Princess Peach: Showtime! (Nintendo Switch, £49.99)
Verdict: Just peachy
Not only did Princess Peach always have to suffer the indignity of being kidnapped by a hulking great cartoon-dinosaur thing. She also had to wait around to be rescued by a squat moustachioed plumber called Mario. In game after game after game.
But no longer! For the first time since 2005’s Princess Peach Superstar — and even that one made her a bit sappy — Peach really feels like the hero of her own game. A swashbuckling, case-solving, figure-skating hero. It’s wonderful.
Princess Peach: Showtime! begins by taking her to the theatre. Various productions are being staged by winsome creatures known as Theets, but a baddie called Madame Grape soon intrudes — and swamps the stages with her minions. It’s down to our princess — you — to save the day.
The basic gameplay is quite, well, basic. Showtime! has clearly been designed for all the family. There’s one button to make Peach bounce around; one to make her use a special move, which varies according to the various theatrical costume changes she goes through.
Princess Peach is back at the front and centre of her own game, Princess Peach: Showtime!
In this game, Peach really feels like a swashbuckling, case-solving, figure-skating hero
The basic gameplay is quite basic and has clearly been designed for all the family
In one level she’s a sneaky ninja, striking from the shadows…
In another she’s a superhero, using her mighty strength
Each level — sorry, production — is colourful, crazy and different from the last and most have an enjoyable twist
In one level she’s a sneaky ninja, striking from the shadows. In another she’s a superhero, using her mighty strength. And so on.
It’s all a wonderful excuse for Nintendo to exercise its prodigious imagination. Each level — sorry, production — is colourful, crazy and different from the last. Most have some enjoyable twist — beyond the special moves — to break up the play, such as a section where you’ve got to think fast to do…some on-the-spot cake decorating.
And yet it all coheres: one grand show made up of a hundred different ideas and inventions. Buy a ticket immediately. The princess has become a star.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 (PlayStation, Xbox, PC, £59.99)
Verdict: Good times with pawns
It’s been about a decade since I played the original Dragon’s Dogma, so I can barely remember its twisty-turny story. I know that you were some sort of chosen one, called ‘the Arisen’. There was, of course, a dragon. You had to vanquish it — or maybe yourself — to unravel the cyclical nature of something or other.
So I felt at something of a disadvantage going into Dragon’s Dogma 2. This one doesn’t exactly require deep knowledge of its predecessor, though I feel that those with deep knowledge will get more from its multi-layered, multiversal expansion of the first game’s lore.
Thankfully, however, the gameplay by itself is plenty satisfying for newcomers — not least because it’s quite innovative.
I felt at something of a disadvantage going into Dragon’s Dogma 2, but this one doesn’t exactly require deep knowledge of its predecessor
The gameplay by itself is plenty satisfying for newcomers — not least because it’s quite innovative
On one level you’re going adventuring with an archer who’s been made to look like Game Of Thrones’ Daenerys Targaryen
The game’s cutscenes and dialogue can be a little creaky
Your Arisen, you see, isn’t alone. They can summon a crew of three worshipful ‘Pawns’ (this fantasy realm clearly has dodgy power dynamics) to follow them on their quest. These supporting characters are mostly the creations of other players just like you, which makes the whole system feel quite sociable.
Today, I’m going adventurin’ with an archer who’s been made to look like Game Of Thrones’ Daenerys Targaryen. Tomorrow, with a thief designed by some dude from Missouri.
The world that you range across — together — is full of delightful, unplanned incident. One of those Pawns will land the killing blow on a humungous cyclops and lightly tap your Arisen’s hand in celebration. Some monsters will blunder into a village and start wrecking the place.
Which is just as well, because the game’s more planned moments — its cutscenes and dialogue — can be a little creaky. Dragon’s Dogma 2 has more in common with the make-your-own-fun charm of, say, Skyrim than the scripted perfection of Baldur’s Gate III.
And, just like Skyrim, it’s reeled me in, in spite of — or perhaps, in truth, because of — its rougher edges. I’ll be heading back to the world of Dragon’s Dogma 2 as soon as I finish these sentences, back to discovering the truth about something or other.