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Acclaimed adventure game Year Walk has been completely rebuilt for Wii U and will launch on the eShop this summer/autumn, developer Simogo has announced.
Simogo has worked with Dakko Dakko to bring the game to Wii U with a host of changes to make “the definite and best version of the game”.
“The game has been totally rebuilt for the platform, with the Wii U GamePad tightly integrated into the game,” explains the Simogo blog post. “It’s hard to imagine that it was not made for Wii U originally – that’s how home it feels.”
Detailed below are the changes made in bringing the game to Wii U.
The GamePad Touchscreen
You might have expected that the encyclopedia, the map, and (optional) hints are now always available, you just need to lower your gaze to look at the GamePad screen and they’re there.
Note-taking
Now that you have a separate touchscreen with a stylus in front of you at all times, you can take notes and jot down puzzle ideas and solutions without having to resort to a pen and paper. If you have played Year Walk, you know how useful this will be. Not much to say here than that it feels awesome!
Motion Controls
So – if you’re using the touchscreen to navigate the encyclopedia, the map etc, how do you control the game? With motion controls! And it feels so, so, great.
You use the left stick to walk (and it feels pretty good to do so with analog controls!). But, to look around and find things to interact with, you’ll point and move the GamePad with very relaxed and subtle motions. It’s very reminiscent of using the Wii Remote to point at the TV, or mouse controls, but perhaps even more relaxed, as you don’t have to point it towards the TV. You can rest the GamePad neatly in your lap. We’re very proud of this and we think we’ve made some really cool innovations with the motion-based cursor controls.
Unlike the PC-version, which used cursor controls to interact with puzzles and contraptions, we now use custom motion controls for almost every puzzle. For example, if you find something in the forest that you can spin or rotate, you’ll physically rotate the GamePad, with really finely tuned controls. The GamePad rumbles and makes lovely sounds and it just feels amazingly tactile – like you’re actually holding the objects in your hands.
Languages
Previously, Year Walk have only been available in English. Year Walk for Wii U is the first and only version which you will be able to play in English, French and Spanish, Italian and German.
SECRETS!
There’s a bunch of other fun and surprising things that has been changed and added, and we really don’t want to spoil them for you, but we can assure you that some of them will make you smile big time.
Source: Simogo
