Handheld Gaming News week 8

Time for our weekly cup of coffee or tea, so sit down and let’s chat! February is almost over, and although I love wintertime, by now Spring would be very welcome. Nature agrees with me, the first bulbs are showing their colours already. This is also the time when the south of my country erupts into a flurry of color, crazy costumes and fun music. Carnaval is here, a fun way for a lot of people to say goodbye to Winter.

Yesterday we took the day off to visit the city centre of Utrecht. A wonderful town to do some shopping and having a cozy lunch. Utrecht is also the city where the creator of Nijntje, or Miffy as it is called abroad, lived. As you might have read Dick Bruna died last week, it seems fitting to include this picture that I took in Utrecht in honour of him.

Indie games for the Switch

As mentioned I didn’t pre-order my Switch. People who know about my love for Nintendo are flabbergasted. But I don’t want to repeat the mistake of getting the device at launch, only to find that I don’t have good games to play on it. And then to hear a couple of months later that the price drops! This happened to me when I bought the 3DS at launch, and it won’t happen again.

But, it might be that there are more good games on the horizon then I thought. Three games will be available at launch, but over 60 games are expected:

  • FAST RMX from Shin’en Multimedia, an anti-gravity racer
  • Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment
  • Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, with the new Specter of Torment game plus the original game and all DLC.

This February 28 Nintendo of America will showcase upcoming Indie games for the Switch, which will be available through the eShop. It will be viewable on Nintendo’s website from 9 am PT and 17.30 GMT. 

Ys Origins for the Vita

A series that has had me interested for some time is Ys. Purely based on the name at first, but then I’ve always like a game with a deep story. Must be because I also love reading fantasy books. Anyway, I’ve never tried any of the game, the fact that it’s an action RPG is holding me back. I’m more at home with turn based battle. Still, the new upcoming game Ys Origins has me interested.

Ys Origins takes lave 700 years before Ys I and covers the beginning of what went wrong to ruin the mythical kingdom known as Ys. This glorious kingdom was led by twin goddesses, Feena and Real, and a council of six priests. While it was a beautiful and respected country, it fell after the misuse of the Black Pearl artifact. It tells the tale firsthand of what happened with the twin goddesses and six priests as we go through Darm Tower.

You can choose to play as one of three different people, and I’ve read that Hugo is the easiest to play as, since his magic lets you always attack from a distance and enjoy a safety buffer. As this game really sets the stage for the game that come after it in timeline, this might just be the game where I can get acquainted with the world of Ys.

A physical version of the game is only available for pre-order at PlayAsia (link here) for $29,99, to be released in May (The PS4 version is already available, by the way.) It’s a multi language version (Japanese, Chinese and English). The digital versions will be available in May 2017.

New Denpa Ningen no RPG for mobile

A game that has held my fond attention in the past is DenpaMen, a RPG where your little band of DenpaMen try to overcome any dungeon. It was nice to find new DenpaMen floating around you with the 3DS camera while they rode on wifi waves. Developer Genius Sonority’s will release a new installment for smartphones titled New Denpa Ningen no RPG.

This free game will arrive in February, at least, it will in Japan. Over there, the game series is much more known then it is in the West. Bandai even has a card game out, which is not just a card game. The packaged cards contain a QR code too, that gives you special DenpaMen and items in your game. Nice! Let’s hope the mobile game makes it West too, but given the fact that the third 3DS game, which was free to play as well, never made it, doesn’t bode well.

Party Hat for Pikachu in Pokémon Go

Don’t forget to watch for Pikachu with a silly hat in Pokémon Go. Find the details here

Switch release dates on NintendoLife

If you’ve already had the Switch pre-ordered you’ll most likely be ready for the games you want on day one. If you aren’t going to buy the Switch immediately it will still be interesting to see what games are expected. NintendoLife has a great list to keep you up to date. Find the list here, and note that a lot of games are eShop only. I guess we can safely say that buying digital will be here to stay!

 

Enough for today. I’m looking forward to Story of Seasons release this upcoming Tuesday, and meanwhile I’m still playing Fire Emblem Heroes. Dabbling a bit in Disney Magical World 2 as well, but so far the frantic gaming mood hasn’t struck yet.

Thank you for reading, and let me know what games you are enjoying at the moment!

9 comments

  1. Oh gosh, I didn’t know that Play Asia offered a multi-language physical edition of Ys Origins! I love both Nihon Falcom and the Ys series, so that edition is an absolute must-buy for me. Thanks for letting us know, I think I would have missed on it otherwise!

    1. Hi Isleif 🙂 Just put through an order for Origins as well, had no idea they were doing a physical release! Did you see the Lacrimosa of Dana collector’s edition that just popped up last week on NIS America’s website? The box looks incredible!

  2. Whoa – thank you for mentioning the physical release of Ys: Origins! I actually got the whole Ys “set” from GOG for $15 total during a mega-sale, but Ys games play incredibly well on the Vita, so Ijust put the pre-order through! Meaning I have now bought 2 Ys games for Vita in the same week, which I won’t get for several months :O

    BTW — you mention you’re still on the fence about Ys games because they are action-RPGs. Personally, being that you have a Vita, I would check out Ys: Memories of Celceta and see if it looks like something you’d be into. I was intrigued by the series name as well and bought it blindly, and it turned me on completely to the series, which I’ve been playing like crazy for a few months now. Memories plays extremely well and is super fun and feels great on a handheld.

    There’s also the latest Ys installment, Lacrimosa of Dana (PS4 and Vita) which was recently opened for pre-orders on the NIS America website in a beautiful collector’s edition, if you decide you liked Memories of Celceta 🙂 (http://store.nisamerica.com/ys-viii-lacrimosa-of-dana-limited-edition-ps-vita)

    1. So you think Celceta is the one to start with? I was wondering if it wouldn’t be a good thing to start with Origins, as it the origin, lol. But that would be more costly.

      You’ve found a great collection then! And I’m glad I found the snippet of news about the physical version of Origins!

      1. If I had to sell the series to someone with a Vita, I would personally recommend Celceta. It made me fall in love with it immediately and it’s a no-BS type of game. Yeah there’s story and everything but it really throws you into it without much introduction and let’s you go nuts right off the bat. I love it – I’d say go for Memories! It’s pretty cheap too 🙂

  3. Hi Geddy! (The world of gaming blogs sure is a small one, isn’t it?) I didn’t know about the collector’s edition of Lacrimosa of Dana until reading your comment, and I agree that the book is gorgeous. It reminds me of the book included in the Silver edition of Ys: Memories of Celceta, which was also a true work of art rife with data about the game world. I’m currently burnt on special editions, but I think I’ll purchase the collector’s edition of Lacrimosa of Dana anyway; for once, it’s utterly gorgeous, and for another, it will be an glorious anticipated adieu to collecting as a whole. Like, the last collector’s edition I EVER purchased. *insert eyes teary with emotion*

    1. That’s a moment there, Isleif: the last ever collectors edition. And I bet it’s a good one.
      Oh and yes, the blogging world is a small one, lol!

  4. I might check out more indie games this generation. I always feel I don’t play enough of them, passing them over for the AAA titles or full retail releases. But I was quite impressed with the offerings during the Nindies Showcase, so I’m considering playing more of them when they release for the Switch.

    On another note, I still need to find that Party Hat Pikachu!

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