Castlefront

Did you like Tenchu? Do you own a Vita? Buy this game! Okay, I had no idea when I purchased this game, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out this game was developed by Acquire, the original creators of Tenchu. When I began playing the game I thought, "Dang, this is just like Tenchu, copyright infringement much?" It was only after I looked up Acquire that I realized, "Hey! this is Tenchu!" And it is. I should try to haiku this bad boy. In the darkness near the waterfall A guard yawns Desiring fainting sushi. This game is great. Squatting in the night on some roof, watching the patrol route ****, planning your attack so that you are not seen. But if you are, don't worry--just run about thirty feet and squat again. Shinobido 2 is not a Ninja simulator; the fundamental mechanics of the game are pruned such that the entire experience, from invasion to escape, is rewarding. It is so satisfying to execute the nearly mystical moves Zen is capable of on an entire entourage of closely grouped guards. Who cares if it isn't even remotely realistic, did you see me just Chimatsuri Sappo like seven dudes in a row?! I did have a few camera issues. For example, I would be nudging Zen over to get a better view of a bear, and WHAM, she would see me. To be honest, if I were to fully utilize the controls available to me, I would not run into situations like this, but the camera is a bit wonky. I also experienced a bit of disorientation on occasion, when the camera would automatically center behind me, that led to some comical maneuvering on my part. The game play is also well designed for a hand held. You can't really tell how long a mission will take, but they are all easily completed in less than twenty minutes. Great game for Tenchu fans, great match for the system.

Told in a style reminiscent of the TellTale games, this tedious adventure game is anything but fun. While technically sufficient, the narrative is recycled, the dialogue is inane, and the characters are completely disposable. Oh, and the combat. Boring and completely devoid of challenge. You can download this free, and pay to unlock the complete game. Which I encourage you to do, if you are interested, because there is no way to express how brutally boring the combat is without a reference to personal experience. The combat sequences are extremely long. You repeat the same finger dances and swipes over and over, doing almost no damage to your opponent, until the pain is over. Tedious repetition? Sounds like Monster Hunter! Where is that download button! Not so fast, playa! Despite demanding a ridiculous amount of investment with regard to combat, the game pays back nothing. There is no sense of achievement, no meaningful progression. And worst of all, no challenge whatsoever. Put your time in with the swipes and get through to the next conversation tree. Wrap this all up in graphics from the 64-bit era, and you have yourself something to avoid. At best, video games should be virtual experiences. This is not that. This feels like a paint by numbers graduate project (at least it is graduate level), executed with mediocrity, that borrows heavily from better games.