Tuesday, June 14, 2022

NEWS! Pocky and Rocky Reshrined physical EU edition!

 official logo  

Official logo



Pocky & Rocky Reshrined is available 24th June

A brand-new adventure for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation® 4

 

Stuttgart, Germany - 14 May, 2022. The wait is almost over! ININ Games together with Natsume Inc., under license from TAITO are excited to launch Pocky & Rocky Reshrined boxed and digital on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation® 4 (PS4) - on June 24th, 2022! 


Pocky _ Rocky Reshrined_Nintendo Switch_PEGI.pngPocky _ Rocky Reshrined_PS4_PEGI.png



Looking forward to the new shrine maiden shooter with classic 16-bit style, single- and 2-player mode and various stages to master? ININ Games is happy to give some more insights into mid-battle gameplay, different enemies and unique characters with further gameplay scenes and additional screenshots. 


A GIF showing the crazy action and box arts.


To join the iconic heroine and her Tanuki companion in a brand-new adventure, fans can check iningames.com to pre-order Pocky & Rocky Reshrined (Nintendo Switch/PS4) for a suggested retail price of $29.99/ €29.99 via selected stores.

 


Special limited editions - still available for pre-order!

To honour the legacy of legendary Pocky & Rocky, ININ Games also created some strictly limited special editions. Limited and Collector’s Editions, also available bundled with an awesome Rocky plushie, can be pre-ordered via Gamesrocket - only while stock lasts. The special editions are expected to ship September/October. 


Collector's edition contents, including an adorable Rocky plush!


Saturday, June 11, 2022

NEWS: Heavens Vault


 

 Heaven’s Vault to receive limited boxed release

Decipher an ancient language and sail the rivers of space in this award-winning narrative adventure

 

Stuttgart, Germany - 9 June 2022 Strictly Limited Games is delighted to announce that they will publish an exclusive limited edition release of the critically-acclaimed Heaven’s Vault for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 (PS4), in partnership with the award-winning developers at inkle. Praised for its narrative depth and gameplay around exploration and deciphering an ancient language, Heaven’s Vault is already a timeless classic. The boxed release now secures a permanent physical legacy for Heaven’s Vault and includes unique collectibles transcribed with never-before-seen Ancient text, well-aligned with the theme of archaeology in the game. Pre-orders will kick off on June 12th, at 12 AM CEST (midnight) only at Strictly Limited Games.

 

Nominated for the BAFTA, winner of the Independent Games Festival in the category “Best Narrative” and honored several times as one of the top 10 games of 2019 (The New YorkerMashableGamesIndustry.biz), Heaven’s Vault is an adventure game unlike any other. Every choice counts, as the adaptive narrative reacts to your decisions and the game expands on every replay, unlocking deeper secrets.

 

A picture depicting the critical acclaim the game received.

 

About Heaven’s Vault:

Welcome to the Nebula: a strange network of moons linked by rivers in space, where ancient robots coexist with humans. Its ancient history has long been forgotten and only fragments remain, written in a lost hieroglyphic language. Join archaeologist Aliya Elasra and her robot sidekick Six on a trail of discoveries that will lead to the very edge of the world and to the ancient secret of Heaven's Vault.

 

A screenshot showing a fast flowing river with a rock in the middle and shoreline on the right.

 

Ancient, the hieroglyphic language at the center of Heaven’s Vault, is a full language created for the game that consists of around 3,000 words. A language that an active fan community is continually discovering, discussing, and even expanding beyond the scope of the game. But it’s not only the language that makes Heaven's Vault special. Progress through the game in any order you choose; the game's fully adaptive narrative remembers every choice you make, every discovery, and every action you take, influencing what happens next. Meet a diverse cast of characters who remember everything you say, and whose attitudes toward you will change based on how you act. Who will you trust? What will you find? What will you risk? You will have to decide for yourself!

 

Features: 

  • Find artifacts and translate their hieroglyphic inscriptions to piece together the history of the world.
  • Make tough decisions and interact with a large cast of characters who remember everything you say.
  • Sail Aliya's ship, the Nightingale, through an open world of fast-flowing space rivers and lost moons.
  • Freely explore a variety of locations, from ruined palaces to desert moons, market towns, and farming villages.
  • Marvel at the unique art style, blending beautiful hand-drawn 2D art with 3D environments.
  • Play it again  – Heaven’s Vault is highly replayable thanks to massively flexible choice-driven gameplay and translation puzzles that expand on every playthrough, revealing new secrets.

A screenshot showing a Brass Ceremonial Goblet and three words, allowing the player to choose which they feel is best inscribed onto drinking implement.

Check out the trailer to learn more about the game.

The two unique limited editions for Heaven’s Vault are available for pre-order exclusively via the Strictly Limited Games online shop

 

The Limited Edition is limited to 1,900 copies for Nintendo Switch and 900 for PS4, at a price of 29.99€, including a colorful game manual.

 

 

 

The Special Limited Edition is limited to 900 copies for Nintendo Switch and 400 for PS4, for 49.99€, including lots of additional collectibles: 

  • Special Limited Edition Box 
  • Colorful Game Manual 
  • Original Soundtrack with previously unreleased bonus tracks 
  • 10 Puzzle Cards
  • Timeline of the Nebula 
  • Archaeologist’s Notebook 
  • Bookmark
  • 4 transparent Stickers

 

Special limited edition contents.

Both editions can also be purchased as an exclusive bundle with the two official Heaven’s Vault novels by Jon Ingold, inkle’s narrative director. Only 100 of these bundles will be available for Nintendo Switch and PS4 respectively.

 

Wednesday, June 1, 2022

Remote Life Switch Review

Remote Life
Developed By: Next Game Level
Published By: Ratalaika Games
Date of Release: May 27, 2022
Price: $18.99

Well I've been seriously blown away here. I've just experienced Remote Life, a new SHMUP from one-man dev team Mario Malagrino. I was honestly not sure what to expect when I saw the previews, but I can say with no doubts that this has been an awesome experience to play. It seems like lately these solo dev efforts (the Axiom Verge games for instance) manage to outshine a lot of recent releases from major studios. Remote life definitely falls into the category of outstanding solo efforts, and the production values are though the roof.

Angler fish attacks ship!

Remote Life is a horizontally scrolling SHMUP with a seriously unique playstyle and art design. The artwork is quite unlike any series I've seen before and has a techno-organic feel to it, and the animation quality id extremely fluid, it really needs to be seen in motion to be believed. As for the gameplay, the standard horizontal SHMUP gameplay has been blended amazingly with a dual-stick firing setup, which lets you aim at enemies anywhere on the screen. The difficulty is pretty tough on the default setting, but it's definitely fair. My only complaint is that you can collide with some of the items that look like they should be in the background, though it may be just a bug with the parallaxing.

A level that showcases busy environments.

The soundtrack is really unique as well, with awesome 80's style buttrock coupled with great synths. Then it switches gears and goes full on dubstep. On top of that there's dialog voiced with these bizarre voice synthesizers, and it totally fits the feel of the game. If the dev was going for an overall atmosphere to match weird 90's scifi, he definitely succeeded. All in all, Remote Life is a badass SHMUP, and I can definitely recommend it, especially at the asking price.