Month: December 2020

Nintendo’s most recent Indie World showcase was a big one, and while we were busy watching it, an exciting new game dropped on the system. Dicey Dungeons, the latest game from VVVVVV and Super Hexagon creator Terry Cavanaugh, is now available on the Nintendo Switch.

In Dicey Dungeons, players choose from numerous playable dice characters, all of which have unique abilities. As you move between the nodes of each level, you’ll come up against various enemies. Combat is based on dice rolls, with Yahtzee-like rules: you can play a rolled number on a corresponding attack, or you can re-roll dice several times to try and get numbers that better suit your abilities. As you go, you can power up and re-spec your dice, and if you die you need to start over.

The game costs $15 on Switch, with a 10% discount currently active for launch.

It’s also worth noting that there’s a bug in the game right now that does not let you increase animation speed again after decreasing it–this will be patched, but there’s also a workaround available for the problem right now.

Dicey Dungeons received a 7/10 in GameSpot’s review. “Dicey Dungeons is a charming and often rewarding game, as long as you learn to accept that sometimes the dice won’t roll your way,” the review states.

Call of Duty: Warzone is never gonna let you down. New songs, including Rick Astley’s classic Never Gonna Give You Up, have been added to the game as vehicle tracks.

One of the most exciting things you can do in Warzone is hop in a vehicle and soar through Verdansk while blasting the horn. Players can customize what sound they make when they honk their car horns–those options now include the infamous rickrolling song. They better hope that someone isn’t hiding on a nearby rooftop with an RPG.

If you don’t know what it means to get Rickrolled, this link should be a good explainer.

Flight of the Valkyries had been one of the more popular songs to hear blasting from trucks and humvees as you explore Verdansk, but Never Gonna Give You Up may take the throne once players have had time to use it in-game. Other songs included in the 80’s Hits vehicle tracks include I Ran by Flock of Seagulls and Shout by Tears For Fears.

The new tracks were added as a part of Warzone’s newest update that integrates the battle royale with Black Ops Cold War. A ton of new content was added, including a number of issues that Treyarch, Activision, and Raven Software need to iron out. A new, smaller map called Rebirth Island was also included. Full patch notes for the update can be found right here.

Bravely Default II has received a second–and final–demo, allowing players interested in the RPG sequel to check it out ahead of the Switch title’s 2021 release. The demo is available now on the Eshop through the game’s store page.

The Bravely Default II final demo features the game’s four main characters some way into their adventure, meaning that many of the systems introduced early in the game are available to demo players from the start. Jobs and Abilities can be used and swapped, for instance.

Players who download the demo ahead of the game’s launch will also be able to nab 100 My Nintendo Platinum Points, which can be redeemed for rewards through the My Nintendo portal.

The demo weighs in at 3.3GB. The game releases on February 26, 2021, and is available to preorder now.

Bravely Default II is, somewhat confusingly, the third game in the Bravely series. The original Bravely Default on 3DS was followed by a direct sequel, Bravely Second. This Switch game has a new cast of characters and setting, though.

Developer Spry Fox has announced Cozy Grove, a new game set on a haunted island that’s giving off some serious Animal Crossing vibes. But whether or not this game has taken inspiration from Nintendo’s massive series, Cozy Grove’s big difference is that the island is swarming with ghosts.

The game, which is coming to Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC in the first half of 2021, casts players as a “Spirit Scout”. It’s up to them to seek out the ghosts of the island and help them, building up a camp and crafting new materials as you go.

You’ll also be able to go fishing, as the trailer below shows.

Spry Grove’s earlier games include Road Not Taken and the Alphabear series.

The game’s website promises that all the spirits you meet with have unique storylines, and that the game will last for 40+ hours if you really take your time getting to know everyone.

There is, of course, one ghost in Animal Crossing: New Horizons: Wisp, who appears at night sometimes and rewards you for gathering up his spirit. It looks like the quests offered by Cozy Grove’s ghosts will be more extensive, though.

Big Pixel Studios, the developer behind the popular Rick & Morty mobile RPG spin-off Pocket Mortys, is shutting down. The studio, which was bought by Adult Swim in mid-2018 after making the Pokemon-like adventure, will be shuttered at the end of 2020, leaving is employees out of work.

According to a report from Gamesindustry.biz, around 40 people are affected by this closure.

Developer Laurie James announced the news on Twitter, saying that the team’s next game won’t be released. “Some hella good people here, who made something proper cool,” he said. “Unfortunately you’ll never get to play it, because capitalism.”

In a statement to Gamesindustry.biz, an Adult Swim spokesperson said that this decision was made “as part of WarnerMedia’s larger transformation,” and that the games based on their IP “will continue to be a priority” going forward.

Pocket Mortys has continued to receive updates, but it’s unclear if this will remain the case going forward.

Hades players can now access their save files on both PC and Nintendo Switch. Supergiant Games released an update that added the cross-save feature earlier today, December 16.

Cross-save functionality was originally promised alongside Hades’ launch on Nintendo Switch, but Supergiant Games decided to push the feature to focus on the game itself. The studio said it delayed the feature so it wouldn’t have to delay the full release of the game.

Other improvements that had already been released on PC were also added to the Nintendo Switch with the update today. You can download it by launching Hades from the Nintendo Switch menu. Full patch notes for the update can be found on Supergiant’s website.

Hades originally launched in early access in 2018 and has been in continuous development up until its official launch in September. Supergiant Games is currently working on other updates and fixes for the game, but has no plans for other content. Creative director Greg Kasavin previously told GameSpot that the studio does not know what they are developing next.

Hades is one of GameSpot’s Best of 2020 nominees. Its innovative take on the roguelike genre that combines tight gameplay with a beautifully written story is unlike anything else we’ve played this year.

Netflix continues to churn out an impressive lineup of original content in 2020, earning 21 Emmy wins (second behind HBO’s 30 wins) and releasing critically-acclaimed series like Season 4 of The Crown, the terrifying Haunting of Bly Manor, and the second season of its bonkers adaptation of The Umbrella Academy graphic novels.

Below, we compiled a list of Netflix’s best-reviewed shows in 2020, using Metacritic as our barometer. According to Metacritic, which grades on a scale of 0 to 100, “we carefully curate a large group of the world’s most respected critics, assign scores to their reviews, and apply a weighted average to summarize the range of their opinions. The result is a single number that captures the essence of critical opinion in one Metascore. Each movie, game, television show, and album featured on Metacritic gets a Metascore when we’ve collected at least four critics’ reviews.”

Click through the slideshow below or read on to see the 10 best-reviewed shows on Netflix in 2020:

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Cheer: Season 1 – Metascore 81

This compelling documentary series follows a competitive cheerleading team from Texas’ Navarro College as they compete for another national title with their demanding coach, Monica Aldama. The Washington Post’s Hank Stuever calls it an “often surprisingly moving documentary series.” And Vulture’s Jen Chaney says Cheer is “an earnest video journal about the challenges this dangerous sport poses and how the men and women who have made that sport the center of their lives rise to meet them.”

The Midnight Gospel: Season 1 – Metascore 82

This adult animated series follows Clancy, a spacecaster with a malfunctioning multiverse simulator who leaves the comfort of his extra-dimensional home on the Chromatic Ribbon to interview beings living in other worlds. IGN’s Jesse Schedeen calls The Midnight Gospel “a unique experience, but viewers might as well just skip to the final episode.” IndieWire’s Eric Kohn says, the series “forces you to push beyond the distractions of its many moving parts and appreciate the substance at its core.”

Sex Education: Season 2 – Metascore 83

Sex Education Season 2 continues to follow young Otis Milburn (Asa Butterfield) as he struggles to cope with the complexities of high school, and the awkwardness of living with his sex-therapist mother, Jean (Gillian Anderson). IGN’s Matt Fowler says, “Though not as strong as Season 1, Sex Education still shines with fun characters, admirable honesty, and inclusivity.” The Guardian’s Lucy Mangan says, “even the smallest parts have a sketched backstory and some good gags.”

Feel Good: Season 1 – Metascore 83

Feel Good centers on Mae (Mae Martin), an aspiring comedian who battles addiction and an intense romantic relationship with George (Charlotte Ritchie). Slate’s Willa Paskin says, “what it lacks in rom-com purity it makes up for in substance. I found myself rooting for the couple to stay together and also get the hell apart.” Variety’s Caroline Framke says, “Feel Good feels lowkey, insightful and real in a way that so much of TV tries to be, but rarely achieves quite like this.”

Immigration Nation – Metascore 85

In this six-part docuseries, Immigration Nation captures the daily workings of Customs Enforcement agents, activists, lawmakers, and attorneys. Time Magazine’s Judy Berman calls Immigration Nation “easily the most important TV show of the year.” And Vanity Fair’s Sonia Saraiya says, “Immigration Nation also tells human stories, where the filmmakers sit down with migrants to hear their particular saga of suffering. Each is like a vortex, lengthening into a dimension of unfathomable personal grief.”

Unorthodox: Season 1 – Metascore 85

Set in Berlin, Unorthodox is a powerful coming-of-age story that follows a young girl who rejects her conservative Jewish upbringing. Newsday’s Robert Levin calls Unorthodox “an achievement of searing power and grace, attuned to big, sweeping emotions and small, observational moments in equal measure.” The Hollywood Reporter’s Dan Fienberg says, “Unorthodox finds a lot of humanity, even in the character who are surely villains.”

The Crown: Season 4 – Metascore 85

In The Crown’s fourth season, Prince Charles (Josh O’Connor) falls in love with a beautiful Diana Spencer (Emma Corrin), while Queen Elizabeth II (Olivia Coleman) faces off against a formidable new prime minister named Margaret Thatcher (Gillian Anderson). IGN’s David Griffin says, “The Crown continues to prove why it’s one of the best shows on television in Season 4, with amazing performances from its ensemble of characters and superb writing from showrunner Peter Morgan and his team.” Vulture’s Kathryn VanArendonk says, “Thatcher and Diana give The Crown an energy and sense of direction it lacked in the third season, and a feeling of verve the show has arguable never approached before.”

The Baby-Sitters Club: Season 1 – Metascore 87

Based on the best-selling book, Season 1 of The Baby-Sitters Club centers on best friends Kristy Thomas (Sophie Grace), Mary-Anne Spier (Malia Baker), Claudia Kishi (Momona Tamada), Stacey McGill (Shay Rudolph), and Dawn Schafer (Xochitl Gomez), who start their own babysitting business. Decider’s Meghan O’Keefe calls it “a total triumph. It’s sweet, funny, hopefully, but most of all, encouraging.” Rolling Stone’s Alan Sepinwall says, “It’s sweet, and honest, and nice, in a way that feels just as refreshing as the girls’ old-fashioned business model.”

Lenox Hill: Season 1 – Metascore 87

Lenox Hill is a docuseries that follows the lives of four doctors (two brain surgeons, an emergency room physician, and a Chief Resident OBGYN) at a renowned hospital in New York City. The Wall Street Journal’s John Anderson calls it “a singular piece of work about people, their work and the place in which those people do that work.” Decider’s Lea Palmieri says, “the show honors them and their hard work and you can’t help but feel it in your heart.”

Bojack Horseman: Season 6.5 – Metascore 91

In BoJack Horseman’s final season, Netflix successfully concludes its tale of the self-loathing, alcoholic ex-sitcom star in search of some redemption. IGN’s Mathew Dougherty says, “BoJack Horseman ends its incredible run with a tense, taut (but no less hilarious) second half to Season 6, one that examines the very nature of our existence, the crushing blows of personal failure, and the value of the ones we hold closest to us, even if we’ve hurt them.” Decider’s Kayla Cobb says, “In the end, BoJack may have lost some friends but in his new life, with all of his dark secrets now on full display, BoJack was given something much more valuable. By living, BoJack was given a chance at true happiness.”

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David Griffin still watches DuckTales in his pajamas with a cereal bowl in hand. He’s also the TV Editor for IGN. Say hi on Twitter.