KoopaTV's Murder by Numbers Game Review

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Solving murder mysteries with evidence obtained by solving Picross puzzles.

I used to look at Picross-based games (otherwise known as nonograms or paint by numbers) like Murder by Numbers with derision. Then I played Mario's Super Picross thanks to the Nintendo Switch Online SNES app, and really enjoyed it, but I thought that a game that's JUST a bunch of consecutive Picross puzzles could be improved by adding other game elements to it, like a story.

Murder by Numbers, by British developer Mediatonic (you may know them from developing Fall Guys, though I didn't realise they did that until writing this review; they also developed the Hatoful Boyfriend remake), seeks to combine the thrills of Picross with the classic adventure game trappings of murder mystery. I'll review how well they did that, and minimise any spoilers, since the game has a story it wants to tell and you won't want to know the details of that story before playing it for yourself.

Fast Facts

Name

Murder by Numbers

Console

Nintendo Switch—note, this review is of the Switch version

Steam

Developer and Publisher

Mediatonic and Irregular Corporation

Genre

Puzzle (Picross), Adventure

Space Required

Approximately 1.1 GB

ESRB rating

T, including depictions of tobacco use, blood, violence, and some language

Number of Players

One

Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price

14.99

Demo?

None

Ludwig Von Koopa's Holiday at the Moomoo Milk Bar

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - It was a delightful experience.

At the start of November 2020, the official Pokémon Center store put these two items up for sale: Moomoo Milk Pokémon Holiday & Home Bottle & Plate Set (4-Piece) for $15, and Moomoo Milk Pokémon Holiday & Home Sign for $20. At the same time, they were giving away a free Pikachu Pokémon Holiday & Home Brass Ornament with people's orders. As a self-professed Moomoo Milk fan, I feel like I had to order these items. It's like they were made just for me!

I've actually had these at my palace for over a month now (but I never received the Pikachu brass ornament, despite the Pokémon Center claiming it was part of my order). I should note that the package the plates/bottles/sign came in was absolutely stuffed with cushy shipping protection, since the bottles are glass. Everything arrived in-tact.

You know, this weekend is gonna be miserable (my birthday), and yesterday was overall pretty bad (not counting Chanukkah), so now seems to be a good time to get some happiness. So I finally used the Moomoo Milk Pokémon Holiday & Home items for something and visited the bar. With pictures:

KoopaTV's Live Reactions to The Game Awards 2020

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Or, Ludwig reacts to Sephiroth, and mind-numbingly says The Last of Us Part II won awards for hours after.

Every year, charlatan Geoff Keighley somehow tricks millions of gamers into thinking that The Game Awards is something worth watching. This awards show goes on for hours and hours with weird skits and commercials and world premieres, and gaming companies are fine with supporting it, since it's a great advertisement opportunity.

KoopaTV hates The Game Awards, but we still have some kind of token reaction to it every year because we want to be part of the conversation, and the industry sort of forces The Game Awards to be the conversation at the start of December every year. Still, you should treat this article as us doing you a favour if you haven't watched it yourself, since it's a miserable 200-minute slog.

To complicate matters, Nintendo told everyone to watch The Game Awards 2020 because the identity of the next downloadable content character coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate would be announced. Based on The Game Awards 2018 where Joker was announced as DLC for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, we would have to wait until the very end to get the announcement. We expected this year that the character would be something that panders directly to the sort of lowest common denominator that The Game Awards appeals to.

Things were different in 2020. And here are the reactions, mostly from myself, but also Heavy Lobster briefly chiming in at the start until it quit:

Staying Safe from Ransomware Attacks in 2020

By JACK WARNER - In the event of an attack, many businesses are faced with the dilemma; to pay the ransom or not to pay?

Fuelled by the ongoing coronavirus crisis, cybercrime has soared to previously undiscovered heights in 2020. We’ve seen an explosion of ransomware attacks, in particular, targeting all types of organizations. Gaming companies have not been spared. One of the most recent victims of a ransomware attack is Japanese game maker Capcom. The company was hit by the Ragnar Locker ransomware in early November, forcing the game maker to shut down its network.

Data Compromised During the Capcom Attack

In an earlier statement, the company had said that there was no indication that customer information was compromised. However, it turns out that some personal and corporate information was indeed stolen during the November 2 incident. In an update, the game maker behind franchises such as Street Fighter and Resident Evil revealed that hackers might have stolen information belonging to as many as 350,000 customers.

The potentially compromised data includes names and addresses, contact information, photos, shareholder numbers, birthdays, and more. However, customers can rest assured that their credit card information is safe. According to Capcom officials, no customer financial data such as credit card information was stolen. The company does not maintain any such information internally as a third-party service provider handles all online transactions.

How Ransomware Works

Developers Can Now Apply to Apple's App Store Small Business Program

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Some quick clarifications. ...They don't resolve the problems.

Last month, I wrote an article about Apple launching the App Store Small Business Program, which cuts Apple's fee in half to 15% on App Store transactions, as opposed to 30%, provided you make a small enough amount of money off the App Store. My argument was that this is actually a fairly bad situation, because as explained by Apple at the time, it introduced a large economic disincentive for App Store developers to get bigger.

I wrote at the time that we had limited information on the App Store Small Business Program, and that Apple would release full details in December. ...Since we're now in December and Apple has opened up applications and a few details, let's see if I was right and if I need to clarify things.

What is "gaslighting"? See: Jelly-Filled Doughnuts vs. Riceballs

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - We illustrate what gaslighting means via a Pokémon example.

If you are like KoopaTV's staff, you've been wondering for a few years what the heck “gaslighting” means. Usage of the term has increased dramatically in this post-truth era (after the 2016 United States presidential election), with more and more people engaging in it. These include, but are not limited to, sleazy politicians, deflective customer service representatives, ex-boy/girlfriends, and as this article will demonstrate, Kantonian Pokémon gym leaders.

There is a local maximum taking place right after the 2016 United States presidential election.
And throughout the President Donald John Trump presidency, the term gaslighting has only skyrocketed in usage.

Just try looking at the definitions of “gaslighting” and try not to be confused or puzzled:

• Wiktionary: the act of manipulating someone psychologically such that they question their own memory, perception, and sanity, thereby evoking in them cognitive dissonance and low self-esteem.
• Dictionary.com: to cause (a person) to doubt his or her sanity through the use of psychological manipulation
• Urban Dictionary: an increasing frequency of systematically withholding factual information from, and/or providing false information to, the victim - having the gradual effect of making them anxious, confused, and less able to trust their own memory and perception.

Psychological manipulation to get one to question their very sanity? That sounds incredibly niche and specific, yet the term gaslighting is used everywhere. Has everyone in society suddenly become a psychological genius to pull this technique off? Probably not. But I think people are just referring to any semi-elaborate lying as an intricate conspiracy. People generally don't want to make you doubt your sanity, they just want to cover up for their own faults and failures.

However, in the case of Brock and Misty—the gym leaders of the Pewter City Gym and Cerulean City Gym in the Kanto region, respectively—they're definitely gaslighting (in the proper use) Ash (and Team Rocket) when it comes to referring to the rice ball food item as a doughnut. Check out this compilation of clips, documented from the episode Primeape Goes Bananas, as we discuss what gaslighting looks like in action:

Xboxers, PlayStationers, and PCers: Buy Dragon Quest XI S: Definitive Edition

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - It was Game of THAT Year 2019. Better than most or all of 2020, too.

In one of the forgettable “hey, look, a bunch of games I like are on sale!” articles from this year, I mentioned that Square Enix announced Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Steam. (And it turns out Epic Games Store too.) Previously, Dragon Quest XI was on PlayStation 4, and then it got a definitive edition for the Nintendo Switch, which added new storylines, modes, and music. Nintendo marketed it a lot, since Nintendo published the Switch version. This included a phenomenal ~10-hour demo that allows you to transfer your progress to the real game.

Dragon Quest XI S on non-Switch consoles is an exact port of the Switch version, although Square Enix says there may be performance differences due to the superior hardware it's now on. Since it's a turn-based roleplaying game and not a super tense action or fighter, those performance differences are pretty negligible in terms of impact, though it's apparently inferior to the original PlayStation 4 version. There is no way to transfer save progress or trophies or anything from the old PlayStation 4 version to the new one.

Do you think Nintendo is going to edit their website to remove the references to this “only” being on Nintendo Switch?

There is also no way to get a discount on the new version if you have the old one, but why would you need one? Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition is $40 on every platform that it released on today. Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition is still $60 on the Nintendo Switch. Why is that?

As I wrote before, Nintendo published the Nintendo Switch version. That means they control the pricing. When other Square Enix-published games go on sale on the Nintendo eShop, for example, Dragon Quest XI S does not join them. It's part of the Nintendo-published sales and discount patterns, which is to say, “almost never goes on sale and will never get a price cut.” (Sure, some first-party Nintendo games went on sale last week, but only some. Certainly didn't include Dragon Quest XI S.)

That said, if Nintendo cares about market forces and competition, they should lower the price to match the other consoles. And maybe do something with the fact that the game comes with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate on the Xbox ecosystem. Everyone who buys into that ought to pick it up.


Ludwig obviously endorses this game. It's worth spending OVER $60 on, so $40 as the normal price is just great, too. Have a nice weekend, be it playing this, reading KoopaTV articles, or doing other things! The same free demo that was on the Switch version is now also on the other platforms as well.

NintendoVS Challenge Cup December 2020: Mushroom Kingdom Edition

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - There are a number of oddities and exclusions here.

As the Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary Direct from three months ago said would happen, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is having a special in-game NintendoVS Challenge Cup event this December (December 12, 6 PM to 9 PM Eastern). You may remember NintendoVS Challenge Cups from the September one, which I criticised heavily when it was done. This one has the same Tourney Score system that I was critical of.

This time, however, there are two stocks instead of four, and character selection is quite limited, as are the stages that will be picked and the items that may appear. There are still Stage Hazards and Final Smash metre remains on, which means that Peach and Daisy will be completely overpowered in this tournament thanks to their sleep-inducing Final Smash having disproportionate impact when there are only two stocks, and you're basically guaranteed to get a Final Smash to happen.

But let's talk about the characters and stages and items, because they are all supposed to be from the Super Mario series.

By the way, just to make a quick tangent and get this important message before the page break, the prize for winning (defined as Top 35) is a Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary Coin valued at $10. As of publishing, Nintendo STILL hasn't paid out the Gold Points (or physical trophies) to the people that won their Super Smash Bros. Ultimate North American Online Open October 2020 over a month ago. Maybe Nintendo feels like they're more capable of shipping out cheap physical coins, and that's why they won't offer Gold Points for this tournament. (That doesn't make any sense, but...)

Handshakes? Out. Shoulder Bashes? The New Greeting

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - You should never shake hands again.

When President Donald John Trump has described the American practice of handshaking as “disgusting” or “barbaric” or “one of the curses of American society”, he's absolutely correct. And I came to that conclusion long before I've heard President Donald John Trump's opinion on the matter. It shouldn't be a partisan issue, really. You don't know what the hell is going on with someone else's hand.

Something very important, and indeed society changing, may come out of the Ebola epidemic that will be a very good thing: NO SHAKING HANDS!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 4, 2014

Unfortunately, the lessons from Ebola have largely been forgotten, though my very negative Ebola experience with the CDC is still on my mind. There are Ebola-era studies around how fist bumps spread less germs than high-fives, which spread less germs than the disastrous handshake.

Basically, when you shake someone's hand with your own, you're spreading germs and all kinds of nasties from your body to the other person's, and vice-versa, in a very elongated, intimate fashion. (After all, people value STRONG handshakes, which press your germ-y diseased flesh forcibly upon another person's.) Meanwhile, alternative physical greetings reduce the amount of surface area involved, which reduces the amount of microbial spread.

The best greeting is one that involves no contact at all. What's wrong with the hand wave?

A socially distanced (at least 6 feet) waving of hands is a perfectly viable way to exchange pleasantries and greetings.

However, in case you simply must touch someone (because there are neurological benefits to physical contact, including the brain releasing the stress-relieving oxytocin), I suggest the mutual shoulder bash:

KoopaTV's November 2020 Review Newsletter

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Yeah... a big event happened, but...

I opened up last month's newsletter by saying that October set up for November. Now that November is over and I'm supposed to be reviewing how the month went... I kind of don't want to talk about it. It didn't go well.

That said, I think I ranted about that very minimally on the website. November 2020 also went by very fast, because it feels like a very short amount of time has actually passed since the beginning of November. Suddenly, it's the first day of December. I hate December, by the way. Loathe it. But in terms of KoopaTV stuff, November was good. I'll provide evidence of that. Here:

KoopaTV's Top Five Recommended Experiences of November 2020

KoopaTV's articles are awesome and you should read all of them. Here are the top five from November 2020, in chronological order, as decided by... me!

1. Are the "Hiding Your True Self" Spirits Wearing Masks Properly? — This is a very creative, entertaining, and informative art piece looking at all of the mask-wearers from the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Spirit Event "Hiding Your True Self" and seeing if they're complying with the CDC's mask-wearing guidelines.
2. Republicans Need to Get Rid of MIKE LINDELL — I've heard many more MyPillow commercials since I wrote this article, and hearing Mike Lindell talk makes me think about this article. You should think about it too, because this guy is horrible and needs to be excommunicated from Republican politics. The article provides the reasoning why. This article was also the extent of election-related ranting.
3. LEGO Super Mario Announces: Master Your Adventure Maker Set... with LARRY KOOPA?!!? — KoopaTV is covering the newest set announcements for LEGO Super Mario, and the author's brother, Larry, is a prominent component of it. ...But it doesn't end well for Larry.
4. Nintendo “News” Outlets Proclaim Fire Emblem: Three Houses is a 3-Million Seller Because Random ResetEra Guy Said So — I might've had a trend of writing verbose titles in November. Anyway, here is yet another example of why the gaming media is awful. By the way, I edited Fire Emblem: Three Houses's Wikipedia page so it no longer includes reference to it selling over three million copies, because Wikipedia is about reliable sources, and anyone using a random ResetEra post as a source is not reliable.
5. Is Using Game Elements Provided to Every Player Problematic “Cultural Appropriation”? — I not only provide my take on people freely using hair styles in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but I also interviewed and cited multiple people to make sure my opinion was informed.