Show us your Nindies vol. 2

Powah Dunk | December 12, 2017 | Feature | No Comments

Show us your Nindies, it’s our new feature where we talk a little bit about the Indie titles available on the Switch, review them and let you know exactly what we thought of the more niche options available on Nintendo’s little power house.

SLAIN: Back From Hell.

Slain: Back From Hell sees our main character awoken by a spirit informing him of a grave evil consuming the land, thrusting the sword into his hand he must now take on all manner of hellspawn to save the day and earn some much needed peace. Naturally any spectral warrior is required to have a soundtrack befitting of the dark lord himself, fortunately Slain has already thought of this and features some killer heavy riffs to smite away to.

The game’s visuals are heavily inspired by late 16 bit titles and is a dead ringer for a certain Castle based game set to the music of night time. The game controls well, the combat consists of basic 1 button combos, precise blocking and a basic magic system, the game throws plenty of the red stuff at you over the course of the games 6 levels which should see you through a few hours.

The game features quite a brutal difficulty which might be somewhat off putting to some, there are instant deaths and some cheaper kills in the game but overall it’s a case of tackling the old school difficulty.

The bosses are phenomenally designed, coupled with the fantastic art style and heavy metal sound track leaves you with an almost euphoric feeling once you’ve felled one of the monstrous beasts. The game initially doesn’t leave the greatest of impressions with it’s brutal difficulty and shallow combat, fortunately the game is oozing charm and will win most people over by the end of it’s first level

7/10

Crimsonland

Crimsonland is the premier twin stick shooter from the team at 10TONS games, originally releasing on the PC in 2003, it recently saw a remaster on all home consoles and this now includes the Switch. The game features lite RPG elements & a 50 level campaign to prepare you for the games main survival modes.

The game is top down and features basic visuals, the enemy count on the screen is what really pushes the game and can create some intense moments. Crimsonland features countless guns to deal death with along with various upgrades, waterfalls of the ol’ plasma will cover the screen as you re-live your fondest Starship Troopers memories.

When I say the game has basic visuals I really mean basic, it’s a shame the game lacks visual fidelity as it really could improve the experience which at it’s core is fantastic just a little rugged. When you fall into the motions of the game it is fine but the initial few minutes of each playthrough are a little jarring.

Crimsonland is the type of pick up and play game your Switch requires, it is insanely moreish and handles like a dream, if that dream involved mass murder and Doom references…..

7/10

Nine Parchments

Nine Parchments is the latest game behind the fantastic Trine series, following the same kind of theme, Nine Parchments is all about Wizardry and Magic coupled with fast paced Twin Stick action. The game looks stunning on the Nintendo Switch both docked and undocked, Nine Parchments supports up to 4 players locally and 2 players online for furious Co-Op spell slinging!.

The game starts you off with a few starting wizards, a hat & a standard wand, you’ll then battle and explore your way through levels, collecting some delicious loot until you reach one of the many parchments that got blown away in the intro. This is how you expand your spell stock, it’s random but it’s a total joy to get a new tool of destruction to take down the enemies with.

The spells themselves come in all different varieties, beams, bombs, projectiles & more, plus they cover a wide elemental spectrum which means you’ll need a good spread for striking enemies weaknesses through your trials. If you bring a friend along and trust me it’s highly reccomended, you can combine beam spells Ala Ghostbusters for some devastating consequences, you’re also open to friendly fire which when playing local or with someone you know can turn into an all out Wizard Royale!.

The single player campaign can feel a little repetitive at times, almost like a tutorial for the multiplayer portion of the game, personally I didn’t actually mind it, the game looks stunning, sounds fantastic and plays brilliantly, most of which you’ll notice more in the single player rather than the chaos of the multiplayer. It’s an utterly fantastic title for fans of Twin Stick shooters and dungeon crawlers alike, grab a friend or 3, take the chaos online or even just cast on the bus, whatever you do, please don’t sleep on this title!.

9/10

Nine Parchments currently has a demo on the E-Shop for those unsure.

Well that’s this round up of Nindie goodness, quite a good week I must say!. If you are feeling inspired by this article then not only is my job done but I would love to hear which title you picked up!. In between the next article and other site related buisness I can see myself running through Nine Parchments online a fair bit & with Christmas coming up very soon, what better game to bring out the Christmas spirit than Crimsonland!.

Till next time!.