Earthbound and Dune 24.06.17

So, once again I've not done this in a long while, the mixture of blazing heat and too much work hasn't deterred me from video games though. 

ARMs (Switch) was something that I'd made a pact with myself not to buy or play long ago, something about the connection with waggling Wii controllers in my mind didn't feel right. Nintendo made the wise decision to run a live demo over the weekends before release though and a few bouts in this arcady fighter and I was preordering to confirm my hypocrisy. Now its been out for a week or so I'm totally in love with its brand of accessible fighting. The caveat to this is that I jumped off of the motion controls pretty much instantly. Its a game which success relies heavily on the movement of the characters, don't be confused by the titular body part this game rewards the use of the legs. Each character has a double jump of sorts, theres a risk reward to jumping a lot as it leaves the fighter open to the opponents often devastating special, a meter builds up during the fight and with a button tap can unleash a flurry of blows to and unguarded fighter. The rock, paper, scissors mechanics are running throughout the game beyond this, punches can be blocked, blocks can be thrown and throws can be punched (if that makes any sense). The content seemed a little threadbare, theres a traditional arcade mode, a succession of fights & mini games leading to a boss battle, which gets ramped up beyond level 4 difficulty. Along with standard one on one fights, selecting a couple of mini games and a robust online offering. Mostly I've stuck with the arcade mode for now as its been my commuting game of choice and I've found a lot of depth in it. Reading the characters and there strengths is a big part of it, heavier opponents can destroy characters at close range so keeping distance is crucial whilst at the same time weighing up the risk of going in close for a flurry of blows to knock off the last remnants of health. This is where the game leaps above other fighting games in my opinion, fights never seem pointless or overwhelming theres always a chance to win (and the special meter carries across rounds so even when being destroyed I'm earning a currency to take into the next) and at the same time there is very little certainty of of a victory. In a good way i've found myself running away in a fight only to be pegged back and beaten because I'd got cocky or lazy in my attempts to whittle away the last snippet of health. 

It almost certainly won't be a game for everyone, the value proposition is a valid point i've seen raised (but with free DLC on the way that might be less of an issue), but I'm really liking the game. The character design has oodles of Nintendo charm, Byte and Bark is an Amiibo in waiting surely and the music is some of the most catchy stuff produced in a while. In a year where I'm already trying to quantify some of the best games I've played in a long time this game has thrown itself into the ring and is punching well above its weight.