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Joystiq Weekly: Awesome Games Done Quick, Kalimba review, DIY Mario and more
Welcome to Joystiq Weekly, a "too long; didn't read" of each week's biggest stories, reviews and original content. Each category's top story is introduced with a reactionary gif, because moving pictures aren't just for The Daily Prophet. It was a pretty quiet week thanks to the end-of-the-year holiday lull, but things should pick up soon! Like, today even – Awesome Games Done Quick has just kicked off a week-long marathon of high-skill and speedrun-oriented livestreams, with all donations benefiting the Prevent Cancer Foundation. If supporting a worthwhile cause isn't enough of an excuse to watch talented players blaze through games, what is? ... Yes, okay, other than free puppies. While you're waiting on something of interest that's buried in the event's schedule, catch up on what you might have missed while you were doing relaxing, vacation-y things. PlayStation Network users got good news regarding last week's service outage, Contributing Editor Danny Cowan's relationship survived his Kalimba review, and we explored the history of do-it-yourself Mario and the technical shift in Mortal Kombat X's gore.
Kalimba review: Co-op will tear us apart
Xbox One Co-op has brought me some of the greatest joy I've ever experienced in games. It also frequently leads to bouts of murderous rage. The co-op in Kalimba, a stylish Xbox One-exclusive puzzle-platformer from the creator of Max: The Curse of Brotherhood, falls more in the second category, and is more likely to inspire anger and hurt feelings than elation. Kalimba offers a distinct co-op campaign in addition to a collection of single-player levels. Beware, though: You and your co-op partner must be on the same skill level and puzzle-solving wavelength in order to make any progress whatsoever. If you want to learn who your true friends are, it's anyone who doesn't bludgeon you to death with an Xbox One controller after spending half an hour with Kalimba.
Project Totem's new name is Kalimba, launches next month
Conquering a cluster of platforming feats looks doubly complex in Kalimba (formerly known as Project Totem), Press Play's puzzler that leaves a player responsible for two or more characters at once. You can also ease (or complicate) things by enlisting a friend for Kalimba's co-op mode, but either way, you'll need to steer through matching fields of color and stretches of narrow platforms, as seen in the above trailer. The complex, color-coded traversal is used to save the Kalimba people's island from an evil shaman, who's presumably doing terrible things and totally has its defeat coming. It won't be long until he's dethroned either, as Kalimba begins its journey on Xbox One on December 17 and PC in January 2015. [Image: Press Play]
