PEGBRJE: PARTICLE MACE, Kaiju Big Battel: Fighto Fantasy and Thrunt
Physics, Physics and some Kaiju.
PARTICLE MACE is an arcade flying destructo-rama made by AndyMakes, the dev name for Andy Wallace who makes small games out of NYC. It’s made in openFrameworks, which I believe is a first for the bundle. This title follows a rogue space pilot set adrift in space, seemingly along except for a voice that I can only assume is the ship itself talking to the pilot. Players are instructed on how to fly once again, and then told that there are no guns on this ship unfortunately; instead, they’ll have to use… trash?
More specifically, PARTICLE MACE has players stuck within a decagonal space with only two major objectives to complete; survive and achieve a high score. Survival is straight forward, but doesn’t award any points as these come from destroying asteroids and enemy space ships. This can only be done thanks to the mass of particles attached to the ship, assumed to be trash from the ship but still useful. This ‘mace’ that trails behind the player’s ship is the key to victory, and it coming into contact with anything destroys it. However, the only way it can move is through the momentum of the ship itself — yup, this is a physics game. Swinging the mace around requires players to spin the ship in circular shapes to get it going, but can lead to accidents involving the ship crashing into all kinds of debris. This balance makes the core of the game, understanding when it is necessary to give the weapon more swing and when to dodge for one’s life and just let the particles rest for a bit. This does mean that they cannot be used as weapons however, as non-moving trash apparently just doesn’t hurt.
There are dozens of game modes included as well, which can expand on the objectives that players can have. In the Missions tab, there are 150 objectives to clear that alter how players approach the game, usually by requiring something be done within the first moments of the level or a certain number of things to be destroyed. This can range from restricting the movement to a small circle for a bit to needing an amount of ships/asteroids destroyed within a time frame, to even disallowing the destruction of certain objects for the first 30 seconds. Finishing the objectives allows players to ‘win’ the level, which destroys the ship and gives 3 new missions to complete until all 150 are done. The co-op and multiplayer modes allow for up to 4 players, with arcade giving players the ability to spin together and death match needing these spins to become violent.
It’s a small, simple title with hours of potential thanks to its arcade roots and seemingly infinite possibility for content. Combined with the co-op and mutliplayer modes and there’s something for everyone involved. If you were wanting an unconventional arcade title that reminds you of Asteroid with a bungee cord, then PARTICLE MACE will definitely entertain.
Kaiju Big Battel: Fighto Fantasy is an absurd fighting JRPG made by Super Walrus Games, an indie game dev who’s been developing since ’98. This title in particular is based on the performance known as Kaiju Big Battel, a mock-wrestling show created by Rand Borden that lifted themes from both pro wrestling and kaiju films/shows to create a fusion of both to satirize them. In this video game installment, players follow the patriotic American Beetle in his championship title against the villainous Dr. Cube, who not only sullies the match with a steel chair but also with a dimension-shifting slug that causes the stadium to collapse. It’s up to American Beetle and his compatriot Silver Potato to stop Dr. Cube no matter where (or when) he goes.
To those familiar with many of the older JRPGs, Kaiju Big Battle plays relatively as one would expect. Players have different characters that make up their party maxing at 4 to which they each have an attack, a grouping of specials, and the ability to use items. When a move has been selected, players will then decide on who it will target — either which enemy to hit or which friendly ally to heal. Abilities in each character’s special area require the use of MP, so they are meant to be used sparingly. Attacks also have the ability to manipulate stats rather than just do damage, so having a good combination of skills and abilities is useful to win. While I’m not sure if this is correct, I couldn’t see any enemy health bars, so their health is shrouded to add more tension and mystery. If player’s are able to grab a victory, characters that survived will earn XP and level up to increase their stats so that future fist battles won’t be so nerve-wracking (hopefully).
Outside of combat, players direct their squad throughout the overlands across time, with the leader of the squad having a unique ability to influence the world itself. This can be from being able to punch through walls or topple items to make bridges, but the ideas are quite expansive depending on the characters that are set to lead. There are also dozens of people to interact with that have their own issues, so players can go out and help them to gain items, xp, and possibly even fighters to help take down the cube lord. This is also where much of the banter between characters exists, and there is a lot. It should have been somewhat obvious seeing the inspiration, but the constant references, satirical comments and over the top jokes are something to behold in itself. Thanks to the turn-based format, the writing usually must be read to continue which means not accidentally missing that jab at the steel chair or random worm portals. I wasn’t familiar with the source material at all upon starting, but I never felt that I needed to; in fact, I thought this was a completely original idea until I started searching for the game for a bit and found the performance. It’s written to feel new and fresh, with each character having their own jokes and themes surrounding them to keep them all interesting.
What may frighten some away is the sheer length of the title; it’s advertised at 12 hours long on average, which is a ton of content to experience and explore. Thankfully the checkpoint system allows for keeping the game digestible into smaller chunks, but don’t expect to be finishing this game in an afternoon. For those that adore turn-based RPGs, this should be a non-issue seeing the lengths many of the popular titles are. There’s also different difficulty settings that can be switched at any save point, so for those that are looking for a challenge can up the difficulty at any time. If you want this style of JRPG with satirical comments and references surrounding everything, then try out Kaiju Big Battel: Fighto Fantasy for yourself.
Thrunt is a physics based puzzle title made by Mugs Games, pseudonym for solo dev Barry Skellern. This is technically the vertical slice of the title Thrunt, as the fully fledged version called Thrunt XL is currently wishlist-able on Steam under the name Phantom Aspect (also Barry Skellern). Players are in control of their tiny lander that is dangerously fragile, tasked with a single goal; make it to the checkered exit without exploding.
As a vertical slice, Thrunt is completely focused on showcasing its main features; in this case, the ‘thrust-em-up’ gameplay. Players have a button to throttle their thrusters, and can rotate the lander to point in different directions in order to not crash, and that is it. No fancy buttons, no power ups, just gravity and a sudden urge to hate it immensely. At first it seems relatively simple to move from one area to another, but the difficulty becomes apparent before one even finishes the first level: slowing down for the ending. Since touching any walls is considered a hazard, players must come to a near stop in the air while at the finish line in order to complete the level. This means that any momentum gained must be cut as fast as possible, or risk returning to the last checkpoint gained. This small tidbit of difficulty is a showcase for the entire game, as many little things are constantly piling up on one’s nerves in order for them to explode in frustration. What if the finish line only had a small opening to it that followed a bend, making it difficult to get through the hole but also slowing down? What about moving walls that need proper timing windows? These are just a few of the plethora of nonsense that gets thrown at the player, and there’s not much one can do besides grit their teeth and try again. Even the explosions last just long enough to feel like they were mocking me at times.
There’s not much else to comment on for Thrunt that doesn’t tread on the toes of the upcoming Thrunt XL. I could talk about the plot pieces that exist in the steam page and trailer for XL, but that isn’t the title here. This is simply a black and white showcase of just how painful gravity and momentum can be to somebody just trying to have fun. If this kind of brutal puzzling is something you thrive on, you eat for breakfast along with those nails in that cereal bowl, then this is definitely a game to try out to wait for the anticipated full release.
