The foe, alternatively, waits a moment to come back to life a few paces backward, new sword in hand, to try to block the runner once again. But each kill only takes a slight peel off Nidhogg's onion, as the winning attacker then becomes the "runner" and must burst, full-steam ahead, into the foe's territory. Were that the whole thing, the game might read like a retro-styled take on late '90s cult classic Bushido Blade, which created a ton of tension with its one-hit-one-kill samurai combat. Each of the game's moves and swipes feels smooth and easy to pull off, offering nice rock-paper-scissors-style countering opportunities, particularly the ability to time a perfect swipe and knock a sword from a foe. Each showdown sees the fighters angle for position with high, medium, and low swipes, along with the power to jump, slide, and even throw swords. This game pits two fencers against each other in a retro 2D retro battleground. That has opened the door for another wonderfully offbeat fighting-esque game, Nidhogg. Thankfully, last year's oddball, seemingly razor-thin Divekick did a lot to reinvent that trope (while simultaneously mocking it). The few games that skip the fireball and uppercut tropes still rely on the same zoomed-in, face-each-other, best-of-three smackdown format. My boredom with 98 percent of fighting video games comes from what I like to call "quarter-circle fatigue." Namely, the genre relies on the kind of precision joystick wiggles that Street Fighter II invented in 1991 (or some variation on the same). At least those few hours are packed with cute and quirky dialogue from random passersby a particular favorite comes from a man at an aquarium dressed like a hammerhead who doles out some of the most arcane fish trivia imaginable. As in, three hours, tops, even when accounting for frequent failures. The frustration doesn't have long to set in, though. Whether you're walking and climbing over an awkward obstacle course, picking up and dropping giant floating balls in a puzzle, or even sneaking past anti-octopus scientists, you'll often end up spoiling your efforts with ill-timed falls, failed grabs, or worst of all "death" by way of getting caught in a sneaking situation. You do not enter Octodad with any hopes of precise control, and its early goings respect that fact.īut before long, the game's silly errands ask for a lot more precision, and that's where Octodad starts to sink. The ridiculous premise is only enhanced by a nice mix of jokes, goofy scenarios, and objectives that aren't spoiled by flopping and flailing around. The developers even pepper the floor with banana peels, Saturday morning cartoon-style. Walk around an average scene, and your arms will bump into stuff, maxing out the game's ragdoll physics system (and perhaps attracting unwelcome attention from bystanders). Reach for something on a desk and you'll knock everything else over. The game makes the most of this hilarity. Thus, the sheer act of moving in Octodad is hilariously difficult by design. You control your "arms" and "legs" one at a time, either with a pair of joysticks or a mouse, and these tentacles are pretty loose and flingy. There's one major catch: You're an octopus, squeezed into a businessman's suit. The game seems insultingly simple at first glance, dropping players into a wedding and doling out tasks like opening doors, picking up wedding items, and walking down the aisle. If annual gaming awards had a "best demo" category, Octodad: Dadliest Catch might have already wrapped its tentacles around the 2014 trophy. Release Date: Janu(PS4 version: March 2014)
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