It’s my yearly tradition to make sure I stop by Natsume’s booth at E3, and 2016 was no different. Their lineup included a few returning favorites, as well as a title I haven’t had the opportunity to play during its original run on the classic consoles. There’s something for everyone coming out, simply put.
My appointment took place at the media space, and it was handled by Natsume’s ever talkative Adam Fitch, who took me through their lineup, starting with Harvest Moon: Skytree Village, yet another 3DS entry of the long running farming franchise. Familiarity is the name of the game with Harvest Moon, and if you have any experience with any of the previous entries, you’ll know what to do in the new one.
This time, your eventual mission is to restore the seven skytrees that are the symbol of the town that the game takes place in. By saving these guys, you’ll help bring life and prosperity to the people living there, as well as gain a lot of money in the process, because this is a farming game after all, and you know how rich those farmers are! But even if you have no idea how a Harvest Moon game plays, you’ll be all good thanks to the built-in tutorials.
In terms of actual gameplay, this Skytree Village has a few new tricks up its folded out, sweat-stained sleeve. Aside from the new characters you’ll get to meet and certainly flirt with til marriage or (a non-existent in this game) restraining order, there will be lots of new crops and flower types to plant and tend, as well as animals to deal with. According to Fitch, the biggest piece of news to come to that aspect of the game is the inclusion of the awfully cute shaggy Poitou donkey, who can now join your farm’s herd. There’s also a few new fishing mechanics and farming tools to help you in your quest.
By far the biggest difference in this game in regards to the older versions is the revamp in art style, which has switched from having too “chibi” (aka “super deformed”) look to the characters to more realistically proportioned people, more in line with traditional anime. That change according to Andrew, came at the behest of the fan base, who did not enjoy the previous style a whole lot.
Will you heed the call of the wild and start your own farming venture? Harvest Moon: Skytree Village will be coming to the Nintendo 3DS in the coming months. In the meantime, you can check out the game’s trailer straight from E3.
Next came River City: Tokyo Rumble, the return of the River City Ransom (aka Kunio-kun) family to the limelight, thanks to the partnership between Natsume and Arc System Works which was established last year. Kunio and his friends were part of a series of games that have been coming out since the NES/Famicom era, which saw a release outside of Japan in the aforementioned fan favorite River City Ransom. Since then, the crew has seen a few re-release attempts in the West, but very little fanfare otherwise.
Tokyo Rumble aims to change that by throwing almost every single aspect of the Kunio-kun into a single game. From what the demo had to show at E3, far from being just a rehash of old elements combined just for the sake of putting out another game, River City: Tokyo Rumble manages to make smart use of the established RPG, sports and fighting mechanics introduced by the many, many games of the past. Kunio and his friends are self-proclaimed “fighters for justice”, and their quest will take them throughout Tokyo’s districts, where they’ll beat the ever living crap of gangs in order to rid the city of lowlife scum.
But not before having a quick match of dodgeball, a go at a temp job or a visit to one of the numerous shops and restaurants in the city, in order to chillax, earn some extra cash and level up along the way. This is a game, after all, and not a mayoral campaign. No sharks will be piledriven, either. While a shame, there’ll be plenty of other silly situations to get in, as I’m sure you’ll get quite accustomed to the series’ trademark sense of humor once the game’s out on 3DS later this year.
No reason not to have a look at this trailer, either…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZa-BIrfPIg
(Trailer courtesy of Nintendo Times.).
Hey, do you like comebacks? If the answer is yes, you’ll be happy to know the last game we checked out at Natsume’s booth at E3 had an old franchise making a return. This time, it’s Wild Guns‘ turn to take players into a nostalgia-fuled trip back to the 16-bit days in Wild Guns Reloaded, a gallery shooter in the vein of old school arcade shoot-em-ups colored in the style of the Old West.
While I was never particularly nostalgic for Wild Guns, it’s cool to see it making a comeback. The gameplay is extremely simple for today’s standards, but it certainly feels a lot like the games you’d play in an arcade back in the late 1980s and early 1990s: side-scrolling, sometimes single screen shooting action. Up to four players will be able to join in and dive/roll/shoot through both revamped and completely new levels. From what the demo on the floor showed, it won’t be a cakewalk. I saw a few people go down in a blaze of pixelated glory all throughout my appointment.
Wild Guns: Reloaded will be coming out soon on PlayStation 4. If you liked the sound of it, you might wanna stop by and watch the trailer below.
(Source: PSX Brasil.).
