The Rumble Pack Posts

The Last Guardian lives! Final Fantasy VII Remake is real! Shenmue continues! It’s been a crazy E3 week – so many impossible announcements and intriguing games. As always, the Pack weighs in on the highs and lows.

Justin, Kaz, Mcfadden and Tony gather to briefly talk NBA Finals, look back at the top games of the first half of 2015 and look forward to the potential of E3. Plus, they make some of the least bold predictions imaginable. Oh and more gushing about The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt which might also make an appearance in the first discussion.

The pack gathers this week to talk about the disturb in the force you all felt a couple of days ago. That wasn’t just any disturbance, that was Justin going full on Nintendo-fanboy when the Chibi Robo Amiibo was announce. He apologizes for the disturbance in electrical service and the distruption of traffic patterns. Please resume your daily lives as soon as possible.

Oh, also we discuss Splatoon and The Witcher 3.

The pack attacks Our Darker Purpose, Justin hides in the daylight from PT and Kaz keeps getting dirty in DiRT Rally.

Distractions abound as the crew takes on the pre-E3 lull and talk about defining “the game of a generation”. Plus Kaz talks about ProjectCARS, a racing game whose name can actually be remembered by other podcast members. It has CARS right in the name!!!

This week the pack discusses a lot of Nintendo. From their feelings on DLC Pack 2 for Mario Kart 8 to Justin’s desire for Nintendo-as-a-service to modern Nintendo classics in the form of an impromptu Pikmin discussion. Yes, this may be Justin’s favorite episode of all time.

The week Kaz, McFadden, Neil and Tony delve into Broken Age Act 2, the realities of a 3 year kickstarter game and the merits of the final product. The crew discusses the slow death of Konami and the bad luck Guillermo del Toro has with game projects. Finally, everyone begins to realize Tony was right all along about Crypt of the Necrodancer, especially now that it’s a real, final product.

The release of BoxBoy! was one of the nice surprises from the Nintendo Direct a couple weeks ago. That direct is the first time that saw the game and then it was immediately made available. The game plays on it’s clever mechanic (Box Boy’s ability to generate more boxes) by slowly building in standard puzzle platformer elements (conveyors, switches, spikes). The first sets of levels let you grasp the rules of Box Boy changing his shape–making himself tall to hook onto ledges, snaking through tight corridors, throw block appendages to cross gaps.

Later levels add in puzzle platformer clichés to great effect. Some of the best examples contain conveyors and moving blocks that you have to play with. Determining the right shape platform to make to transport Box Boy to the end of the level while collecting optional crowns presents an interesting challenge. Though the early levels seem exceeding simple the challenges ramp up quickly.

There’s a basic, but charming, set of block characters and story sequences in the game. It’s nothing special but it’s enough to inject a little charm in the simplistic characters. The unlockable costumes and levels are fun to see and the use of play coins (the ones you get for taking your 3DS for walks) to get puzzle hints is a fun use of that digital currency. If you’re looking for a nice set of puzzling challenges for your 3DS you won’t be disappointed with Box Boy.

Down with Roy and his Fire Emblem cronies! There’s more Smash Bros. mudslinging to go around this week, but the Pack also sneaks in some summer movie anticipation as well. Afterwards, Affordable Space Adventures co-op clusterfun, hunting down Titan Souls, MOBA madness and more.