the last friend

💖

8/10

TLDR: The Last Friend delivers a fun mix of tower defense and beat ‘em up action with beautiful artwork and strong co-op play, though clunky upgrades and minor bugs hold it back.

Listen to our full review on YouTube

Reviewed by: 🐯 Alokin (Advanced Gamer) & 🐺 Oceanwolv (Casual Gamer)

OVERVIEW

Price: $40
Our playtime: 20+ hours
Coop style: Couch, Local
Where to buy: Nintendo

About: A side-scrolling beat ‘em up TD game (think Plants vs. Zombies 1 meets Final Fight) where you explore deserted badlands, ruined cities, a military base, and jungles to rescue puppies during the apocalypse.

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✅ pros

ALOKIN

• Beautiful artwork and characters

• Wide variety of towers and levels

• Combination of game styles

OCEANWOLV

• Super cute dogs and rescue story

• Ability to customize your team

• Opponent skill and damage variety

❌ cons

ALOKIN

• Upgrading controls clunky

• Not very difficult

• A few bugs here and there

OCEANWOLV

• Can be repetitive

• Minimal lanes for complex gameplay

• Bosses were too easy to beat

🤼🏽 co-op ability: 9/10

(how well the game supports teamwork and collaboration between players)

ALOKIN’S RATING: 8/10

This game makes it very fun because you ‘must’ rely on a teammate and each of you plan and complete in your areas. One person plays the Final Fight game, one plays the Tower Defense portion. Loved this. It’s dynamic, requires a lot of comms and overall teamwork.

OCEANWOLV’S RATING: 10/10

Although you can succeed playing solo, this game is designed for teamwork and role-sharing. Alokin played defense, focusing on securing and building our fortress in the back. I played offense, attacking and blocking incoming opponents up front. This team dynamic is supportive as the game progresses with tougher, more varied opponents.

🎨 production quality: 9/10

(the design, artwork, components, and overall craft of the game's materials)

ALOKIN’S RATING: 8/10

We were drawn to how beautiful the illustrations were and as you get more into the game you see how intentional every detail was. The backgrounds, the canine designs, the tower attacks! The only thing that dropped this score down was we encountered a bug which made us stuck in one of the levels even though it was completed and we couldn’t exit!

OCEANWOLV’S RATING: 10/10

My favorite thing about this game is the design style! The storyline of dog rescue already won me over, but the art direction elevates it into a playful, engaging, and endearing game. The many characters, abilities, weapons, and levels are all accounted for in detail (e.g. every dog has a unique power).

🎮 gameplay mechanics: 5/10

(the game's rules, flow, balance, and how engaging and intuitive the gameplay feels)

ALOKIN’S RATING: 3/10

This is the only part of the game that needs work. The upgrading system is difficult to manage quickly - as you change towers in your inventory the scroll wheel changes too. It makes the ability to macro difficult. Some of the attacks in the side-scroll fighting portion were not accurate. You’d do a super punch and completely miss the enemy.

OCEANWOLV’S RATING: 7/10

This game has a few vital clunky mechanics (e.g. going up and down the lanes, attack timing, no instructions on activating Super Dogs), but they can all be managed or learned because the overall gameplay is intuitive. The creators put so much love and effort into the UI/UX and its resulted in straight forward navigation for all gamer types.

🤩 overall fun: 9/10

(how enjoyable and entertaining the game is for immediate play and long-term re-playability)

ALOKIN’S RATING: 8/10

I loved this games overall. Despite the challenges of the mechanics, it was learnable and we did manage to do quite well and 100% the game. If you’re a fan of the classic Plants v Zombies and Beat ‘em up genre, then this game is a must-play. It’s nostalgic at the same time introduces new elements that keeps the game fresh and incredibly fun.

OCEANWOLV’S RATING: 10/10

The Last Friend is perfect for all gamer types and ages who love teamwork and/or tower defense strategy. I really love this game and I know anyone would! With 20+ dog skills, weapons, and attack combos, each level is an opportunity to experiment and evolve strategies, making it fast, easy, and fun to replay.

TIPS TO START

(helpful insights as you begin the game)

ALOKIN’S

• Communicate who will be offense and who will be defense, although it’s a Tower-Defense game, it requires someone for each game function.

• There is almost an endless amount of ‘dog-power’ combinations from towers to power-ups. Find the ones that make the game fun for you. But know them all so you play around with the combinations as you’ll need them to beat the game.

• Spend your in-game currency at each camp so you can keep up with the power of the game. You’ll earn a lot more than you can use, so invest early.

OCEANWOLV’S

• Designate who covers offense and defense to make the gameplay easier.

• Offense tips:

  • Drill for resources immediately to help your defense before opponents arrive.

  • Wait at the screen's edge to defeat opponents instantly, preventing them to reach your defense.

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Listen to our full review on YouTube