REVIEW – A new addition comes to the increasingly important catalog of PlayLink. Frantics becomes a party game based on the mini-games, but it is played by plastic dolls and controlled with your mobile. We analyze the result.

The PlayLink social gaming line is very important for Sony. This company, as happens for example with games intended for PSVR, is trying by all means to edit as many titles linked to this category, works mainly aimed at the most casual sector of PS4 users, although they can also be enjoyed by any other type of players.

To the recent Knowing is Power, Hidden Intentions and other productions associated with the PlayLink label, now Frantics joins. A title that positions itself as a follower of the Mario Party saga that is that bases its proposal on the inclusion of different mini-games that, in this case, can be tested by four players at once. A multiplayer mode that, in fact, becomes the raison d’être of this work by NapNok Games, given that it is a title that drops integers proportionally to the number of players that moves away from that figure.

Being a PlayLink title, you already know what that means: we must use our mobiles (or tablets) as controls. For this, it is necessary to go through the corresponding online store (iTunes in iOS format, or Google Play in Android) and download the application of the same name from the game to play. An App that, of course, is completely free and that is installed in a matter of seconds. Then it only remains to connect each device to the same network to which the PS4 is connected, and everything is ready to start playing.

A party game for 4 controlled by the mobile

The game mechanics proposed by this production is very simple to explain. In its only available game mode, which can accommodate four players as I have already explained, we must face a group consisting of four main minigames, trying to obtain the greatest number of victories (which translate into crowns) to start with advantage in the final test, which is always the same, which determines the absolute winner.

What are these tests? Well, as it happens in this type of proposals, it depends a lot on each event, in this case, there are 15 different minigames … a figure that although at the beginning seems enough, when we played several competitions in a row we realize that it is not so. In fact, this small amount of mini-games that puts Frantics in the limelight becomes one of the weak points that the title presents, thus limiting the possibilities it offers.

To parachute ourselves, to prevent a bomb from exploding in our noses, to fight on the ice trying to get our rivals out of the ring or to score goals in a very special mini soccer tournament are some of the tasks we have to face. A collection of relatively original events that, as I have mentioned before, offer irregular levels of fun depending on each other.

All this makes Frantics an undoubtedly funny title … however, it loses steam as we play. The surprise factor of the first games plays in your favor, but as the hour’s pass, the small amount of content offered is noticeable.

Looks nice

Regarding its visual section, Frantics is a videogame that has been endowed with many personalities and well resolved. It stands out above all its striking aesthetic line, which many veteran users will remember in sight in classic titles such as ClayFighters, games that used claymation technique to imitate plasticine. Obviously, it is not a title that exploits even half the potential of the PS4 hardware, but neither needs nor tries.

The sound is not bad either, highlighting the dubbing of our language (although some lines repeat more than necessary), while the melodies and the effects fulfill correctly.

NapNok has had the great idea of creating a party game to Mario Party for PS4 with the peculiarity of being part of the PlayLink line. Moreover, the fact of being able to control the minigames with the mobile has its grace, although the design of some of the tests does not adapt too well to such handling, which lacks precision in certain occasions. However, its biggest weakness lies in the tight amount of mini-games and options that it includes, limiting its possibilities.

-BadSector-

Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment

Developer: NapNok Games

Genre: Party game

Release date: March 6, 2018