This is a surprisingly charming and cute co-op puzzle game. When I first picked up Phogs I did so with the intent of playing it co-op, but due to circumstances, I could only play it single player for the majority of it. While I can say that there is a certain chemistry for playing it with another player, overall Phogs really just stood out as a wonderful little puzzle game.Perhaps Phogs biggest selling point is the aesthetic that it lends itself to in each individual world that really captures the heart and minds of an individual. While there is plenty of gameplay to be talked about, each world's themeis utilized so well that without it a lot of the charm of the game is gone. Food world giving a step by step showcase of crop harvesting, cooking food, and sending it out to the masses being one such example. By doing so, each level can tell a little story while you sus out exactly what you have to do with each puzzle. Each level has certain characters that do something that you either help with or just showcase what the world is about. In doing so, the game can get us to care about the world of Phogs in such a subtle way that it almost feels non-existant, but that's exactly the point. When you are playing co-op rarely do you have time to digest the world Phogs shows you, and the game itself is fun because of the person you're playing with. But if you are playing the game alone, the game works just as fine as you now have time to look at everything properly and really feel apart of the world. Which honestly I just find kinda brilliant as it's effectively telling us the story the same way games like Metroid Prime do, by experiencing it and personally going out of our way to enjoy ****'s always good to have a brain teaser of a puzzler, and Phogs being such a puzzle game delivers. As mentioned before a lot of the puzzles are feed from there respective worlds, and in doing so you are constantly given new mechanics to work with in each level as well as being tasked with finding a bunch of collectibles and doing certain side missions. While I don't find the puzzles taxing, they do engage you in such a way that the game requires your full attention to get everything out of a single level. I wouldn't say Phogs is a particularly challenging game tho, but there is a difficulty spike in a few places. Mainly whenever Phogs starts breaking out of the simple explore puzzle dynamic, and they try to take on other genres like stealth missions or arcade games. Thankfully these levels are mainly gimmicks, and only really cause stress if you're going for achievements. Still the final level really doesn't have such an excuse, and for being the last hurtle to overcome, it does it's job of being challenging, but not well. Basically the last level introduces mechanics that are only featured there, and aren't really explained well enough to implement in a way that other mechanics of the game have.Honestly though, if you are looking for a good co-op game, or even a good puzzle game, Phogs really hit's the itch of being interesting and challenging enough to keep you engaged in it.
Townscaper will probably be one of the easiest games you ever had to 100% in achievement hunting, and in a way gives away just how relaxing the game can be.Pressing a button to add or remove building structures is all the gameplay Townscaper needed; with other controls used to move around the area to see how big your town is. Adjusting sizes of houses, adding more floors, and removing them to make a new type of structure. There really is no narrative to this nor a goal to really achieve. You can put as much or as little as you want to the game, and for a pricing point that would be a little upsetting, but as an extra game with a service or gotten on the cheap it certainly fulfills a nice evening or two.Mainly this game is simple, and it suffers from any engagement of interest because of that. If there was more options on how to build structures, more life to towns, or even neat little scenarios, you'd have another addictive sim builder game. Sadly, as Townscaper stands, it's really just a neat thing to play for a little bit and move on, and honestly sometimes that's all you really need.
Dr. Mario is kinda the last game I expected to have a story, but having 2 stories to go through was a surprising development. You can play as either Mario or Wario in the main campaign, basically on a constant chase to the next area to get the miracle cure that was established in the beginning. But really it's not a story to write home about, but it does provide you with two new characters to play with if you are able to beat both campaigns without using continues. A feat I can't say I really accomplished...Again, I honestly was just expecting for more of the same Dr. Mario from the original NES days, but they really did step up what the game had to offer by also providing multiplayer matches, score attack, and a few other neat modes. These are all things I didn't really know I wanted in a Dr. Mario game, but honestly feels like a no brainer after seeing games like Puyo Puyo, Magic Drop, and heck even **** game is honestly the same as it ever was, and really you couldn't ask more from the gameplay when it was already so well established in the early NES days. Gameplay is the standard matching 4 of the same color either vertically or horizontally to either clear a row or eliminate a virus(es) of the same color. Sure there are now multiplayer ways to screw with your opponents, but if you're like me you're really just focused on eliminating the virus in a battle before time runs out. Which, Ill be honest, isn't the best when you could be properly doing combos to help screw over your opponent. Dr. Mario is particularly a puzzle game that can get really out of hand when things don't go as planned due to the way viruses are structured into a play area; leaving little room for error to begin with. If this sounds particularly hard for you, which it did for me, I strongly suggest playing with save states ala Nintendo Switch Online or OTHER.I don't think Dr. Mario is really a must have game by any accounts as a lot of the newer Dr. Mario games probably have a lot more going for it in terms of multiplayer, and features, but 64 is clearly a sign of Nintendo stepping up the series as a whole. Absolutely a solid 64 title back in the day, and even has some merit with a story campaign attached to it too.
DLC to the degree that Happy Home Paradise is, always stumps me in a matter of whether it should be consider a full game or not. While I don't think most people would have bought this game as a standalone, as DLC it absolutely works despite the fact it's also effectively it's own game. And in that sense, it kinda dives into a deeper problem with the way DLC has been opt'd in compared to the far superior "expansion content" that we yearned for in yesteryear. I don't want to go into a big debate about it, but download content like Happy Home Paradise works far more as an expansion of Animal Crossing: New Horizions and succeeds as it's own story and narrative to **** much of Happy Home Paradise works because the way it expanses both New Horizons gameplay, and the previous game spin off, Happy Home Designer. Happy Home Academy was an interesting spin off that focused on home decor, but it honestly just didn't encourage the player to stay too much in the lines of what the client wanted, and due to having a lower amount to customize both inside and out, became repetitive around the half way point. While HHP still has the problem of repetitive design making, the pacing itself is spread just enough to keep you interested till the campaign itself is actually done. From simply withholding certain abilities, to gaining access to certain villagers, and mostly just expanding the catalogue that you have to fill each villagers vacation **** the time that you feel like you know everything there is to know about designing, the game basically opens up to the point where you can simply choose villagers that you like, and make their home for them. While I can't say Happy Home Designer didn't try to make the novelties from Paradise work, as the game is mostly a blur to me, the bigger part to why Paradise works so well is how it expands the list of things you can do in New Horizons itself. By the simple part that HHP is meant to be more of a expansion of New Horizons, so to would it give you more things to do in your New Horizons island. From simply making vacation homes for your villagers, buying new furniture, and of course, designing their homes on your island. On top of all this, Paradise even makes use of the facilities that you make on the island by giving you various rewards for checking in daily or simply just new places to hang out. In a lot of ways, Paradise is a much better sequel to Designer on the simple fact it actually feels rewarding to do your job and earn new stuff for your island compared to just making something pretty.I think Happy Home Paradise could only simply be a expansion on New Horizons, and never a standalone game for the simple reason that you want to feel like the game is rewarding. While I understand a lot of people will simply love the amount of customization you can do in this content, the major selling point for most will be all the added features that help New Horizon islands. In that way, Paradise easily surpasses Designer's legacy by giving me more to care about aside from a small narrative story. While Paradise does have a nice little narrative story on it's own, the simply truth is that it never really gets to an interesting point that would really make you yearn for more. Happy Home Paradise is completely something that only fans of New Horizons would want, and in that respect, it absolutely delivers.
I wasn't too sure what we would get for Halo Infinite, but overall, I think 343 did exactly what was needed for the whole series, give Master **** hook. Seriously, the amount of movement this game gives, while also providing a bunch of neat interactions with weapons, combat planning, and dodging is immense, and really that is all 343 needed to do, but then they added a whole over world to play with, and honestly, I don't know that's what i wanted **** me, this is Halo at it's best that it has ever been. From the structure of how levels go, to the amount of weapons and vehicles that are given to you, and mostly all the things you can do to get what you want out of Halo. Even the main missions are more akin to what you do in the previous games while still having a bunch of side missions to keep you occupied. I really can't say this enough, but Halo Infinite gives so much to the new player experience that I feel there will be more people willing to play this series as a whole just from what this campaign does. In a lot of ways, this is Halo's way of competing with Breath of the Wild, and honestly I didn't know Breath of the wild with guns would be this cool.Sadly, there is a minor hiccup in a lot of the fun, and I feel this is a remnant of the mistakes 343 has made. While I am a personal fan of Halo 5, and what they were doing with the series, the fact remains they back pedal so hard on their decisions from Halo 5 that I can't help, but get Star Wars Episode 9 vibes. On top of that, a lot of things don't really make sense to us in terms of who we are fighting, and why we are fighting them. The fact we still have covenant forces fighting against us, this allusion that we are getting another flood type enemy, and just giving Master Chief a new AI just kinda makes it feel like I'm playing Halo 1 all over again in a bad way. Like I don't want to say this in terms of I think the story is bad, but when I finished the game, that's the feeling I **** they present this game is simply amazing, and what they did do with the story, and uncovering what happened was a pretty stellar narrative to began with. I know it sounds like a contradiction, but it's all with in context to the story that makes it good, not the callbacks or references to material outside this game. We get really cool intros to levels, great set up with proper cool down times, and most importantly BOSSES. Seriously, the hype to find out that Halo Infinite has bosses is so great, and each boss provides something new and challenging to face. From unique scenarios of having to fight an invisible sword dude to destroying generated shields to do damage against the boss. The way this game brought hype to each interaction with a proper enemy was a spectacle and hit the nail right when it needed it.Would I call Halo Infinite the best Halo game? Absolutely. It improves the formula Halo had going for it, while also managing to keep everything else intact. Rarely do you get a game that can both provide the same experience while also bringing something new to the table. It has a little to be desired when it comes to it's interactions with past games, but on it's own, it's got some stellar narrative with plenty of hype moments.
Spartan Strike takes what works with Spartan Assault, and effectively gives it a pretty yet harder coat of paint. Seriously, I don't know why people suggest that Assault was the harder game when the AI and mobs just work better within this game. You still get the typical one life to live and no checkpoints throughout, but what really makes Spartan Strike so difficult is how long some of the levels are.This isn't to say that Spartan Strike is like a full Halo campaign that lasts 9 hours with full meaty missions, but rather the levels in Strike often run just a little too long, and you end up dying on the last wave having to start all over again. On top of that, there is more pressure to get the side missions as they are projected at the loading screen of each mission, and cumulative throughout runs of each level. The main problem with such a mission tho is that you aren't given the name of the weapon while playing during the game; which makes a lot of these side missions guessing games despite how different each gun looks.Despite the slightly higher difficult, side quests, and length of each mission; Spartan Strike is the easier game to score gold in, and a lot of that has to do with constant engagement with enemies, more vehicle play, and the better overall graphics. Legitimately being able to see more details within each model, the constant atmosphere change of each overall mission, and better UI of aiming really makes Spartan Strike less **** game, and more of a skilled one. Not to say Spartan Assault required no skill, but each death in Spartan Strike felt like my fault rather than a simple misread of the map. While I don't think the graphics of twin stick shooters matter all that much, Spartan Strike clearly showed me they do impact a lot more than I thought, and I have to say I enjoyed exploring newer maps that weren't simple rocks and war tore areas.I'm really divided between which game I like more, and I think a lot of that has to do with the mindless fun that Assault gives over the more interesting campaign of Strike. If someone where to ask me which is the better game, Strike easily wins, but if you were to ask me which I enjoyed more, it honestly feels like it's more of a toss up. Regardless Halo Spartan Strike is an enjoyable game that I think every Halo fan would like to run through at least once, and still a great reminder that Halo works for the genre of twin stick shooters.
Halo Spartan Assault was the franchises first take on twin stick shooters, and also the first game on mobile devices. Despite being in uncharted genres, the Halo franchise managed to get a fairly fun and decent game out of it.I certainly wouldn't call Spartan Assault good in the sense that it has a good story, but rather in the sense that it's mindless fun. There just really isn't much more to this game then that. You pretty play a Halo game from a top down perspective shooting at cute little RTS like enemies and using all the cool stuff Halo has as a series. From the classic weapons to spikes, rocket launchers, shotguns, and to even tanks and ghost vehicles. The majority of the gameplay is stuck at a loop of defend this area, and get from point A to point B with little variety added in. This really isn't to hammer this as a problem with the game itself, but to prepare any new players coming in expecting something more. Spartan Assault understood exactly the repetitive nature of twin stick shooters, and it doesn't try to stray too far away from that.Spartan Assault really could have ended up being a huge mess for the franchise/series, but in the end it kinda just didn't impress too many people. While a greater game would have been too much to ask, the word of mouth bad games get sometimes make it stick out more, so Spartan Assault being rather right down the middle made a lot of players forget it's existence. Top that off with the needed repetitiveness that twin stick shooters use, a story campaign that's told more like a military report, and a rather short campaign run through just kind set this game up to be forget-able.
I am shocked how horrible this game is. Not only do you have to unlock everything within the game from the start save for Kagomi and Inuyasha, but you also have to go through this odd single player campaign where you see very butchered recap stories of the entire anime. The game gives super flimsy excuses for fighting people, and overall just isn't interested in giving any kind of extra content that a player might like. Literally everything here is something either super generic, or previously said. Nothing about this game's story or premise is exciting or entertaining either. At it's best, it gives you compressed jpeg pictures of photos that probably took 5 minutes to load on the internet at the time, and at it's worst it's a withholding mini-game riddled mess. I literally just wanted to play a nice fighting game featuring Kagome and the gang, and the game ACTIVELY prevents that.Even getting into the actual fighting aspects of the game is meddling, with the actual mechanics of the game boarding around surprisingly simple execution, and horrid stilted combat. Combos do not feel fluid, and the game does not reward you for performing any of them. Super attacks come out very slow, and can slow down the entire fight. Spamming is optimal and easy, and in the end it really comes down to who in the cast can spam better, and why is Koga?Somewhere in this game is a neat mechanic with the jewel system the game offers, but it's slowed down at every turn from being something more than just poorly managed merchandise. In a lot of ways, it feels like they were trying to great something fun and exciting till corporate told them it's due in a month after the 1st week of working on it. I do not recommend this game to anyone, not even the fans of the series. There are far better games out there, and probably a better fighting game too.
I really really wanted to give Curse of the Moon 2 the benefit of the doubt. I wanted to like it for it's clever use of characters, sprite work, and music. Sadly though, Curse of the Moon 2 is easily the worst of the three Bloodstained games.Aesthetically CotM2 is easily the better looking of all three Bloodstained games. They really maxed out the way sprites can be used, gave characters defined colors, and used a whole bunch of neat tricks to really make all the enemies and background come to life. Really CotM2 is super impressive to look at, and some scenes through out the game are just so damn cool too! Sound effects and music are all within line from previous titles, and while I don't think the game is offensive to the ears, it does toe the line of being forgettable.Thankfully the new characters aren't forgettable, and bring something new to the table that the previous cast just didn't have. First we have Dominique, a character that was previously in Ritual of the Night, and religious woman who uses a spear and can hit enemies up/down and left and right. Dominique also has the ability to pogo on enemies, lanterns, and use a special book to heal everyone in the party. Robert, a human that is also a sharpshooter that can hit enemies at a distance; he's also able to jump off walls. Finally we have Hachi, a dog in a train mech suit that is super busted in terms of coolness, cuteness, and abilities. Hachi being able to float, hit like a truck, have the most HP, and turn invincible easily makes him not only the most valuable member on the team, but also a very boy. Zangestu is back, and along with some of his former allies if you unlock a certain episode, and they all retain their abilities from the past game.While I do like the 3 new cast members, it becomes apparent very early on that Hachi is the character you should use throughout the majority of the game for his ability to simply ignore enemies and level design in favor of simply bulldozing his way through. There are quite a lot of alternative pathways in each level, but really what usually ends up happening is that you don't have the character to go through said pathway till your next playthrough, and end up going a longer way to reach the end. This would be fine if the game required you only to play the game once, but CotM2 can have a player play up to 3 different times simply to get to the final episode. And even then, the final episode is really just the same campaign, only with a stage select instead of going through the game normally. This then leds to going through the levels over and over again, and recognizing that a lot of the pathways were either shortcuts or meant for different playthroughs of the game. While I don't mind a game reusing assets, the way CotM2 does it just ends up being nothing more than padding compared to interesting level design. The bosses are also defanged throughout each playthrough, only showing you their true difficulty near the end. This leds to a lot of the game in the first two playthroughs as a sort of warm up, and not feeling as satisfyied to beat a boss like in the first Curse of the Moon.Really Curse of the Moon 2 just suffers from having to constantly replay the same game slightly differently with a slightly different ending; making for way too much repetition, and not enough interesting level design or bosses. The new characters are fun and interesting, but a lot of this game feels like wasted potential on what could have been another tight Castlevania like game. Giving this game a once over is more than enough to give it justice, but playing through it 3 times just ends up being a pain. A good game that just gets worse the more you play it.
Bloodstained is made in spite to show Konami that games like these are still beloved to this day, and honestly we need more games made like this. With one of the led designers from the original Symphony of the Night team, plenty of fresh new ideas that aren't getting weighted down by Castlevania motifs, and support from fans alike; Bloodstained is exactly the love letter to the genre that Iga promised it to be.Starting off with some mild exposition, Bloodstained is very much action first, story second. In this way, it kinda starts off on a bad foot with some stilted writing and voice work, but largely does it so we know everyone's motive and drive throughout the game. Each time you leave the home base and progress further only to get stuck, often coming back will lend itself to pushing you in the right direction. Overall though, the majority of the game is better than most stories Castlevania ever came up with, but I feel this is due to simply feeling fresher in **** mentioned before, the game does often lend itself to points where you feel stuck and don't know where to go; however unlike previous Metroidvania games of the past, most of these points feel badly designed. From not being fully aware of what your powers are able to do to enemies feeling like they are too difficult to tackle; rarely does the game give you proper hints when you're really stuck. One point in particular is near the half way point of the game which requires you to acquire a special kind of armor, but no where in the game does it indicate where it is or even that you needed it. Not to criticizes too harshly as after the initial obstacle of finding an area, it's simply on the player to explore it.Exploring Bloodstained is an absolute blast though, and the more and more movement options you gain throughout your journey makes both travel and combat more engaging. While there are some annoying enemies to deal with, none of them feel overwhelming and often killing any enemy you see is the better option compared to simply ignoring it. The same idea goes with the bosses too as a lot of them follow patterns and different environments that make each encounter all the more remember-able and challenging throughout your journey. Honestly Bloodstained is the best of Metroidvania game when you're not stuck, and a large part of it is due to how good and varied combat feels thanks to weapons and shards alike.Really Bloodstained has a ton of neat stuff to add to the Metroidvania formula, and a lot of that I feel is due to having more creative freedom. Aside from some minor hiccups throughout the game, and taking into count that you don't try to 100% it, Bloodstained is an absolute classic to playthrough. There is still plenty to fix in terms of story, item collecting, and hinting, but a lot of it comes down to grumbles and groans over outright frustration against the player. Bloodstained is a solidified hit, one I'm happy to have backed, and something I'm a little upset at for myself for not playing it sooner.
Final Fantasy IX has always been a game that has been widely regard in the Final Fantasy community as one of the best, and thankfully it holds up to that exact expectation. Not only is it the best of the PS1 trio, but it's above and beyond the majority of the series, and stands out due to it's presentation and battle system.While I certainly wouldn't call FF9 a hard game, it is a game that lends itself well to building your characters how you want without losing the uniqueness of each character. While the story does lose a bit of focus, it stays ground it what it wants to set up and do. Plus the way the game constantly switches the cast point of view is so well done that I just can't express how much I want more of that in other Final Fantasy game. Not only is the party treated as more of an ensemble, but it's also something that they constantly focus on and give themes too. Not all the themes are done well sadly, and out of all the good games you could remake, FF9 would probably stand to benefit the most out of it. Most of the problems really just rely on the 2nd half of this game going into a bunch of odd stuff, and honestly it just doesn't work well compared to the first half. I feel like a lot of FF9's problems are just not having enough time to focus on the themes as much, and some characters coming in far later in the game just don't get the screen time they need.I don't want my criticisms to see too much though. In a lot of ways, the fact the game just goes to the end may be seen as a pace saver or at least, not dragging the game too much. Still if there could be some nice mix of cutting down certain fat, adding more story quests, or just expanding the story to the post game, I feel FF9 could immensely benefit. Considering the problem tho? FF9 not having enough for a player to chew on, already kind speaks levels in which it's story and characters engage you.I wouldn't call FF9 the best Final Fantasy out there, but it certainly takes a lot from what made other final fantasies good, retools them, uses them more, or even makes new ones to really hit home the quality of this game. If you wanted to start out playing the Final Fantasy series, I'd honestly suggest 9 as a good starting point. Simple, easy, and really engaging.
Deltarune has become an interesting enigma ****. While I understand that both chapter 1 and 2 are demos, in a lot of ways, they feel more like episodic games of each other. While they do boost similar mechanics and acknowledge the progression of time from each chapter, they honestly just feel like they are there own thing, and I really couldn't be happier about it. It makes what seems like 40 hr experience to be more akin to several short games to make one full one, and some how that is just easier to **** previously noted, chapter 2 just feels like it's own game with the way it creates it's own style to the formula it already presented, and just upping everything a bit more in terms of charm. From sweet crushes, fun bosses, and salesman; Chapter 2 really helps build up it's universe far more than the first chapter did. Not to say that chapter 1 did a bad job, but having to establish everything, and also do great at it is just a super tough sale compared to already knowing parts of the world to began with, Which chapter 2 really helps highlight and take advantage of playing the first chapter. Do you need to play the first chapter? No, so far, each chapter has been very episodic and while it can benefit to experience chapter 1; both games focus on separate things and characters to really make them feel they are only faintly connected.Everything that both Deltarune chapter 1 and Undertale have been known for still very much applies to chapter 2, although I say they have done the best at balancing the mechanics of battles and skill level of an average player. For those that don't know, both previous games have been known widely as ost bangers and great hyrbid shmup style gameplay. Chapter 2 oddly is the easier of the bunch of games, but still contains plenty of charm and substances to be different from it's predecessors. Although if this downward difficulty continues, I feel the game may need a difficulty mode for players looking for more of a challenge.Still Chapter 2 really just keeps the Deltarune hype train going with it's whimsical and captivating story telling, catchy dialogue, and [hyperlink blocked]. If you love games with a lot of charm and great music, Deltarune, especially chapter 2, will hold your attention.
I want to like Gurumin more than I actually should, but the constant thought of certain aspects in this game hold me back from my feelings of saying "Gurumin is great". In reality, Gurumin is a very charming game, but suffers from a few notable problems that makes playing it feel more like a chore at times.Often I likened how Gurumin gives you a ranking at the end of the level and the fact it has a homing attack that made me really want to compare this game to Sonic. Sadly, this isn't the case though as ranking the highest rank simply means you beat all the baddies and smashed all the vases. Never once does this game really acknowledge you for how you do something over just doing it. And sure you can get higher ranks of plus signs to show that you didn't get all that hurt, but really in the end it doesn't mean anything to the game as a whole. On top of that, the game's control system constantly trips over itself with how often you want to do one move, but end up getting locked in another. Due to how animation works with your character and how slow each attack is, often this will led to your character getting hurt or pulling off the wrong move. It's not something that makes the game unable, but it is something that stops it from making levels with a little more flare and oomf than "looking for vases on this map". While i don't think every game has to be or act like Sonic to be fun; the fact Gurumin had so much potential with it's formula is upsetting to **** game also has two difficulty spikes that are completely optional, but should be noted as something you need for completion so it can make people that just wanted to chill with a nice fun game, have nightmares about it. Simply put, soccer shouldn't be played with a super slow drill, and the super boss for this game doesn't really need to go THAT HAM on you. Thankfully the rest of the game doesn't suffer from this, and is certainly something a child can take care of with **** mentioned before Gurumin has a wonderful ride of style and charm, and a lot of that has to do with it's music and aesthetics. From it's wonderful title screen music to it's final boss guitar solos, Gurumin really be popping your ears off with great tunes. On top of that, everything is so nice and stylish that this game practically looks great, even for an old PSP game. Each level has a wonderful linear open design to explore, and something that helps with the games difficulty and controls at times. Many of the characters are quirky and fun too.Really Gurumin is a good adventure game for all ages that has a few warts to it, but they are all on the bottom of this iceberg that largely it doesn't feel right to criticize it too harshly. If you love Wario land or Sonic games, I certainly feel you will find your way home here.
Tennis has always been a sport I actually feel like I could take part of, and it's easily video games at their most basic. Hit the ball back and forth, try to flak your opponent, or just simply hit the ball really really hard to score points. Matches can often go from simply being a few minutes long to nearly an hour. However Mario always has to have a spin on sports games to make them more interesting, and largely this is done by different modes and various super hits that help mix the basic tennis structure into something more.While I don't think that the base game of Mario Tennis Open will really win over anyone, it is still tennis with a few neat generic super moves to use. The fact this game feels devoid of originality or Mario charm when it comes to hitting the ball or playing on different courts is a bit of a misstep in my eyes tho. While there is a course or two that have different properties compared to the rest of the standard game, this feel more akin to not having enough time to develop more interesting features over actually intentional use of the court for the final cup as a harder version of the tournaments **** fact, a lot of the features and single player stuff just seem like they were cut from what they were suppose to be, and instead of a neat little tennis RPG like we did with the GBA Mario Tennis, we instead get a customization Mii set with little use outside of streetpass novelty. On top of that, there is also the possibility of making characters a star version of themselves, and while it is a bit neat at first to get a "better" version of your character, it's really just a way to pad the game even more.Despite everything, Open does have a few neat little features, including 4 different mini games that let the player practice their shooting to become better players and unlock additional characters. I get that it **** to hide characters under conditions in multiplayer games, mostly because you want to open the game and play it right away, but in Open's defense these modes really help you focus on your aim and consistency to hit shoots all over the court. While I can't say how much skill I gained from these mini-games, I can't absolutely say I felt like I got better as a player and had fun doing it. The fact that they separate practices into 4 unique and defined mini-games is also really charming, being able to either play Tennis with the classic Super Mario Game, hit back the ball through rings, hit the ball while your view is blocked by ink, and controlling where your ball goes so it doesn't get **** into a black hole. Each mini-game is designed to help you get better, and is by far the best part of Mario Tennis Open.Sadly though, I just don't see Mario Tennis Open as a good Mario Sports game, but it is a decently good game. Open suffers from consistent faults like many of the other tennis titles, but fundamental lacks any charm in it's base game to really cover them up. In terms of handheld Mario Sports games, this is low on the list.
A freenium game that just sorta plays itself, and one game I think Nintendo really let rot as soon as it saw that it just won't be that profitable. Pokemon Quest has a really unique premise and style that I really wish was looked more into and I constantly feel like the game would have been better if they simply stopped trying to milk the first gen the way they constantly **** game is focused on exploring a cube island with a lot of blocky gen 1 pokemon, and while you can make a team to help explore various levels, the overall influence you have on the team and what they do is very minimal. So minimal in fact that the majority of this game can be played on auto and that's it. Sure you'd have to micro manage a bit, and I won't lie there is a certain charm to watching your pokemon slowly grow stronger to take on the next level, but the game itself isn't actually entertaining.What is entertaining is the way the pokemon look and how they interact with each other in your base area by doing fun little games with each other like stacking on top of each other or all dancing together. Aside from that though, I really don't have much fun aside from min/maxing pokemon and exploiting the way the game plays. If you're really into team building, but don't actually want to play a game, Pokemon Quest would be a perfect fit for you, but for everyone else, just watch some cute cat and dog videos.
Guilty Gear has so many various games that are simply not labeled well and makes even starting to figure out what Guilty Gear is about, a herculean task. On top of that, rarely does the game ever dive into the games lore within arcade or story modes and constantly makes you have to look through outside sources to really piece everything together. Heck, the fact the whole story is linked together with various spin off games on top of that makes for getting into Guilty Gear that much harder.Thankfully tho, Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R is a very charming mess, and while you may not understand the story; the music, the cool characters, and fun combat are very understandable. From various rock tracks to some of the most well designed roster in all of fighting game history, Accent Core Plus R has a ton going for it, and honestly if you were pressured to figure out where to start your guilty gear lessons it would be here. While Guilty Gear games before it certainly have their own charm; the fact is Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R is simply a game that has been through a number of additions to make it into a worthwhile experience. This is also on top of the fact that the game has so much to do in terms of multiple branched stories, unique survival mode, arcade mode, mission mode, and even with plus r's additional online.While I do think a lot of the cast is a bit of a dud to me in terms of how I like characters to control, the majority of the cast feels so unique and different that a lot of it just comes down to who you want to play over quantity of characters, despite the fact this game probably has the biggest roaster for Guilty Gear so far. That said there is still more than one character I like to play as, and plenty of them have charmed their way into my heart through playing through their stories or seeing their interactions with others.While the newer 2.5D looking Guilty Gear games certainly aren't nothing to snub, Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R is still a great addition to have for any fighting game fan, and one that has stood the test of time when it comes to balance and cast of unique characters. If you really want to start Guilty Gear, this is one of the best games to start playing it.
This is apparently a fighter based off the street fighter EX series and fighting layer as well as the port version of it on the switch. Thankfully it does control rather well, and is fairly fun to mess around with in terms of movement and fighting mechanics.While this game is a free to download game, the single player content is pretty much free to any characters you have, which the free version gives you a total of 4 characters. While the 2D art style of each character certainly pops, compared to the 3D model counterpart it leaves much to be desired. The game has a sort of arcade post 2000s vibe to it, with a lot of the stages looking rather rough around the edges, but as a sort of intentional way.Overall, Fighting Ex Layer is a surprising find for a free barebones fighting game. The single player content is certainly lacking and the rest of the characters have to be bought, but if you are ever strapped for cash and just want to play a new fighting game, Fighting Ex Layer can certainly help you with that itch. Very neat.
Super Kirby Clash is a bit of a remake of the 3DSTeam Kirby Clash Deluxe; sporting fancier graphics and even better online capabilities. Both Super and Team Kirby Clash are free to start games, and while I don't usually try to buy more upgrades if I can help it, the fact you can use gold coins from the Nintendo eShop on the switch really influenced me to go for it this time. Even then though, the most I really put into this game is roughly under 2$, and for what is basically an online Kirby boss mode it actually made everything smoother and easier to play. At the worse you'll have to simply wait longer that I did to actually beat this game, but it is very possible to beat this game as an online free to play, just expect it to take a long time.Even so, Super Kirby Clash has a lot of fun ideas and neat stuff to it that just makes me happy I played it. Not only do I constantly forget how fun Kirby's bosses are, but just the sheer amount of them is amazing to see and play against. A lot of people tend to forget that while Kirby does fight over sized enemies, he also fights inter-dimensional beings. On top of that, the amount of armor and weapons in this game is super neat, and you can dress up Kirby into a lot of cute outfits and weapons. There is also 4 classes to play as, Mage, Swordfighter, Hammer, and doctor. While I do think Doctor is a bit lame to actually main, the other 3 are very fun to play with. Mage is able to spam a time freezing attack that can help damage bosses heavily and can stay in the air for a long time. Hammer has an insane amount of damage output, and Sword has a neat move set that focuses a lot on comboing and defending. In a lot of ways, Super Kirby Clash has a basic yet complex fighting style akin to Super Smash Bros.I do wish there was more to do than just boss fights though, even if it was just a simple fighting mini-game, but even then we have two other Kirby games for that, and for what it is, Super Kirby Clash is easily one of the best free to start games I have played. Simple yet effective, Super Kirby Clash really makes me happy to play against these stylish bosses again.
As individual cases, Great Ace Attorney Adventures doesn't really top any of the better cases from each game, but what it does do is give us a solid, consistent experience throughout. From start to finish, each case is important to the story, the mechanics of the game, and character growth. Each case not only builds on one another, but are also connected in some way or fashion, and in that respect, this makes GAA Adventures one of the best in the series.Naruhodo is a charming individual from start to finish, and while he looks rather plain compared to the rest of the cast, the animation and dialogue make him stand out just as much as the people he interacts with. Kazuma is a wonderful mentor figure, and loyal friend to Naruhodo. Susato is a wonderful woman and sidekick that really proves to be far more enjoyable due to a lot of her quirks and will power to overcome her interactions with others. Iris, while not interacted with as much, is still a sweet child, and a joy to be around while she is on screen. And of course, Herlock Sholmes rounds out the rest of the cast by being a blow harder with motives that seem perplexing yet helpful. Along the way, additional cast and world building established through out various interactions helps not only match the original game's case of characters, but are stronger for them.Topping everything off, GAA benefits from the 3DS/Switches hardware by providing quality animations through out while also using various angles and movements that would simply be too hard for sprites. Overall GAA proves that 3D modeling of these characters helps bring them more to life, and really does help the game stand out as one of the best Ace Attorney experiences out there, and one that can absolutely be played without any knowledge of the previous games.
Magical Drop II is certainly an oddity. Originally an arcade game, and then turned SNES game; this little puzzler shares a lot of similarities to bubble bobble's puzzle format. You go around throwing gems in order to clear rows and earn certain combos. The only thing really separating Magical Drop II from it's bubble bobble roots is a slightly tuned mechanic of how the gems are combined, and the cartoonish anime magical girl vibe it has going for it. While a lot of the art style can be unappealing at times or feel crudely drawn, for the most part the game does a good job of pulling it off. On top of that, you constantly have the characters show personality with showing them in the background reacting, and by having them move around to combine gems.Really Magical Drop II is kinda really interesting for what it is, and while it certainly didn't need to go hard on the various puzzle mechanics or adding additional modes, the fact it has a puzzle mode that sort of acts like a tutorial for how to make combos. If anything, I think the additional effort feels like it pays off, and anything off putting about this game is quickly wiped away because of such efforts.While I don't think Magical Drop II is a classic or impressive game for a general audience; I can absolutely see how someone would get captivated by this game. From it's unique artstyle, simple puzzle mechanics, and personality, Magical Drop II radiates a cult classic in it's own right, and sometimes that's all a game needs to be loved.
Aside from the last 25% of this game, Yakuza Like A Dragon is amazing. Through my time playing the 7th entry in the Yakuza series I was always excited to see what new trouble or development that Ichiban and his gang were dealing with and how he brought everyone together. This game is truly an amazing soft reboot of the series, and while there are plenty of references to the original games, this really feels like a step forward in the right direction.Seriously! The majority of Yakuza 7 is wonderful, but that last part of the game can feel a bit like a drag with how everything is set up. Not so much the finale, but how you get to it. Largely the difficulty spike have to do with leveling up and dealing with Kasuga dies game over mechanic. While I certainly think the majority of this game is easier for newer RPG players; the fact we have to deal with such blunt boss design is not something every RPG player comes across. A lot of RPGs let their main character die in battle because it makes for a much more interesting game dynamic. Having to worry about Kasuga dying certainly isn't a big problem for the majority of the game, but for roughly 3 boss fights, it is.Yakuza 7 is still a stellar game though, and one that makes great use of RPG elements, narrative, characters, and Yakuza staples. Honestly it was a bit worrying when I heard that Yakuza 7 was going to be a RPG, but gosh does this work so well for the series. Not only does it allow itself to open up more, but also gives more characters a chance to shine! Honestly having Ichiban have a whole crew was a great change of pace, and one that helps make the story better due to higher emotional ties. The cast for Yakuza 7 isn't only more diverse, but interesting to boot. I would have seriously loved to see more substories staring the cast, but Ichiban is still plenty entertaining.Ichiban Kasuga really is the meat to this whole game. While I do miss Kiryu; Ichiban fits into his own niche of himbo that feels similar, but drastically different in his own way. Ichiban isn't exactly the smartest person in the world, but his emotional intelligent and ability to inspire others is chad worthy. On top of that, the game highlights the fact that Ichiban grew up in a soap land, and sex workers where a big part of his life. So much so that this game generally shows sex workers as human beings that may not be able to do more than just that. While it certainly isn't the full message we want, Yakuza continues to prove just how progressive it is.Overall Yakuza Like A Dragon is a new start to an already wonderful franchise, and with the way they pivoted into RPG battles and mechanics is amazing. If this was just another brawler, I don't think this game would have it me in the emotions nearly as much as it did, and because of how well crafted the story and character interactions were nearly all the emotional beats hit exactly how they were suppose to. Honestly if you ever wanted to get into the series, this is a wonderful place to start, and one that truly shows risks can pay off in ways you never expect.
For what basically amounts to a Breakout Clone, Wizorb is kinda one of the prettiest psuedo NES games out there. From it's captivating soundtrack to it's charming pixel graphics. Wizorb is certainly dressing to impress.Unlike most breakout clone games, Wizorb has some nice RPG elements to it; akin to a magic system and power up item shop. While you largely only get money and magic potions throughout the game, you can use various magic spells and power up abilities to either help you control the ball better or help it break more blocks as you launch it. The main problem being how difficult it is to control the ball where you want it to go. And while the appeal of Breakout Clones is slowly chipping away blocks upon blocks of points, it can be a bit mind numbing when you can't really exit out of any given level. While Wizorb let's you at least save and quit out of games, if you ever wanted to leave and stock up on items is a different story.I think that Wizorb would have been a better game in my mind if I didn't have to do the whole world in one go, but it at least gives you a bunch of continues and the ability to get lives rather easily. I understand that it was a way to score people while playing the game, but honestly a separate score attack and story mode would have been better. Not that I had a lot of difficulties with the game though, but I can see people of lesser patience or abilities being fed up with it.Wizorb is honestly kinda a neat and inventive game for the type that it is though, and a lot of that can be attested to it's boss battles and magic system. I feel if we had a lot more of it and less about score attacking then the game wouldn't feel so daunting of a task, but for what we did get isn't bad either. While Wizorb can get boring at times, it by far has more good going for it than bad.
Tell Me Why is kinda not the best title for the game, but it absolutely makes sense why it's titled as such. The game focuses so heavily on finding out the truth that largely it's hard to find a title that wouldn't just scare CIS people away. Which is important because there is such few games with not just trans representation, but good ones at that.While I do feel that Life is Strange is probably the crown jewel of Dontnod studio, the series overall is littered with a lot of over exaggerated actions and people. Tell Me Why has kinda the opposite approach, while the game does still have some cringe humor and dialogue choices, it's often more subtle in it's acting and gameplay. In fact, you're kinda dropped off at the start not knowing what to think of the two main protags meeting up, but when they start exploring their childhood home and talk to each other, it feels vastly better than any sort of narration before the fact ever could. The relationship between the twins is honestly amazing and the biggest highlight of the game. I didn't have any siblings growing up, but they certainly do feel like they were close siblings before and the chemistry they have with each other throughout these episodes certainly shows **** memory mechanic, in which you go around watching old memories and piecing together what really happened, is honestly a super interesting power compared to the past 2 Dontnod gave their protags. With such memories, it's also possible to have two different ones from different twins perspective, but it really would have been nice to see Dontnod expand on it better, but it ends up just feeling kinda limited.Delos Crossing and the people that you come across in Tell Me Why are also another interesting bunch, but largely you just don't get enough time that it really imprints on you like Arcadia Bay did. All these characters have interesting thoughts or interactions with one or both of the twins, and while I understand it may have been a bit dragging, it still would have been nicer to know that they had a bigger impact on the story aside from "tell us how this **** fact, the biggest problem with Tell Me Why is sort of underlined in the title. There just isn't that much at stake or excitment that normally would make someone play this game. While I do think Tell Me Why caters to a Trans audience and the idea of why the truth should be discovered, they just didn't give enough emotional pay off. Not to say that I want there to be a big storm or a police face off, but something more than just rattling a few people in a town because they can't handle the truth would have been nice.Aside from these thoughts though, Tell Me Why does a good job at telling a story that it did want to tell. Tyler is good transrep and they honestly nailed a lot of trans feelings of dysphoria and growing up. While Tyler certainly isn't the best he could be, he is a good start and something I hope to see more of. The overall story, characters, and truth were interesting to find out, and while I could predict some things along the way, they were certainly better for it. Tell Me Why is a good game with earnest effort put into it.
Fighting games are largely two player experiences. You'd figure out how to use the controls and characters and fight another player to figure out who is the better fighter. But back in the day, handheld gaming was certainly a thing, but not one that was common enough to meet up with someone and play the same game with them considering you needed a link cable and another person to do so. So why Aksys thought Guilty Gear X Advance Edition was a good idea is beyond me.Guilty Gear has always been a rather niche fighter before the Strive days, and due to this not a lot of people even knew about the games. So much so that the fact this was the port of a sequel PS1 release is confusing on it's own, let alone factor the fact it's the only Guilty Gear X game we got over here, and the one that has the most stuff for the North American release. What's also extremely odd is the game honestly looks and plays really well. While the GBA model doesn't led itself well to fighting games, the responses, graphics, and sprites all look great to good enough. While the whole cast may suffer from face blindness, the fact they were able to recreate them on the GBA is astounding. The music takes an incredible dive due to the limits of the GBA, but they do their best to mimic the sound effects and soundtrack.Sadly this is a fighting game on an old handheld, and honestly it's multiplayer content is not something you would look into nowadays let alone if you could in the past. Everything about this game ranges to subpar to "good enough for the GBA", but that's far too much context for a game that is outclass nowadays anyway. There is slightly more single player content than most of the versions before it, and it's a fun novelty for a night, but it's just not something that is worth playing let alone owning.
Games can be like puzzles at times, and when you solve a game, any number of things happen. Either the game just stops counting the points, you're able to sequence break or skip entire parts of it, or you're like the original Pac-Man and break. Pac-Man had a neat and simple AI design, and with that a lot of humans were able to exploit it. Basically making it to the point that the game hit a kill screen in which it couldn't get past level 256, once you hit that, you solved Pac-Man, broke it really, and honestly it's really neat that Namco acknowledged that, and developed a game based on the 256 kill screen.256 is an endless runner based Pac-man game in which the main goal is to survive as long as possible on a board that constantly randomly generates with a bunch of ghosts. The ghosts in Pac-Man 256 follow a similar pattern to the original Pac-man as well. Inky will only turn the same corners, Pinky will only move when she sees Pac-man and can even out speed him, Clyde turns every now and again, and Blinky will always try to home in on Pac-man. The game also features four other ghosts, a purple one that moves in a line of 3, moving along with Pac-man's direction. A green one that come in a set of 4 that move back and forth, a gray ghost that sleeps till Pac-Man or one of his power ups wake them up, and finally a glitched one that moves erratically according to which ghost it is trying to mimic. On top of all these ghosts you also have the kill screen looming in the bottom corner waiting to swallow Pac-man whole, and all of this makes for an interesting take on the Pac-man formula as well as a good endless runner.While 256 certainly has some flawed design and unwinnable scenarios, they aren't nearly as present as you would think. For the most part the game gives you a clear look at what's up ahead; on top of the fact that when you switch screens you gain a small bit of invincibility. The power-ups, while not all are nearly as balanced or fair to use; also help you get through the vast majority of problems you face. While all of the power-ups are use-able to some extend, overall don't live up to the tired and true power pellet. The same can be said for the 256 mechanic in which you can collect 256 pellets and clear the entire board for some quick points. While hitting a 256 is very cool, the majority of the time it is just not viable and extremely hard to pull off compared to simply eating a power pelt or using a power up to get rid of some of them. While I certainly like the neat power system 256 has, largely it doesn't reach it's potential due to locking the better power-ups in higher tiers. Due to this, a lot of players can feel discouraged or hate the idea of having to wait for better power-ups. A lot of this could have been changed if they simply changed the power up system a little with moving certain powers to upgrades for the originals or given the choice of what you wanted to unlocked.Sadly in terms of options, Pac-man 256 is incredibly lackluster, with no way to window the game, toggle between just sound or effects, and the inability to simply **** the end of such an endless run, I found excitement in hitting new scores and figuring out how all the ghosts move. With the knowledge in hand along with the correct power-ups it feels good to tackle on this with some background music playing as I try to get the highest score. It would have been nice if they balanced the power up system orstream lined the options menu, but Pac-man 256 is a wonderful endless runner that utilizes Pac-man's elements to it's fullest.
Virtua Fighter has always been a main stay in the arcades since it came out, and honestly I never really understood why. A lot of the games felt basic, mildly confusing, and overall not very approachable. It's not so much that I dislike Virtua Fighter as I don't get **** time with Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown though has ultimately led me to the thought that this is just a basic fighter. Honestly it says it on the title right there, It's a fighter, it's virtual, and it's the 5th edition. Sure, there are more characters and some interesting stages to see, but honestly it's just what it says. I wish there was more to this game aside from fighting, but the only other extra you really get out of this game is an arcade mode with no story, and a tutorial mode to just teach you the basics.Like I really do like fighters, and I like these cast of characters, but I wish there was more to it. It's just versus mode, online stuff, and arcade. The content is so bloody basic I swear it's straight from the arcade itself, without any thought to what else someone might want from a fighting game, and as someone that is apart of a super small niche of players that like solo content in fighting games, Im a little attacked at the fact I have to play with **** the end, Virtua Fighter 5 is a basic fighter. It's not flashy, the mechanics and fighting is interesting to get into for some, and the amount of moves you can use is far more than a usual fighter, but really it's only if you want to give it the time of day. Virtua Fighter really only wants to impress you by fighting, and for some that's enough.
Mega Man Battle Network 2 is an upgrade in every way to the format; raising up combat, challenge, and stakes. MMBN2 is the natural progression the series needed, and one that fixes a number of problems in the first game. While I don’t think Battle Network 2 is a vast improvement, it’s a nice addition to the series, and one I was fine playing.While I didn’t have many quarrels with the first game, the fact this game helped deck building by introducing 2 new elements was a pleasant surprise. By giving the player the permanent add function, cycling through unwanted chips really helps go through your deck faster compared to the first. As well, the game added * chips that basically function as wild cards, and are able to be added to any single lettered chips. While these two functions seem mild, it really helps in smaller ways when you have too many chips that aren’t good for an individual fight, and you don’t want to keep changing your deck when you roam around. Due to this, a lot of fights don’t end up being longer than they should if you met a hard team of enemies or a boss you weren’t fully prepared ****, oh boy, will you met some hard enemy teams and bosses along the way. Along with the improved deck management, everything out to get you, is extra mad in this game, and they don’t pull any punches. Seriously, if it wasn’t for the fact that they introduced sub ships to the system to make exploration far easier, I would have complaining about the difficulty spikes far more. And while true, there is difficulty spikes, the majority of the difficulty doesn’t come from enemies being outright hard, but due to the fact they require certain chips to beat. I don’t know why this game liked giving enemies plenty of invincibility periods or limited ways to approach them, but the further and further you go into this game, the more enemy teams you meet that just require you have certain things in your deck or even worse, make you wait to hurt them. Perhaps the worse enemies in this entire game are the ones that you get a limited time to hurt, and by making the fight drag on longer than it should just became even more aggravating when you’re trying to explore a given area, and you lose your barrings because the fight took too long.I don’t think Mega Man Battle Network 2 has a story that really beats the first one, but it does indeed up the stakes. From stopping planes from crashing, to castle traps, and everything in-between, this game is surprisingly dark for a target audience of kids. Still, despite it’s more grim nature, the game still remains as bright and colorful as ever, with many new designs being anywhere from cute to downright badass. Legit, Battle Network 2 delivers on updating and making new models of character and robot masters. Is it enough to put it over the end of the first game though? Hard to say really, while Battle Network 2 is very much an upgrade of the first on, but I just think more fondly of the story and gameplay of the first.
Having played Magic The Gathering in my college days, I have to say the game still remains tried and true to what I remember it being. The overall card game is still as strong and interesting as ever, and it even has more robust art now then it ever did when I played it.Arena, however, is not the card game and certainly doesn't take up it's place, but it does a stellar job at bringing it to the digital world. For card games, a good understanding of how the game works is important for both players to understand in order to enjoy it to it's fullest, and Arena makes sure to do it's best by providing a ton of helpful tools and UI that readily tells the user what is happening on the board. The game also boosts a little training tutorial that explains the game in sort of mock battles which give players the ability to play through a per-determined game to see if they can win it with the cards given. Anyone mildly familiar with how to play card games will have an easy enough time with this, but new players may struggle a little before being able to access the rest of the game. As well, the game won't let you play Player vs. Player matches till you finish one of the color challenges, and for people that know how to play the game already, this can be a major **** shop in Arena certainly feels a bit predatory akin to most gacha game formats. It even has a bunch of skins and nik naks that players can invest in that makes me kinda cringe at the thought of recommending it to anyone that as mild gambling addictions, but the nature of card games kinda already lend themselves to such behavior. At the least, Arena proves to be a nice digital replacement for the table top game, and for spacing purposes, may be better for the average person.
Yakuza has always been a hard boiled drama with extra fun moments and a bunch of mini-games, but the way 3 sets things up, messes a lot of the pacing on what could have been a rather impactful story to tell.3 starts off has a flash forward of events to come right after the second game. While that would have been fine; the fact we go back in time to the exact events that happen right after Yakuza 2, isn't. And this isn't the only time Yakuza 3 chooses to have awkward pacing either, often the game will tell you have a day to get ready, but then you'll see 3 days pass before you actually go anywhere. On top of all this, you are constantly shown things in a slightly odd order, in what appears to be an attempt to keep the player entertained while establishing a relationship with your kids in the orphanage. Oh, did you not know about the kids at the orphanage? WELL, tough luck, because you only get the after effects of Kiryu getting the orphanage and having an already established relationship with them. Honestly I really wouldn't mind Yakuza 3 focusing fully on the orphanage thing in the first half if it JUST DID, but it constantly doesn't. You help a kid, fight some thugs, help your kids some more, fight some thugs, fast forward, more story beats, help your kids before leaving to Tokyo. It's really exhausting going through this game because it just can't make up it's mind at the beginning of what it wants to **** sad truth too? All the kid stuff is genuinely really good and helps establish Kiryu's character in a way the rest of the series didn't while still maintaining some Yakuza gameplay. Would have Yakuza 3 had a slower start? YES, but that was kinda needed for this game, and the fact they didn't do that and instead made a really complex plot point for no reason is frustrating because you can see the writers making it up as they go along. There are clear ideas that Yakuza 3 has, but it's never able to settle on one, and makes a lot of moments less impactful or worse, **** there better Yakuza games out there? Ya, pretty much any other Yakuza game could beat this one, but there isn't a lot of them that show Kiryu being a parent to a bunch of kids, and that's what upsets me the most about this game. They had a chance to slightly step out of the usual Mafioso tale and didn't stick to it. There is still plenty of shine and glimmer of what Yakuza 3 could have been, but with an outdated system, odd pacing, and a mess of a story; the bad still outweighs it. Yakuza 3 is a good game, but a bad Yakuza game.
Murder By Numbers feels like a great start to a franchise that combines picross gameplay and murder mystery. The cast of supporting characters are fun and interesting, the main duo have great chemistry with each other, and are apart of the center of this games mystery. The music and art style emulates the likes of Phoenix Wright and for good reason as a lot of the game is either inspired or in the musics case, made by the same composer. The is a total of 4 cases, with each case being longer than the last, and providing a different unique mystery.While I certainly think the game is a great starting point, it also has a lot to work on as well. The majority of the game doesn't feel heavy enough on mystery, with a lot of the game focused more on character interactions and picross than solving a mystery. A lot of the villains are also either too predictable, uninteresting, or both. And there was never a moment where I actually cared about any given villain, and the little that I did was mitigated by how little they did after the fact. The Ace Attorney series have a way of making their villains far more nefarious or remember-able by giving them more outlandish features or motivation, but the majority of Murder By Numbers villains are far too grounded in reality. If anything, Murder By Numbers needs to work on their reveals more in order to wow an audience.I certainly like picross, and even learned how to do it better thanks to the games tutorials and mechanics, I feel that it relied far to heavy on the gameplay from it to use it effectively, and didn't quite iron out a way to make non-picross players stay. A good way to help that is either to beef up the hint system or simply lower the overall difficulty of the puzzles. Largely the fact you're scored throughout the case, and get penalized if you use hints makes a lot of the game harder than it needs to be. And while I understand the process of using a high score system to influence players to play, the fact that in order to S rank on a case, you have to either 100% the first time or go back and redo it again makes for getting any of the unlockables more of a frustrating endeavor than it needed to be.Overall Murder By Numbers is a game series that I want to see more of and while it does have it's problems, they are far more minimal than I make them out to be. The majority of this game is a great start to what it can be, and the fact that I can see that potential, keeps me excited for this game.
After coming off the highs of yuri love from it's remake sister game, Nurse Love Syndrome, I was honestly surprised by Addictions common route. While the majority of Nurse Love Syndrome was about the main protag learning all the ropes of becoming a nurse and giving plenty of information on medical care and the like, Addiction has next to nothing of that. In fact, most of Addiction's common route is more akin to school social dynamics and learning about the MC's past. While Kaede's route doesn't bother with learning about the past, theother three main routes are very interconnected with each other, as Sayaka, Itsuki, and Nao all interact within each others routes and you learn one or two given things within that route that the other routes don't share. Addiction is also more outlandish with it's story having more violence, abuse, and morbidness than the first one did, all while lending well to the themes the story and how routes go.Asuka as a main character is far more interesting, aggressive, and dynamic compared to the likes of Kaori. While I do think that the main protag is a better fit compared to the previous game, the capture targets are slightly less interesting and lesser amount comparatively. While Syndrome sported 6 capture targets and a more robust common route and story, Addiction feels like it's missing some content and only has 4 lovers to chose from. Thankfully both games all have unique capture targets, and there doesn't feel like there is much overlap, as well as Addiction sporting a stronger **** being Asuka's sister gives the story a more taboo vibe, but oddly enough doesn't play it up to the point that it's off putting or make a point that they're not sisters, as the game reinforces this notion throughout. Sayaka is the princess type that has a bit more mystery to her than it seems, and certainly feels like the one that you are led to more throughout the game as the common route supports it, but it honestly doesn't feel like it's the "real canon" ending. Itsuki is the cool type that messes with Asuka the most, but hides so much of herself and what she is doing that she can often feel more like a mystery than a person. And lastly, Kaede is apart of the teacher/student lovers pairing, and is surprisingly more aggressive and wholesome compared to the rest of the **** the most part, Addiction can feel more like a mystery than a love story, much like Syndrome felt more like a drama, but through it's cast of characters and common route it provides for a very enjoyable experience with a few shocking endings.
This was my first real dating sim visual novel, and honestly if they are all this well done I'll have to really give this genre a look. The common route of Nurse Love Syndrome actually doesn't deal with much love to begin with. The majority of problems, concerns, and moments are just a newbie learning to be a nurse and figuring out how to be the best they can be. At a certain point you do start to unlock romantic routes, but this doesn't happen till roughly 60% through the common route. The game also has a bit of mystery and dark tones to it, with a large portion of it dedicated to the main protag, Kaori, trauma from surviving a car accident. The game's choices are also a bit subtle, but not to the point of being obtuse. A lot of the choices usually align with where you want your affection to go, but it isn't also clear 100% of the **** main cast are all fairly given a variety of depth and care throughout the game, and even more so in their respective routes. With the expectation of two characters, I would say every character is written well enough and have a number of layers on them that can help you connect to why they would do certain actions over constant explanation. A lot of this has to do with the common route explaining certain details about a problem and how each character interacts with Kaori as she learns about the **** same characterization can't be said with two of the characters, Ami and Mayuki. I think a large reason Ami doesn't get main focus is due to her leaving and coming back into the story and also the fact she is a high school student. While the game does well to treat such an age gap, the actual moments for Ami and the point in which Kaori falls in love feel rather thin, and it's even to the point that Kaori doesn't really declare her love for Ami compared to the main cast. It certainly seems like Ami has a lot more going with her story, but just as fast as it starts out, it fizzles out. Mayuki, on the other hand, feels entirely out of place for this game. While a majority of this game focuses on realistic problems and solutions, Mayuki is entirely a magical Benjamin Button plot point. It is certainly interesting seeing the dynamic of these two characters interact with Mayuki being so off putting to everyone, but the sweet Kaori, and Kaori navigating the mystery around Mayuki, it's just too short serving compared to the rest of the cast.While the game usually has an odd moment where Kaori kinda sits down and wonders if she is in love, a lot of this subdued by the fact that she is also a rather dumb protag. Kaori, by all means, tries her best, but it's clear to see that she is still very naive and keeps her emotions on her shoulder. Due to this, a lot of interactions may seem aggravating, and at times can be hard to place as a self insert because she is largely her own character.Overall Nurse Love Syndrome was a great experience of love, romance, and surprisingly informative about what it's like to work as a nurse. While I certainly doubt there is any work place romance going on in real life, my time with Nurse Love Syndrome certainly felt romantic enough to keep me busy.
I have to say that Splice has been one of the most interesting boring puzzle game I have played this year. Like without a doubt the mechanics of Splice work for it, and it really is quite challenging to figure out how to fit everything together and planning moves ahead of time. The main problem with Splice though is that it feels more like a lengthy mini-game than an actual game. Everything is barebones, tutorials , music, and menus. If the presentation was any better, or things were a little fancier I would certainly consider this a more interesting game to play, but as it is, it would have been better as a mini-game.
This is a rather neat little puzzle game where you play as a cube and try to make it to the goal. While a lot of it is self explanatory, there is also little ? that help you figure out what to do with puzzles you may be stuck on, and help you think of how to approach each puzzle differently. On top of the simple point to point goal, you can also collect little flashing cubes, or try to beat the puzzle as fast as you can. Each puzzle is given a rank from D to S, and can certainly help this short game's replay-ability. While I don't think the graphics or music are anything to write home about, the fact that you can't turn the volume up or down is certainly a turn off, but largely it's a solid game regardless and certainly a nice game to beat over a weekend.
Bravely Default was a game that just blew up on the 3DS due to it's accessibility, interesting characters, story, and oddly enough street pass feature. Bravely Default II, some how, feels like a step back in every aspect. The story and characters in Bravely Default II feel a bit blander, the game has dropped several features that made the game more accessible, and lowered the social aspect of this game. Anyway I think about it, Bravely Default II, is a step back of not just Bravely Second, but the original game as **** this game disappointing, yes. Is this game still a fun and enjoyable experience, also yes. The problem with the series so far is just how good the first game was player balanced, and Square trying to tweak the formula and make the rest of the series a similar experience. Sadly Square doesn't seem to understand that the social aspects of the first game is what made Bravely Default so fun. Being able to summon friends in a pitch as they dealt a bunch of damage was great and really helped with people that struggled with certain bosses. Add this together with a bunch of broken abilities that you work hard to unlock and experiment was the added flavor on top. Sadly Default II adds a bunch of counters, and limits that just sort of get in the way from any fun experimentation and end up making harder fights more about trial and error, than an actual **** story isn't much to write home about either, and while it does serve the game well enough, it simply isn't as interesting as the original game. From weak character motives, to making most people's character growth attached to side quests, to simply just being a rather basic mcguffin quest. Thankfully some of the side quests do go to interesting places, and most of this is due to using previous bosses as part of these side quests either as a side of the quest itself or being involved in some **** real though, Bravely Default II is a fine JRPG, it simply doesn't match up to the quality of the rest of the series.
Dragon Quest Heroes is a bit of a slow burn ****. It takes roughly 1/3 of the game to really get going, and a lot of the attraction of the dynasty warrior games doesn't really show up till the 50% mark. For all purposes, Heroes is a slow build, and while it does give out plenty of story and wonderful dialogue with returning Dragon Quest characters, a lot of this will be lost for non-dragon quest fans. Not to say that if you aren't a dragon quest fan you can't play it or find it appealing, but it will probably take you longer than a fan to actual enjoy it. Missions are often broken up into several smaller ones, and while longer missions would have certainly been a hassle, sometimes it feels like everything is cut too short or feels redundant. While I understand that most warrior games simply are massive potato chip games where you pick it up to lose yourself in super shiny cool moves, this break of pace and constant stopping for cutscenes or dialogue can really break up the usual action most warrior fans are used too.Heroes is simply too ambitious for it's own good, and while I admire them trying to add a proper story that tries to world build and set up characters well, it mostly comes across as janky to both sides of the coin. Heroes certainly has an idea of what it wants to be, but perhaps with more to missions and less breaking for the story the game could have appealed more to warrior and dragon quest fan alike, instead of not really pleasing either side. Thankfully, this game isn't washed up trash either, just rough around the edges.
I love One Piece because of it's story, characters, and world building. One Piece is iconic the way it plans it's story telling and how it's characters interact, but the same can not be said for Unlimited Adventure. Unlimited Adventure starts out rather charming, but quickly becomes a grindfest of resource management, fighting dummy enemies, and confusing exploration. I really want to like Unlimited Adventure more, but there is just so much holding it back from being a good game, and the tact on wii mote stuff doesn't help either. From annoying fishing controls to unresponsive net hit boxes, Unlimited Adventure provides to be too frustrating to even gather resources, so when you are demanded to get more to progress it begins to test patience over skill. The story is also barely there, and the more interesting bits usually come from the actual show/manga itself over anything else. This all being said tho, the actual combat and boss battles are a delight, and provide a nice challenge to go through. The game even goes through some hoops by having a versus mode. Overall Unlimited Adventure has potential, and I am sad to see it wasted.
Guilty Gear is a very bare bone, yet ambitious fighting game. While the franchise is well known for its affinity for rock music, you can tell that the first outing was very toned down comparatively. The game just screams a company trying to figure out what they want to do with their franchise, and a lot of character and sound design reflect this. While it is jarring to look at the characters now compared to their later counterparts, nonetheless it is fun to see how they came to be. While I wouldn't recommend this to most people, fans may get a kick at looking at this older entry, and it certainly holds up better than most of its competitions first entries.
When I finished up my play of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, I didn't think there be a game out there that would fill the void New Horizons gave me, but thankfully I am wrong. Friends of Mineral Town may be a remake of an older GBA game, but with enough fixes to make gameplay to make it easier, and the access to gay marriage has enhanced this little GBA game to be just tops. Honestly it's shocking how good a game can be by simply adding Lesbians into it, and along with the simple yet addictive nature it is to make crops and build your farm from scratch really makes you feel like you accomplished something. There is still plenty of game to be made, but it's nice to know that I have a wonderful wife, a neat little town to visit, and a farm to build even further.
Life is Strange 2 continues to move through the motions that the first game set up, and while it does feel a bit heartbreaking to no longer be with Max, I really like this game tried to help set up it's own universe. While a lot of the choices you make throughout the first Life Is Strange felt very minor, and often had little impact, the sequel at least does a better job to strength the choices you make. The game follows Sean as he tries to take care of Daniel in a **** situation that just honestly keeps getting worse and worse. While often the game can feel like pity porn, and a very blunt political message; it's at least made clear that Sean literally just wants the best for Daniel and that he is trying his very best. With the emotional impact that is made and a more serious tone compared to the first game shows that Dontnod is serious about making these types of games, and with how each episode progressed, that they are indeed getting better at making scenarios and encouraging player choices. Sadly though they still can't seem to nail the landing, and like the game before it, Life is Strange 2 ends in a rather rushed fashion, and due to some hidden choices with Daniel, and the inability to properly tie everything together, still feels like you are only really picking between a few color coded choices.
Final Fantasy 8 is easily the worst RPG I have played, and I say that knowing I played Sticker Star and Chrono Cross. There is next to nothing redeeming about it and all the ideas it introduces have problems somewhere along the line. The game literally tries to force this weird romance with Squall and Rinoa, but never really grows past the idea of teenage love. Literally all the characters introduced in this are pushed at the way side in order for their relationship to develop, and it never does beyond Rinoa being a simp, and Squall getting horny enough to have emotions. At literally one point it's revealed that literally everyone in the party just has amnesia, and they do literally nothing with it. You go to the future, and they do nothing with it. The game constantly switches you back and forth with party members to the point of annoyance, and literally none of the party members have fighting ability beyond using the GFs, and the majority of switching is **** to began with. Squall literally should not have been the main character; it makes no narrative sense for him to be the main focus when he barely interacts with anyone. Cid is the absolutely worse in this game, being a cuck for life. There are so many threads that just literally go no where, and a war that just isn't resolved. It's literally just one big mess, and that's only discussing the story! The main game junction system is so obtuse and hard to understand, and the draw system is horribly slow. The fact this game literally works better by avoiding battles is such a big misstep that I'm legitimately surprise the franchise didn't end here.
I honestly don't know how else to describe this game aside from feeling real. The characters, their town, the dialogue, it all feels like I actually came back from a failed attempt at college and I'm truly stuck there. The way the game places strong importance to talking to people, and having a day to day dialogue with the townsfolk is truly something special. While the game never really demands much from you to began with, it does offer a hard look at life, and gives a narrative that hits home to anyone that has felt stuck or that something is wrong with them. The dark themes of the plot aren't really about any problem, but how society as a whole creates problems for the people it should be serving. There is a big underlining capitalism bad, and other themes of socialism agenda that are mostly told through sad animal characters dealing with common issues that most people in the modern day have, and honestly delivers such ideas through realistic dialogue compared to the usual pandering of spelling it out for the player. Overall Night In the Woods is a good game about character interactions with a strong theme of socialism.
If I will be honest for a moment, the Kingdom Hearts series never really clicked for me. I've never really been super hype about any of these games, and any excitement I do have for them are often when I play through the games and forget after the fact. This really isn't to say that Kingdom Hearts as a series is bad or anything, they just don't resonate for me as much as they do for most people. That is, of course, till this game; Birth By Sleep is easily my favorite Kingdom Hearts game. Largely BBS wins my heart by it's cast of characters, absurd himbo moments, Aqua saving everyone's ass, and the exploitative combat system. I feel like a lot of the other kingdom hearts game can have some pacing issues with their story and combat that goes undressed in the fandom, and the way this game is built with basically the same game being played in different perspectives and play styles helps the pacing and interest I have for this game.
Mega Man Network Transmission has a difficulty problem. Not only does it have the fault that most Mega Man X games have by being weaker in the beginning without much to work with, but it also has several bosses that feel out of place in difficulty. The majority of Transmission's gameplay is actually a fairly decent run of the usual Mega Man classic formula mixed with The dungeon like exploration that the .exe games are known for. Largely a lot of the designs and music for this game are truly spot on for the rest of the franchise, and works great for the game. Zero makes for an interesting antagonist and once again proves to be one of the best part of the franchise. While I certainly wouldn't say Transmission is as bad as most Mega Man X games, it certainly doesn't hold up to par with the original Battle Network game that I have played.
The Missing is an interesting puzzle platform horror game that explores various themes of rejection, self doubt, and what it means to be yourself. Through symbolism, texts, and various cutscenes we learn the blight of J.J. Macfield, and what it truly means to experience pain in the cost to solve something so we can keep moving forward. It's a wonderful game filled with excellent puzzles, great atmosphere, wonderful sound design; that also centers around a very important message. LGBT friendly and uplifting overall, please play this wonderful game.
Mega Man games are always interesting in the fact they take a concept and run with it for several games to see how it works and just kinda make a franchise out of it. Mega Man Battle Network being a lot of people's introduction to Mega Man, really helps establish it's own type of gameplay and world that honestly I think other Mega Man games would envy. With classic being very based and simple, the X series being more dark and gritty, and even the legends series being more cheerful and full of adventure, each Mega Man game before Battle Network really helped establish it's own tone for their respect franchise, within said franchise. What is perhaps more interesting about Battle Network despite it's gameplay being widely different, is how it manages to have a lot of the same tones of all the previous Mega Man games and just make it work. Battle Network honestly has some darker themes that are hidden in it's cheery nature, but largely it works because how well the world gets established. The enemies in Battle Network are colorful and cool looking, but often you see exactly how much they effect the real world, and honestly really helps with the stake being so high. It's a little jarring to see Lan, as a 5th grader, take on a whole terrorist organization, but ultimately it's written well enough to not be too out there. All the characters are a good baseline for the start of the franchise, and the gameplay is even better when it comes to being built on. While a lot of the game takes getting used to, and trying to figure out how to optimize everything will take a while, it at least has enough there to feel refreshing and rewarding for the time you put into this game. There are some problems with directions though, and often if you misinterpret or do things in the incorrect order the game won't tell what to do next. It's not enough to ruin the game, but it happens a lot more often than it should, and with the way the game looks with it's isometric view doesn't do it any favors. Overall Mega Man Battle Network is a great start to a franchise, and one I'm happy to have played.
I feel a lot of people have way too much nostalgia and blind love for a lot of older games without seeing a lot of problems with their game design and hype the game way too much for newer audiences because of it. Mega Man X, Link To The Past, and yes, even Streets of Rage fall into this category. This isn't to say that all the Streets of Rage games are bad or not worth your time, but that they are a product of the time and honestly don't hold up to today's standards. Streets of Rage 4 tho? OH MY GOODNESS, does it not only APPEAL to it's nostalgic demographic, but nails every beat it needs for a beat'em up in the modern age. From learning how to use supers proper, to the special star attacks, to just throwing objects and catching them; Streets of Rage 4 goes above and beyond improving the old formula, while also fine tuning these mechanics for a newer audience. This, of course, isn't even going to the wonderful art work, character design, and music that is poured into this game. Frankly I could just talk about how good this games aesthetic is alone, but the fact it also has multiplayer, multiple unlockables, and different modes to try out just really show how much Beat'em ups have evolved and can thrive in the modern age. This is a game for newcomers and veterans alike, and easily one of the best games I've played this year. For 25$ this game is more than worth your time, and if you can get it on sale, EVEN BETTER. If you ever liked a beat'em or streets of rage even just at an eggy, wow Blaze is cute, play this game!
My introduction to the Halo games was Halo 3, than ODST, 2, 4,5, Reach and finally Halo. So when I say this is still one of the better Halo games, i really do mean it without any nostalgia blinding me and understanding fully what the series becomes. While it doesn't have some of the mechanics that were streamlined in other Halo games, you can tell exactly how Halo 2 and 3 built on this games legacy and became the games they are today. In a lot of ways, Halo reminds me more of Halo 3 and my fond memories with that campaign. From the flood's introduction, to the struggles on bridges, to the banshees / vechile runs, Halo really set all these elements up well and Halo 3 expand amazingly on a winning formula. One of the best parts of this game was seeing how the flood were introduced and seeing 343 slowly being revealed to be the ass that he is. With Cortana also getting in a few sassy lines as well, it's easy to see why teens are horny for her. Overall Halo's first outing does a great job of establishing lore and level design that makes Halo.
Halo Reach is probably the Halo that gave me the most trouble when it came to beating it since my playthrough of Halo 3 on legendary. While I did have the difficulty at Heroic, more often than not Halo Reach just had certain suggests that felt too hard to manage or just went on for way longer than it should have. Which is weird because the game also has plenty of areas where you can run past the enemies and progress anyway. While I enjoyed enough of my time of Halo Reach, these difficulty spikes and inconsistency of length really hindered my enjoyment of the game. Overall the story is a nice brush of past events that led up to Halo and the overall tied of battle for the Halo universe. It's interesting to see humanity struggle this much against the convenant again, and Team Nobles interactions on and off the battle field really do give enough characteristics to make you miss them when they all eventually fall.Overall Reach is a tragic tale that had it's high moments, but largely fails to captive me the same way that Halo 3 or 5 have so far. While not the worst Halo game I played, the bad parts I remember hold me back from seeing the good ones.
I can safely say that I don't understand the hate for these games. 343 I don't think is the best map designer out there or has the best enemy placements, but they do seem to understand how to properly build a world and make me care more about it. The focus is less on Master Chief and Cortana, but rather on the impending threat of the Guardians and what it means for all existing conflicts. It's a little bit of a shame that Halo 5 picks up a lot of heavy lore drops and fixes to the continuity that Halo 4 kinda dropped when it was setting up it's story, but they are more so thoughts on Halo 4 being a better story rather than a full slight at the game itself. The new protags introduced in this game are a mix bag of people you may learn from other lore drops in the Halo universe and/or how well you can connect to them via their dialogue. While I felt Osiris did have the better overall story and characters, I feel it would have been nicer to have Master Chief go it alone in his sections, if only for the fact to get back to some of Halo's roots rather than waste the character potential in blue team. The overall cat and mouse game that Osiris and Blue team have though are the most interesting dynamic in the game, and really what helps this game stand out compared to previous **** also get these really nice overworld chapters where we can explore sites and locations without the need for battle and just kinda fill more of the universe and atomsphere that Halo 5 has to offer, and frankly it's one of the better traits in Halo 5 that is sorely lacking in the previous Halo games I have played. Tie this all together with a revamped enemy and weapon system that feels a bit more balanced, and Halo 5 looks to be one of the better Halo experiences out there.
