EGX Rezzed 2018: Preview Roundup

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From April 13th-15th the game show EGX REZZED took place in good ole London Town. I had the pleasure of going and got to check out some of the latest Indie titles in the making for the Switch. So here are some brief details of the titles I got to check out.

Wargroove

Do you like Advance Wars? If you do, go buy Wargroove when it is released. I only got to play one game against another player, but from my brief time with Wargroove I was thrilled by it. It takes the classic Advance Wars formula and doesn’t settle to just make a carbon copy, but improves on it and puts forward a game that feels like it was made by fans of the MIA Nintendo franchise.

The differences made to the formula are what really made Wargroove stand out to me. One of the major ones was that your Commanding Officer will join you on the field and fight alongside their army. Each captain has access to a special ability like healing nearby units or raising the dead and if they are defeated the game is over adding a new way to win the game when compared to AW.

Honestly, I could go on for quite some time about this game, but need to keep it short, but the point must be made that this is something any Advance Wars fan should get and any strategy fan. The changes are great like… buildings are captured in one, you must destroy an enemies building and they fire back at you.

Keep an eye on this one!

Bad North

Recently shown in a Nindie Direct, Bad North is a cross between tower defence games and RTS’s. You are planted on an island and must position your units in the best place to defence from the invading Vikings and defend the houses they are trying to raid.

In the demo I had access to three types of units each with their own strength. Archers, sword/shield users, and then pikemen. These units are all unique and are not spawned from a barracks, but are found as you play and can be upgraded. Being a demo it was easy, but I must say that from here it was clear that the possibility for some interesting strategy and management certainly could pop up.

Progression through the main game seemed interesting and offers replay-ability. You are being pursued by the Vikings and pick what island to travel to next in a gameplay that was described as risk vs reward. Do you go to Island A which is an easier difficulty? Or try Island B where you will get to recruit a new hero and find some treasure?

All in all I liked what I got to play and it is always a good sign when you want to play more. Mulitple paths, multiple units, upgrades and a mission length that would be great for short bursts.

Pocket Rumble

Announced a long time ago in an indie direct, I got to have a few games of Pocket Rumble and the big question I had after playing was…why hasn’t this been released yet? A game heavily inspired by the classic Neo Geo fighting games, there are only two attack buttons making it very newbie friendly. The demo had 8 fighters all of which were surprisingly unique. One fighter could turn into a werewolf, another summoned a cat and one had some good zoning tools. I only got to fight a few matches, but it certainly was enjoyable and it’s so easy to pick up and play, but not button bashing friendly. I don’t mean to brag, but I won 3 out of my 3 games… Not an impressive sample size, but just to highlight that there is some depth to the combat.

As I said I was left scratching as to why it hasn’t been released yet. I can’t say I am sure about what other features they want to add or it can offer, but the core experience was fun and given the right price anyone who has friends to play with locally will enjoy this.

Travis Strikes Again

I am sure many of you have already seen the GDC footage of Travis Strikes Again and were most likely feeling a bit uneasy about it. Sadly after getting to play a bit of the new adventure starring everyone’s favourite Otaku assassin I must say I felt the same.

In all fairness the gameplay to the original titles was never that impressive, but this took it to a new low. It isn’t bad, but it offers no depth. Enemies are mowed down like ants and put up little resistance. Even when stronger ones were introduced they just soaked up more damage and that was it. There was a new section to the boss fight which saw Travis having to destroy four lightbulbs around the ring and a 3rd part to the fight was teased.

The humour we all know and love from the No More Series series is still present, but lacking actual cutscenes so far it means it doesn’t offer the same impact it did before.

Stay on the fence with this one folks. I must stress that Travis Strikes Again is meant to be split up into 6 different genres, with tweaks this mode could be good and it is just one level, but if the whole game played like this? I’d struggle to get through it.

Dead Cells

The final game I got to play was Dead Cells. A roguelike “Metroidvania” that was absolutely great. The controls are simple to pick up and the enemies put up a mean fight, but never feel unfair. A variety of weapons are thrown at you with there being 45+ to play around with.

You can upgrade your stats and make use of sub weapons as well. I started to explore with a sword, shield and found a mini turret like weapon. I did all that I could to make my way as far as I possibly could through the environment, but was thwarted by some excellently designed enemies, not just visually, but with how they attack. The visuals are great, the gameplay is great. This game is great. In fact you can look up some early access reviews and see what people are already saying about it.