Could be an early game of the year pick.
It's that time again for a new episode of Chichuki Plays, the show where I go hands-on with upcoming games and show them off. Usually it's about an hour or so but I don't want to spoil too much of the game for you. This time, we're looking at Star Overdrive on the Nintendo Switch. Things are a little different this time around because it's a two hour Chichuki Plays episode, probably the longest in the series. Star Overdrive is a massive game and I wanted to share as much as I could in the playthrough.
Let's get this out of the way right now, a hoverboard and a keytar gets my attention any day of the week. Now combine that with hover traveling and kicking ass with said keytar and you've sold me. You will need to master the different abilities of the Keytar and the different skills of the hoverboard. You will be able to use a workbench to modify your hoverboard and make it the best for you. There will be races that you need to be fast for and it's cool to see the hoverboard isn't just for traveling from location to location.
Long story short, you play the role of Bios and we're hot on the trail of Nous. I believe Nous is our girlfriend because of a suggestive picture we have of her. Anyway, she has been missing for seven years on a distant planet. It just so happens that the planet we crash on is said planet. We find Nous's hoverboard on the planet and it's a good thing we did because it's massive. There is a ton to explore and you'll be able to use beacons on the map to traverse the area. You will want to gather practically everything that you come across because you can use the materials to upgrade parts for the hoverboard. Mess around with throwing in materials at the workbench and find the perfect parts for you.
Now, Star Overdrive gives me major Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom vibes and that isn't a bad thing. You will find hidden mines, similar to shrines, that you will have to explore and get through. It appears that mines have different themes like one has you fire beams at enemies whereas another has you pick things up. The mining facilities were pretty big and interesting to explore. You'll find power nodes in the mines and those can used to upgrade your skills. You an upgrade your attack strength, your defense via portable shield or stamina.Combat takes a lot of getting used to but fun once you figure it out. It would have been nice to have a lockon/targeting system but you don't so just make due. When you get ahold of the ability that lets you pick things up, then the combat gets much easier. You can pick up enemies and thrown them at others like Mario 2 as well as throw them directly into the ground for damage.
When I first saw Star Overdrive on a Nintendo Direct, I thought it had a lot of potential. After playing it, it could be an early game of the year game for me. Graphically it looks great and the locations feel interesting and cool. It has it's issues but they don't bring the game down to make it feel off. I'd like to thank the devs for the review code. Make sure you check out the hands-on/thoughts video below!