Wuchang: Fallen Feathers (PlayStation, Xbox, PC, £44.99)
Verdict: A Soulslike with soul
Meet Wuchang. Or, as she might be wondering, who-chang?
She’s woken up in Ming dynasty China with a bad case of amnesia and an even worse case of feathers sprouting from her arm. It’s something to do with a curse that’s spreading around the land, turning people into monsters, the usual. Only Wuchang has the power to fix things.
If Wuchang had played any games in the past decade, she’d know immediately who she is and what’s going on. For Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is yet another Soulslike release, inspired by the gameplay established by the Dark Souls series.
It’s got the same try-try-and-try-again combat, with each enemy encounter turning into a whirl of dodges, parries and slashes.
It’s got the same challenging bosses, godlike creatures who will test your skills to their limits and beyond.
Feathered friend: Cursed heroine Wuchang must battle big bosses, while trying to regain her memory…and also trying to ignore the feathers sprouting from her arm
It’s got the same system of bonfires — sorry, here they’re shrines — at which you revive yourself after inevitably coming a cropper.
Which would all be too familiar were it not for Wuchang’s (the game’s) more singular qualities.
The first and most noticeable of these is its setting. Imperial China looks stunning here, a place of hills, cliffs, foliage and — crucially — colour. It’s much nicer than the grim greyness of most other games in this genre.
Wuchang fan: The setting of this new soulslike game, in Ming Dynasty China, is stunning
Warrior chic: There are options to change Wuchang’s wardrobe, and weaponry
Another is how you can make Wuchang (the person) your own — and not just with the increasingly skimpy costumes you can collect for her, poor girl. There are so many options around weaponry, abilities and upgrades that it’s often overwhelming, but — once you understand what’s what — you can approach this game’s fights in a hundred different ways, even switching between them on the fly.
It’s an exhilarating experience and one that passes the major test for Soulslikes: is there enough here to keep you pressing on, to keep you wanting to master the punishing combat? Yes. The arm feathers may be a bit gross, but this game has wings.
Super Mario Party Jamboree: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV (Nintendo Switch 2, £66.99 or a £16.99 upgrade for those who own the original)
Verdict: It’s party time
Hang on. Didn’t I already review this game? Back in October last year? Well, yes and no.
This is indeed the same Super Mario Party Jamboree that first came out nine months ago, featuring the same mix of boardgame mechanics and minigame madness. You move your Mario or Luigi or Peach or whoever around a board before competing in quick, frenetic games that have you doing things like slicing vegetables in time with the beat.
Except, this time, it’s been upgraded and expanded for the Nintendo Switch 2.
This means additional minigames that make use of the new console’s features, such as its mouse-style controls. Can you drag files into the right folders like you would on a computer desktop? But quickly?! It’s fun, I promise.
The best additions, though, are for those who have the separately available camera for the Switch 2. In fact, this might be the first game that really shows off what the camera can do.
Knives out: Mario prepares for a bit of kitchen combat
Take the new mode called Bowser Live, in which the eponymous lizard has you and your friends performing for his amusement. With the camera, you and your friends are actually there on the screen. Up to four of you. Your whole bodies. And your gyrations and gesticulations are registered in the game, as you collectively try to punch question mark blocks or balance falling Goombas on your heads.
It may sound like the sort of thing Xbox was doing years ago with its Kinect accessories. But this Nintendo version is so straightforward and so technologically sophisticated that it’s hard not to be won over.
This Jamboree truly is an improvement. The party starts now.
