The tension and difficulty escalate smoothly, but you will need to communicate and cooperate with your shipmate(s) if you want to survive. The game is extremely stylized, and everything down to the loading screen is designed to immerse you in the world. My wife and I played through it last Memorial Day weekend and we had a blast.
This is the exact sort of asymmetrical gameplay that can only be done on the WiiU. The gamepad becomes the ship's control panel, and one player mans the controls (landing gear, exhaust ports, etc) while another player uses a wiimote/pro controller to steer the ship. If you've never heard of it, it's a puzzle adventure for 1 to 3 players. I know a lot of folks are picking up the last few WiiU titles on their list before the Switch arrives, I would hate for anyone to miss out on Affordable Space Adventures because it's an eShop exclusive. So again, a solid 8 out 10 but also, a must own for everyone with a Wii U. I do wish it had an actual story with cut scenes and story progression but, as an indie title, it's easy to see how and why this wasn't added in. Or, if there are other games out there that rely as heavily on the gamepad while also being as good as this game is. I suspect that this game is truly unique in how inseparable it is from the gamepad. I'm curious if cemu or other emulators will ever reach the point where this game is playable single-player in a way that feels natural.
Truly replicating that would require being able to network 2 Nintendo Switches (or a PC and a tablet that had thumbstick attachments on either side) so one device could output the main screen and the second device would serve as the gamepad stand-in. But that could not hope to capture the tactile intensity of playing this game as it was designed. So maybe if you had 2 displays and used a mouse to click on the second one. At a minimum, you would need an emulator that is capable of sending a clickable version of the gamepad video to some secondary screen. It is so tied to the gamepad DNA that it's difficult to see how it could ever be playable anywhere else. I would not be surprised if this game never comes to cemu or other emulators/platforms in a way in which it is playable by a single person. This can really freak you out when you get immersed. Also, when your ship is shot down or destroyed the control panel shown on the gamepad will flicker and glitch its way to black. There are also countless little tweaks that really make the gamepad shine - different audio is sent out from the gamepad versus what the main game outputs to your stereo/TV. The thumb sticks are used to maneuver the ship and the gyroscope in the gamepad is also needed at points to tweak your ships orientation. When playing the game, the gamepad screen shows a control pad which you can trigger to control various aspects of your ship - engine power, landing gear, sensors, etc. It is truly unique in how inseparable the game and the gamepad are. More so than any other game on the Wii U - even first party titles.
Where the game truly shines is utilizing the Wii U gamepad to its fullest potential. the puzzle elements are exceedingly well done and the game is all around the perfect blend of challenge and fun. It is a completely linear progression where you need to solve one level in exactly the way you're supposed to go to the next.īUT. Each level will require you to use the various abilities of your space ship in creative ways to sneak past the enemy ships and trigger various buttons to open passages to the next level. At its core, this is a puzzle solving game. All you need to know is you're in a space ship and have to travel from one area/level to the next.
This is one of the main drawbacks and why I can't rate it higher. This helped make it by far the most popular game engine used for eShop titles.This game is a solid 8 out of 10 for me, but the really notable thing about this game is how it embodies more than any other game the revolutionary potential of the Wii U gamepad.īefore delving into that, a quick primer on the game itself.
Unit圓d was the only 3rd party game engine to be officially endorsed by Nintendo 1. Unity Game Engine Games on wiiU eShop Edit on Github