Boot Hill Bounties Review (Nintendo Switch)

Game: Boot Hill Bounties
Genre: Adventure, RPG
System: Nintendo Switch (also Steam, PS4, & Xbox)
Developer|Publisher: Experimental Gamer Studios
Age Rating: EU 7+ | US Everyone
Price: US $14.99 | UK £12.19 | EU €14,99
Release Date: April 14^th 2020

Review code provided with many thanks to Experimental Gamer Studios

Get the Posse Back Together

Boot Hill Bounties follows the wild west posse of Kid, Doc, Rosy and Moon as they continue on their adventures after the events of Boot Hill Heroes. This posse of friends has got back together again and are on a mission to hunt down some bag guys and save Bronco County. I’m being quite vague with the plot since it’s hard to talk about it without spoiling the events of the previous game. What I will say is the game has a good balance of serious moments and humour. Each of the four characters feels like they get their moment to shine and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them further through this experience. It’s interesting jumping into Bounties on Switch as this game actually released before the first game Heroes on the Nintendo platform. 

Bounties is a RPG with simple retro style pixel graphics. It feels a little more refined then the previous entry, it’s a style that will work for most but may put others off by its crude appearance. There are a variety of wild west environments to explore from woodlands to a variety of towns. There are numerous NPCs to interact with and talk to. Taking your time to explore the world will develop more of the background story of the world and possibly net you a few handy items.

The more you invest in the world of Bounties the more you will get out of it. The enormous amount of dialogue may not work for everyone though. This is an RPG that requires a lot of reading and while it’s possible to skip over it and concentrate on the combat you’ll probably miss out on some decent story beats.

Active Time Battles With a Small Twist

Bounties uses a unique active time battle system where battles run in real time and you choose actions constantly as the battle progresses. Initially this system can feel a bit overwhelming if you play the game alone, but there is a handy pause button that lets you think through your actions at any time during the battle. Battles feel more about thought than pushing through with brute force. You can win by spamming attacks but it tends to make battles more grindy. It’s choosing to use defensive actions, healing and attack options at the right time and reacting to what your enemy does. Overall, it makes for some entertaining battles. The only minor niggle is some encounters feel like they go on a tad too long, particularly boss fights. You can equip your posse with a variety of weapons and hats which will unlock new ‘vantages’ which are abilities you can use in battle. 

Battles are not random, as you can see enemies roaming the maps, so as the player you have the choice to engage or avoid. Sneaking up on enemies nets you an advantage in the battle. Also if you beat the same enemy multiple times they will actively run away from you in the map which is a cool new feature. It acts as an indication you are at a sufficient level to proceed instead of grinding away uncertain if you’re at the correct level or not. 

In the options you can also switch the battle system to a more a turn based system if you prefer. The developer offers additional accessibility options including difficulty modes and text speed. It’s an RPG that feels welcoming to all skill levels. Bounties also offers different challenges which come from your dog chum, who also acts as the save hub, when you find him in the levels. These challenges kinda act as mini tutorials and help you get to grips with Bounties many gameplay features. You also get rewarded with items for completing these so it feels kind of win-win. All this is of course optional, you can really play the game how you want and that, at the end of the day, is what makes Bounties feel like a huge improvement over its predecessor. 

Level up

You can level up practically everything in Bounties. Your battle level, cooking skill, medical skills, weapon crafting. The list kinda just goes on and on. As well as this you can now read newspapers which will offer coupons which you can use for discounts in the shop, get side quest hints and just offer more depth and background to the world. Boot Hill Bounties is a game to get lost in and with a simple control scheme it’s pretty easy to dip in and out of, even if you feel the need to take a break from the experience. It’s a title I found best enjoyed in handheld mode for an hour here and there. The game runs brilliantly in both handheld and TV modes.

Optional Co-op

Boot Hill Bounties, much like the first game, also offers up to four player co-op. At any time during the game another human or hyper intelligent pet can pick up a joy con and assist in the battles. It’s a nice feature which I can see a small number of people taking advantage of. The trouble is, between battles, only the primary player has control of moving around the map, exploring and carrying out mini side quests that don’t involve battle. Of course, I’m not really sure how you could incorporate co-op into this but it makes Bounties feel like a game most will enjoy solo.

What I will say is you gain all four party members right at the start of the game unlike the slow start in Heroes. So if you are a lucky devil who has four players to jump in, Bounties lets everyone have a go pretty fast, instead of sitting in the corner of the sofa looking at their phone.

Riding High

If you played and liked Boot Hill Heroes, its sequel Boot Hill Bounties is a must buy. It takes the RPG formula from the first game, refines it as well as adding a plethora of additional content. This is an example of how to do a game sequel well.

Boot Hill Bounties stands out as one of the retro inspired RPG greats making the developers, Experimental Gamer Studios, a studio well worth keeping an eye on in the future. 

Final Verdict: I liked it a lot