deKay's Lofi Gaming

Xeodrifter (Switch): COMPLETED!

I played and completed this before, but for 89p I couldn’t turn down buying it for the Switch and playing it again, especially since I enjoyed it so much first time around. This time, I don’t think I found as many secret areas so didn’t get as powered up as I did before, but I didn’t really have any problems. Like I said last time, it’s not really difficult. But it is fun. A great, short, little Metroidvania game!

Island Saver (Switch): COMPLETED!

Cynically, Island Saver is an advert for NatWest Bank, superficially dressed up as a save-the-planet first person eco shooter. You clear up and recycle rubbish, you clean the plants and animals, and you endure banking related puns as you go. Shoehorned in is a primer on what a bank is, and you’re taught about interest, currency exchange, loans and tax collecting. And of course because this is an advert, the game is free. So why did I enjoy playing it …

Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom (Switch): COMPLETED!

If you’re wondering why this looks like a new Wonder Boy game to follow in the series after Wonder Boy/Wonder Boy in Monster Land/Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap/Wonder Boy in Monster World/Monster World IV, then you’ll not be surprised that it is in everything but name. Even the heroes of those games make appearances, sort of, in Monster Boy. The plot is similar to that of Wonder Boy III, in that your hero, Jin, has been turned into an …

Gato Roboto (Switch): COMPLETED!

Imagine if Downwell’s graphics were applied to Super Metroid, only you were a cat? That’s Gato Roboto. How could I not buy it then complete it in one afternoon given that description? Turns out it’s really very good too. There’s absolutely more than a few nods to Metroid (there’s one area which even has a similar layout to part of that game), but it’s a lot shorter, a lot easier, a lot weirder (cats in mech suits are just the …

Iconoclasts (PS4): COMPLETED!

This is something I’d had my eye on for a while (nice looking pixel Metroidvania, so of course I have), and then, just when I was thinking about actually buying it a little while back, it popped up on PS+. Normally, that means it won’t get played at all, but since I’m letting my PS+ subscription expire (it’s just not worth the money now they’ve halved the number of games per month) I decided to give it a go before …

Shantae: Risky’s Revenge – Director’s Cut (PS4): COMPLETED!

I am very much aware that I’m playing through the Shantae games in an intermittent manner and in an incorrect order. This is because of reasons I don’t have to explain to you. After completing Yoku’s Island Express I was concerned I’d do my usual thing of failing to decide which game to play next, and spend so long flicking through games I own but haven’t played that I ran out of time to play them. Instead, I forced myself …

Yoku’s Island Express (Switch): COMPLETED!

This game is, now bear with me, a pinball metroidvania adventure game set on an island where you’re an ant who also happens to be the new postman, and you collect fruit whilst taped to a ball. As soon as you arrive on the island, the god creature that oversees it is attacked and it’s up to you to find all the tribal elders who together can heal the god. Oh yes, and you’re armed with a party horn, and …

Fairune 2 (Switch): COMPLETED!

Perhaps the easiest way of describing Fairune 2 is “Fairune only more”. More enemies, more puzzles, more areas, bigger maps, more items, more on-screen, more lore, more everything. It’s a lot longer too, as it took me six and a half hours to complete – compare that to two and a half for the first game. That all said, it’s pretty much the same idea. Bump into enemies to kill them, find items to open up areas of the map, …