The word “shadow” in the title is an important clue to what players will do as they delve into the game’s story.

Players take on the third-person role of a woman named Ayana, a member of the Ereban race. These people have the amazing ability to manipulate matter within darkness and thereby become one with the shadows.

I say “people,” but the fact is, Ayana has never met another Ereban. She may be the last of her kind.

That’s what helps draw her to an incredibly influential power company called Helios. This massive corporation claims to be the end-all-be-all to energy needs in the galaxy. And it promises Ayana access to its vast stores of knowledge about her people if she simply joins in their noble cause as an agent of positive change.

Once Ayana gets involved, however, things immediately feel a little sketchy. And she is soon snatched up by the company’s robots to be used for some mysterious purpose. But just before really bad things happen, she’s helped by a gaggle of rebels that break her free and …  want to use her abilities for their cause.

Ayana isn’t exactly sure who to trust. But she knows one thing: Helios has info about the disappearance of the Ereban. That evil corporation might even be the cause. And if she wants to uncover the truth, Ayana will need to traverse the facilities, temples and ruins controlled by Helios; aid the rebels; and dig up the facts, piece by piece.

As mentioned, gameplay in Shadow Legacy is focused on stealth. Ayana can merge with any shadowed space (much like ink-diving in the game Splatoon) and glide along the ground, up walls and through blocked areas. Players can only merge with shadows for a limited time, but it can be expanded as the game progresses. Any hint of light, however, will cause Ayana to pop suddenly into view.

Although Ayana can slip up behind the Helios robotic and human forces and stab them in the backs, she is pretty much defenseless and instantly eliminated if caught in the open.

The game rewards players for making the stealthy, pacifist choice with no death-dealing. But if they choose a more assassin-focused tack, they gain shadow-crawling bonuses while facing significant consequences when dealing with other humans.

This is a single player game that doesn’t require an internet connection.

POSITIVE CONTENT

It’s easy to call Ereban: Shadow Legacy an indie gem. It’s a great-looking title with strong elements of play for those who enjoy stealth and puzzle strategy mixed with a dash of platforming.

The game takes Ayana through a series of levels and chapters, but it uses an open-area design that gives players plenty of choices of how to get from one goal to another. Gamers can pursue lots of side quests and gather collectables that reward Ayana with ability upgrades. (Ability upgrades include such things as blinding a foe temporarily, hiding a fallen foe, setting a decoy image, etc.)

Each chapter is also graded—with deductions for time expended, number of kills and the like—and that prompts players to replay a section and shoot for a better score and stealthy performance.

CONTENT CONCERNS

Ayana is asked to not kill any human foes. But she can still stab them in the back if she needs (or wants) to. (Robots spurt a black oil and humans splash a bit of blood.) The foes, however, have no compunctions about their deadly actions. They shoot lasers at the young woman and consistently mean her harm. If she’s caught, the large robots lift her by the head and give her a laser zap to the face. (Ayana then goes back to give the area another try.)

Trusted characters also make choices to lie and deceive as the story unfolds.

Game controls are fairly easy to slip into, but maneuvering through moving shadows and the like can feel a bit tricky at first for younger players. There’s a bit of coarse language in the fully voiced action, including uses of the s-word, “d–mit,” “h—hole,” and misuses of God’s name.

GAME SUMMARY

This T-rated indie gem isn’t perfect, but it’s filled with lots of shadow-slipping fun.

The post Ereban: Shadow Legacy appeared first on Plugged In.

The game follows Prince Alain, a young lord leading a ragtag rebel army in the hopes of regaining the throne of Cornia. He also would like to free the other four kingdoms of Fevrith—now in control of the dastardly general Galerius. Years before, the turncoat general killed Alain’s mother, took over her kingdom and spread his Zenoiran Empire throughout the lands.

That’s all you need to really know. The narrative strength of the game actually grows from venturing to towns, fortresses, ports and cities across the kingdoms; liberating them through strategic battles; and then recruiting new battle-worthy characters to populate your two-to-five character squads.

There are some 70 different fighters to recruit in all. Those ranks include knights, lords, archers, hoplites, swordsmen and the like. You can also choose from a variety of magical characters such as healing clerics and spell-casting witches.

The challenge of the game then is to figure out which combination of fighters works best to support one another and face off with the many varieties of foes they’ll face. Players can also adjust individual character tactics in battle so that they can better defend and accent their teammates.

The characters exhibit more skill sets, abilities and teammate bonds as they level up through battle together. And they also gain access to better weapons and armor. Players designate a leader in each squad, which then gives the troops unique movement and battle advantages. For instance, a squad gains a massive speed boost if a cavalry unit takes charge and gallops to the fore. And a gryphon-riding leader allows the squad to fly over ground-based obstacles and rough terrain.

Unicorn Overlord is primarily a single-player, offline game. But at a certain point, players can access a Coliseum area that offers online, multiplayer contests that are separate from the main storyline.

POSITIVE CONTENT

Unicorn Overlord is an incredibly well designed and crafted strategic RPG. The character-teaming and tactics-tweaking aspects of play are very involving. And the overall story is fun and inviting.

The game is stylistically animated and classically voiced. It all feels apiece with its fantasy setting. And the tale itself is one of heroes freeing the oppressed.

CONTENT CONCERNS

Besides the heroic story, Unicorn Overlord’s focus is an ongoing series of RPG battles. The character attacks and defenses are all fully animated, and when they slash swords, swing massive hammers, shoot arrows, zap with spells and the like there can be small blood splashes and cries of pain.

There’s a bit of rough language that pops up on occasion in the form of the words “b–tard,” “d–n,” and “h—.” And some characters wear flesh-baring outfits. For instance, there are heavily-muscled and shirtless male characters and female characters in low-cut and bikini-like garb. (Some females are a bit buxom and bouncy.)

There’s also magic in this fantasy land. Characters (witches, shamans, sibyls) cast spells during combat to attack offensively or deplete opponent’s defenses. We encounter a temple dedicated to a god-like entity called the Unicorn. (Alain also has a Unicorn ring imbued with power that breaks evil mesmerizing spells.) And characters speak of praying to “the Father.” One magic-focused evil wizard specializes in raising corpses back to life. These undead must be fought in battle.

GAME SUMMARY

Unicorn Overlord is fun. It’s well-crafted and offers gamers balanced strategic challenges without ever feeling either overwhelming or slow. There are a few T-rated issues, but nothing bad enough to knock most families with teens off a unicorn.

The post Unicorn Overlord appeared first on Plugged In.

Isn’t it just Pokémon with guns? some have asked. Is it copyright infringement? Others have wondered, Is it cruel? Why is it becoming so popular and setting gameplay records?  

So, even though the game is still “officially” only in early access, we thought we ought to play it and address those questions along with the straight-forward query of: What exactly is this thing?

The fact is, Palworld seems to pull a lot of its mixed-breed inspirations from a whole bunch of popular titles. (Though its gamemakers have already declared there’s no IP infringement.) Some have suggested that it has DNA of titles such as Ark: Survival Evolved, Minecraft, Fortnite, Pokémon and even a dash of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild running through it’s veins.

And they’re all, in a way, correct.

At its core though, Palworld is more of a base-building, survival/crafting game than anything else. At least, that’s where you throw most of your early gaming energy.

Palworld doesn’t really have much of a story to lean into. There are no quaint villages to visit or critter competitions to participate in. You’re simply plopped down in an open-world locale filled with trees, rocks and wandering “Pal” critters and asked to go fend for yourself. The one surefire story suggestion is that there are “ancient glowing towers” scattered about the land. And they seem important.

So, how do you survive? Well, you can initially pick up sticks and punch trees and rocks in an effort to gather basic resources. And with enough of those resources, you can unlock recipes for a rudimentary workbench; a campfire to keep you warm at night; a basic axe; a basic club. With the club you can go out and kill a Pal for meat and sustenance. (Yep, this game ain’t always so “Poké” friendly.) And with more resources and recipes, you’ll get around to building a Pal Sphere with which to catch a weakened Pal critter.

Those Pals can then hunt with you, they can go out and gather resources for you, they can maintain your camp. With them you can build houses, beds, storage facilities, and more. When you unlock the ability to ride the galloping or flying Pals, they can transport you all across the great big world. 

Hey, eventually you can even force your growing team of critters into an industrialized production line of conveyor belts and machines, if you’re so inclined. That will not only keep your camp humming but supply you with all the ammo and other elements you’d ever hope to own, use or sell. (There are also human merchants and black-market traders in the mix.)

Then there’s the battling side of the gaming equation. You may start out by thunking critters with a stick. But your crafted arsenal can grow into swords, bows and arrows, crossbows, shotguns and rifles. You can even pick up certain Pals and use them as a flamethrower against foes, for example, or assign them as guards with automatic weapons.

As you capture bigger, more destructively powerful Pals, you can then fend off other trainers who send their Pal armies to decimate your camp. You explore. You raid dungeons and discover treasure chests. And eventually you spread your influence to those glowing towers scattered about, and there you face off with big bosses in residence.

So, as to the question of what this game is, it’s many things. It’s a survival game, a crafting game, a farming sim, a strategy game, a shooter, an open world adventure and, yes, something of a thinly veiled, Pokémon clone featuring oh-so recognizable critters. It can be played as a single-player or multiplayer co-op game as well.

POSITIVE CONTENT

There is a lot to do in this game. And it can be fun. There’s not much story or narrative to drive you forward, but the game does toss many environmental, resource-management, combat and exploration challenges your way. (Even simply surviving your first frigid night is pretty motivating.)

On top of that, the world map is huge, colorful and alive with variety, which prompts players to keep exploring. And the Pal management is interesting—if you can get past the more negative aspects. More below.

CONTENT CONCERNS

The Pokémon clone feel of this game can be unsettling for some players. Pals do look very Poké-like, right down to their colors, markings, shapes and sizes. And with that Poké-mindset, bashing or slashing them to death and then butchering them for their chunks of meat can be disturbing.

In addition, you can essentially use your captive Pals as slave labor and work them to the point of mental exhaustion. (I should also note that human NPCs can be captured and fall into that category as well.) That imposed stress is played as dark humor, to a certain degree, but it can also be seen as animal abuse.

Some have used the term “Pokémon with guns” as a game descriptor, and that’s applicable. Players can craft muskets and rifles and some larger weaponry that the Pals fire at foes with. Parents looking at the cuteness of the game may overlook its violence. That said, the blasting and butchering isn’t bloody, but accompanied by bright sparks of contact and groans of pain.

There’s also something of a sexual component in the Pal mix. I noted one particular Pal, called a Lovander, with a very full-figured feminine look about it that’s hard to miss. It carries a rather adult description, too: “Seeking a night of love, it’s always chasing someone around. At first it only showed interest in other Pals, but in recent years even humans have become targets of its debauchery.”

You can also breed Pals for interesting new Pal offspring with upgraded skills. (Though there’s no visual breeding shown.) In addition, players can find (or kill specific Pal types to acquire) Pal Souls, the cast-off soul of a dead critter. These can be used to magically upgrade Pal skills.

GAME SUMMARY

Mom and dad might think “cute” when they see Palworld’s colorful critters. But AK-47s and butchering cleavers have a way of draining away the sweet and cuddly side of this game.

The post Palworld appeared first on Plugged In.

Over the next 15 years and more than a dozen games, the franchise has spiraled out in different historical directions and swelled its entries into massive 100-hour titles bloated with all sorts of recognizable historical figures, gaming extras, exotic weapons and extravagant backstories. And in a large sense, Assassin’s Creed went from being a small-scale sneaking around title to being more of a large-scale action-adventure battler.

The new Assassin’s Creed Mirage is gamemaker Ubisoft’s attempt at trimming everything back to a semblance of where the series began: with a sword, a knife and a whole bunch of slip-through-the-shadows-to-steal-and-kill quests. A game where stealth is key.

The story revolves around a Baghdad pickpocket named Basim ibn Is’haq. After a bold palace burglary goes sideways and the local Caliph ends up dead, Basim must hightail it out of town. But he happens to also cross paths with a member of a group of assassins called the Hidden Ones.

And Basim comes to realize that a huge plot is unfolding, led by another group called the Order, a secret society that’s worming its way into Baghdad’s upper echelons of power. Those who know anything about Assassin’s Creed games, recognize those two groups as the predecessors of the ever-battling Assassin’s Creed and Templars. 

Before you can say, what’s that blade up your sleeve?, Basim is now a hitman-in-training. And he’s preparing to take on quests and “honorably” serve everything good by uncovering and murdering everything bad. Oh, and yes, there’s a major twist that’s revealed by the game’s end.

As mentioned, everything in Mirage feels a bit scaled back compared to some recent entries. And some gamers will appreciate that. The map, for example, is centered only on the ancient city of Baghdad—but that smaller region is fleshed out with more details and quests. Parkour, close-quarter combat, and stealth are core elements of play.

The pace of combat is slower this time around as well. The weapons are fewer and upgradable. The character skill trees are smaller, more defined and flexible. And many of the quests are, in a way, set up more like a Hitman game. Players are given open objectives with a variety of ways to explore, slip in and out of crowds or behind the scenes, and figure out how to use the environment and other characters to eliminate the target before them.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage is strictly a single-player game.

POSITIVE CONTENT

Mirage’s gameplay is focused and its world is detailed and inviting. And the story has an interesting (if well-worn) twist by game’s end.

CONTENT CONCERNS

This is an M-rated action-adventure title with lots and lots of bloodletting in its mix. The gamemakers go to great lengths to drive home that our secretive murderer is the good guy while the opposing secretive murderers are the really bad ones, but the game’s frankly all about people being impaled through the throat, temple, chest and back in a variety of gory ways.

Swords, daggers, arrows and a concealed wrist blade are the common weapons of choice. And they can be upgraded to increase their deadly potency. You can, for instance, obtain a blade ability that dissolves a body after a kill and melts away any fleshy evidence.   

This game also introduces a sneaky new multi-foe murdering technique called Assassin Focus. If the protagonist is perfectly hidden, he can mark up to five enemies whom he kills in rapid succession as time slows. This ability is recharged by then performing more stealthy kills.

All of that is to say that even though Mirage rewards sneaky choices, it’s still plenty bloody. And the combat can become very frenetic at times with painful screams and gushing goo. There are also some dark cutscenes, including: Basim’s dreams of desiccated corpses; a scene where he chops off his own finger; children being hung up on posts; a prisoner being slowly killed with a blade sinking into his chest.

You also encounter sporadic uses of the f-word, s-word and other lighter profanity.

GAME SUMMARY

Assassin’s Creed Mirage attempts to harken back to a time when the kills were more hidden from view. But there’s still lots of gushing jugular slashing here, and you see it all.

The post Assassin’s Creed Mirage appeared first on Plugged In.

Pikmin 4 is the fourth entry in a series of puzzle-solving, strategy-adventure games for the Nintendo Switch. The franchise has stayed popular because of its balanced play and its colorful, family-friendly storyline. The fourth entry sticks to that template and adds fresh tweaks to its adventure. 

One of those tweaks is the game’s newest location. While looking for planetary resources for his home world of Koppai, a certain Captain Olimar has crash-landed on an oversized planet that looks suspiciously like our very own Earth. And not long after that, a corps of rescuers rockets in to, well, crash and scatter across the landscape as well.

So, in a last-ditch effort, they all call on you, a rookie adventurer, to find your way to this alien world, to rescue the lost space men and women, to repair their spacecraft and to get everyone back home. But there are many obstacles to overcome, perils to endure, and enemies to battle in this strange world. So it’s going to be a tough task. Thankfully, there are happy little Pikmin on this planet, too.

What is a Pikmin? Well, it’s a little plant being that generally looks like a cross between a chewed wad of gum and branchy flower or leaf. These smiling, humanoid critters come in a variety of colors, have their own specific skills and are ready to help out when someone is in trouble.

Red Pikmin, for instance, are resistant to fire and, when gathered in a group, make great diggers and builders. Yellow Pikmin can deal with electrified barriers. The blue ones are great with water challenges. Black, rocky Pikmin can bash through crystal and glass-like barriers. And the list goes on.

The rarer variants of Pikmin, such as Purple and White, take some special skills just to find. But with the right Pikmin in your group of helpers, your adventurer can open secreted away areas, find usable treasures, face off with dangerous foes and overcome the challenges on hand.

There’s also a large dog-like helper this time, named Oatchi, that can carry your adventurer and his squad of Pikmin to hard-to-get-to areas and help out with battles.

Pikmin 4’s world is oversized and vast. So the explorable locales, such as an Earth-like living room or kitchen area, a backyard playground or underground tunnels and the like, are all seen from a Toy Soldier-ish, miniature, ground-level perspective. That adds a childlike and kid-appropriate smile to the puzzle-solving and battling tasks.

Found treasures in this world then, are objects such as a misplaced rubber duck or an old Game Boy console. They are carried away and converted into spacecraft fuel and repair-worthy materials. And the initial, easygoing puzzle challenges become pleasantly more ambitious as the game progresses.

Pikmin 4 also offers new Nighttime Expeditions. They’re essentially individual tower-defense events that are rewarded with a substance that heals fellow crewmates who have been turned into plant-like beings called Leaflings. Kids and parents can play Pikmin 4 together, with shared joy-con play. The game also has a competitive multiplayer mode.

POSITIVE CONTENT

Pikmin 4 is an easy and approachable game with a childlike feel and lots of colorful fun. And it steadily continues to ratchet up the puzzle and adventure challenges in ways that kids and adults can all enjoy.

In addition, there are new interactions, such as the above-mentioned Nighttime Expeditions and new, timed Dandori challenges that deepen play with battles and gathering events against AI foes.

CONTENT CONCERNS

There are really only two areas in this game that might spark a bit of concern from parents. One is the ongoing and sometimes frenetic battling with insect-like foes that bite at Pikmin or blow fire or poison in their direction. It’s not messy or bloody, but if you toss leafy friends in the wrong place or at the wrong time, they can be gobbled up, be drowned or be set on fire while squeaking in pain.

Pikmin are also sometimes called upon to bash and destroy machines and creatures with their leafy or flowery head stalks. The battles can result in screen-shaking explosions. The events of a day or “mission” are timed as well. And running out of time and leaving some gathered Pikmin friends out after sunset can expose them to more aggressive enemies.

The second possible point of concern is much lighter, but still worth mentioning. The characters and narrator in Pikmin 4 talk in a “non-language” gibberish that is captioned. So some young players could have a tougher time understanding the story and missions without a little parental help. The tutorials do, however, effectively ease kids into the action of the game with simple illustrations.

GAME SUMMARY

Your favorite little plant pals are back with new rescue quests and some freshly tweaked challenges. From sandcastle stomps to kitchen counter clomps, it’s a whole new colorful world.

The post Pikmin 4 appeared first on Plugged In.

The odd world of The Bookwalker is a place where skilled individuals can step right into written pages and pluck out objects—and in some cases even characters—that they fancy.

Admittedly, that’s all quite illegal in this place. But that doesn’t stop your character, Étienne Quist, from doing it.

Étienne is a former writer who’s been given a sentence of 30 years of state-imposed writer’s block for some past offense. Fortunately, Étienne knows a guy. And this friend (?) connects him with a powerful client who, via telephone calls, promises to remove Étienne’s painful writer’s shackles in exchange for a few leaps into various books and a few procured valuable items. Hey, this client will even fork over a little extra cash if the snatched items are in good shape. And since Étienne is currently locked away under house arrest in his shabby little apartment building, that walkin’ around money is welcome.

Now he just needs to avoid any book police; circumvent the dangers and puzzling situations of the books; and earn his way back to putting pen to paper himself.

Gameplay wise, players have several different worlds they can point-and-click their way around in. There’s Étienne’s “real world” apartment and its surrounding building, of course. But then you have the six different books and story locations that he dives into. Those book worlds hold some very valuable collector’s items that gamers must find and grab, such as a potion of immortality, a wizard’s wand and Thor’s hammer.

Each book has its own rules, settings and characters that players must interact with. And depending on their choices, their interactions can devolve into turn-based battles against everything from robots to giant spiders to the undead.

In battles, Étienne starts off with three “ink-based” skills (since he’s fighting on a book page). Each slashing, stunning and shielding skill either draws from Étienne’s limited supply of ink or drains it from foes. Foes attack in turn and can sometimes heal themselves, so strategy is required.

Fortunately, while exploring each book, Étienne also picks up food that can replenish his life bars. Other collected detritus can be used to craft puzzle-solving tools or be melted down into an ink supply.

The Bookwalker: Thief of Tales is a single-player first-person/ third-person game. And though there’s only one story ending, choices within the books can change the outcomes of the individual journeys. In some cases, those choices can result in a failed quest or a broken item.

POSITIVE CONTENT

The writing of this narrative-driven game is quite interesting, with involving twists and unexpected surprises. And though Étienne’s world can feel a bit bleak, there are lots of elements to explore and onion-layers of story to peel back.

Étienne and a lost character he finds discuss about refraining from injuring others. And even though Étienne is working through dangerous worlds, he determines that he’ll try to help rather than hurt any characters that he meets.

CONTENT CONCERNS

That said, lots of sentient and non-sentient characters are “killed” here. And some die in lightly bloody ways. Étienne’s attacks don’t involve weapons (other than a pen-like slash move) but other characters use blades and clubs. People are shot and stabbed. Attacks can result in a reddish splash of ink. A computer kills people with a laser beam to the back of their head (seen from a distance).

Defeated characters crumple over and disappear. We see some dungeon-like areas splattered with what appears to be blood. Étienne also encounters evidence of people being tortured for a science experiment. In some books, he discovers the corpses of people who have died or been murdered.

Characters smoke and drink. And after Étienne rises out of sleep on one occasion, his apartment is littered with empty booze bottles. One of the books takes place in a school for witches and wizards, and one of the witches says she wants to feed her fellow students to a group of undead. Étienne has the option to attack with a voodoo doll.

Another book involves a ship full of spacefaring “acolytes” who pray to an unknown “god,” and their praying energy is transformed by a computer overlord into a physical form of energy that the ship uses. This tale references “sinners” and “hell fiends.” The ship’s computer rules over passenger’s and determines whether they’ll live or die based on how “worthy” it judges them to be.

Étienne lies to his neighbors, authority figures and, well, nearly everyone around him. We discover that, in turn, he is being regularly lied to as well. Crudities such as “d–n,” “b–tard,” “h—,” “crap,” and misuses of God’s name, are scattered throughout the dialogue.

GAME SUMMARY

The Bookwalker: Thief of Tales is a novel idea and an immersive trip. But this messy, T-rated book-dive could have benefitted from an editor.

The post The Bookwalker: Thief of Tales appeared first on Plugged In.

Gamers start out by virtually donning the tailcoat or carriage dress of a male or female wannabe tycoon from the 1830s. Each character has his or her own strengths and weaknesses that will impact early industry and hopefully offer a leg up on the AI competition that is trying to lay tracks and control an area first.

The goal is to build railroad structures, establish economic strategies and construct your railway’s surrounding support buildings (restaurants, market halls, a post office, etc.). The ultimate hope is to create an empire that spans the continent, over expansive maps of either North America or Europe.

Of course, initially the game starts players out small and simple. There are little “cities” to connect, made up of a collection of buildings and a central factory or two. Gamers build stations and tracks between them to aid the communities’ growth and deliver needed resources.

But they also connect those cities to dairy farms, lumber yards, cattle ranches and other local industries that can’t transport their goods quickly on dirt roads or simple waterways. Each farm, township and growing metropolis has an industry it excels in, and this will be the export it offers to other towns and cities along the line.

As mentioned, AI competitors are also trying to build their own well-oiled industry. So, working against the clock, dealing with AI interference and fulfilling resource missions promptly is of vital importance.

The challenges feel daunting at first. You must: establish multiple tracks in and out of a station; choose the right train engine for a given job or jobs; maintain equipment; keep building expenses reasonable; deal with competitors; and link and ship all of those in-demand resources. But Railway Empire 2 has intuitive building and economic strategy tools in place that help players quickly stoke their gaming engines up to full steam.

Gamers can play co-op with up to three friends.

POSITIVE CONTENT

The idea of simply laying tracks and transporting people and resources from here to there may seem to be fairly mundane gameplay to some. But the game’s many missions and tasks are well-balanced and creatively consuming.

Along with Railway Empire 2’s building and strategy challenges, there’s also a very appealing look to the game. Gamers can swoop in from their birds-eye perspective to see the sights, and hear the surrounding sounds, from a train engineer’s point of view. And this rich tapestry of sight and sound is also accompanied by an authentic underscore of music that represents the time well.

CONTENT CONCERNS

Content concerns are fairly light here. The word “d–n” is used in the narration. Cities demand beer and tobacco—and fledging railroad barons must deliver them. And sabotage is part of the struggle between captains of railroad industry. Players not only work against thieves and saboteurs, but they can hire some of their own.

GAME SUMMARY

Strategy games such as Railway Empire 2 are, quite frankly, fun, creative gaming pursuits for the whole family. It’s simple to play, but with surprising challenges.

The post Railway Empire 2 appeared first on Plugged In.

Star Trek: Resurgence—a debut release from the Telltale Games-offshoot Dramatic Labs—attempts to rectify that problem. The gamemakers hope to take their game where no Star Trek title has gone before.

Resurgence sets its action aboard the science vessel Resolute. Players alternate between controlling the choices of two different characters: Petty Officer Carter Diaz and Commander Jara Rydek. The two rarely work together, but they’re generally working on two different sides of the same problems.

The Resolute is being retrofitted following a recent onboard disaster. Commander Rydek is a new Star Fleet Academy graduate who’s been brought in as the ship’s executive officer in the wake of that disaster. And Diaz is an engineer who’s busy getting his hands dirty with the many needed repairs. The ship’s Captain, Zachary Solona, is in a difficult position since it was, seemingly, his orders that caused the disaster and took some 23 crewmember’s lives.

With that straightforward beginning, the captain sets off to restore his reputation and honor on an important diplomatic mission that involves none other than Ambassador Spock himself.

But as is often the case with Star Trek intergalactic negotiations, there’s a great mystery here to be unraveled. As some crewmembers navigate social and interpersonal conflicts and others investigate scientific and technological puzzles, it becomes clear that every challenge can be tackled from more than one perspective. 

And that’s the essence of Resurgence’s gameplay: choice. Yes, the game includes some phaser blasting, tricorder reading, starship battling and mechanical jigsaws to physically untangle. But the story is shaped, for the better or worse, by the moment-to-moment choices made both in and out of the captain’s chair.

Each ethical choice, interpersonal resolution and command order (quickly timed selections made from a list of several choices) helps shape the other crewmember’s attitudes. Those choices determine the acceptance and aid given to both Rydek and Diaz. And ultimately they influence the final outcome of this involving adventure. The game is divided into 40 “episodes,” each requiring about 15 to 20 minutes to play out.

POSITIVE CONTENT

This well-crafted story moves along at a brisk pace and never bogs down. Events and challenges continually escalate in reasonable ways, leading to consequential decisions. In fact, from the very beginning, Resurgence has the feel of an elongated Star Trek show. On that front, the characters are likeable, memorable and nicely defined.

The in-game choices, as mentioned, make all the difference here. And players must rely on their own moral compass in many cases. Will you disobey a direct order? Which crewmember do you trust for spur-of-the-moment logic or expertise? Will you risk a single life to save a score? Or vice-versa? Will you risk your own life to save your crewmates?

And in the end, gamers learn lessons from their mistakes—when a choice goes wrong or a bit of logic is faulty. The game definitely teaches that wise leadership can make a great deal of difference in the heat of trouble. And sometimes the best resolution requires wise compromise over steadfast goal making. The game also emphasizes developing good relationships with those around you. A character who trusts and believes in you will go the extra mile. All of the above plays directly into the Star Trek ethos that Resurgence exudes.

CONTENT CONCERNS

This game carries a T-rating for its perilous situations and violence. Characters are injured and many can die depending on your choices. In fact, characters you become close with can lose their lives.

We see crewmembers blasted in the heat of battle and others tumbling about after explosions. Some of the fallen display evidence of blood and injury. Someone takes a blast to the face and loses her sight. In one situation, Rydek can order the destruction of literally millions of alien people. In another she decides whether to give aid to a ship of surrendering foes or leave them to suffer and die. There’s also a situation where a form of torture can be used on an enemy to extract information.

In addition, gamers will hear the use of the phrase “I’ll be d–ned.” Someone drinks a glass of alcohol and your character can accept an offer to drink some. There’s also the possibility of one character entering into a romantic relationship (though the only physical representation we see is a kiss).

GAME SUMMARY

Star Trek Resurgence may not have reached the point of being a perfect mind meld of the popular franchise that so many love. But it’s still pretty stellar. It’s immersive, fun and has a great Trek-type feel. Some might point and say it’s Engage-ing.

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Well, the new Minecraft Legends plops gamers down in the same cubey world, while dialing back the building a bit and adding on more story, fighting action and a lot of real time strategy.

But is this game right for your family room?

Those who play Minecraft Legends will quickly discover that it’s about all-out war. And this time you’re working alongside those Creepers, Zombies and Skeletons that used to plague your nighttime Minecraft hours.

It all starts out as the peaceful Minecraft Overworld is suddenly attacked by swarm after swarm of destructive little creatures called piglins. They come charging through a sinister-looking interdimensional portal with plundering glints in their eyes and fiery torches in their hands.

Three helpful overseers—the multi-eyed Foresight, the large golem-like Action and the small cubish Knowledge—quickly see the threat and realize that they’ll need a true hero to stem the nasty tide. And that would be … you. They magically call you from your Minecraft building activities and stay by your side (in telepathic or, maybe, spirit form) to teach you the new skills and duties you’ll be taking on.

Do players still build? Yes. But it’s different. While riding here and there on horseback (and other blocky mounts) you gather materials through the use of a magical lute that instructs little wispy, fairy-like “allays” to do the gathering for you. (Think of it all like a fairytale land with brightly colorful, if blocky, elements.)

Then with another musical command the allays will create bridges, towers and other important structures. They’ll also build small “flames of creation” constructs that spawn your own troops of golems.

As the piglin mobs swarm in you’ll send in groups of your spawned stone and wood golems to give them battle. (You can also ride in while swinging a sword yourself.) The stone golems bash at foes and constructs with their stoney fists and the wood golems shoot arrows. You gain access to Zombie, Skeleton, Creeper and other sidekicks later on.

And then it’s on to managing your time and protecting the world at large, as seen through a quick-access world-at-a-glance map. You’ll defend besieged villages; build up archer towers and walls; repair damaged structures; attack piglin outposts; and call in new allies for the fight.

The mobs of attackers have different strengths and weaknesses, so gathering a correctly balanced army is of utmost importance. And that’s, frankly, what this game is really all about: management and strategy.

Players can play by themselves or in groups of four, or team up in teams of four, for the story mode and other competitive modes. But it’s important to note that all play is online, even single player.

POSITIVE CONTENT

Minecraft Legends is brightly colored and appealing. The overseers are welcoming and always ready with bits of advice. Gamers play the central general-like hero who saves the day. And for young players who enjoy managing several things at once, the challenges can be fun without being overly taxing.

CONTENT CONCERNS

There is, however, quite a bit to keep track of here. And players who are used to a more laid-back Minecraft building experience will be pressed to pick up the pace and focus on constant battle.

Those battles aren’t bloody, but they can be frenetic, conflict-focused and potentially upsetting for younger players. One of the first scenes features, for instance, a piglin that throws his torch and impales a blocky bunny to a nearby tree. There are also toxic pools and rivers that will melt down and kill your golems if you command them to wade in. In battle, characters puff out of existence when battered, slashed and hit with arrows.

Frankly, Minecraft Legend’s transition into this new style of play isn’t particularly easy to pick up. The game explains concepts and gameplay elements, but there are a lot of them. I can easily envision some younger players being lost until they experiment and fail enough to finally understand how they can gather, build, and properly use the tools at hand—all the while being pressed to move-move-move. (Parental guidance and step-by-step patience could be called for.)

Since this is an online-only game, there are also two elements that parents should be aware of: For one thing, kids can communicate with others online unless the PC or console parental controls are turned on. And even when the gameplay is paused, the online action continues, potentially leaving young players with diminished and ravaged forces by the time they get back.

GAME SUMMARY

This isn’t your dad or older brother’s Minecraft. But for the right strategy-focused young gamer, it could be a breath of fresh, and very colorful, blocky air.

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Inkulinati gives gamers the role of a monk-like illustrator who sets up battles with other members of a secret society of scribes from the Middle Ages. They use their “living ink” to create little anthropomorphic animals, creatures and devils who fight in the margins of medieval books.

That may sound quite bizarre, but it’s actually a very interesting turn-based game that’s far more challenging than its odd setting might suggest.

The Inkulinati illustrator you choose—ranging from a green Yoda-like character, a fully armored knight or a nun with the power of prayer—gains the right to gather his or her own special abilities that help them in the midst of battle. These collectable talents include blessings that might heal their little battlers; the ability to bash a nearby inky foe with a gloved finger; bonuses of extra ink per turn, and other things.

And that precious ink is always the focus here. The potential size of an Inkulinati’s army is based on the amount of ink they’ve saved or generated each turn. Units can collect more ink through blotches on the pages, which fills the Inkulinati’s ink pot and allows him to keep drawing new beasts until he reaches the maximum units allowed.

As implied above, the forces you draw can include bunnies, dogs and foxes, along with more exotic critters such as skeletons, devils and squat bloated beasts. These creatures have various attack patterns depending on the weapons they wield. In some cases, they can set a section of the field afire, squirt poison at a foe or literally explode like a small gassy bomb. The enemy army is not only trying to extinguish your inky forces, but zap away your Inkulinati’s own life force, too, thereby ending the conflict.

The whole game plays out in a series of relatively short-lived quests and conflicts. But the variety of fields—ranging from flat areas littered with obstacles to multileveled set-ups that resemble something from a Donkey Kong game—and the fact that each battle requires chess-like movements and strategy, keeps the repeat play fresh. 

POSITIVE CONTENT

Strategy is key here. Getting to the point where you think three moves ahead is often a must as the enemy Inkulinati fills the field of play with inked-out obstacles, enemies and traps that often demand new lines of thought. Of course, you can also use the special elements in your control to do the same to him or her.

The visuals of the game are colorfully appealing and the medieval style underscore adds a whimsical charm.

CONTENT CONCERNS

Though played with an obvious and mostly goofy wink, Inkulinati sports a darkish medieval spiritual vibe. The general quest on hand, for instance, focuses on the effort to save your Inkulinati Master, who met his end while at a party with Death. You must battle your way to eventually take on Death at his own inky game and bring your master back to the world of the living. Players also enter into battle with Dante, who talks of drawing them down into Hell.

Along the way you encounter strange characters such as an anthropomorphized donkey who blows a trumpet with his backside to stun opponents. (Such is this game’s, uh, stab at humor.) Devil-like creatures (with faces on their backsides) blow out gassy flames or poison on the field. Enlivened skeletons are part of the mix as well. Tiny Bishop characters heal others.

Much of the cartoony battling takes place with conventional weapons such as spears, swords and bows. And when a character is bested he or she generally bursts in a gush of the ink they’re drawn from. That said, some weapons such as a saw or a hook can cause opponents to bleed. And that red dripping reduces a foe’s life force at every turn. Some characters can also fan flames in a given area and cause a character to be burned up.

The game also creates apocalyptic fires or plagues that bring on a quicker end to any conflict that stretches on too long, changing the strategy dramatically.

GAME SUMMARY

Inkulinati is a strange but strategically fun game if you don’t mind its winking, sometimes crass, medieval monk vibe.

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