Demo Days

 After months of baking in my insulated apartment, I'm finally in the mood to start blogging again (and I needed a way to kill time until I got my copy of Gundam Breaker 4 in the mail).  So I tried out the demos I've downloaded onto my Switch.

Yohane the Parhelion: Blaze in the Deepblue

A 2D Metroidvania in the same vein as Gal Guardians: Demon Purge--another game I've played from the same developer, Yohane the Parhelion follows the title fortune teller down a mystical and dangerous rabbit hole as she searches for her friends.

Along with basic attacks, super attacks and crafting weapons, Yohane can also summon a support character to help fight off foes or to clear a path.

As you travel farther down the labyrinth and challenge humongous bosses . . .

You'll meet and summon more characters with their own unique abilities.

Shadow of The Ninja: Reborn

Apparently a remake of a retro game I've yet to discover, Shadow of The Ninja: Reborn is another side-scroller with the classic feudal-futuristic vibe, in which you guide one of 2 distinct characters with basically the same moveset.

As with any platformer you'll ever play, you acquire different weapons and power-ups to help you on your way.  I'll admit it took me a minute to figure out how to scroll to the desired item after burning through them in prior playthroughs.

And with the number of times I've died on Level 1, I needed all the help I could get.

Bakeru

Since first knowing about this one through YouTube, I was surprised it took this long for Otogi Katsugeki Mameda no Bakeru: Oracle Saitarou no Sainan!! to get localized.  Now that it is, while excited, I'm waiting to either find a discounted imported copy or an eShop sale.

Set in a fantasized Japan, you're a shapeshifting tanuki (left) tasked with traveling the country's 47 prefectures, battling the minions of an unspeakable evil.

Bakeru offers a variety of gameplay that reminds me of Gunstar Super Heroes for the Game Boy Advance.  Trying out each available game mode, I jumped from an open-world RPG . . .

To a fighting minigame . . .

To a flying shoot 'em-up.  There's also a racing stage I haven't tried yet.

After Bakeru, I've played other demos, checked games like Mortal Kombat 1 and Splatoon 3 for updates and events, and tested newly acquired physical titles for defects.  But now that my Gundam Breaker 4 bundle has arrived, most of my free time will be spent reviewing the product along with the actual game.  Plus, I hope to finally break into other forms of media for the blog, so please look forward to that as I continue making my way to the Top of the Heap.  Until next time.