You can find this review in full at GBAtemp.net:
https://gbatemp.net/review/nuphy-air75-v2-mechanical-keyboard.2393/

If you’ve seen a NuPhy keyboard before the out of box experience will be a fairly standard one. On top of the keyboard itself, you get a USB A dongle for 2.4GHz connectivity, seven additional keycaps to match the OS you’re most likely to use the keyboard with, four extra switches to give you a taste of what’s available, a keycap and switch puller, a set of stickers, and the recognisable fold-out manual. I’ve said this in other NuPhy reviews, but I will always enjoy a manual that doubles as a poster, and this one is definitely no different. It feels high quality and the anime artwork is really pleasant if you enjoy that kind of thing. It won’t be to everybody’s taste, but it remains far more creative and interesting than your run of the mill manual, while not really compromising on any critical information.

The keyboard itself feels as well-built as the other NuPhy keyboards I’ve looked at. Its aluminium and plastic body feels incredibly sturdy, and for the few weeks I’ve been using it I’ve had no reservations about just throwing it in my bag for my commute to the office. It is worth noting here that if you do travel a lot and want a bit of extra protection, there is a folio case available to buy alongside the keyboard. While I don’t have it on hand, I can at least appreciate its clean and simple design.

If you’ve seen the original Air75, the V2 follows pretty much all the same design cues from what I can tell. You have the same compressed 75% layout with fully-backlit keys, alongside two small light bars on each side of the keyboard. While they’re not quite as impressive as the Halo models’ ring, I do enjoy them being on while the rest of the keyboard is dark. I’ve grown to dislike lighting below the keys, so these small touches are far more to my taste.

One thing I quite liked on paper was the metal plate on the bottom of the keyboard. This is fairly typical on these keyboards and really ties together the design well. It does fall short in practice though, especially when you consider one of the larger use cases for this specific model: sitting on top of laptop keys. Now I’ve used this with a MacBook, which is what the board is specifically designed for, and it fits like a glove. The rubber feet slot between the keys and secure it into place, giving you one of the best on the go typing experiences around. If you’re using it with other laptops though, your experience will vary. With the Dell Precision 7670 I use for work the keyboard has no issues sitting on top of the keys without pressing anything down. It does apparently catch something though, with the metal plate getting significantly scratched up. It would’ve been nice for them to pivot slightly from their staples here and maybe have some kind of plastic plate that wouldn’t scratch as easily, but I can’t say I know if that would’ve looked great. It’s not something you see either way when using the keyboard, but it does annoy me a little to know what lurks underneath.

In terms of configurations, you have three board colours and seven switch types to pick between. The model I have is the white board with tactile Wisteria switches. It’s worth noting that the model I received actually had the linear Cowberry switches in it, but NuPhy were nice enough to send across a jar of Wisterias to install myself. Using the provided tool it was just as simple as any other hot-swappable keyboard to pull a switch out and pop another straight back in. I really enjoy the 55gf required to actuate these switches, letting me fairly confidently rest my hands on the keyboard between spurs of writing. This is something fairly important to me when typing on a laptop; a switch too sensitive just leads me to frustration. As always though, it’s a thing of preference. The Moss switches actually require a heartier 60gf to actuate, so I may yet be checking those out in the future. Hot-swap is always a win for me, but it is worth noting that due to the low-profile nature of the Air75 V2, you are going to be more limited than a traditional keyboard in the switches you’re able to put in. The same goes for the keycaps you’ll have available to you.

As far as typing experience goes, I’d be shocked if you could find something better in such a portable form factor. The V2 is stellar, and has proven a joy to type on for the past few weeks of use. The keyboard sounds great too, featuring an evolution of, and I quote “plate poron hollow-sound absorption and IXPE PCB sound purification solution on Air96”. On top of that, NuPhy have continued to deliver on a great-sounding space bar, using what they’ve learned from their full-sized GhostBar to make something that really goes beyond its form factor. I really don’t have much to complain about, outside of maybe feeling some of the larger unstabilised keys like Caps Lock and Tab are easy to slant if you press them on one side instead of centrally. It can be adjusted easily to be flat again, but it is something I noticed. All the stabilised keys sound great with no kind of noticeable rattling sound. It all comes together brilliantly.

The battery life has also managed to impress me, with me not having charged it at all in the few weeks of use it’s had. Now it is worth noting that I’ve gone without the back-lighting as mentioned above, but it does give me faith in NuPhy’s numbers of up to 220 hours when not using the backlight, and 35-57 with. Assuming a busy eight hour working day, the V2 has a good chance of lasting you more than a month if you’re not fussy about lighting, and it’ll obviously go much further by just periodically being plugged in. I doubt I’ll be going out of my way to charge it anytime soon.

It doesn’t stop there though, with one of my biggest criticisms of their previous boards getting the solution it deserves: the Air75 V2 supports QMK/VIA for key remapping. I can’t stress how much of an improvement this is over previous software that was a mean combination of virus warnings and being closed source. VIA is a whole new world. With just a json file, you can remap your keyboard in-browser. It’s clean, it’s simple, and it’s familiar for anybody who’s had a VIA-compatible keyboard before. It just works, and I couldn’t be happier. Using VIA you’re able to customise everything you’d expect with support for keyboard-specific actions like lighting control and Bluetooth connectivity. You can also add a number of layers using VIA, something I admit I don’t use enough. I had no issues adding my usual backslash onto Fn+Z, with this being one of the few keys you lose if using an ANSI-layout keyboard as a UK one on Windows.

There is one quirk though; there’s always a quirk. You see the Air75 has a switch to move between Windows and Mac mode, with different shortcuts loaded up for each system. I like this, and for those moving between operating systems it’s definitely useful. The only real issue is that it’s only the Mac mode that can be customised when the keyboard is loaded up in VIA. As somebody who doesn’t really use the Mac shortcuts even on a Mac, I didn’t mind so much and just remapped it to match the Windows layout. It definitely could be an issue for those wanting to move between systems more frequently though and want a bespoke experience on both platforms.

A few more things just to mention in passing for the Air75 V2 are that it supports a 1000Hz polling rate on both its wired and 2.4GHz wireless connection. This isn’t uncommon in a lot of modern keyboards, but it is notable for a wireless low profile board. The three Bluetooth 5.0 connections the keyboard can store internally are unfortunately limited to 125Hz polling, but that is a bit of a trade-off for the convenience of being able to just flip between devices. I found a few inputs getting skipped over when connected via Bluetooth on my MacBook, but it was never bad enough as to make me want to use the built-in keyboard instead. The dongle being USB A is a bit of an unfortunate choice in my mind, especially with MacBooks users as one of the biggest target audiences here. Not being able to use it to its fullest without being plugged in or having a USB C adapter to hand is a let down. You also don’t have anywhere convenient to be storing that adapter, meaning it’ll likely manage to disappear given enough time (at least in my experience!).

That aside though, the Air75 V2 is a magnificent low profile keyboard, and is something I would absolutely recommend for both laptop users wanting the best typing experience and those who just want a low profile keyboard for easy transportation. With support for VIA NuPhy have nailed the customisation aspect, and I can only hope they keep it going forwards. It’s a great showing for the $120 asking price, and I remain hopeful for what comes next from the company.

You can find this review in full at GBAtemp.net:
https://gbatemp.net/review/nuphy-field75-mechanical-gaming-keyboard.2353/

Out of the box the Field75 is certainly unique. Giving off a steampunk kind of vibe, you have a metal handle on the left, a volume wheel in the top left, a further twistable cog, a dial to switch between connectivity modes, and eight macro buttons. This is, naturally, on top of the standard 75% keyboard layout you might have guessed from the name. For those that don’t know, 75% keyboards are ones that retain function keys and arrow keys, as well as Home, End, PgUp, and PgDn. It’s one of the more compact layouts and maintains pretty much all of the functionality of a full keyboard if you don’t find yourself using the numpad.

Despite its plastic exterior, the keyboard feels incredibly sturdy, and the extra bells and whistles reflect that well. The handle on the left of the board is something I really didn’t have much faith in, but after swinging the keyboard around by it for a solid few minutes, it stands up about as well as the GameCube’s handle. And that’s no small feat. The volume wheel features defined clicks as you move it backwards and forwards that I could best compare to the sensation of popping bubble wrap. It feels a bit like a functional fidget toy at times, with the cog giving an entirely different type of feedback as it cycles through lighting effects on the board.

While the plastic used for the keyboard is really quite visually impactful, especially with the ‘Ethereal’ orange option I have on hand, it’s definitely not without flaws. The biggest of these for me is how it manages to catch dust. Obviously anything sat on your desk for an extended period of time will get some level of dust, but I find myself noticing it far more often here. On top of this, I’ve noticed grooves in the plastic that I assume have been caused by the keyboard being in my bag. Both of these nothing major in the grand scheme of things, but both likely stem from the type of plastic that was chosen for the board.

My last concern with the larger design of the board is that there’s just nowhere to keep the USB dongle for the 2.4G wireless mode. I may be spoiled but pretty much every modern wireless keyboard I’ve used has had somewhere to stow it away to avoid it getting lost to the ether. While the Field75 does have a passthrough USB port you can keep it in, it sticks out, leading the the potential for damage. Not to mention that a passthrough USB port almost certainly has better uses than this.

The keyboard comes in four different colours, each with four options for switches. The board itself is hot-swappable though, so you can always change later on if you decide the switches you picked aren’t for you. The board I have comes with the linear Polaris switches, and I’ve really enjoyed typing on them so far. They come factory-lubed, and are some of the better factory lubed switches I’ve used. Combined with multiple layers of foam you have a muted and smooth typing experience. Having followed their Discord server, I have noticed there be some instances where switches were overlubed, causing a mushy typing experience for some users. It seems like these cases were more common when the keyboard first launched though, and the NuPhy staff appeared eager to assist. Having not run into this issue I can’t really comment any further.

The GhostBar returns and is still just as nice to use as it was with the Halo96. The entire spacebar feels even and has the same sound no matter where it’s hit. The same can be said for the backspace and return key, with there being no noticeable stabiliser rattling. It all comes together really quite well for a great experience even for those not wanting to swap things out or tinker further. It’s ultimately what you’re paying for with a pre-built keyboard, so it’s good to see the basics nailed down like this.

With eight macro keys though, this is a keyboard you’re expected to customise, if only a little. This is where the new Field Console comes into play, and to say it’s had a rocky launch would be an understatement. The software behind these keyboards isn’t designed or developed by NuPhy themselves, with it all being handled by an external company. When the keyboard originally released, this software was was ringing alarm bells on all manner of antivirus software, forcing NuPhy to pull it and leaving users with a stock configuration for around three weeks after people started receiving their keyboards. On top of this, the version that released after that was still flagged for viruses.

To be fair to NuPhy, these were likely false positives, with things like keylogging and audio recording being the specific issues. Keylogging should be self-explanatory for remapping inputs, and audio recording was for the lighting to respond to audio should you want that setting. Regardless, it’s really not what you want to see, especially when configuring a device that you’ll be plugging into any number of your personal or work PCs.

This all does seem to be fixed now, with there being no warnings on installing Field Console. All the same, it’s something you should be aware of, especially if you’re an early adopter of a future product. It seems like things are generally worked out, but how long it takes for that to happen is entirely up in the air.

With that out of the way, the software itself is functional; it’s nothing special, but it covers the basics well. Here you’re able to remap all your basic key functionality, including your macro keys, to be one of their default function, another standard key, a multimedia key, a system function, a mouse function, an ‘office key’, or a macro. It should be noted that despite this keyboard having a function layer, you are completely unable to remap it. On top of that, you’re stuck with the default behaviour for the volume wheel and the lighting cog. It’s a shame really. With this keyboard I much prefer using it with no lighting, so the cog is just sat doing nothing. Even having it be next and previous song for right and left turns respectively would’ve been great.

The macros work fine, with you being able to record your inputs with set delays between them, or keeping your original typing cadence. I’ve never been the biggest user of macro keys, but with these keyboards being exclusively ANSI layout, I’ve appreciated the ability to map the four keys on the left to being backslash tremendously. For those unaware, this is pretty much the only key you lose if you happen to use an ANSI layout keyboard with a UK layout via software, which is annoying with how frequently I need it for programming. The other four buttons I’ve also put to work, albeit fairly light, with mappings like Shift+F6 (for refactoring code in CLion if you’re curious) being accessible with my thumb instead of having to stretch my hand across the keyboard. If there’s one major positive point of this software, it’s the you don’t need to keep it around. Once you’ve saved your settings they’ll persist without issue, even in Bluetooth mode.

Alongside the keyboard, NuPhy sent along a set of their recent Carmine Cloud keycaps. With there not really being enough to talk about to warrant an individual review, I wanted to mention them here as an option to further customise the keyboard. The Carmine Cloud set in particular have a really pleasant sunset colour scheme with white keycaps, purple text, and a purple to orange gradient of accent keys. I really love the overall aesthetic and they keycaps themselves feel great to type on. Despite that, I really wouldn’t recommend them for this keyboard in particular. I don’t think this sunset theme really suits the sandy body of the Ethereal model at the best of times, but beyond that I’m not all too fond of how the high the cherry profile keycaps sit here. While the typing experience is fine despite the north-facing lighting, I’m just not a fan of it. You’re also stuck with a lumpy right side of the keyboard as the Home/End/PgUp/PgDn keys are clearly made for tenkeyless models in oppose to this 75%. I’d definitely recommend them if you have a white or pastel keyboard in the works and are hunting for some aesthetic cherry profile keycaps, but they’re not the caps for the Field75 in my mind.

Is the Field75 a keyboard worth your time? If you’re in the market for a decently compact pre-built keyboard but don’t want to give up your macro keys, this might just be the one for you. At $160 (~£130) it’s sat at a relatively competitive price point, and if you’re unphased by the lack of configurable function layer and potentially-slow software updates, I can definitely recommend it. NuPhy still only have a few keyboards out of the gate at this point, but I’m excited to see whatever’s coming next.

You can find this review in full at GBAtemp.net:
https://gbatemp.net/review/viewfinder.2343/

Viewfinder starts out with a simple concept and develops it as you play. Reminding me of Echochrome in a lot of ways, you’re tasked with picking up pictures and placing them in the world, with the picture becoming a part of your reality. At the start of the game it’s a simple case of looking through the environment, finding your stock of pictures, and figuring out where they need to go. There’s a gap you can’t cross and a picture of a bridge on hand? Line it up and walk across your new bridge. If there’s one thing the game handles well, it’s its escalation of difficulty, and the first few levels may well deceive you. This is a puzzle game to be reckoned with, and by the time you realise it, you’ll already be hooked.

Environments in the game are simple at a glance and do a good job in allowing you to take in your options quickly. It’s rare to run into a situation where you don’t know the problem you’re wanting to tackle, and from there it’s a fun challenge of working backwards to figure out which of your available tools you need to fall back onto. This kind of thinking is more obvious early on where you have a set selection of images to place, or find yourself with a stationary camera to take a picture with. You have this thing, now how are you going to use it? What needs to change to get to where you want to be? As the game progresses your options increase, and with that, so too does the puzzle complexity. As mentioned you start with pictures that are found around levels, as well as frames that are lined up with parts of a scene to build a full image. From there you’ll get stationary cameras that look at a fixed point with a limited number of pictures to print. It’s around this point you’ll start finding more interactable objects that you might need to manipulate and photograph. All of this culminates around halfway through the game with you getting your own camera to carry with you. And this freedom is something that had me concerned at first.

Giving the player too many options in a game like this can turn what is a fun puzzle into a laborious cycle of trial and error. Viewfinder circumvents this by keeping each level both compact and concise, while still allowing you to use your freedom to come up with interesting solutions. It does a great job of guiding without holding a sign towards the solution, and in doing so ends up with a gameplay loop that’ll leave you wanting more.

A particularly good decision was to make the most challenging and obscure puzzles optional. While the vast majority of levels do need to be finished, and come with a really pleasant narration (mostly from a talking cat that you can, in fact, pet), the real trials for me were the optional levels that open up after clearing the rest of an area. These puzzles aren’t entirely out of the blue either, often using mechanics you’ve recently seen in new and interesting ways. The first optional level as an example only has pictures in the level with no ability to take more, but tasks you with solving a maze where a wrong turn will give you another copy of the picture you just came through. You keep looping until you figure out which path to take, how the pictures should be oriented; it’s all just brilliantly creative. And the same can be said for the larger game.

Viewfinder is one of those games that really doesn’t crop up frequently, and it is truly a magical experience from start to end. It has an idea that’s incredibly simple on paper, but the seamless nature of its execution is a marvel to behold. This seamlessness goes beyond the game mechanics and into how the game feels through its controls. It’s intuitive with both a keyboard and controller, and I was surprised at how quickly I picked it up using even something as odd as the Ultimate Hacking Keyboard’s trackpoint module (not that I expect many people to play this way). The one thing I was disappointed to see missing was motion controls, and though it might be surprising to some, I really did miss them. On a PC game I can somewhat understand a lack of motion controls, with these not being an option in the dominant Xbox controller, but it does feel a missed opportunity for the PS5 release where the controller is a little more interesting. It does at least support the adaptive triggers, though to what extent I’m not certain having the PC version on hand to review.

I’d also be really interested to see this as a VR title. The surreal but somewhat simple environments Viewfinder offers are exactly the kind that would do well in a VR setting. I can imagine it being a fairly intensive VR experience, but the idea of walking through the ever-shifting landscapes and taking it in first-hand is something I haven’t been able to shake since first picking the game up.

Outside of the lack of motion controls, the only point I can find fault in is the game’s length. You’re looking at somewhere between three and five hours of gameplay from start to end, and for some people that just won’t be enough to justify the £20 price tag. This is a game ripe for additional levels in content updates and DLC, but there’s nothing to suggest either of these are in the works. Is it worth it as it is now? Yes. Absolutely so. I can’t deny I want more, but the experience from start to end was put together in a way where I can certainly say I’m satisfied with what I played. It’s a game that very much could have outstayed its welcome but, in part due to its short nature, managed to stay original and interesting. Put simply, it’s one worth checking out.

You can find this review in full at GBAtemp.net:
https://gbatemp.net/review/nobunagas-ambition-awakening.2327/

Nobunaga’s Ambition as a series has always been an interesting one for me. Set in the turbulent Warring States Period of Japanese history, it sees you pick a clan and see it through to the end, with the larger goal of achieving what Oda Nobunaga could not: unifying the country. Starting out on various Japanese PCs, it’s seen releases on everything from the SNES to mobile phones, and has even hosted the Pokemon series for a cross-over title in Pokemon Conquest. Now on the PS4, Switch, and PC, we check back in with the series to see if unification is as fun as it was when I last checked in with the series ten years ago.

While the larger goal of the game is clear, exactly how you’re going to achieve it is not. When first starting out, you’re pointed to The Battle of Okehazama if you’re unfamiliar with the game. I really like this type of tutorial that’s built into a larger scenario. One area where the last major release, Sphere of Influence, let me down was in how it introduced things with a completely separate scenario. While it was a nice idea, it felt like a few hours that were just thrown down the drain before you could pick a scenario to actually start playing. That isn’t the case here, though it’s not perfect either. Assuming you have tutorials enabled, you’ll find yourself with an incredibly text-heavy first 30 minutes as popup after popup will, well, pop up as new mechanics are introduced to you. The Battle of Okehazama in particular is a nice setting, giving you the Oda clan as they’re just finding their roots in a country that has little in the way of immediate major threats.

The game plays out in real time with you able to pause the action at any point to do one of a number of activities. When starting out, your focus will likely be on developing the provinces you currently have under your control. This can be done at a basic level by developing one of the farm or fair; the former of these increases your crop production, which in turn influences how many soldiers can be stationed there. The latter increases your income, which can then be used for buying treasures or funding policies and proposals. Counties within your provinces can also have their land developed in one of a limited number of slots to better specialise them to your needs. While slightly different to Sphere of Influence, much of this will be familiar to long-time fans of the series. Where it changes a little is in how this scales, and how much of your clan you actually have direct control over. The short answer here is very little, and that comes with its strengths and weaknesses.

Where in older titles you would be responsible for pretty much everything, which I do feel is fun for the control and precision you can have in your planning, here you basically just control a single province where the Daimyo resides. Beyond this, you’re required to appoint a trusted retainer to manage a province, and then assign further retainers to manage the smaller counties within the province. The end result is a game that feels more streamlined in where your attention is placed. Instead of you having to micromanage every small decision, much of these are set aside and you’re left pondering the grander strategy of your ascension. I like this on paper, and being somebody who has traditionally struggled with the late-game of previous titles, this shifted focus is something I can appreciate. You further delegate responsibility as you progress and conquer territory, which you then can break into provinces and again put under control of retainers. Provinces are slightly different to the normal delegation in that you can give them complete autonomy to build and, should the opportunity arise, attack their neighbours without first seeking consent. You can customise this if it’s not something you want, but I find it thrilling to see a notification one of my generals is marching, and just watching them succeed.

A lot of this feels like a real step forwards for the series, but I can’t help but feel that, like with the free will of the provincial leaders, much of this should have been optional. I feel much more able to progress than I did in older games, especially as time goes on and the game board gets more and more complex. Where I would appreciate that granularity in control is the start though. Where I don’t have many provinces under my control, I wish I were able to develop them exactly as wanted towards a specific goal. It’s something you soon adapt to, but I can understand how some might see this as a step backwards.

When you’re ready to go to war, you’ll quickly notice combat also isn’t quite what you’re used to, and again it’s here where it feels the game is streamlining itself for both better and worse. Sphere of Influence offered some surprisingly engaging battles, allowing you to directly control battalions on a 3D map and watch a battle unfold and develop in real time. Awakening by comparison feels quite dull, even if I can appreciate a lot of what’s gone on here to facilitate larger-scale fights. You now have a number of units spread across interconnected nodes on a map. These units can move from node to node and both fight enemy units, or tackle enemy equipment; you still do have a degree of control here in being able to dictate where they move or what they target, but much like the rest of the game they’ll also act alone in the absence of orders. You have two types of battle each with differing win conditions: standard battles and sieges.

Your standard battles are simple. It’s your army against theirs, and you win by either taking out all their units, or by completely reducing their morale. Morale is impacted by defeating enemy units or having your units be defeated, or by capturing or destroying key infrastructure. Generally speaking you’ll win a standard battle if you have more forces than your opponent, though things like unit composition can play a key part. If you have one unit with 10,000 troops against an army of 20 500 troop units, the single unit could win out by continually reducing the enemy morale from defeating the smaller units. Equally, the smaller units could be used to surround the single larger unit and deal bonus damage from things like a pincer manoeuvre. The board you’re fighting on is simpler, but I do feel there’s ample strategy at play here to keep it interesting.

Sieges are a different ballgame entirely, though much of what I’ve said above still does apply. You have the same basic formula at play. The key difference is that one army is defending a central point, a castle, and the attackers are tasked with either defeating the castle’s lord or capturing the castle itself, on top of the usual win condition of wiping out the enemy entirely. What’s added to the mix here is that the attackers’ morale is constantly draining, with them being forced to retreat when fully reduced. You’re on a timer, which pressures you into wiping out enemy units, or attacking key infrastructure to maintain morale to, in turn, eventually make your way to the castle. To be quite honest, I still don’t fully understand the best way to play these out. I’ve lost sieges with 30,000 troops against a defence of only 8,000. Unit composition plays a more significant role here though, with any unit being forced to retreat having a significant impact on your ability to continue the siege. While you’re finding your footing, you are at least able to reload your save and try out other strategies should things not go your way. It’s not an ideal solution, but it did allow me to grasp the basics without suffering consecutive losses. The game has the ability to auto-save monthly, and it’s something I’d really encourage you leaving on. After you have 20 saves, they just write over themselves, meaning you’re never completely overrun.

Through a carefully-crafted mixture of war and diplomacy, your larger win condition varies from scenario to scenario. Some will allow you to claim victory through uniting the part of the map your clan starts on. This might be having 20 or so specific regions under your control, culminating in the regional unity ending. If at this point though you’re happy with your progress and want to carry on, you’re free to do so in pursuit of unifying the entire nation. There’s also the Three Offered positions ending, which tasks you with conquering more than half of the nation’s castles, including those surrounding the capital. I do like the variety on offer, with it allowing you to dictate your own game length to a degree while giving you both a meaningful goal and stopping point.

With the Nobunaga’s Ambition games falling under Koei Tecmo’s historical simulation series, Awakening does well in blending true events into each of your sessions. These come in two forms, with some events forced to play out along with voiced cutscenes, and others being optional. These optional events are presented as hearsay, and clearly lay out what will happen if you choose to bring them into your game. If you decide you want it to happen, you’ll get a short stint of dialogue from the affected parties giving context to what’s happening, and you’ll carry on your merry way. There’s generally no downside to just ignoring these if they don’t suit your taste with a lot of them being minor name changes to match what was happening at the time along with a bit of history. Some of them do have a larger impact though, with clans splitting up and conflicts rising. These can sometimes suit your needs, so are worth paying some attention to in my mind. The optional nature of them means you can replay the same scenarios as the same clan and still have a decent amount of variety. I like them a lot.

Having played the game on Steam, I’ve found very few issues with the PC controls. Sphere of Influence was well-optimised for mouse and keyboard inputs, and it’s no surprise Awakening follows suit. The menus feel streamlined, matching the larger feel of the game. Where I am a little disappointed is in the lack of controller support available to PC players though; in 2013 this might not have been such a major deal, but with the advent of the Steam Deck and other PC handhelds, there’s a larger market than ever wanting a clean way to play this on the go. Sure you can say those people should just buy the Switch version, but when the thought has already been put into making the game controller-friendly for the Switch and PS4, I don’t understand why Koei Tecmo couldn’t go the extra mile to have it as an option in the PC release. It’s not a deal-breaker, and I’ve found myself able to get by using the ROG Ally’s touch screen in a pinch, but it’s an area where it could certainly be better. A more minor note, the game will just refuse to open if for whatever reason your Documents folder doesn’t exist. I ran into this issue with me having my Documents folder redirected to a Micro SD card that was at the time missing, and there was annoyingly no error message to say what’s wrong. It’s not something many people are likely to run into, but it’s worth mentioning all the same. It’s another area that likely wouldn’t take much to improve on, with other games having an alternate save location in the event Documents isn’t present.

Nobunaga’s Ambition Awakening isn’t an upgrade in every way from its predecessor, but it does do a good job of breathing new life into the series for fans who’ve been devoutly playing Sphere of Influence for the past ten years. With a focus on streamlining smaller activities, the end result is a game that tasks you with focusing on the bigger picture and larger conquest of the nation. I like it a lot, and with it being the first western release to find itself on the Switch, I hope more people will give the series a shot. It’s a fun game that really can hook you for tens of hours to complete just one scenario; there’s a world of content here for those willing to engage.

You can find this review in full at GBAtemp.net:
https://gbatemp.net/review/waterfield-pouch-for-rog-ally.2316/

Windows handhelds aren’t new, but ASUS have been kicking up a storm by offering a great device at an incredibly compelling price. Where I think they fell short, however, is in their official case. It’s been designed fairly thoughtfully for the system and can act as a stand while gaming, and keep it protected on the go. On paper I like it. But to me, and maybe others, it just looks ugly; it has a 2010s Adidas bag feel I can’t get past. I wanted something better. Something I wouldn’t grimace at when I pulled it out of my bag, and something that could still do a good job at keeping the Ally safe. Enter WaterField and the latest iteration of their Pouch.

The Pouch itself isn’t all too difficult to explain. You have a ballistic nylon exterior that houses a zipped pocket on the front, and a main zipped compartment to store the Ally itself. The inside of the main compartment is incredibly soft and has an additional padded pouch behind where the console sits. You can use this to store your essentials, but outside of that I appreciate how it enables the Ally to sit largely flush with the case thanks to the pouch sitting between the two hand grips. It’s a small detail but it does go to show the effort and detail that goes into adjusting these cases to best fit the specific device. Following on from this, it should be no surprise the Ally fits perfectly and feels incredibly secure when being transported or just thrown onto a sofa while I’m tidying around. The zip comes around the corner of the case, making it easy and natural to put in and take out the system by just holding it by its grip. 

Looking to the front compartment, you have a somewhat small place to store wires and other pieces you might want to carry with you. The inner material here is aesthetically pleasing with a gold-patterned lining. It feels sturdy more than it does soft, but that’s probably the better choice for a part of the bag that doesn’t have direct contact with the device. The compartment itself has an additional pocket within it, allowing for further organisation. 

I like the front pocket, but I must confess I don’t use it for much. Nor the extra pocket that sits behind the Ally. While you can get wires in here and other essentials you might want to carry, I can’t get behind how uneven it makes the case feel. With just the Ally being carried, the case is incredibly sleek and feels great to hold, but with wires in the front or back I just can’t say the same. This is the kind of issue you’ll find with any smaller case that wants to give you more options, and I do commend the options even if I don’t use them. It’s not much, but I do at least carry a small cleaning cloth and USB C to USB A adapter with these not having much of a footprint. 

While this case is quite lovingly crafted for the Ally, I did find myself using it for other systems when out and about. I tend to only take one device with me, so having a single case shared in this way is really quite a clean solution. The AYANEO 2 fit really nicely with its shape being largely similar, and I was really happy carrying my Switch too. Back when I just used Joy Cons, I’d use my Sefu Bag for the Switch, but since moving to RetroFlag’s GameCube-themed grip, it’s just too big for the fitted design. Again with thanks to the similar form factor, it’s found a home here. 

It is worth mentioning that if you do want a case specifically for the Switch or Steam Deck, WaterField have versions of the Pouch designed for them in the same way this one is for the Ally. You might suffer from similar issues as me if transporting the Switch with third party accessories or controllers though, so make sure to look at the dimensions and make sure what you’re wanting will fit. With HORI’s Split Pad Pro, you might be better off with a case designed for the Steam Deck, for example. 

There’s really not that much more to say when it comes to the Pouch. WaterField are known for premium cases at usually quite premium prices to match, and this case is exactly what I’d expect from them. At $79 on the official WaterField website, you’re ultimately paying double the price of ASUS’ official offering. Do I think it’s worth it? Absolutely. This is a well-padded case from a company that does cases and does them well. You have a tried and tested design tweaked to meet the needs of the new kid on the block, and if you’re wanting the best to throw into your bag, this might just be it.

You can find this review in full at GBAtemp.net:
https://gbatemp.net/review/backbone-one-mobile-game-controller.2315/

I make no secret about my love for mobile gaming. With how much power we now carry around in our pockets, we’re capable of playing everything from Excitebike to Mario Galaxy 2 by emulation, and a whole world more with native apps and game streaming. With so much to play and more on the horizons, you want the best way to be playing this ever-growing library, and Backbone think they might just have the One you’re looking for.

Now handheld controller grips aren’t anything new, and we’ve covered them before with the likes of PowerA’s MOGA XP7-X Plus, Razer’s Kishi, and Turtle Beach’s Atom. Backbone aren’t exactly new to this space, with the Backbone One originally releasing for iOS devices back in 2020, and becoming an incredibly popular choice in the space. It later came to Android in 2022, with a PS5-themed design debuting in November for iOS and earlier this year for Android. Backbone sent over this latest Android model for us to check out, but to round out the review a little better, I decided to pick up the original model for the iPhone as well, so you’ll see pictures of both throughout.

The Backbone One is a fairly standard affair on the hardware side of things. It’s a grip-style controller that wraps around the phone, with it being connected by one of USB C or Lightning port depending on the model you opted for. With it costing £100 you have some expectations out of the box in terms of quality, and I am glad to see them met. The buttons feel slightly small by modern standards, and to my eye are a few millimetres larger than what you’d find on a New 3DS. They each offer a satisfying but muffled click when pressed, and have enough travel distance to accept even a heavy presser. The analogue sticks will feel familiar to Switch owners, though do feel a little smoother than the Joy Cons I have on hand (this could just be a question of age). You get a start and select button, a screenshot button, and a dedicated button to open the Backbone app. We’ll talk more about the app later. The two bumpers offer a satisfying bump, and the triggers are a little odd in how they end up flush with the body when fully pressed. For some the travel distance will be a bit short, but the way they feel is really quite unique. They’re responsive and lack the mushy feel you might associate with mobile controllers; despite the travel distance, they’re probably the best I’ve used.

Ever the point of contention, the D-Pad is notably fine by my standards. As a fan of a tactile D-Pad it definitely isn’t my preference, but with a SNES controller next to me to compare against, it feels like a smaller and smoother version of that. It’s not done badly and rolls well from one input to the next, but it wouldn’t be my first choice. You also get both a port for pass-through charging and a 3.5mm headphone jack, which is always appreciated. Even modern phones did still provide headphone jacks, the grip would have likely covered it anyway.

With the telescopic nature of the controller you’re limited in which devices you can use. For iOS users this is unlikely to be an issue; the Backbone had no issues holding everything from the iPhone 6 to the 13 Pro Max I had on hand. The only devices you’d struggle with are those older than the iPhone 6, with the Backbone just too wide when fully closed to securely hold them. Android phones are a different beast though, with there being a huge number of devices to try to account for. Assuming your phone isn’t some rugged beast or some FiiO player (my M11 Plus didn’t fit!), you’re likely to be fine though. The longest phone I have on hand is the LG Wing at 169.5mm, and that seemed to be pushing the controller to its limit. I don’t think there are too many phones larger than this though.

For the novelty of it I gave it a shot with my Surface Duo, with the results being surprisingly good. It takes a bit of getting used to since you have your controls level with the top screen instead of the bottom, but with Drastic able to swap the screens around anyway, you can just make sure your primary screen is at eye level. It holds the phone in securely despite its thin nature, and it definitely the best experience I’ve had with the Duo.

Comparing the original Backbone One to the newer PlayStation release offers only a few changes. Aesthetically you’re looking at a change from black to white for the controller body. While the black plastic isn’t the worst I’ve seen, it definitely does smudge and collect its share of marks. The PlayStation model naturally feels better in this respect. The other difference is in the buttons and the D-Pad. While both feel the same mechanically, they differ greatly in the materials used. Where the original Backbone One opted for a matte finish on its buttons, the PlayStation release has the glossy feel you might find on a DualSense controller. Of the two the PlayStation model wins the day for me, but neither feel bad in hand.

On both iOS and Android, the Backbone One comes with its own software that acts as a custom launcher for your controller-compatible games. Beyond native games, you’re able to link your Microsoft or Steam accounts to access game streaming via Game Pass and GeForce Now respectively (note you’ll need an active subscription to access either). What’s particularly nice about this implementation is that you can add specific games from these services to your launcher, cutting out the need to go through their apps entirely. While this is a neat shortcut on Android, it’s far more convenient for iOS users who lack a dedicated app either way. The app in general is something I view as a big draw factor for iOS users, with limited options available for controller-enabled app launchers. It isn’t perfect mind. To add an app to this launcher, Backbone needs to register it as a game that supports controller inputs. This causes problems when Backbone’s database isn’t complete. Notably for me, Disgaea 4 Complete+ apparently isn’t supported, and as a large game from a large publisher like NISA, it just isn’t good enough. This isn’t an issue on Android where you can just pick which apps you want to appear from what you have installed, just as long as it’s listed as a game.

Update: I decided to report Disgaea 4 being missing on the iOS launcher, and the support team were really swift with a reply, and have informed me that it was passed to the Games Team. While it still isn’t ideal to be at the mercy of their own list, it is at least a really good sign that apps can be added by just contacting them.

This app is also full of adverts marked as “suggested” apps that you can’t hide on iOS. What’s worse, these suggestions will remain on the menu even if you do have the apps installed. There’s also “Popular on Backbone” and “Play For Free” app drawers full of games I neither own nor care about. I do understand to a degree that adverts keep this kind of thing alive, but having some kind of freedom to customise the app would go a long way. Especially so when Backbone are trying to sell this as a part of a yearly Backbone Plus subscription service. It’s a good start, especially for iOS users, but there are certainly better options available for Android.

Is the Backbone One worth your time? From my experience with both flavours of it, I’d definitely say so if you’re wanting to have a better mobile gaming experience. I’m not going to pretend mobile gaming is for everybody, but if you’re eager to put the power in your pocket to work, this is probably the best option you have.

You can find this review in full at GBAtemp.net:
https://gbatemp.net/review/huion-kamvas-22-plus-pen-display.2314/

A few months back we looked at Huion’s Kamvas Pro 13 (2.5k) pen display. Released last year, this was a slim and portable pen display packed with features at a great price, and something I still recommend for people looking for a portable monitor that can do more. The Kamvas 22 Plus we’re looking at today is a different beast however. Released all the way back in 2020, we have something far less portable that sits closer to a more traditional monitor. Is bigger better, and what does this 2020 display do to justify its £519 price point?

You really have everything you’d need to get going out of the box. Outside of the 22 inch pen display itself, you get a battery-free pen, a doughnut-shaped pen holder complete with spare nibs, a half-glove, stand, and assortment of cables. If you’ve read our Kamvas Pro 13 review, much of this is going to sound familiar. Huion are fairly consistent in the accessories that come with their tablets and displays, but there are some notable differences, with the biggest being the included stand.

While the Pro 13’s stand was adequate for drawing, I criticised it for its limited angles for a more general use case. The adjustable stand here has no such problems; in short, this stand is marvellous. Mounting to the back of the display instead of having the display rest on it, it’s incredibly secure and provides a huge and surprisingly granular range of positions. With the display being larger, this is a really significant thing for me. You’ll want to keep it on your desk, and you’ll have no issues going from drawing to just watching a video or two on YouTube.

What really completes this package is that the stand attaches using a standard VESA mount, so if it doesn’t meet all of your needs you’re entirely free to swap it out for something else. I actually put the display onto a monitor arm, resulting in a great and out of the way auxiliary display that I can just pull towards me when I want to draw.

The display itself doesn’t feel extraordinarily premium, but it’s not to say it isn’t well-built. You have a plastic body that’s around 20mm thick, weighing around 4kg in combination with the stand. Coming from more tablet-like devices I was at first a little taken aback, but really this is more like thin-ish monitor. The screen of the Kamvas 22 Plus features anti-glare etched glass on top of a 140% sRGB QLED panel with a 1200:1 contrast ratio. In short it looks really good, though it isn’t quite as bright as I’d like with a listed maximum brightness of 220 nits (note I’m unable to measure this myself). I wouldn’t say it’s prohibitively dim, and looking at other brands this level of brightness is somewhat typical, but it is noticeable when next to what my Zephyrus Duo is outputting.

Thanks to the size of the display you have a fairly standard array of menu buttons to tweak things as you’d like. This time we’re working with a fairly typical 16:9 1080p display, but you are again able to tweak the aspect ratio to your liking, stretching the image appropriately. Strangely, outside of the usual 16:9 and 4:3 options, you can also opt for a 5:4 ratio. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a 5:4 aspect ratio monitor, but Google seems to suggest they were once popular.

Despite this being an older panel and an older pen than the Pro 13, the drawing experience is largely the same. You lose some pixel density with it being both lower resolution and larger, resulting in a less crisp image. As somebody who frequently switches between 4K, 1440p, and 1080p monitors, I do believe 1080p is fine for this size, and it hasn’t had any real impact while drawing. It’s nice to have a higher resolution, but I don’t think it’s a necessity.

In terms of features, we once again have 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity alongside a very similar pen that supports up to 60 degrees of tilting. It feels really responsive, and at a 14ms response time, it actually is more responsive than the Pro 13. It’s still not going to be the best of the best for the highest echelons of gaming, but for most people it’ll do just fine. The pen on screen feel is still great, and having it floating above me on a monitor arm has been fantastic for doing quick sketches or visually explaining something during a meeting. Pen displays like this excel for artistic professionals, but I do think they have merit for more general users at the right price.

Much in the same fashion as the Pro 13, we again see Switch docking capabilities from the 22 Plus. I don’t know why this is a feature they’ve been including but it’s definitely one that makes more sense here than it did on the Pro 13. The 16:9 display fits the Switch’s image perfectly, and the display does look great. It is held back slightly by the lack of speakers in this department, but it doesn’t really feel right to hold that against the device when it clearly isn’t its primary use. One thing I did notice is that while the Switch is docked, it isn’t actually getting enough power from the display to charge itself, and will discharge slowly during use. This is a bit of a shame, especially when, unlike the Pro 13, this display requires external power to use regardless of the device it’s plugged into. It seems a bit of a missed opportunity not to just have some decent charging pass-through here to limit cable clutter. It’s by no means the end of the world, but it’s something that would be nice to see improved down the line as Huion revisit and renew their pen displays.

The question remains. Is the Kamvas 22 Plus worth buying? At £519 (currently £467 at the time of writing), Huion have put together a fairly competitive package that can not only cater to the creative professionals among us, but those that are just in the market for a monitor that does a bit more. Huion do also offer the Kamvas 22 at the lower price of £419 (again £335 at the time of writing) with an anti-glare matte film in place of the etched glass, a lower 1000:1 contrast ratio, and 120% sRGB colour gamut. I could see this being a better option for those wanting to try out a larger pen display without wanting to put down quite as much money, but having not tried the anti-glare matte film before, I can’t comment on how it feels to use. All in all though, I think the 22 Plus is a great display, and one to consider if you’ve got the budget and want more out of your screen.

You can find this review in full at GBAtemp.net:
https://gbatemp.net/review/shargeek-storm-2-power-bank.2305/

Out of the box the Storm 2 is impressive. You have a 25600mAh (93.5Wh) battery that’s capable of up to 100W charging on the go. You get an impressive array of ports, including two USB Cs and a USB A each rated for different power outputs, and an interesting DC barrel port that can be configured to your needs. Add to this an IPS display and striking design and you have a stellar all rounder to keep with you as you go about your day.

The screen is probably the most interesting feature on offer here, and I really appreciate the information it shows. You get a constant view of the current input and output rates, the remaining charge of the battery, and the internal temperatures. As well as this, you have a timer that shows how long the device has been active for. Everything on the battery is controlled by a single button, with pressing it generally moving through menus, and holding it confirming a selection. There’s not all that much to do on the settings screen, but one area of note is the DC output configuration that allows fairly granular control of the output voltage between 3.3V and 25.2V in 1V or 0.1V increments. This is unfortunately one thing I wasn’t able to test but I can see how this would be useful for older devices. It should be noted that if you are using the DC output, you won’t be able to use any of the other ports though.

Now in terms of usability, you would expect the Storm 2 to be compatible with all your major devices. It’s advertised to work fine with MacBooks, phones, tablets, and the like. From what I’ve tried, it does work with the vast majority of devices I have. It has no issues charging my ROG Flow Z13 tablet at 65W alongside my phone. There is however one notable device the power bank doesn’t appear to work with: the ROG Ally. Having looked into this online, there’s speculation that the 65W protocol supported by the Storm 2 isn’t supported by the Ally. You can get it working by having some kind of dock or dongle with pass-through charging, with a cheap one I have on hand happy to charge at 50W. This kind of incompatibility is a real shame to me, with these handheld gaming PCs being a prime candidate for a decent power bank. It’s worth noting that it functions fine with both the AYANEO 2 and the Steam Deck though.

Outside of the screen and unique design, one of the major aspects you’re paying for is the ability to be charging up to three devices at once. While I have found one issue noted above, I’ve found no further incompatibilities using the two USB C ports and single USB A port in tandem. I do feel one area they could have improved on is in labelling these ports with their input and output limits though. There’s plenty of space on the side, and they already label the ports as C1, C2, and A. That little bit of extra information would go a long way in making this device easier to pick up and use, instead of needing you to keep documentation handy or be plugging and unplugging devices and watching how fast they charge using the screen.

Alongside the Storm 2, Shargeek sent over a cute 67W GaN charger that I do just want to mention briefly since I don’t really think there’s enough there to warrant its own separate review. Styled after an old Mac, you get three USB C ports that can output up to 67W between them. The screen will show you the current output, which is really neat. They really did a great job with the aesthetics, and for a multi-port GaN charger, $70 isn’t all that bad of a deal. You could get similar performance from places like UGREEN for around $50, so I could see justification for the extra $20 for the desk style points and display. I used this to charge the Storm 2 with no issue, and coming from an admittedly old Micro USB power bank, it was refreshing to see just how quickly it charged. At 67W, it’s not even the limit of what the Storm 2 is capable of. Sadly I couldn’t find the 100W plug I bought for my older Xiaomi review though, so this was as good as it got.

At $230 I don’t think the Storm 2 is priced into obscurity, but it’s high enough that you really need to question whether you’ll be using everything it offers. If you can see yourself needing to charge multiple devices at once, monitor various stats, power older devices with the DC barrel port, or even just want a power bank that stands out a bit. The Storm 2 might just be worth it. It’s not the best value if all you care about is good capacity and fast charging, but it does a good job of carving a niche for itself in this ever-growing market.

You can find this review in full at GBAtemp.net:
https://gbatemp.net/review/retroflag-superpack.2306/

Retroflag isn’t a new name on this forum, and this likely isn’t the last time you’ll see me writing about them. Primarily known for their retro-themed items ranging from the GameCube-themed Switch controller I covered a little while back, to some more intricate Raspberry Pi cases, Retroflag have just released something relatively out of character: a custom Xbox Series battery pack. It’s weird, but what might be weirder is just how useful it actually is.

What we have here is a product that does what it says on the tin. Coming in two parts, a rechargable battery and a battery cover, the SuperPack clips seamlessly onto any Xbox Series controller you have handy. That is the most recent non-Elite Xbox controller revision. With the battery in place the cover clips over it as normal, with the cover reaching over to the controller’s USB C port and fitting securely into place. The controller is now charged using the USB C port on the SuperPack itself, sitting just a little behind the usual port, and can be activated using a switch on the battery cover.

The switch has three positions, allowing you to move from Switch mode on the left, XInput mode on the right, and turning the controller off entirely in the middle. Looking at the base Xbox functionality, one good aspect is that you still have the base functionality of the controller to fall back onto, on top of the XInput mode. I unfortunately don’t have my Xbox handy at the moment to test, but I would assume the XInput mode present on the controller wouldn’t work with an Xbox console. It does however pop up on Windows no problem, and provide you with a separate pairing for up to three platforms on one controller.

What you’re probably buying something like this for is the Switch compatibility though, and I really can’t fault it. Once in Switch mode, you use the dedicated pairing button and connect the controller to the Switch like you would any other controller. Once connected, you have the full array of official Pro Controller features with the notable exception of NFC support. There are two really great things to point out here though. First is motion controls. It’s baffling to me how small technology has become, and while I do understand things like this rely on incredibly small sensors, I find myself impressed all the same. It works, and it works well. Everything feels smooth, and as a bonus these motion controls work out of the box on both Citra and Yuzu. The second of my great notes is the fact this controller is detected as an official controller on the Switch. This is something that really shouldn’t be overlooked, with it providing native support for button remapping using the Switch’s own software. By default, the controller is configured to function as a Switch controller (the B button is A to match the layout), so for those who prefer the button markings to match the functionality, this is a real boon.

Another cool touch is that the SuperPack adds an additional two buttons that can be remapped to any button on the controller. I would usually be quite excited about these, ultimately mimicking one of the best parts of an Elite controller. These aren’t that great though, and it is a bit of a shame. While they are two extra buttons, they’re not in a place that’s even remotely convenient, sitting right at the top of the controller next to the bumpers and triggers. If they were coming out of the back of the pack and sitting closer to the grip of the controller this would in my opinion be the perfect Xbox add-on, but these just fall that bit short.

Is Retroflag’s SuperPack worth picking up? At £37 ($40) it puts forward a genuinely compelling package, and choosing Xbox controllers for this type of add-on was a great choice in terms of market. Unlike a Switch Pro or DualSense controller, Xbox users are still expected to pay an additional £20 to Microsoft for the privilege of a rechargeable battery. This is a purchase most Xbox users will be making anyway, so why not go for the option with more features?

You can find this review in full at GBAtemp.net:
https://gbatemp.net/review/story-of-seasons-a-wonderful-life.2298/

Having written reviews for the past six years on GBAtemp, I’ve garnered a small reputation for myself amongst regular members. To some I might be the person who covers visual novels and otome games. To others I might be the person obsessed with weird tech and won’t stop talking about it on the front page. To a choice few however, those who scour the holy thread of recently purchased items, I’m known for one thing above all: as a fine collector of the game Harvest Moon DS. Sitting with more than 40 copies in my collection at this point, I have an undying adoration for the game and its setting, and I’ll take any chance I can to tell people about it. Set 100 years after the events of A Wonderful Life, it shares the same cast of characters (don’t ask how) in the same, if somewhat scaled up valley. With hundreds of hours played on what I consider to be the pinnacle of the series, I became intangibly excited when I saw its predecessor receiving the same remake treatment as Mineral Town before it. Having never played the original game when it launched on GameCube and PS2, can the remake captivate me as it’s captivated so many others though?

The setting of A Wonderful Life is one that’s going to be fairly familiar to fans of the genre. Your father recently passed away, and you’re headed out to the countryside to build the farm they never could. It’s not quite the usual hand-me-down farm from grandpa, but it’s close enough. With that bit of exposition out of the way you’re thrown straight into a character creation screen, and it’s really quite impressive out of the gate. You pick your skin tone, face, eye colour, hair colour, hair style, and outfit. If you’ve played Pioneers of Olive Town, much of this will sound familiar, and I really do think it’s great to have this degree of customisation in a game like this that expects you to relate with your player character. Adding to this as what I believe to be a series first, the game lets you pick the pronouns townsfolk will address you with, notably including a they/them option. It might sound like a minor addition, but it just goes that one step further in allowing the player to feel a part of the world. It’s the kind of thing that will really mean a lot to some people.

With your character made, you arrive at the farm in Forgotten Valley (formerly Forget-Me-Not Valley) to a few text tutorials from your neighbour Takakura and an optional trip around the valley to meet everybody. After that, you’re pretty much free to live your life. And that’s the thing about A Wonderful Life, you really do live a life.

Most farming games that I would call traditional like the aforementioned Harvest Moon DS, or the more modern Stardew Valley, see you taking each day at a leisurely pace with no real limits. You can take a year or you can take 20 years to figure things out depending on what you prefer. A Wonderful Life sets out a different idea, and while it’s not one that’ll be to the taste of everybody playing it, I do think it’s interesting. The game is split between chapters, with each chapter being a set number of years. Between each chapter you’ll see a leap forward in time, with the environment and the characters within it changing and aging. The whole experience is entirely unique, and it’s one I came to enjoy more than I initially thought.

On paper I would call time limits a bad thing in what is otherwise an incredibly casual game. It could lead to you rushing through tasks and feeling like you’ve not got enough time to get to everything you want to. That just isn’t the case though. Despite each chapter being on a time limit and each season being an incredibly short ten days, the days themselves go by at a rate of a minute per second, starting as early as 5am. Add to this a more interesting day cycle with weather changes happening throughout and you have a much more interactive and interesting day by day experience.

It can be a bit of a culture shock going back to what is ultimately feels like a faithful remake though. While you do get some modern touch ups in terms of UI design, which is great by the way, and general signposting, there’s a lot of that 2003 “charm” preserved. It’s a similar fault that I pointed out in my Mineral Town review, but it really is just a great remake in terms of keeping the original spirit of the game alive. Despite seasons being some of the shortest in the series, years end up feeling incredibly long, especially as you’re starting out. It did manage to strike a reasonable balance for me, with there being enough to do between wooing potential partners and making some initial capital to get off the ground. From the second chapter, things start to pick up a bit and your attachment to the player character only grows as they do.

There are certain time-sensitive events, with the important one being the necessity of marriage before the end of the first year. I do appreciate how the game guides you to this fact naturally by having Takakura bring it up in his dialogues that you should find a partner quickly. It’s never explicit that you need to marry in the first year, but playing what I would consider normally, it’s not difficult to hit at all. Focusing my effort on Lumina, I had proposed to her by the end of Spring. Even splitting your focus between the eight available marriage candidates, you’ll have time to spare to make your ultimate choice.

It’s here I also want to celebrate that there are eight marriage candidates regardless of your gender. Following on from the changes made in Mineral Town, this change isn’t necessarily unexpected, but a joy to see all the same. Having my female protagonist go from wooing the charming Matthew to her eventual wife Lumina had me smiling throughout. Much like the addition of the they/them pronouns, this kind of change just goes that one step further in allowing people to feel a part of the world and identify with the characters as they see fit.

Farming here is a fairly standard affair, if slightly stuck in the past as mentioned earlier. The key change between this and other games in the series is the fact that many crops will be able to grow through a number of seasons, in oppose to being stuck in just one. This makes a lot of sense given the shorter seasons, and I do appreciate this added bit of versatility. I don’t know how I feel about turnips growing in summer and autumn though. As a Harvest Moon DS aficionado, these were always the first things to be planted. Having to wait a season for them just didn’t sit right with me. Back on a serious note though, the farming matches the larger tone of the game. It’s slow, but it never felt frustratingly so. Animations feel fluid and fast enough that ultimately end up feeling like a bit of a theraputic routine. If you go a little too hard on the crops, you have easy access to top up your stamina too via the local bar. The valley all slots together nicely to have you moving between different areas and, in turn, talking to different people as you progress.

Forgotten Valley itself is absolutely stunning, and after exploring it in 2D on the DS for the past 17 years it brought a tear to my eye to see everything so seamlessly connected without loading zones in a gloriously-styled 3D environment. The area is smaller than on the DS, and it makes a lot of sense with A Wonderful Life obviously releasing several years before the version I’m familiar with. Even so, there’s plenty I recognised and I had a blast running around. For fans of the original game, I can imagine this touch up being just as magical as it was for me.

Throughout the valley you’ll also find a number of small minigames, and something I really wasn’t expecting was the ability to setup a stall to sell your goods in the middle of town. You can still put your crops into the shipping bin, but this stall will serve as your only means of selling other items like the flowers you might spot growing in the wild. It can be a little frustrating that you can only sell items one at a time, but I did find myself enjoying the interactions with townsfolk as they wandered past. If nothing else it has me wanting to set up shop and play Grand Bazaar again.

I’ve had an absolute blast playing through A Wonderful Life on PC, and this being my first experience with the title has made it feel all that much more special. This is a game like no other in the series, and if you’re happy with a slow and finite narrative, it’s one I cannot recommend enough. A part of me still wishes it was Harvest Moon DS that got its time in the Sun, but after the experience I’ve had, I really can’t bring myself to question the decision. It’s truly a wonderful game.