t close range weapons only. There’s also spells. Long range spells. So there’s options but on top of all this there’s transitions between full 3D and 2.5D. We definitely want to see this 3D 2.5D transition concerning battle in action. This can easily be very effective for epicness in a fight. Angles and views makes a big difference and impact if done right. This transition can be awesome. Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King better do it well.§ Look at the scale and size of the fight against the leviathan in Final Fantasy XV. Nothing comes close.
Exploration is encouraged to some extent. Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King has described their world as semi open world. There’s branching paths and many beings to encounter. This is what Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King said about their world, “Each new zone tells a story through stunning art direction and finely crafted design.” We do like how different the zones look and you know we love variety around here at X35 Earthwalker.
We checked out some Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King gameplay and it’s what we thought it was. The combat is at a good speed. You definitely can’t trust every survivor you come across. There’s the whole consequences of your decisions and actions mechanic but we have no faith in those in games for a while now. Hopefully Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King can do it right. We doubt it though. Your character the wanderer will progress and get stronger in more than one way. Through combat off course but also through exploration. So make sure to do both. Your resources aren’t unlimited.
Overall Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King looks real cool and like it’s a good game. The art style is cool and actually works here. The bosses though are a question mark. Game like this needs the bosses to be interesting and lately developers have failed at that. We will end this here. The developers ‘Redrock studios’ have done a good job so far. We at X35 Earthwalker will keep an ear open for what noise this game makes. Now Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King may have a semi open world but that’s not open enough for… the Earth walk!’
Infernax is a action adventure platformer game developed by ‘Berserk Studio‘ and published by ‘The Arcade Crew‘. Infernax is said to be coming out the 14th of February 2022 on the Xbox Series X, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PS4 and PC. Infernax is clearly going for that old school look and design. X35 Earthwalker is here. Let’s take a look.
The story of Infernax is very simple. You control a “great knight”. You finally return home. The city or town, whatever but things have changed. Your home is now “plagued with unholy magic”. So the town is cursed basically and there’s monsters, demons, horrible creatures and more. So all you got to do is find out what happened here and why. Uncover the mysteries of the curse. Oh and slay a bunch of enemies along the way. Told you it’s simple. Like an old school game.
So let’s keep this simple, like the game. Infernax is pixel graphics and old school style. If you liked the old castlevania games then you should like Infernax too. You go up stairs, jump up or down, strike enemies, find items, get stronger and talk to living people. Now there are a few modern touches though like a levelling up system. Gain experience points and get stronger.
There’s said to be loads of treasures to collect. These treasures off course have their own effects. So find what works for you or works for the situation. Like Castelvania and Metroid there’s loads of secrets to be found, so start attacking walls and exploring every hole you find. There’s a day and night cycle as well. We would like to know more about the effects off day and night. Do enemies get stronger. do civilians come out only at day? We know there are people you can talk too.
Remember those experience points? Yeah levelling up your character is essential. Why? There’s big bosses. Big bad monsters. Bosses wielding weapons. Monsters wielding magic and special abilities. These Boses have visible health bars and clearly going to take a real fight to put down. there’s shops as well where you can get useful items and upgrades. Just don’t forget too talk to the towns people, survivors and stuff.
We checked out some Infernax gameplay and it’s exactly what we thought it would be. Old school, pixels and smashing monsters. We do like that there’s multiple endings and they are based on your choices. Like whether letting that fat guy in the cloak stay or expelling them. We vote for getting rid of the evil. They might seek revenge though, so can we get the option to kill them please?
Overall Infernax looks like it’s going to be a good game. Simple old school with some modern touches. The bosses do look quite low grade to us. We aren’t scared or impressed. We also think the special effects are not exciting enough. The developers ‘Berserk Studio’ have done an alright job so far. We at X35 Earthwalker aren’t impressed with this game but we know there’s gamers who like this style. Now Infernax may have unholy magic plague but that’s not a problem for… the ‘Earth Walk!’
Unbound: Worlds Apart is a Puzzle Platformer game developed and published by ‘Alien Pixel studios‘. Unbound: Worlds Apart is said to be coming out the 9th of February 2022 on the Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5 and PS4 but it’s already out on Nintendo Switch and PC. Unbound: Worlds Apart huh? Not for long. Let’s take a look. By the way we are trying a new thing concerning the X35 Earthwalker G-Blogs. See for yourself.
Unbound: Worlds Apart is all about Soli, the main character. Some catastrophe has ravaged his world. He seeks to learn more about this event. The origin of it, what happened, why, etc?. Now platformer games need to stand out from each other and do something cool like a whole new or unique mechanic. Unbound: Worlds Apart has their own thing. Soli can create portals. Magic portals. He uses these to travel between different dimensions.
Focus on the portals as that’s what Unbound: Worlds Apart is all about. So basically inside these portals, that look more like circle area space you open up, physical properties of the world elements and even characters can change. Look again at the images we put up above. So a nice green forest area but when you open a portal you see more like a fiery volcano area. Where there was grass, you now see deadly spikes etc. We do like this mechanic. Nice move Unbound: Worlds Apart.
Yes, there are dangers off course in Unbound: Worlds Apart. Besides the natural environment as a platformer has. there are enemies. Dangerous creatures that you can mess with, using your portals. Remember in the portals even the physical properties of creatures and more can change. Their behaviour can change too. So you have to deal with these creatures and it requires using a bit of your brain to do it. What’s strange is that the developers left gamers a serious warning. This has built our interest. Here’s what the warning says, “Beware of the lady bugs!” now that has to make you wonder, what kind of lady bug are we dealing with here?
Overall Unbound: Worlds Apart looks like a good game right now. We like the mechanic. We like the graphics and graphic style as it works here. We like the animations. They are good. Particle effects and glowing lights are very good too. We like how the portals are not just a cool mechanic but also brings about some new ideas and ways to handle or play certain parts. The developers ‘Alien Pixel Studios’ have done a very good job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker, the best game designers of all time, will keep an eye out for Unbound: Worlds Apart. Now Unbound: Worlds Apart may have different reality portals but those have no impact on… the ‘Earth Walk!’
Aeterna Noctis is a 2D action adventure platformer game developed and published by ‘Aeternum Game Studios‘. Aeterna Noctis is said to be coming out there 15th of December 2021 on the Xbox Series X, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PS5, PS4 and PC. This game looks cool and seems to have a lot to it. Let’s take a look.
Aeterna Noctis is another cool looking 2D described also as a metroidvania style game. This might remind players of Castlevania Symphony of the Night. It’s a dark world, castle looking areas, crazy laboratory area, monsters, swords, multiple routes and rooms etc. So many players should like Aeterna noctis. Oh and for the last time, when we say Noctis we don’t mean Noctis Lucis Caelum from Final Fantasy XV. There’s quite a thing going on here with Aeterna Noctis.
Many gamers should know what to expect when it comes to games like Aeterna Noctis. Listen to this,”Taking the role of the ‘King of Darkness’ you must help him regain his power. So basically start of not powerful, be careful in each fight as things can go wrong, semi easily. Find upgrades, find weapons, eventually face bosses and become a real power house. We hope there are areas that you don’t have the ability to access until you get further, gather new powers and then have the means to enter. There needs to be short cuts. and something mystical but flashy mystical.
We checked out some Aeterna Noctis gameplay. Aeterna Noctis has what looks like a lot of enemies. We are seeing the standard simple enemies as in they just stroll left and right. Some are aggressive and attack, some weird weapons like swords. Some are like creatures while others are humanoid. There’s even trap like enemies as in cannons that activate when you’re near it. They are stationary on the ground then rise up with levitation to attack. We even saw ghost based enemies. A ghostly knight. We love variety of enemies and Aeterna Noctis definitely seems to have that.
Overall Aeterna Noctis looks like another god game. We like the animations here. Very good animations. The standard for games have risen overall. We definitely liking that there’s multiple;tiple areas. 16 different but connected areas. We have seen a bit of the described “skill-based platform section”. Difficult platforming does belong in game types like Aeterna Noctis. The developers ‘Aeternum Game studios’ have done a very good job so far. Light vs darkness. We at X35 Earthwalker are going to keep an ear open for Aeterna Noctis. Now Aetrena Noctis may have an eternal battle going on but there battle is too little for… the ‘Earth Walk!’
Pumpkin Jack is a 3D platformer game developed by ‘Nicolas Meyssonnier’ and published by ‘Headup‘. Pumpkin Jack is not a new game. It’s already out but it’s coming to the next gen consoles: Xbox Series X and PS5 on the 27th of October 2021. We have never heard of this game before. Let’s take a look.
Pumpkin Jack, not to be confused with Samurai Jack, is set in a spooky world. Halloween style world with spooky scary skeletons (see what we did there?), gargoyles scarecrows and more. Players control Pumpkin Jack, the mythical pumpkin lord. This guy is evil. We know this because he’s following the will of the devil. Yep. If X35 Earthwalker saw Pumpkin Jack, he would kill hat evil pumpkin. It’s a battle go evil vs good in this game.
If you are reading this, you most likely know what’s up concerning this game. FFriends and characters to meet on your adventure including a crow with an attitude and a owl who has behaviour issues. There’s multiple levels, each having “its own eerie atmosphere”. How many halloween spooky environments can they come up with.
We checked out some pumpkin Jack gameplay and it’s what we expected. Clearly has an old school style design layout and concept. it’s a 3D platformer where you run, jump and light enemies to progress. There’s bosses to overcome but players will need to get good (git gud) with the movements of Pumpkin Jack. This means the evading and when to evade to dodge serious attacks and move quickly to deliver the pain. We saw magical abilities, weapons like a shovel and even firearms.
Overall Pumpkin Jack looks like a nice game. got the colours and definitely got the visuals, especially on the Xbox Series X. We even saw a horse for Pumpkin Jack to ride. It’s a platformer adventure with a spooky theme. This explains the next gen console release timing. Halloween is nearby. The developer ‘Nicolas Meyssonnier’ have done a nice job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker will have to see what happens with Pumpkin Jack. Now Pumpkin Jack has spooky business going on but none of that scares… the ‘Earth Walk!’
Greak: memories of azur is a side scrolling platform action game developed by ‘navegante entertainment’ and published by ‘Team17‘. Greak: memories of azur is said to be coming out 17th of August 2021 on the Xbox Series X, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PS5, PS4 and PC. Greak: memories of azur has sibling teamwork. Let’s take a look.
Greak: memories of azur is set in the lands of Azur. There’s three siblings: Greak, Adara and Raydel. Two brothers and a sister. Players will control these guys. One at a time off course. Basically an invasion is going on. A faction called the Urlag. Basically the Urlag is fighting a magical race called courine. The courine are losing their home lands. So it’s a desperate and dangerous situation.
Greak: Memories of Azur is about the three siblings. Greak is the courine and so he uses magical abilities and attacks. His sister Adara also comes off as magical but possible the most mobile of the three. Lastly Raydel is what you’d expect from the big brother. He is mainly strength, even wielding a sword and shield. You can always count on big bro right. Greak: Memories of Azur allows players to switch between Greak, Adara, and Raydel at any moment so you can use their abilities to your advantage either in combat of platforming around the land. Players like freedom.
We checked out At first it is not so in Greak: Memories of Azur. At the start you control Greek and his first goals to reunite with Adara and Raydel, help them out in their different situations and then work as team to escape. Greak: Memories of Azur is hand drawn art and animations. It looks very good and runs smoothly too. That’s always great to see. So imagine the performance on the best console the Xbox Series X.
We checked out some Greak: Memories of Azur gameplay and it’s what we expected. What we find funny is that the Greak, Adara and Raydel plan to escape the lands of Azur by “building a zeppelin piece by piece.” That sounds so silly but we like different things and want to see that work. We like Raydel the most so far and his shield which he can use to even block beams to allow others to pass through. The enemies are sort of disappointing though. We hope they become more cool and stand out. There must be a bigger difference between between Adara and Greak.
Overall Greak: Memories of Azur looks like a good game. We like what we see but we want more. It’s not a big enough scale for what’s happening in the lore, like oh we don’t know, an invasion. It’s not active enough. The graphics style is nice but the graphics and visuals themselves are excellent. The developers ‘navegante entertainment’ have done a good job so far. We at X35 Earthwalker will have to keep an ear out for this game. Now Greak: Memories of Azur may have an invasion but it’s far too weak for… the ‘Earth Walk!’
Balan Wonderworld is a new 3D action platformer game, more like adventure game, developed by ‘Balan Company’ and ‘Arzest‘ but published by ‘Square Enix‘. Balan Wonderworld is said to be coming out March 26th 2021 on the Xbox Series X, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PS5, PS4 and PC. It’s just going to be a big magical adventure for sure. Let’s take a look.
Balan Wonderworld has a wacky story for sure but does make sense concerning the rules in this world. There’s magic and that’s all you need to know. Wonderworld is a place where people’s happy and positive memories are mixed with their more negative and restless ones. You cannot leave until you “restore the lost balance in their hearts”. Time for a lesson and journey we assume. Wonder if it’s about accepting the past, getting over fears etc.
The main characters in Balan Wonderworld are Leo and Emma. These two youngsters are in for a truly huge magical adventure. The weird dude we see on the front of the game and guiding you around is Balan. This magical guy is always up to something and doing comical stuff for humour and entertainment. It’s like a giant carnival after all. That’s Balan Wonderworld for you.
Players will get to use costumes which grant powers. There’s a big number of costumes means a huge variety powers. We have seen some wacky stuff but this whole game is colourful, wacky, creative and friendly. We love and appreciate creativity and it’s what we see here. Nothing about this place is normal. We like animations and graphics of Balan Wonderworld. There’s clearly a lot of work gone into this game. It has a super friendly inviting atmosphere.
We checked out some Balan Wonderworld and it isn’t what we expected. Still looks magical though. Clearly an adventure but still not 100% clear what’s going on. We know that it’s co-op multiplayer. So get that one friend or family member and enter the Balan Wonderworld. There are twelve tales. Each one is of course different. Each one requires exploration as it’s kind of a labyrinth. Prepare to defend yourself from non threatening looking enemies, jump and parkour around, grab costumes to gain much needed powers and more. just a fun colourful adventure.
Overall Balan Wonderworld just looks like a very cool adventure game. Very family friendly game with colours and magical fun. The enemy called Lance looks like an annoying punk though. He’s the one who makes trouble and creates monsters. So don’t trust that thing. Check out some gameplay for yourself to find out if it’e your thing. The developers ‘Balan Company’ and ‘Arzest’ have done a very good job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker will have to see what Balan Wonderworld brings to the table. Now Balan Wonderworld may have a big fantasy world but it’s not creative at all when compared too… the ‘Earth Walk!’
White Shadows is a new adventure platformer game developed by ‘Monokel‘ and published by ‘Headsup Games‘. White Shadows is said to be coming out in the year 2021 on the Xbox Series X, PS5 and PC.
White Shadows is set in a weird, dark and apparently at times funny world. It’s the last city of earth and there’s nothing but half human, half animal inhabitants. Basically there was great war which caused a plague which destroyed almost all living things on the planet. Matter of fact, how the developers worded it is excellent. Here’s a direct quote: “the great war led to a plague which wiped almost all living things from the face of the earth. Or so they say. Nobody is safe outside the White City, and the birds are to blame for the plague. Or so they say. Only a shining coat of fresh white color will protect you from the plague, and you must earn your ration of color by staying obedient. Or so they say. But Ravengirl stopped listening.”
Did you get all that. This game White Shadows I supposed to be a “distorted” mirror of our world. A modern fable if you must. So you can imagine there’s going to be representations of character or events from real life in the game. This also means that White Shadows might contain some real life lessons for the gamers or giver the players something to think about. Beware of those as it’s the developers ideas and not always the best advice or lessons but it’s a game so you guys have to decide for yourself. In case you haven’t realised yet but White Shadows should straight away remind you of a certain game. Also black and white, with simple controls and messed up world. The answer is Limbo. We don’t need to say why.
Like with Limbo, the controls for White Shadows are simple and some times simple is very good, especially for games of this style. Players need to focus on what’s going on around them in the world in White Shadows. You will see other beings actions taking place and even possibly vehicles moving around. Everything is black and hits with a strangely huge emphasis on the colour white. You are being told by the wolf overlords, who are the leaders, that you must be obedient to earn your color. apparently though the colour white has a horrible truth about it. This makes sense historically as in ancient times the colour white had a very bad meaning and represented negative stuff. So maybe this is a historical thing but definitely symbolic.
This world has all sorts around here. There’s rats, wolves, birds, pigs and sheep. These are all beings like you. They are also buying into what the society and overlords say. This is an obedient you must obey brainwashed kind of world. Ravengirl (you) decides to not listen anymore and escape. The more you continue on the journey you learn more about your characters past and off course the world around you. You also gain the attention of the other half human, half animals around here. Who knows, they might follow you. Oh, we didn’t even mention the goal. Apparently there’s a resistance hidden in the belly of the city. Maybe that is also a lie made by the wolf overlords to lure in those who rebel for an easy capture and kill. Think about it. Look at the image above with a doorway saying ‘whites only’. If white was such a great thing then why aren’t those obeying citizens there trying to be white and get in. Why is the only one white our main character who’s trying to escape. We believe it’s a trap like being the chosen one in that weird movie about cat people. The chosen got sent away on a hot air balloon thing where they will eventually die. Getting rid of the doubter. If this is suppose to be a mirror of our world and the wolf overlords present the government leaders (maybe) then wouldn’t the real lose as they are going against a whole government who an army. We believe this is a trap.
We checked out some White Shadows gameplay and it’s exactly what we though it would be. It’s Limbo. Off course trying to do it’s own thing and it does stand out with a different type of atmosphere. It’s simple controls, obvious objectives s in it’s clear what you have to do. The main information and story is from what you see happening around you. There is going to be interactions though. What kind? We aren’t sure but that’s something for players to think about. It’s said that it’s the interactions that drive the story forwards. Well gamers, are you going to change the fate of this city or are you going to fall right into a trap? What about the world outside of the city? Questions are here.
Overall White Shadows looks like it’s going to be an alright game. Heavy symbolic and representative games tend to try too hard but maybe this one will be pulled off very well. You even wonder how is this little Ravengirl going to stand up to, be a threat or change anything in this city. Maybe she fails in the end and falls back in line with no hop.e We hope something big happens. The developers ‘Monokel’ have done a good job here. The game looks very good and heavily detailed. It has to be with this black and white design. Now White Shadows may have dark secrets but this darkness fades when it comes to… the ‘Earth Walk!’
Ori and the Will of the Wisps is an action, adventure platformer game developed by ‘Moon Studios‘ and published by ‘Xbox Game Studios‘. Ori and the Will of the Wisps came out in 2020 so it is new. It is an Xbox launch exclusive but later came unto the Nintendo Switch. By the way Ori and the Will of the Wisps is perfect for Nintendo Switch. We wanted to write about this game and give our views on it since we are the best after all. Let’s take a look.
Now straight away let’s just say that Ori and the Will of the Wisps is one of the best games ever made and we aren’t crazy for saying this. So many critics and reviewers have overwhelmingly rated Ori and the Will of the Wisps incredibly high. Here’s some examples: Games Beat – 98/100, The Games Machine – 9.8/10 and two gave perfect scores: Daily Star – 5/5 and Hardcore Gamer – 5/5. The lowest is 9/10 and the average is like 9.5/10. There was one reviewer which was clearly biased in favour of the PlayStation gave it a 8.5 so we don’t count or care about that reviewer. So overall everyone believes Ori and the Will is an excellent game with some saying it’s a perfect game.
Let’s keep this simple. The first thing about Ori and the Will of the Wisps is most likely the best looking game ever made. It’s graphics and visuals are completely fantastic. It really looks that darn good. No exaggeration. Everyone we know who has seen this game is instantly impressed and calls everything beautiful. Especially in the Luma Pools area where the true beauty really shines. We dare you to look at the Luma Pools and say you wouldn’t want to go there (except for the dangers in that area). There are very amazing looking games like Tetris Effect: Connected, Final Fantasy XV, Outland, indivisible etc but Ori and the Will of the Wisps beats them all. Just look at the particle effects. Ori and the Will of the Wisps has the best looking particle effects too. The Tower knight in the new demon’s souls remake has amazing particle effects on his magic blue projectile attack but Ori and the Will of the Wisps looks better than that easily. When it comes to graphics, visuals, particle effects, fanciness and even frame rates, Ori and the Will of the Wisps scores perfectly. Take into account that X35 Earthwalker played Ori and the Will of the Wisps on the Xbox One only. Ori and the Will of the Wisps has an improved next gen version for the Xbox Series X where frame rates and graphics and performance is even better.
The next things is the locations in the game. Ori and the Will of the Wisps has been described as an indie game as it isn’t large at all but there’s big areas in this game. There’s a good variety here. You have: Willow’s end, Windswept wastes (which contains Windtorn ruins), Silent woods (not to be confused with David Wood), Kwolok’s hollow, Inkwater marsh, Wellspring glades, Luma pools, The Wellspring, Baur’s reach and Midnight burrows and Mouldwood depths. That’s 12 areas. Each area is very different from each other and some have their own environmental themes that effect things. For example in mould wood depths there is darkness which will straight up kill you if you stay in it for at least 4 seconds. Baur’s reach being the far north and cold some enemies and objects are frozen solid and need to be thawed out. Luma pools obviously since it’s in the name has loads of water, so managing your air meter getting air is crucial.
Let’s talk about the controls and combat since they go hand in hand in Ori and the Will of the Wisps. The controls are very smooth. Not once have we had control issues. Everything is very responsive and works well. Every command comes out and works. The only time a jump doesn’t come out or a certain ability is because the player doesn’t understand the mechanics and how many times you can perform an action in a row. Now this matters because it makes a difference in combat. Ori and the Will of the Wisps has superb combat. Some enemies require footsies to beat and avoid damage. Not joking, footsies sort of like a fighting game as some bigger enemies like Gorleks will try to do a big hit against you even while you are hitting them and so you have to dodge in time. You will find the dash ability which is so strong as it’s excellent for mobility and travelling quickly and better for dodging attacks almost instantly. The dash is just that good. You will unlock the double jump and maybe get the triple jump. There’s a grapple ability which when upgraded can be used to grapple to enemies and not just grapple points, there’s also a bash ability where you can do a bash of an enemy to knock them away or just propel yourself. When you combine, double, triple jump, dash, grapple and bash, with your attacks you can end up doing many combinations and string moves together to keep attacking, dodging and wiping out enemies even without touching the floor. The responsive controls makes all the difference here.
Next let’s talk about the abilities and upgrades here in Ori and the Will of the Wisps. There’s so many of them and they are mostly useful and powerful. Some abilities are found through the story of the game and you have no choice but to find them like ‘Light burst’ while others like ‘Sentry’ can be learned from a specific character for a price. Let’s quickly go through the abilities: Spirit edge which is basically a light sword for melee damage. Regenerate which is where you can use your energy to recover health. Spirit arc is basically your bow for shooting light arrows. Blaze is an area of effect flame burst from the center of Ori’s body to set enemies on fire but when fully charged it’s full screen. Sentry is an automated 360 degrees turret. Spike is basically a big spear headed projectile that hits the hardest of all your weapons and when upgraded explodes. Spirit smash is basically a powerful spirit hammer attack with high knockback. Flash is basically an aura sphere of light that is damaging to enemies and ‘lightens’ things up. Light burst is an arc throwable fireball that sets enemies alight and can be used to melt stuff. Those are the offensive abilities.
Next is the shards. These are just things you can find or earn and they grant even more abilities, either passive, active or change the way Ori or an ability works. There’s a shard that allows you to rapid fire your spirit arc bow. There’s another that increases the amount of damage you do while also increasing the amount of damage you take. Risk reward thing. There’s shards that improve your bash and grapple. There’s a shard that increases your damage against flying enemies. As you can see in the image below, you can find lots of shards and they are worth finding. Combine the abilities you set with the shards you choose and you can change how your combat works, survivability and even energy acquiring and consumption. These things actually make a difference.
Finding these things aren’t that difficult. There’s an excellent map. The map is clear, there are keys for the map that clearly identify what is what. You can zoom in and navigate it easily. It also helps show you where certain things are if you got near them. If you’re smart enough you can use the map to figure out where secret areas are and where secret paths are. There’s a a certain character, for got his name but it’s the bug who loves making maps and you can purchase maps for him to add to your map allowing you to see everything except hidden items. There’s many collectibles and items to find; and so you will need the map.
There are many collectibles and items to find but there’s also side quests. These side quests aren’t boring, repetitive or lame rewards. For example you can help tuley (hope we got the right name) find and plant seeds which are around the world. There is 6 in total we believe. Finding and growing each one creates a plant that helps you access different parts of the Wellspring glades where all the friendly people are, to find spirit light or meet new characters or get new missions. The ‘hand to hand’ side mission is where you acquire an mission item but you must find who needs that item, give it to them, and they will give you a different item, which you then need to find who needs it. Keep it king until completion and you get a so worth it item. A map stone which when placed in a ancient tablet allows you to see EVERYTHING on the map. Every collectible: Gorlek stones, life cell and energy fragments, spirit light etc. So it’s well worth it if you want to get 100% completion or to just find the stuff to get stronger. Completing spirit trials grants you an additional shard slot so you can equip more. If you do all you can have a maximum of 8 shard slots which helps makes you so powerful. Simply put, doing the side quests rewards you well most the time and is fun.
The story is very good and does keep you paying attention and getting sucked into it. There’s others who said it made them cry or close to tears. There’s funny moments, shocking moments, sad moments and even parts that brought about possibly anger or hatred. You knew why the wisps were important, where they came from and what you need them. You learn about Shriek, her past and why she’s got a heart of stone and so murderous and hateful. You learn about the voice narrating the story but if you pay close attention to details you could figure out who the voice is from the beginning of the game. Seeing Shriek attack Ku and seeing the result be a funeral brought rage and made you want to destroy Shriek but you knew she was too powerful and would stomp you harder than how superman would stomp goku (get triggered). This works well with this Metroid style game where you start of trash but gain powers to get stronger and in the end you have numerous abilities, regeneration, powerful attacks with loads of health and energy AND only then you feel you can square up with Shriek… but not until then. We still wanted to help Shriek as we are merciful people but Shriek didn’t want it and it made us feel bad. You understand Shriek in the end. She reminds us of real people. What happened to Kwolok upset us and we respect that giant toad and glad to see the stink spirit die. There’s so much. In the end after a major league epic battle you feel hyped but then sad after seeing Ori make a life changing decision which saves everyone. You are proud, sad but also understand why Ori did it and why it made sense. The story was great from start to finish. We aren’t giving big details as Ori and the Will of the Wisps came out in the year 2020 so not everyone has played or knows how the story goes. Simply put, an excellent story that we cared about.
The music is excellent. It’s perfect in some cases to set the mood or match what it going on. The major boss battle music helps get you hyped and in the mood for an epic battle. The music for when you are getting chased by something big and powerful is also very good and gets you to focus. The music when Shriek shows up and there’s clear danger and you should run, it makes you understand the magnitude of the situation. We love the music and it adds to the game. Never got annoying. We wanted to quickly bring up something. We saw a review done by Angry Joe and they did another disappointing review. They claimed some stuff was bad or not polished about the game but it was due to them not being good at that those things in the game. Now the gap in skill between X35 Earthwalker and angry Joe and his friends is massive. They died over 500 times! In X35 Earthwalker’s first play though we died less than a quarter of their deaths. They even said combat wasn’t polished but the gameplay they showed of them in combat was terrible. They were fighting the gorleks without dodging even when a telegraphed attack was coming their way yet they say the combat isn’t polished. They said abilities were in the background and didn’t pay attention to it even though they are a big part of there game. They even said that all you have to do to beat the bosses was just grab and redirect their attacks back at them which is so false. Use your abilities. Use Spike, sentry, blaze and more. That’s what they are for… combat. Sadly not everyone is at our level of gaming skill and intelligence. Once again if you want accurate reviews and good points then come to us.
There’s more to say but we have to leave it here for now as we are running out of time. We will have to update this post later. Let’s summarise. The boss battles are excellent and exciting. Facing bosses like stink spirit, howl, mora, the armoured bug beetle and even Shriek isn’t easy. They are complete monsters on hard difficulty though. On easy they are too easy. So bosses, music, graphics, side quests, story, combat, controls, sense of getting stronger, collectibles, fast travel, methods to find collectibles, ending, variety of enemies, variety of weapons, variety of shards and builds are all very good and lead to a fantastic experience. We like how the last section Willows End basically has platforming that requires you to use everything you have learned to survive. Ori and the Will of the Wisps is the new standard for games when it comes to animations and graphics. It’s called an indie game but clearly triple A standard and better than majority of them. We love this game.
Overall Ori and the Will of the Wisps is the only game right now we can call a perfect game. 10/10 easily. Last of all Ori and the Will of the Wisps is available on Xbox through gamepads which means it is free. Go and play it. We would happily spend £40 on it. It’s just that darn good. It isn’t a big game and can be beaten under 10 hours easily and even 4 hours if you know what to do and sprint through it but it’s called an indie game for a reason. There’s also a improved Xbox Series X version of this game. So there’s not a better time to play this game. Ori and the Will of the Wisps is better than demon’s souls remake, better than spider man: miles morales, the latest god of war and many more. This game is so underrated and not enough people were talking about this. Ori and the Will of the Wisps is 10/10 but what’s better than Ori is… the ‘Earth Walk!’
Evergate is a puzzle platformer game developed by ‘Stone latern Games‘ and published by ‘PQube‘. Evergate has already came out on Nintendo Switch and PC (2020) but will be coming out on the Xbox One and Xbox series X but NOT on the PS5. This has become a serious pattern lately. Developers going with the Xbox Series X and not the PS5. Let’s take a look.
The story in the world of Evergate is easy to understand. Basically you wake up in the afterlife and you are this small soul called ‘Ki’. You must use the power of your soulflame to navigate and get through the afterlife in order to reincarnate on earth. The description states that two spirits are involved. So simply put, you are dead, entered the afterlife and got to make your way through it to get back to earth.
Evergate is another puzzle platformer game so you know what to expect. So there’s isn’t too much to go over. It’s also 2D so this means players need to pay attention to the whole screen. The main stand out point here for Everegate is the soulflame. You can use your powers to activate and unleash the power of crystals you find in the afterlife. Crystals can also combine so if there’s multiple activate them all and see what happens. You can even slow down time with the power of your soulflame. Slow down time enough for you to take your ‘time’ and aim (see what we did there?).
By the way, the name of the game Evergate comes from an actual obstacle in the game. Ki can’t get back to earth because an Evergate is blocking her way. Ki must “decipher her mysterious connection to kindred spirit as she navigates through memories of a time once past.” We know that the players will get to travel across space and time to go through Ki’s memories which grants the opportunity to learn and understand Ki’s connection to “another soul”. So there is some mystery going on around here in Evergate.
It’s not just platforms you got to look out for but artifacts and collectibles too. These artifacts are going to make things easier for you by boosting your abilities, adding new abilities or whatever to make your life or lack thereof, easier (get it?). For example as shown above the ‘Forgotten memory’ artifact will allow all crystals to be used two times. Another example is the ‘glowpetal hook’ which makes collectible essence petals magnetise when nearby. So it’s stuff like that. These artifacts does remind us of Ori and the Will the Wisps with ‘spirit shards’.
We checked out some Evergate gameplay and it’s slightly different from what we thought it would be. It definitely looks good. We wished it zoomed in more though as we to see Ki better. There’s lots going on in the levels and very active. We like the effects on the items, the dust, the lights and offf course the background and environments. This game isn’t as dark and haunting as they describe it to be. That’s disappointing. We expected more from the afterlife. Evergate looks very good and clearly loads of work went into it.
Overall Evergate is a good game. The graphics are very good. The sounds are good. The environments are very good. We like what we see. The story concept doesn’t make much sense but it’s a fictional game so anything can happen really. We can’t say much concerning the pace though. The developers ‘Stone Latern Games’ have done a very good job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker will have to see what’s happening with Evergate when it comes to the next gen console Xbox Series X. Now Evergate may have a whole journey in a afterlife but that journey is small and pointless compared to… the ‘Earth Walk!’
