Katamari Damacy REROLL- BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment
PC, Switch
The game's plot concerns a diminutive prince on a mission to rebuild the stars, constellations, and Moon, which were accidentally destroyed by his father, the King of All Cosmos. This is achieved by rolling a magical, highly adhesive ball called a katamari around various locations, collecting increasingly larger objects, ranging from thumbtacks to people to mountains until the ball has grown great enough to become a star. Katamari Damacy's story, characters, and settings are bizarre and heavily stylized, rarely attempting any semblance of realism, though the brands and items used are based on those current in Japan during the game's production.
This game is ADORABLE. When I talk non-combat games I always make an effort to point out that yes, they can be fun and mechanically interesting. Katamari is a perfect example of that! REROLL is a remake/rerelease of Katamari Damacy with updated graphics. The game play, levels, and design are all the same but its slightly more polished. While the game is pretty expensive for the 3 ish hours it took me to finish, its so fun and enjoyable that I still recommend it. Also, the soundtrack slaps.
Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation Vita, iOS, Android
In Stardew Valley, the player takes the role of a character who, to get away from the hustle of the city, takes over their deceased grandfather's dilapidated farm in a place known as Stardew Valley. The player manages their character's time and energy levels as they clear land, plant and tend crops, raise livestock, craft goods, mine for ores, and engage in social activities, including romances leading towards marriage, with the various residents of the small town, all while earning in-game money to expand their farm. The game is open-ended, allowing the player to take on activities as they see fit. The game also features a four-player cooperative multiplayer mode.
Stardew Valley is quite obviously a spiritual successor to the Harvest Moon games, and many of the mechanics play out that way. Stardew Valley technically has combat in the mines and forest, but its pretty easy to avoid those as the game is fairly open-ended. Stardew Valley has a huge online community and has been a favorite game of many noncombat players for years now. You can get many hours of gameplay out of this one (I myself have about 45 hours logged and I feel like I’m in the early game stage still.) Replay value is also high as you can arrange your farm differently and romance various characters.
Here at noncombat games I’m always keeping my eyes peeled for the next favorite game, and does 2019 ever look like it has some promising candidates! Here’s a list of games that are hopefully releasing in 2019 that I’m excited about.
1. Animal Crossing
Animal Crossing: New Leaf was the first installment of the series that I played, and boy did it capture my heart. Now that the Switch is getting a game for its console, I’m looking forward to the announcement of a Nintendo Direct to give us more information on the next installment of this life simulator. Also, I’m enjoying sharing the memes about it!
2. Ooblets
This game looks so adorable. I can’t get over the low poly design and cutesy colours. The game looks like a farming simulator meets critter collector. You grow Ooblets and have them dance-battle each other! What looks like the perfect mix of Harvest Moon, Pokemon, and Animal Crossing will hopefully be dancing its way into my heart later in 2019 but the development still has a ways to go.
3. Mineko’s Night Market
Mineko’s Night Market is a merchant simulation with adventure elements. It also has cats, lots of cats. With an emphasis on crafting as its main mechanics the game follows a young girl named Mineko as she sets up her little market stall all while being on the lookout for the legendary sun-god Abe. The release date for Mineko’s Night Market is vague, but I’m looking forward to it purring its way onto my favourites list.
4. Jenny LeClue: Detectivu
All of these games are going to have really interesting art styles, don’t get me wrong, but Jenny LeClue’s paper cut out style may be one of the more charming styles I’ve seen. With the promise of puzzle and mystery filled gameplay, I am thoroughly excited to step into the world of Arthurton.
5. Wattam
This game comes from the creator of Katamari. It’s about exploration, discovery, and fun. While that may seem vague, it is also fitting of Wattam’s gameplay. From what I can see it’s a game about befriending little characters as you progress through the world’s four season-themed areas. However it seems like the real interest will come in the simplicity of goofing around: alone or with friends in its drop-in drop-out multiplayer format.
6. Cloudpunk
Futuristic cyberpunk fantasy of hover cars and semi-legal delivery systems...but this isn’t Mirror’s Edge...this is Cloudpunk! Drive your hover car through a beautifully rendered neon cityscape. Meet fascinating characters, including artificial intelligences and other residents of Nivalis.
Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, OS X, Linux, Android
“Portal consists primarily of a series of puzzles that must be solved by teleporting the player's character and simple objects using "the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device", a device that can create inter-spatial portals between two flat planes. The player-character, Chell, is challenged and taunted by an artificial intelligence named GLaDOS (Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System) to complete each puzzle in the Aperture Science Enrichment Center using the portal gun with the promise of receiving cake when all the puzzles are completed. The game's unique physics allows kinetic energy to be retained through portals, requiring creative use of portals to maneuver through the test chambers.”
Portal is a great game. It does have things that shoot at the player character, and often times the player has to “take out” the things shooting, but I’m adding it to my non-combat list because of technicalities...and also because its just fun anyway. This game is a master of minimalist and environmental story telling. A puzzle game for the ages, can be played in about 2 or 3 hours, and you can mess around with portals. GLaDOS is also an exceptional character.
