Hey, a new Nindies presentation. I actually wasn’t going to bother watching this but then I heard some rumblings online that it was pretty incredible. So I pulled it up on the ol’ YouTube and WOW do I ever have opinions.
Cuphead – I’m happy, ever so happy that Cuphead is coming to Switch. What seemed impossible up until now has been made into actual reality now that Nintendo and Microsoft are BFFs. The thing is, I’m not going to buy it, at least not right away. I’ve already had my fill (ha!) of Cuphead, and I feel no need to revisit it yet. Stellar game, tho.
The Red Lantern – I don’t know if this is something I’d actually play, but the idea of a survival game set out in Alaska where you’re in command of dogsled is very interesting. Also, bear attacks. I need to know more though. If it plops you in the snow as says “have at ‘er” I’ll be all over that, but I’ll probably skip it if it’s a more linear, story-focused kind of game.
Darkwood – I’ve heard good things about this. Stories that absolutely piqued my interest. It’s a procedurally-generated survival horror dealie, but I’m not in love with the top-down perspective. I don’t know why, either, as I’m perfectly fine with it for many other games. This is exactly the kind of game that I need a demo for, just to get a feel for it before I commit my $25 to the cause.
RAD – A new Double Fine game. I’ve been down this road enough times that I know how Double Fine games work: I end up liking everything about them except for the act of playing them. And RAD… it definitely seems like it’ll fit that description. Run around in a post-apocalyptic cartoon Hellscape! Create a trail of flowers and grass wherever you go like in Okami! Mutate your guy to do cool things! And even though I like all those bullet points… it looks a little shallow and maybe boring. We’ll have to see.
Stranger Things 3 – I’d like to start by saying that I really have no interest in playing this game; it doesn’t look very good in any way. However, the visual style is reminding me of something very specific and I cannot for the life of me figure out what it is and it’s driving me BATTY. I can’t wait for the day when I’m in the shower and randomly realize what it is.
Blaster Master Zero 2 – You remember how excited I was about the Link’s Awakening remake? Well I am almost as excited about this sequel that was announced and released during this presentation. If you’ll take a moment to recall, I thought very highly of Blaster Master Zero, and in fact pronounced it to be one of my favourite games of 2017. To be included on that list with the likes of RE7, Breath of the Wild, and Mario Odyssey is no small feat. Obviously I immediately opened my phone to Nintendo’s online store and purchased this right away. I’m sure that by the time this post is published I will have already finished BMZ2 (Future Ryan Sez: It’s freakin’ awesome!), but as of writing time I am dying to actually have a few spare moments to dig into it.
Cadence of Hyrule – I never had any intention of playing Crypt of the Necrodancer. I don’t like roguelikes. I tried. Lord did I ever try, but they just don’t work for me. HOWEVER. Now that Necrodancer is getting a Zelda-themed sequel? Yeah I’m in for giving this one a shot. And I think it’ll be a little more palatable than the scores of various Mystery Dungeons that I played, being that it’s rhythm-based. Also the Zelda branding suggests it will probably get dumbed down for the unwashed masses. Which, in this one very specific case, I see as a net positive.
Like with the last Nintendo Direct, I’m just going to round up the titles of all the things I have no interest in here. These include: Overland, My Friend Pedro, Neo Cab, Katana ZERO, Creature in the Well, Bloodroots, Pine, Super Crate Box, Nuclear Throne, Ultra Bugs, and Swimsanity!. That isn’t to say that any of these games looked bad or unworthy of my attention (although truthfully, Neo Cab seems terminally boring), but in this age of Too Many Games, one needs to know how to write things off at a glance. You’ll lose your mind if you try to take an interest in everything, because there’s not enough time in the world for that.