Hands-on impressions with Nintendo’s EB Games Expo line up

Nintendo & EB Games invited me to a media screening night before the show officially launches tomorrow, to play what they have on offer. Below are my first impressions of the games, along with a couple of pictures of the booth. EB Expo starts Today, and will run until Sunday.

Star Fox Zero: While recently it was delayed until Q1 2016, they still had the Star Fox Zero E3 Demo on hand to show us. Immediately playing the game I noticed the controls we less than perfect. For those who don’t know, the Classic Star Fox view plays on the TV Screen, while a cockpit view plays out on the gamepad to assist with aiming and getting a closer view to things. On the gamepad, objective markers and other information appear while on the TV this is absent to appease a more cinematic look. Constantly switching back and forth between the two views is something you will need to do often, and takes a bit of getting use to, however i must say this is one of the best uses for the gamepad we have seen on the Wii U yet, it really did make me appreciate using it, whereas most games I opt for the Pro Controller.

Having only played  the first area, Corneria, which has been shown off a bunch in demos, i must say Nintendo have built a very rich and detailed world, that is actually a lot bigger than it first seems, but in this lies the main issue i had with the demo, it felt very empty. The demo started off with on rails action while teaching you the controls, which eventually opened up into the main city that I could view and explore in 360 degrees. Aside from the gameplay objective (which was to stop some enemies destroying a tower, there was not much else to find and explore. Rings were scattered around that gave you extra health, but everytime i zoomed off into the distance the game forced me back into the main area with an invisible wall. While I’m part of my experience was dampened by a demo (inverted vertical controls, and no way to disable gyroscope aiming) I feel unless the delay in release was to add more to the game, It’s a beautiful world, but with no reason to explore.

The Legend of Zelda: TriForce Heroes: Arguably the game I wanted to see most at the show, was set up in a 3 Player configuration which meant i needed the assistance of 2 other people, who in my case I had never met prior. The game is set up where communication is key, there was a heavy amount of co-operation needed to progress through the level. If you don’t have and form of voice chat, as it’s not included in the game, there’s some cards on the touch screen with some basic actions, that can be used to communicate with the other players.

The game is very easy to pick up and play, controlling almost to a tee to 2013’s A Link Between Worlds, mashed up with Four Swords. The Demo had 4 areas to chose from, and we chose Area 4: Fortress. Ultimately this lead to our downfall as with 3 complete strangers sharing hearts, we quickly found the game over screen. Had we been more in sync, the game would have been a lot easier, and in the little I played, had some very interesting puzzles and items. With Online & Local Download Play, this game will be a blast to play as I head down to Pax later this month, and i can say although we didn’t complete the demo, it only left me with a stronger urge to play with games with my Friends. Since it is set up for an expo, there was no way to play the game solo.

The Legend of Zelda TriForce Heroes launches 24th October in Australia & New Zealand

Yo-kai Watch: Going to Japan earlier this year, it’s crazy the amount of merchandise and advertising this game has over there. The Latest RPG megafranchise from Level-5 is being dubbed the next Pokemon, where you collect Yokai (Monsters in Japanese) and can summon them with your watch to fight in a real time RPG fights. Battles play out with 6 Yokai on a dial you can rotate at any given time, to change up attacks or defence. To attack you select the Yokai and complete an action whether it be tracing Japanese Symbols, tapping coins, or spinning the stylus to build up your attack power to give a devilish blow to your enemy. If you do happen to run out of HP on one of your 6 Yokai, you can revive them by completing another action similar to attacking.

It’s no surprise this game is designed for kids, so adults may not like the nontraditional attack system, but I must say, you should really stick with it as this game is one of the best RPGs on the 3DS, which is saying a lot. I have imported the game a few years ago now when it was first released in Japan, since then Yokai Watch 2 Ganso, Honke & Shinuchi (yes 3 versions, very Pokemon), Yokai Watch Busters Red Cat Team & White Dog Corps, & a Yokai Watch themed Just Dance have released in japan, with Yokai Watch 3 (set in America) coming out on the horizon, not to mention the anime, manga, toy line, and well you get the idea. It’s unknown when we will get the sequels, but the anime and toy lines are confirmed to release across Australia, Europe & America in 2015 and 2016.

Yo-kai Watch was announced first at the press event to launch December 5th in Australia & New Zealand.

Animal Crossing Happy Home Designer & Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water were two other games I had a small go at. Happy Home Designer was set up with all 100 of the Amiibo Cards, and the first wave of the Amiibo Festival range. Since the game is coming out tomorrow, I made sure to have a quick look at it, but ultimately chose to spend my time with some of the other games coming out in the future.

Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water, hidden away in the MA15+ section,had a small 10 minute demo which was the Prologue of the game, not much could be taken away from this, but for Fatal Frame fans, I’m sure there’s a lot to enjoy from it.

Xenoblade Chronicles X, I didn’t even attempt to wrap my head around, as not enjoying the 3DS or Wii versions of Xenoblade Chronicles, jumping straight into a game 3x the size was probably not the best of ideas. This version of the game featured the japanese voices, but english text.
Of the other games on show, Skylanders Superchargers Racing, Super Mario Maker & Splatoon are also on the show floor, click the title of those to read their reviews.