BOKURA: planet is a two-player, two-device-only co-op recreation that launched on Swap and Swap 2 on seventh August.
A follow-up to 2023’s BOKURA, indie developer tokoronyori says of the primary recreation that he “saved questioning what surroundings I may need seen if I might gone in the exact opposite path…In the long run, I could not maintain again. I ran the opposite approach, which is how BOKURA: planet was born, and the view right here is unimaginable.”
Intriguing. Let’s have a look at how NL’s two-man expedition went…
Crew member #1’s log (Blue)
I’ve performed my Swap 2 close to sufficient day by day for the previous three months, and the one fancy new function I’ve used lower than every other is GameChat. I’ve fiddled about with it hesitantly within the odd recreation of Mario Kart World or Drag x Drive, however I used to be but to have as a lot enjoyable with it as these squeaky clear 20-somethings in all of the console’s advertising and marketing had been promising.
It was then that I stumbled onto Bokura: Planet, a web based co-op-only Swap 2 recreation that I had heard subsequent to nobody speaking about, however one which felt tailored for some GameChat good instances. Eager to see one of many Swap 2’s flagship options in motion, I recruited a prepared participant (say hiya to Gavin, everybody!) and stepped boldly into an area puzzle journey the place (seemingly) few had gone earlier than.
The end result? A bit of over three hours of stomach laughs and head scratchers, with a refreshingly inventive story construction. It may not be probably the most visually or technically taxing use of Swap 2, however you would be onerous pushed to discover a higher use for GameChat.
However earlier than I blast off into all that, let’s cowl some context. This and its predecessor, 2023’s BOKURA, have loads in frequent. Each are two-player-only affairs performed on-line throughout two programs with a heavy give attention to communication, which is important to development. Each use that central gimmick to offer every participant their very own view of the identical puzzle, typically splitting you into completely different areas, which necessitates poor descriptions, dangerous sound mimicry, and a number of trial and error. Each undertake the identical simplistic pixel artwork visuals that regularly stroll the road between cute and creepy.
The massive change for the sequel (except for the addition of GameChat in case you’re taking part in on Swap 2, though the sport can also be on S1) is that the central ‘cut up’ gameplay mechanic extends to the story construction. A pair of house explorers crash-land on an alien planet and set about looking down their misplaced recon drone and getting their bearings. The 2 anonymous heroes are rapidly cut up up, and every undergoes their very own personal story beats, that are saved secret — or ought to be — from the opposite all through the remainder of the sport.
It is an concept that I struggled to get my head round at first. A small crossed-out mic image seems on the display screen earlier than you enter your personal story content material, and it is solely after getting your first dose of textual content exposition that the sport, or extra particularly your character, explicitly says to maintain it a secret out of your companion. Sadly, Gavin and I are each licensed blabbermouths, and for no matter cause, the mic image did not instantly line up with “Do not inform your companion this bit” in both of our heads, as we each gasped and exclaimed in shock earlier than the sport finally put us in our place.
Even with the preliminary shock half-spoiled — significantly, why not substitute the mic image with one thing extra concrete, like, I do not know, an enormous pink message studying “KEEP THIS BIT A SECRET, YOU FOOL!”? — the cut up story means Bokura: Planet stands out within the sea of co-op puzzlers. I chucked inwardly as I heard Gavin ponder the connection between our characters (one thing I had additional data of because of my personal, and infrequently unexpectedly darkish storyline), and sat open-mouthed when sure revelations jogged my memory how little of the ‘full image’ I might seen myself.
It is not all story and surprises, thoughts you. You will spend most of your time with Bokura: Planet working your approach via a sequence of single-screen puzzles, the place you are tasked with describing your view to your companion, flicking switches, aligning symbols, and opening gates. The ‘cut up’ perspective is, as soon as once more, a neat thought (if not a very novel one), however Planet does a superb job of blending up the aims so issues do not grow to be too stale. We had been smirking as we described suggestively-shaped symbols on one display screen, then screaming as we dodged grotesque creatures, lethal drops, and lasers on the subsequent.
The problem appeared to sit down in a candy spot, too, even when the screen-sharing capabilities of GameChat meant that we may peek at one another’s view and remedy the issues faster if we bought actually caught. – Jim Norman
Crew member #2’s log (Pink)
I rapidly realised my error after blurting out my surprising onscreen occasions to which Jim wasn’t privy. In hindsight, after all the crossed-out mic image clearly means ‘STFU’, however with all of the (well-localised) dialogue packing containers I might seen as much as then, it felt odd to make use of an emblem to speak such necessary directions. I suppose the textual content represented in-game dialogue and ideas, whereas the image was meant just for you, the participant.
Anyway, that was solely certainly one of two communication hiccups — the opposite being when firing up the sport for the primary time and being offered with a Japanese EULA (do not panic, simply transfer to the choice on the left and hit ‘A’ to cycle via the obtainable languages – English is the second choice) — however, actually, it did not have an effect on our enjoyment.
The following mix of cutesy pixel artwork and barely gungy physique horror got here as a shock — a welcome one, though, together with all of the phallic symbols, it did have us pondering that PEGI 7 score — in a recreation that in any other case presents block-pulling, button-pushing, laser-disabling, now-I am-controlling-a-robot-on-your-screen puzzles and lightweight platforming challenges. It is intelligent co-op stuff, mixing audio and visible conundrums engagingly, however the underlying narrative provides a contact of spice. It is a poignant story that ties within the few verbs at your disposal in neat methods.
In relation to negatives, the soar takes slightly getting used to, and you will probably fall off some ledges throughout the three or 4 hours you may be taking part in – though auto-save means you should not must redo a lot. Utilizing GameChat means the audio is quieter, though that does not have an effect on the ambient soundtrack right here an excessive amount of — you may simply must hear rigorously in sound-specific puzzles.
The sport’s opening menu display screen is not probably the most user-friendly, both. Sharing your code along with your companion is easy sufficient (and the sport robotically picks up the place you left off if you pair up once more in your subsequent play session), however navigating the three menu icons feels extra awkward than it ought to. Bokura: Planet additionally helps Mouse Mode, which is good, though we struggled to search out any cause for it past navigating menus.
For the low asking worth, although, there’s nothing to get upset about, and Nintendo could not ask for a greater GameChat showcase. Certainly, having now performed it, it is easy to see why the platform holder waved this onto the Swap 2 eShop when so many different indie groups are struggling to even get dev kits. – Gavin Lane
