Even if globalization has now managed to upset and envelop the entire planet, it very often happens that some products remain anchored to their territory, failing to emerge for one reason or another outside of it. It can be patriotism, cultural issues or simply budget, as very often localization has quite high costs. In this niche we find the brand of Snack World, patented and carried out by the well-known developer Level-5. You may never have heard this name and indeed, it is likely that it has not reached your ear, as the world of Snack World has remained until today an exclusive of the Japanese territory, where the software house in question is based. However, the time to emerge has finally come, Snack World: Dungeon Explorers - Gold will debut tomorrow on Nintendo Switch.
Before interfacing with this last chapter, however, it is good to make some premises. In fact, the Snack World series was not born as a video game, but is created in 2017 in the form of anime made in CG. However, it wasn't long before the video game The Snack World: Trejarers appeared in the Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Switch catalog, retracing the footsteps of one of the previous works of the developer in question: Fantasy Life. Finally the title has managed to evade the heavy territorial barriers, as the remastered for Nintendo Switch has also been localized in our language under the name of Snack World: Dungeon Explorers - Gold. Level-5 has therefore decided not to give us the version for 3DS, due to obvious technical limitations of the latter that make it now rather obsolete, and to only consider Nintendo's hybrid console as a reference platform. Over the past few days we have had the opportunity to get our hands on this role-playing game, which is configured in all respects as a JRPG, here's how it went!
The capricious princess
To welcome us to this atypical RPG is a character editor. Here the anime style manages to show itself in great shape, allowing us to customize our alter-ego with a fair amount of aesthetic peculiarities. The editor isn't particularly thorough, but manages to be more than enough for its purpose. After having outlined the physical appearance of the protagonist, he wakes up in an inn, still a little lost and with evident amnesia. A few seconds pass before the great news arrives: we have been called before the king.
This will ask us to find a particular item for your daughter, a whimsical princess who wants to be fashionable at any cost. Already at this point it will be difficult not to notice the extreme extravagance of the events and dialogues. The whole context is in fact extremely goliardic and focuses on making the player have a laugh, between no-sense concepts and a very accurate localization in Spanish. Level-5 has decided in this title to focus on word games, mainly related to food, from the names of the places to those of the people everything is designed to be themed "Snack", and the whole idea of the developer has managed to land beautifully in our language too. Furthermore, the dubbing - which is present only in some situations as per Level-5 tradition - manages to render quite well. The entire narrative sector, or rather narrative pretext, is therefore structured and manages to fulfill the purpose perfectly.
Fresh and innovative
The work is actually mainly focused on role-playing gameplay, which strongly characterizes the experience. The protagonist will be called to carry out many missions, divided between main and secondary, which will guarantee him rewards and will continue together with the progress of the main storyline. Joy-Con in hand, however, it is a Hack & Slash Isometric, only partially hybridized to the classic role-playing identity. The statistics are not in fact preponderant in the experience and the player's skill is fundamental. The goal of each game is to get to grips with each objective set at the beginning of the mission, whether it is monsters to kill, a place to reach or objects to be recovered for someone. In any case, the formula looks very fresh and well thought out, as well as modern despite being formulated several years ago, but unfortunately rather repetitive in the long run. The fights, however, are adrenaline-pumping and fun, and are alternated together with frequent looting phases, which, even if sometimes annoying, manage to give the right satisfaction.
This world is in fact based on the presence of many objects to be found, which will mainly be used for the crafting of weapons and armor. The first are called Jare, and are essential for the continuation of the adventure. In each mission it is possible to bring up to a maximum of 6 and during the various fights exchanging them will be quite easy and intuitive, as well as necessary to avoid dying. The system then manages to be even more successful if you decide to play online or through co-op with friends, although in this case it will be necessary to have multiple consoles and copies of the game. In this way the missions take a new turn, and the explosion of colors that arrives on the screen becomes simply unstoppable, also thanks to the use of the very interesting snacks… which we let you discover for yourself.
Between medieval and modern
The real impact that Snack World: Dungeon Explorers - Gold manages to guarantee is undoubtedly given by its graphics sector. Let's talk about an incredibly colorful title, capable of bewitch thanks to its bright shades. The atmospheres are enchanting, as well as extremely fun as already described, and they know how to be loved easily. The scenarios are well made and also very colorful, consistent with their reigning theme. Furthermore, the dungeons are generated in a procedural and random way, and in all cases they manage to give an incredible sense of immersion between one fight and another. Among other things, one can easily praise the temporal localization of the game, made with commendable care. Let's talk about a medieval period that is merged with the contemporary one. The characters live in apparently ancient houses, but then possess robots or objects of modern use such as smartphones. Fashion and social media play an important role in the experience, which is also useful for gameplay purposes. The game missions are in fact sprung from customs referable to the present day, and dressing in the correct way according to the fashion of the moment guarantees useful bonuses.
However, the graphics sector is quite fluctuating. If you can not help but speak well of the color palette, as regards the animations and models there is unfortunately a lot to underline in a strictly negative sense. The first ones are made too briefly, they succeed in their goal of being satirical in line with the rest of the experience, but they are not up to what one might have expected: let's talk about Level-5! The models are then apparently well made, but it must be considered that the porting and the remastering were carried out with extreme approximation, as by paying more attention the graphic defects will be evident.
Comparing the game with the version released for 3DS you will find yourself in front of a technical masterpiece, there is no doubt, but going to analyze the image on the screen you cannot fail to notice a too low resolution, not justified by the weight of the game's resources. undemanding. The 30 frames per second are very solid, but one wonders if considering the rest these could not have doubled in the end. The peculiarities of the port can also be harshly criticized. Nintendo Switch does not have a power in line with the current generation, it is true, and it cannot even dream of competing with the PC world, but it has unique features of its kind that some games have managed to enhance and exploit. Snack World: Dungeon Explorers - Gold is unfortunately not among them, as no feature of the hybrid console is used, from touch to gyroscope, and the game GUI is extremely invasive. Docked mode is in very bad shape and makes the experience almost unplayable due to the low resolution.
