Nikoderiko: The Magical World

[Lord_Brand]

Recently developer VEA Games launched a reveal trailer for Nikoderiko: The Magical World, a platformer that looks to be drawing inspiration from the Donkey Kong Country and Crash Bandicoot series of games (David Wise is even listed as a composer). Mongooses Niko and Luna discover an ancient artifact that gets swiped by Grimbald, the conniving boss of Cobrings Gem Company, and embark on a journey to defeat the Cobrings army with the aid of collectible animal companions.

As a fan of both DKC and CB, this looks interesting to me just for the fact it draws inspiration from them. The art style is quite vivid and colorful too, which is always a plus in my book. Niko and Luna's designs do sadly look a touch generic - I've seen people liken them to AI - but I can live with that so long as the game is fun.

Edited June 11 by Lord_Brand

[Zapp Branniglenn]

yup, that went on my wishlist so that I'll know when it comes out. Especially with learning that David Wise is doing all the music according to the steam page. For people interested in this genre, it's essential information they should have demonstrated in the trailer. Rather than putting whatever that song is.

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

I agree with the character designs looking a bit generic. Maybe they're too... clean? Polished? Plasticky? Hard to say, exactly. I'd be surprised if they could emote half as outlandishly as classic Crash Bandicoot.

Still, the gameplay and general premise holds promise. I'll keep an eye out to see whether they stick the landing.

[Lord_Brand]

I think the main issue is that their faces look a bit wooden. They can smile, show displeasure, and such, but their eyes don't show as much personality as they could. Not enough pupil dilation, I'd say. The scene where Niko fishes up the serpent showcases this best.