Princess Peach: Showtime! (Nintendo Switch, £49.99)
Verdict: Just peachy
Not only did Princess Peach always have to suffer the indignity of being kidnapped by a hulking big cartoon dinosaur thing. She also had to wait to be rescued by Mario, a plumber with a stocky mustache. Game after game after game.
But no longer! For the first time since 2005’s Princess Peach Superstar – and even that made her a little sappy – Peach truly feels like the hero of her own game. A reckless, case-solving, figure-skating hero. It’s fantastic.
Princess Peach: Showtime! starts by taking her to the theater. Several productions are staged by endearing creatures known as Theets, but a villain named Madame Grape soon invades and floods the stages with her minions. It’s up to our princess – you – to save the day.
The basic gameplay is pretty, well, simple. Show Time! is clearly designed for the whole family. There is one button that allows Peach to bounce around; one to let her use a special move, which varies depending on the various theatrical costume changes she goes through.
Princess Peach is once again at the center of her own game, Princess Peach: Showtime!
In this game, Peach really feels like a reckless, case-solving, figure skating hero
The core gameplay is quite simple and clearly designed for the whole family
In one level she is a sneaky ninja, striking from the shadows…
In another, she is a superhero, using her immense power
Each level (sorry, production) is colorful, crazy, and different from the last, and most have a fun twist
In one level she is a sneaky ninja, striking from the shadows. In another, she is a superhero, using her immense power. And so forth.
It’s all a wonderful excuse for Nintendo to use its prodigious imagination. Each level — sorry, production — is colorful, crazy, and different from the last. Most have a fun twist – aside from the special moves – to break up the game, such as a section where you have to think on your feet to make cake decorations on the spot.
And yet it is all connected: one big show consisting of a hundred different ideas and inventions. Buy a ticket immediately. The princess has become a star.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 (PlayStation, Xbox, PC, £59.99)
Verdict: Good times with pawns
It’s been about ten years since I played the original Dragon’s Dogma, so I barely remember the twisty story. I know that you were some kind of chosen one, called ‘the Risen One’. There was a dragon, of course. You had to overcome it – or perhaps yourself – to unravel the cyclical nature of something or other.
So I felt somewhat at a disadvantage when I started Dragon’s Dogma 2. This one doesn’t exactly require in-depth knowledge of its predecessor, though I think those with in-depth knowledge will get more out of the first game’s multi-layered, multiversal expansion. tradition.
Fortunately, though, the gameplay itself is satisfying enough for newcomers, not least because it’s quite innovative.
I felt somewhat at a disadvantage starting Dragon’s Dogma 2, but it doesn’t exactly require in-depth knowledge of its predecessor
The gameplay itself is satisfying enough for newcomers, not least because it is quite innovative
At one level you go on an adventure with an archer made to look like Daenerys Targaryen from Game Of Thrones
The game’s cutscenes and dialogue can be a bit creaky
Your Arisen, you see, is not alone. They can summon a team of three adorable “Pawns” (this fantasy realm clearly has dodgy power dynamics) to follow them on their quest. These supporting characters are usually the creations of other players like you, which makes the whole system feel quite social.
Today I’m going on an adventure with an archer made to look like Daenerys Targaryen from Game Of Thrones. Tomorrow, with a thief designed by a guy from Missouri.
The world you traverse together is full of wonderful, unplanned incidents. One of those pawns will deliver the killing blow to a giant Cyclops and lightly tap your Arisen’s hand in celebration. Some monsters will rush into a village and start destroying the place.
And that’s a good thing, because the game’s more planned moments – the cutscenes and dialogue – can be a bit creaky. Dragon’s Dogma 2 has more in common with the make-your-own-fun charm of, say, Skyrim than the scripted perfection of Baldur’s Gate III.
And like Skyrim, it captivated me despite – or perhaps because of – its rougher edges. Once I finish these sentences, I’ll go back to the world of Dragon’s Dogma 2, back to discovering the truth about something or other.