neues lieblingsgame #shotgunking

Esta semana salieron en la #eShop de #NintendoSwitch los juegos de #Blasphemous2, #CurseCrackers y #ShotgunKing The Final Checkmate :3. https://tinyurl.com/hx9as8f2

#ShotgunKing The Final Checkmate ya tiene fecha de salida en la #eShop de #NintendoSwitch :3. https://tinyurl.com/5n8meuds

July 18, 2023 - Day 199 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 219

Game: Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate

Platform: Steam
Release Date: May 12, 2022
Library Date: Jul 18, 2023
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 18m

The second review for this month's Humble Choice bundle is, a little confusingly, the eighth game in the list. Every month there are eight games, and the AAA game is the first, and the eighth game is, often, pretty much the bundleware of the game.

I figured I'd get Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate out of the way early. The download clocking in at a storage-crushing 63Mb didn't improve my opinion at all.

Then I started the game. Low-res. Pixel art. It even has a "CRT effect" with levels of curvature and scanlines. If only the developers had put as much work into the gameplay.

Once again, these kind of effects have no attraction to me. I don't look at indie games like this with affection. If you want to pull the nostalgia strings, it has to be worth it.

Then I start the game. There's a series of static screens telling the story of the game, and I realise that it feels a lot like a Cinemaware game (ask your grandparent).

The evil Black King has lost all of his pawns, bishops, knights, rooks, and even his queen, to the White King (who's offered better job conditions), and now the Black King is out for vengeance, armed with his trusty shotgun.

...then up comes a chessboard.

It's chess, if chess was... a roguelike‽

Your king appears on the board, armed with said shotgun, facing a collection of pieces. Each piece moves as their traditional chess counterpart, which means a basic knowledge of chess, while not necessarily required, is certainly going to help.

Initially, you can move one square or fire. As you're on the back row, and the shotgun has a firing arc, you want to get closer; getting closer decreases your firing arc, which equals more damage.

Then white moves. After you've emptied both barrels, you need to move once to reload, then you can fire again.

If you clear the board, or kill the white king, as per chess, it's round over. At the end of each round, you get a choice between two cards, but for each card, there's a card that boosts the white side.

Which is where the roguelike strategy comes in.

As it turns out, the developers ABSOLUTELY did the work. There are (apparently) 12 rounds to win. I've made it to round 5 twice, and round 4 once. The game will allow you to move into check, and there's a certain level of shame in walking straight into the diagonal path of a pawn, given I've been playing chess for over 40 years.

It is with genuine surprise that the eight game in this month's bundle, Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate is actually:

4: Good

#ShotgunKing #Chess #Roguelike #HumbleChoice #MastodonGaming #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay