You can get Anodyne 2: Return to Dust, A Short Hike and Mutazione free on the Epic Games Store on PC right now until March 13th! Let's say you are finding yourself at home with a bit more time on your hands then now is the time to click buy on these games at a really incredible price of $0.

https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/product/anodyne-2-return-to-dust/home
https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/product/a-short-hike/home
https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/product/mutazione/home

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Warzone is a brand new Battle Royale game that launched for free on Battle.net, XBox and Playstation. So far the game is garnering great reviews calling it a fresh take on a pretty established Battle Royale genre. Warzone ups the ante by allowing a maximum of 150 players in a match, creating a much larger world map and adding two games modes in the normal Battle Royale mode and Plunder. So far, Plunder is the only mode I've played and it's great. You jump into the map Apex Legends style with a team and you work together to collect cash from loot chests around the map. The teams that collect the most cash are shown for everyone to come after and as part of the mode you can call in helicopters to haul your cash away.

Since Warzone is totally free and I enjoy playing Battle Royale games from time to time I decided to start up Battle.net and give Warzone a shot. It's nice that Warzone is free and integrates cleanly in Battle.net but the 70+ gig download is more than annoying. In the end I had fun playing Warzone and if you love games like Apex Legends or Fortnite and you are looking for something totally different this is well worth a shot. Linking to the video review from Digital Foundry above as they've played it quite a bit more and focus on the games engine and performance.

https://www.callofduty.com/modernwarfare/warzone

Nintendo and Lego are teaming up with a new Lego Mario set that looks like it will be a lot of fun for kids. If you were thinking Nintendo + Lego collection would just be any ol' themed Lego bricks then you'd be wrong as Lego seems to have added some digital gamification to this set. Not only does the new Mario figure speak but when you bop on a Goomba head you can collect coins as well as a few other things. Regular Lego set are already expensive so I'm curious how much this digital set will be? Regardless of the price I bet this will be a popular present come this holiday season.

Ultimate NES Remix is a 3DS games collection of the "best of" remixed classic Nintendo games that came to the Wii U in the form of NES Remix 1 and 2. Basically if you love retro NES games and want a fresh way to play them, Ultimate NES Remix is the perfect game for you.

"Take on a rapid-fire onslaught of challenges and mash-ups from 16 of Nintendo’s finest 8-bit games! Test your skills on a gauntlet of quick, tricky challenges and remix stages that combine parts of different games. The best mix of titles from the NES Remix and NES Remix 2 games is on Nintendo 3DS. Now you’re playing with PORTABLE power!

Link vs. Donkey Kong! Kirby vs. Boo! It’s mash-up mania in this celebration of all things NES! Race through to earn stars on increasingly tough tasks, like beating Ridley from Metroid or making Princess Peach save herself! Compete in Championship Mode’s blitz of challenges from the Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, and Dr. Mario games, then compare scores with others in your region via online leaderboards."

As demand for the 3DS has gone down considerably I've been picking up 3DS games on the cheap such as a recent sale at a local store that had Ultimate NES Remix, Animal Crossing New Leaf and Pokemon Ultra Sun ultra-cheap. Since I don't have enough time to crack an Animal Crossing or Pokemon game right now I popped in Ultimate NES Remix knowing that it was a mash up of classic NES games and wouldn't require a massive time investment. Immediately Ultimate NES remix starts you out with a few classic games such as Super Mario Brothers, Donkey Kong and Dr. Mario to ease your way into the remixed challenges starting with the easy "accelerate on your bike" in Excitebike to more challenging scenarios like completing a race without crashing. Each challenge can net you up to three stars and many are timed making them quite fun. I'm an avid retro gamer and so far, none of the challenges have stumped me beyond a handful requiring a few attempts. I'm also going for a completionist run making sure for each challenge I net 3 stars. I've heard from a friend something fun happens if you complete the game this way so it's what I'm going for.

Ultimate NES Remix is one of those incredible games that begs for a Switch port and considering Nintendo hasn't Remixed the Super Nintendo era it seems like rich territory for a sequel. I'm certain i'm never going to get tired replaying classic games and when Nintendo puts an entirely fresh spin on them i'm totally in.

Today over lunch break I finally defeated Bowser in New Super Mario Bros. 2. I picked up New Super Mario Bros. 2 on the 3DS back in September of 2018 and i'll clip a bit from that initial review:

"New Super Mario Bros. 2 takes everything that worked about the previous games and continues to do that while focusing on coin collection. You have a running tally of coins you can collect that unlock things in-game making progression tied to coins and continually completing stages."

Ever since picking it up back in 2018 I've played when I got the itch as it's a perfect game for that kind of attention. If you are a player that likes to play everything a game has to offer New Super Mario Bros. 2 has a lot to do with re-playing stages to collect all the large coins, unlocking the Star World as well as the hidden Mushroom and Flower Worlds. When I started out I was quite attentive to finding all the large coins but as time passed I started spending most of my focus on completing stages. Leaving behind the large coins doesn't matter too much if you just want to defeat Bowser but you can only unlock the Star World if you collect 90 large coins and I'm a few short.

How Does New Super Mario Bros. 2 Rank In The Series?

Out of all the New Super Mario Bros. games I've played 2 feels the most accessable and fun. The attention to coin collection and the inclusion of the leaf from Super Mario Bros. 3 makes this entry fly above the rest. New Super Mario Bros. 2 never feels too difficult and this might turn off some hardcore platformer fans. That said the hidden stages might offer more of a challenge and the included coin rush mode literally allows players the ability to partake in challenging scenarios with others.

New Super Mario Bros. 2 is a great game and the saddest part about it is that it's a 3DS title and the system might soon be sunset by Nintendo. Many new fans to the Mario series might miss out because getting a 3DS isn't in the cards for them. As Nintendo ports the best of Wii U titles to the Switch I hope these best of breed Wii and 3DS games can get packaged for a newer audience too.

The 3DS Will Never Die - My First Impressions of New Super Mario Bros. 2

https://cheerfulghost.com/jdodson/posts/3871/the-3ds-will-never-die-first-impressions-of-new-super-mario-bros-2

Looks like the development of Diablo IV is going well and as such Blizzard has released a few updates about what we can expect. A couple things I found interesting is that Blizzard is creating a more co-op friendly Diablo IV user experience. Before if you opened a menu in Diablo III co-op only one person could control their inventory at a time.
If you are playing with a friend on a console you might want to both open your inventories at the same time so they are working on providing a user experience where you can do that. Also, they are allowing controllers to be used on PC and be completely re-mappable, something Diablo III does not allow.

That a ton more is available direct on the blizzard Diablo IV blog link below.

https://news.blizzard.com/en-us/diablo4/23308274/diablo-iv-quarterly-update-february-2020

Today Yacht Club Games announced an all new Shovel Knight game in development called Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeons.

"Delve with Shovel Knight into the depths of the Pocket Dungeon in an action-packed puzzle adventure mashup like none other! Join your mysterious guide Puzzle Knight as you shovel through scads of foes, procure new equipment, and battle bosses both familiar and new. Explore a tale with endless twists and turns, quest as your favorite heroes, and even challenge a friend for fast-paced head-to-head competition in Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon!"

No release date or platforms are announced yet but I hope the pocket part means smartphones as Shovel Knight on a phone needs to happen.

https://yachtclubgames.com/2020/02/shovel-knight-pocket-dungeon/

Microsoft unveiled a ton of new details on the upcoming next gen Xbox Series X today and one in particular caught my attention. Historically Sony has provided excellent backwards compatibility between the Playstation and Playstation 2 era of console to later drop it after a time during the PS3 and entirely on the PS4. It seems Microsoft has picked up the love for compatibility in that it seems the upcoming Xbox Series X will still be able to play some original Xbox, 360 and all Xbox One games:

"Four generations of gaming: Our commitment to compatibility means existing Xbox One games, including backward-compatible Xbox 360 and original Xbox games, look and play better than ever before. Your favorite games, including titles in Xbox Game Pass, benefit from steadier framerates, faster load times and improved resolution and visual fidelity – all with no developer work required. Your Xbox One gaming accessories also come forward with you."

I also appreciate that Microsoft is keeping compatibility with Xbox One hardware as well because typically console makers love to lock you in for a whole set of new peripherals. I've been considering the choice between Sony and Microsoft for some time in terms of a new console and unless Sony comes back to the compatibility fold I might stick with Microsoft for the foreseeable future.

For the entire info dump on the new stuff coming to the Xbox Series X head over to xbox.com below:

https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2020/02/24/what-you-can-expect-next-generation-gaming/

Shovel Knight launched in 2013 and since then received a ton of free content updates. It might be a bit confusing what it all is so Noclip created this handy Shovel Knight Lineage video explained by Yacht Club Games David D'Angelo.

This last weekend I put Shovel Knight Showdown through the paces playing it with a friend. It's a fun addition to Shovel Knight Treasure Trove and is a worthy brawler game. I didn't quite get the feel for each of the Knights but I appreciate that they all fight very differently. If you have friends over and Treasure Trove is on tap, you should give it a go.

I'm late to the uptake with some game releases as there are so many. This isn't something I've minded for a while now because even folks that professionally review video games can't play everything. Recently I heard a glowing review for a, new to me, retro turn based strategy game called Wargroove that takes the formula that Nintendo perfected in Advance Wars and gives it a fun fantasy spin.

Wargroove is Hard by Default

Generally speaking modern triple A games or indie titles, unless they are a rogue-like, have a normal degree of difficulty by default. If you want more of a challenge in a typical shooter you can raise it and lower it if things are too hard. Typically I keep the difficulty at the default setting for most games because, again, the default difficulty is fine for my play style. Right away I found the default difficulty of Wargroove to be quite challenging. So challenging that during the first "real battle" (third battle or so) I was shutdown six times in a row. I imagine for some turn based strategy gurus the difficulty of Wargroove is just fine, but for a more casual player it was a bit too hard. The good news is that it's easy to tune the difficulty down at anytime but I do wonder how many players keep it at the default difficulty and how far they advance in the main campaign?

Wargroove Is Loaded To the Hilt With Things to Do

Since Wargroove's initial launch in 2019 Chucklefish started with a ton of things for players to do but recently just launched the Double Trouble free campaign DLC. Since you might not know what features Wargroove has i'll paste them for your ease here:

* Choose from one of 12+ Commanders from 4 warring factions – the Cherrystone Kingdom, Heavensong Empire, Felheim Legion, and Floran Tribes.
* Strategically use your Commander’s unique “groove” ability to sway the battle in your favor.
* Battle your way through the Campaign Mode to discover the story and motivations behind each faction.
* Challenge your friends to local and online multiplayer skirmish modes with complete rule customization, as well as local and online competitive and co-op play.
* Design and share online your own complex series of battlefields, with branching story paths using easy to master in-game map and campaign editors.
* Learn more about each character you encounter through a trial of boisterous bouts in Arcade mode, fighting 5 different opponents in quick succession.
* Outwit the enemy in Puzzle mode, using your strategic skills to complete tricky challenges in just ONE turn.
* Discover the history and lore of the world of Wargroove and its inhabitants in the Codex, as well as handy strategy tips and rules for use in battle.
* Seek out hidden in-game content and unlockables – old school style!

The Double Trouble DLC comes with the all new:

* All new 15 hour co-op campaign.
* 3 new commanders.
* New thieves and Rifemen units.

The Best Part of Wargroove Might Be The Built-in Editor & User Made Campaign Maps

One huge upside to Wargroove is that Chucklefish included an incredibly rich campaign editor and tools to upload and share your creations. This "Mario Maker" toolset seems like it's rich enough to create campaigns as intricate as the ones they shipped with. From a really early look I found several high quality maps created by the community that seem to be quite good. So if you tear through the base campaign, the new Double Trouble campaign then the user downloadable maps and the ability to make your own should keep you in a turn based strategy coma for quite some time.

Wargroove is Perfect on the Switch

Wargroove is out on the PC on Steam, the PS4, XBox One and the Switch and I think it's perfect on the Switch. Wargroove is flawless in handheld mode on the Switch and since it's in 2D is very light on your Switch battery making even longer play sessions possible. When you dock the Switch you get even more screen available, and Wargroove provides that through a really cool framing technique in full 1080p mode that isn't available in 720p mode and doesn't sacrifice gameplay because of.

If you are a collector of physical games Wargroove has a pretty fun release that comes with a downloadable soundtrack and some other goodies making it much more than just the game in a box. At the end of the day if you like turn based strategy and are looking for something to fill that itch you must try Wargroove. I also want to thank Chucklefish for getting me a review copy on Switch!