The one exception to this stagnancy is a dashing thrust attack that actually fits nicely into Narita Boy’s repertoire of moves as a way to hit a bunch of enemies in a row, in addition to being able to remove armor from a specific enemy. As a result, combat gets stale early on and stays that way.Ĭombat gets stale early on and stays that way That makes them feel more like keys than actual techniques, only to be used when you see the right enemy-shaped lock. For example, there’s a shoulder bash that’s only really used on one shielded enemy type, and an uppercut that’s primarily just used to hit the few enemies that fly. Rather than changing the way you approach a fight to keep things fresh, the techniques you unlock are more designed around giving you a way to deal with a specific new enemy type. That’s an alright base, but none of the abilities that you gain as you progress ever make engaging with combat any more fun. There are some really great animations, hits are impactful, and the way enemies die is super satisfying to look at – but the big problem is that, at the outset, there really isn’t much to your arsenal of moves outside of a basic three-hit sword combo, close-range shotgun blast, and powerful beam attack. They tie together the digital and physical worlds in a way that’s rather clever.Īs far as combat goes, Narita Boy looks more impressive than it actually feels to play. What’s especially neat about them is the way they help bring better understanding to the digital world that you’re playing through. Each time I unlocked one it felt like a gift I couldn’t wait to unwrap: these bite-sized story sequences are easily the highpoint of Narita Boy as a whole, as Lionel’s story is an emotional one to watch unfold, with wonderful music box-like tunes adeptly setting the tone. The real meat of it is communicated as you unlock Lionel’s memories and play through 13 really well-done flashback sequences that chronicle his life all the way from childhood to the present. However, that is a huge oversimplification of Narita Boy’s hard-to-follow overarching plot, which is bogged down with technical jargon and boring exposition dumps.įortunately though, that setup is not the main attraction of Narita Boy’s story. The boy assumes the role of the titular hero, “Narita Boy,” and sets out on an adventure to restore Lionel’s memories, defeat HIM, and save the digital world.
#NARITA BOY PS5 SOFTWARE#
So in addition to hopefully being an excellent game overall, it looks like Narita Boy will have an even larger chance to help out an even bigger digital world when it comes out sometime this Spring for PC, XB1 (on Game Pass as well), Switch, and PS4.You play as a young boy who suddenly gets dragged into a digital world after its creator, a genius hardware and software developer named Lionel Pearl, gets his memories stolen by a malicious program known as HIM. In addition to all of this, Team17 and Narita Boy are partnering with New York’s The Strong: National Museum of Play, the UK’s National Videogame Museum, and Spain’s Arcade Vintage: Museo del Videojuego for the “Saving The Arcade World” campaign, designed to raise awareness towards preserving video game history, specifically arcades, their games, and the legacies they have created.īasically, the campaign will see profits from Narita Boy: Techno Edition (a full-sized arcade cabinet with the game installed), custom themed controllers, codes for digital copies of the game, and the game’s soundtrack (with the first track “Saving the World” available now to purchase online or stream through Team17’s new Spotify page and the campaign’s playlist) go towards all three of the aforementioned museums, with an additional charity event to be held this spring.
#NARITA BOY PS5 FREE#
And if you want to begin that dive, you can check out the free demo on Steam that will be available from now until February 9.
#NARITA BOY PS5 PLUS#
The game certainly looks stunning and packed with action, plus it seems to have a unique universe to dive into. A 2D action-platformer about a warrior in the Digital Kingdom who fends off the invading Stallions with their Techno-Sword, the announcement came accompanied by a new trailer that you can check below, which shows off the game’s impressive world and goes all in on evoking the 1980s, down to the narrator. Among those would be Team17, who have announced that they’re teaming up with developers Studio Koba to help publish their debut title, Narita Boy.
Well, the latest Steam Game Festival is underway, and as it’s also still the relative start of the new year, a lot of publishers and developers have both big announcements and/or new demos to drop this week.