Here's the last of July's Switch Online updates. Three games is pretty bare, and the only update for the NES side is an SP version of Mario 3 (it's just a save state). BACKGROUND:
Nope. Still not a game I've heard of before. For the record, I am not complaining every time I say this. As much as I'd love to explore some heavy hitters through the emulator service, these obscure, off-the-wall picks are just as interesting to me (and I'm aware that I'm the minority when it comes to this). SUMMARY: Claymates is a side-scrolling 2D platformer where you play as Clayton, a boy who was transformed into a ball of clay by an evil witch doctor, who also kidnapped his scientist father and stole a serum that can transform people into animals. It is as bizarre as it sounds. Pretty much all the levels just require you to get to the end, but they're all large enough to allow for exploration. However, there isn't a lot to find in terms of secrets; apart from three special tokens that unlock purple boxes in the levels (which themselves don't have any unique rewards), it's mostly bonus gems (which are like Mario coins), extra lives, the occasional power-up, or bonus rooms (which, again, just have more of the same). That said, I did enjoy simply exploring, though the ten-minute time limit kind of took away from the fun of it. As a clay ball, you don't have a lot you can do both platforming and combat wise. In order to stand a chance, you'll have to pick up one of five colored balls to transform into one of five animals. There's the mouse that runs extremely fast, the cat that can walk vertically up walls (an ability that I'll note is somewhat hard to use), a squirrel with a projectile attack, a bird that can fly short distances, and a fish suited for underwater movement. Many of the levels are built around a couple of these transformations, but only a few really have you switching between all of them in relatively quick succession. As far as attacks go, the squirrel is by far the most effective for obvious reasons, but everyone else can get a ranged attack by picking up an extra transformation ball, which becomes a projectile that follows you and whips forward when you press attack. This attack makes most enemies trivial, since it has great range and goes through terrain. Enemies themselves have interesting designs, but they're mostly obstacles, so don't worry about intense combat. Even the bosses aren't too tricky, especially when you have that ranged attack that lets you wail on them from a safe distance. Depending on certain conditions (like collecting all the CLAY letters at the end or obtaining a specific number of gems), you can end up in special bonus levels. Accomplishing the former puts you as your ball form in a pinball area, where there isn't much to do other than bounce to the end (which is much harder than it sounds) and rack up points (which don't seem to mean anything in the grand scheme). The other bonus level is a neat bouncing game where you try to hit the glowing tiles without missing. Getting them all awards an extra life. Interestingly, the overworld you traverse between levels is a game in itself, as each section is a puzzle where you have to guide two robots (walking on their own) to tools like axes or bombs to clear out the exit (blocked by trees or rocks). This is accomplished by pushing things like rocks or minecarts to block or open up paths for the robots to walk through, and it's a surprisingly engaging mini-puzzle each time. The only gripe I have is the collision of your character and certain elements in this section can be inconsistent, but other than that, this segment could easily be its own game. With the whole clay theme going on, the art style has this claymation look to it, and surprisingly, it translates rather well to the Super Nintendo's 16-bit capabilities. It still very much looks like a video game, but the clay texture to a lot of elements does come across clearly. I can't recall off the top of my head any modern games with a similar aesthetic, but it'd be neat to see this game's look fully realized with today's graphics. VERDICT: Though I'd say the main platforming bits of Claymates are standard fare, the transformation gimmick is still pretty fun in conjunction with the big levels, and strangely enough, I found the interstitial moments in the overworld to be engaging puzzles. I thought this was a neat game, and I quite enjoy the claymation vibe of it. As far as SNES-era platformers go, this may not be iconic, but I think it still offers a decently fun time if you just want to chill out and not really stress about tough platforming. Just don't expect any particular challenge if you're familiar with platformers. - end -
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Well, it's been quite a while since I've done one of these, hasn't it? My last batch of entries to this blog series spanned across three months, and I felt the need to give it a bit of a break for a while. Then when I felt like starting up again, I ran into two dilemmas: one was the familiar "which one do I make" conundrum, and the other was the fact that the side of the wall I was working on has pretty much run out of space. There's still a couple of spots left on the area I'm sticking these butterflies to, but after that's all filled, I'll have to really think about where to place future entries (if ever I still have models I want to fold at that point). As such, I'm not really rushing these next few butterflies, so these posts may be very spread out in terms of publish date. Anyway, onto the butterfly itself. DIFFICULTY: The only aspects of this model that I can see giving some people trouble is the two petal folds (which can take a bit to get right without guide creases) and keeping the squash folds symmetrical. Other than that, most of this butterfly is basic folds on a waterbomb base; nothing too fancy. INSTRUCTION SOURCE: The diagram I found states that this model is by one "J Cole". I'm gonna hazard a guess and say it wasn't the famous rapper who made this. As for where I retrieved this, this was another one I found on Pinterest (yes... I still use it sometimes). The only problem with Pinterest is none of the people who pin shit on there bothers to source what they find (or the sources are secondhand themselves), so I can't trace exactly where this diagram was taken from at all. My best guess is it's some sort of print material that was scanned, but as you can imagine, looking up "J Cole" on Google pulled up nothing but the rapper's Wikipedia page and his various social media accounts. Regardless, here's a direct image link if you want to make it for yourself. And if any brilliant sleuth out there can figure out where exactly the image was taken from, please let me know. OTHER THINGS: One thing I found odd about the diagram is that it starts you out with a color-side-out waterbomb base, and the final model is predominantly the blank side in terms of color scheme. If you actually want to utilize the color of one-sided paper, start folding color side up to essentially invert what you get at the end. The diagram also doesn't quite clarify which orientation of the model is right side up (the final step has the butterfly "fluttering" on the page). The way I stuck it on the wall is my best guess, but the upside down version of that doesn't look wrong, either. I made this with crepe paper, and folding with it is slightly nerve-wracking with how delicate it is. I wasn't sharpening my creases as much in fear of tearing the paper with my fingernails, and the petal folds were particularly scary since that's a technique that occasionally results in tearing if you aren't careful. To compensate, I squeezed the final model between a book to help flatten the folds. THE WALL'S PROGRESS: - end -
AEW may have made the wrestling headlines this week, but I still have room to watch some Takeover. You know the drill; here are my thoughts on each match on the card.
I heard that the Black Panther DLC for the Avengers game was coming this week, and that was a perfect excuse to schedule this read today. BACKGROUND:
Most of the Black Panther stories I'm familiar are from my time, so I know very few tales from before the '90s (apart from the most essential arcs). I still have quite a backlog of Black Panther comics, and I'm looking to knock them off little by little, starting with this limited series. THE WRITING: This four-issue limited run of Black Panther takes a bit of a detour from your usual Black Panther story and doesn't focus on Wakanda heavily. Instead, a lot of the main story revolves around the neighboring nation of Azania, which is currently under an apartheid system that sees white people as the ruling class and other races mistreated. If you don't know what apartheid is, it's essentially racial segregation that's completely institutionalized (i.e. there's actual, broad legislation to enforce it). This system was in place for several decades in South Africa, and it's horrible. I implore anybody who doesn't know much about apartheid to take the time to read about it elsewhere. Things are escalating in Azania, as the native population are starting to take up arms to oppose the ruling class, whose cruelty escalates in kind. Everything devolves into full-blown chaos when a mysterious cat-like man-beast shows up murdering numerous top Azanian officials involved with the apartheid system. Many assume this creature was, in fact, the Black Panther himself fighting on behalf of the oppressed. Spoilers: it isn't. In actuality, T'Challa is more preoccupied with domestic affairs, until certain events cause his ruling council to call his kingship into question. Those within his circle cast doubt because of his seeming inaction and lack of solidarity with those suffering in Azania, so much so that they believe that even the panther god has abandoned their king. Even though T'Challa is still prime Black Panther throughout the series, those doubts seem to hold some water, as he himself feels as if his connection to the panther god has been severed. The scrutiny of his people is also getting to him, too; after all, they aren't entirely wrong. T'Challa's aid of Azania (if there's any at all) has been decidedly hands-off, and he must reckon with the notion that while his nation remains free of imperialist oppression, other African nations like Azania still suffer the effects of colonial rule. Wakanda being an odd duck in that sense within the Marvel Universe has always been an interesting contrast to real life, and I'm impressed that it was explored in the comic back in 1988. Apart from the political backdrop, everything else about the comic feels like either standard fare or slightly odd when thinking of more modern Black Panther tales. In issue #2 for example, T'Challa beats up a supervillain team literally called The Supremacists, and other than the... obvious overtones, it's more or less the usual fisticuffs (with the added weirdness that Azania has a villain team for some reason, and that they were able to waltz into Wakanda with zero issue). The whole panther god thing was also a little odd to me for a few reasons, but I could mostly get past it because it's important to the main themes of the comic. Like numerous older comics I've read, this one is heavy on third-person narration, which may be a bit weird for some readers who haven't encountered a lot of comics with that style of storytelling. The narration itself feels like a straight up prose novel, with some deep language. THE ART: The style lines up with a lot of older comics I've seen: mostly flat but vibrant colors, occasional rough shading, and varying levels of detail (though leaning towards "less is more"). Overall, it's decent; though most panels kind of bleed together for me, the ones that actually employ a modest amount of shading look rather nice. I also must say that I miss this classic look for Black Panther. Sleek suit, badass cape, those gauntlets... something about it just feels timeless. While I appreciate the various cartoon and movie takes on the costume, not many of them feature that cape that I feel is as iconic as the claws or the "necklace". VERDICT: It may be only four issues short, but this Black Panther run has T'Challa in an interesting position we've seen tackled in later comics since (and even in the movie). Despite some usual comic book-y weirdness, I was still left mostly impressed that a mainstream comic was willing to tackle a major sociopolitical issue at the time of its publishing. This is a pretty quick read, so if you want a short and sweet Black Panther story that both feels like old comics and has a little bit of the maturity of more modern outings, this is a decent pick. It's completely standalone, so don't worry about needing any back issue knowledge to understand what's going on. The Black Panther 1988 limited series is collected in a few trade paperbacks, but for convenience, I'll just link the Comixology page for the whole series, where both said TPBs and the single issues can be viewed should you wish to purchase either. Black Panther (1988) Digital Comics - Comics by comiXology - end - Man, these new additions to Switch Online are weird, aren't they? BACKGROUND:
Again, I had no idea that this game existed prior to its addition to the emulator service. I will note that during the update trailer, the gameplay snippet they showed of this got an audible "wow, that shit looks weird" reaction out of me. SUMMARY: Jelly Boy is a side-scrolling platformer where you play as a squishy jelly being trying to... escape... from somewhere? That's as much as I can glean from what information the game itself conveys about the story. Control-wise, the titular jelly boy has straightforward mechanics: a jump, a melee attack (that makes a fist pop out of the boy's belly), and a duck (which, amusingly, transforms you into an actual duck). Seems simple enough, but the game has a key mechanic that really spices things up. Majority of the levels have power-ups you can collect that give the jelly boy timed transformations, adding to the variety. There are a ton of transformations you can encounter, from a pogo stick that lets you jump higher, a helicopter that lets you fly and shoot bullets, an umbrella that lets you fall slowly, and even weird shit like a soda bottle that floats across water. These abilities are a lot of fun (and occasionally tricky), and the levels (which, themselves, have all sorts of interactable elements/hazards that fit the theme of their respective worlds) are all designed around these mechanics. Though pretty much every level plays like your typical side-scroller (just get to the end), completing the game will actually require you to be more exploratory. In each level, there's a puzzle piece that's off the beaten path that you can collect. If you want to progress the game, you'll have to collect all the puzzle pieces for each world (of which there are six, each all having eight levels), which unlocks the boss of that world. Beating the boss will give you one of the six world items needed to unlock the end of the game. Finding the puzzle pieces can actually be quite challenging, since some of them are pretty well-hidden (a few even employ devious shit like hidden blocks that would require a walkthrough to figure out). Plus, each level has a time limit, which means you have to find the puzzle piece quick enough such that you can beat the level, and some levels have rather low time limits. I found this focus on looking around for secrets quite novel and engaging; despite platformers from this era including more exploration-based elements than the previous generation (see Mario World or Super Metroid), not many of these games had their completion fully tied to finding a purposely hidden item within the levels. Even unlocking access to the rest of the worlds is tied to finding well-hidden keys within certain levels. This is probably the point where the whole secret-finding aspect of the game goes a step too far, as the game doesn't really indicate that you need these to progress. In fact, one could say the same about the puzzle pieces themselves; you're only really told that you need the six key items to finish the game, but they don't connect the dots between puzzle piece to boss to key item. As much as I enjoyed the emphasis on finding secrets, it would have probably been better design-wise to convey that that's the whole point of the game. Perhaps such information was in the original release's instruction manual, but it's better to show that in-game. There's a surprising amount of variety when it comes to the enemies, and while only a handful of them are truly unique gameplay-wise, I was still impressed at all the unique enemy sprites that fit the theme of each world. The bosses aren't too hard, but many of the fights are distinct and take full advantage of the transformation power-ups. I thought this game's visuals were particularly good. Aside from the aforementioned variety of sprites, a lot of are well-animated and had great detail. Jelly Boy himself looked very.... squishy. VERDICT: I think Jelly Boy is a delightfully weird platformer with some neat visuals and some neat gameplay choices. Though unintuitive at first, I liked that the main focus is finding secrets as opposed to simply clearing levels. I also enjoyed the many transformations the titular character can undergo, and how the game's many levels are designed around using said transformations. I wouldn't call it revolutionary, but the game was different enough while still being fun, and I appreciate that. If you're in the mood for a side-scrolling platformer with a big focus on exploration (with just a dash of platforming skill mixed in for some levels), you might enjoy this game. It may behoove you to keep a walkthrough handy just in case, though, because some of the collectibles are well-hidden. - end - It's been a hot minute since E3, but there isn't quite a new Direct just yet. For now, we got more new indie games to check out, and that's always a fun time for me.
Now we get to the standard sizzle reel portion of the presentation:
The last game shown off is Eastward, which seems to be a top-down adventure RPG. I didn't really see enough gameplay-wise that piqued my interest, but the game looks great. I'll wait for more info on this one. Silksong still refuses to show up in these damn presentations, but I was still pretty happy with what was announced here. I found a lot of the new stuff interesting, and there were some announcements that appealed specifically to me. Still solid overall.
- end - The MCU's first animated show is premiering this week, and What If...? presents a literal multiverse of possibilities. Unfortunately, I don't have too many What If comics in my backlog right now, so I got the next best thing to celebrate the occasion. BACKGROUND:
The original Secret Wars from back in the '80s is a comic I'm rather familiar with, as it's one of the big crossover events I first learned about when I really got into comics lore. Needless to say, I was pretty excited back in 2015 when Marvel announced a new Secret Wars series, but was shocked at the scope of the story. The new Secret Wars meant to completely reshape the Marvel multiverse as readers knew it, and I really wanted to see that unfold at the time. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to read the comic in full back when it came out, but I did manage to piece together what happened by reading comics that were released after it. I'm really looking forward to this one. THE WRITING: Marvel's multiverse is collapsing, as the all-powerful Beyonders are destroying individual universes one after the other. Now, only two remain: the prime Marvel Universe (Earth-616) and the Ultimate Universe (Earth-1610). These remaining two universes are on a collision course; our familiar heroes on Earth-616 are scrambling to save what they can, while Maker (the evil version of Reed Richards from Earth-1610) takes the more aggressive approach and attacks the other universe in an attempt to survive. All seems pointless as both worlds are lost... but it's replaced by something completely new. The reality that exists now is a mishmash of what remained of several destroyed dimensions, called Battleworld. Some fragments are familiar, like regions that contain key areas of both Earth-616 and Earth-1610. Others go all in on the weird alternate reality aspect, like a region filled with an army of Thors. Regardless, all of Battleworld is overseen by none other than Doctor Doom, who has become an omnipotent god with full domain over this new reality. Battleworld is full of strange places and twisted versions of familiar Marvel characters and concepts, like the Worldbreakers (an army of Hulks), the Deadlands (a wasteland that contains classic threats like Ultron and the Annihilation Wave), and a Susan Storm that's apparently married Doctor Doom. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of time to explore all this, as an assortment of heroes and villains from the old realities have found themselves on Battleworld, and with Doctor Doom keen on maintaining order on his domain, conflict brews almost immediately. This comic is a wild ride from start to finish, since it starts immediately with multiversal cataclysm, and it's followed quickly by a completely new reality where nothing you know about Marvel quite applies. There's a lot going on, and it also requires a bit of prerequisite knowledge of previous comics (stuff like the Cabal's existence and such is barely explained within the comic). There were points in the book where I had to momentarily stop to process what was happening; sometimes, these moments came about because I thought "holy shit, this is so wild", while other instances were moments where I was actually briefly confused due to some elements of the story being glossed over. As I mentioned, this version of Battleworld has so many interesting aspects to it, but this main comic barely scratches the surface of all it has to offer. If you want to get a sense of how weird this reality can get, you unfortunately have to explore the many tie-in comics to this event, and even I've only read a few of them. That said, this main comic does show off a few cool things, like the fact that the Marvel Zombies exist in this reality, and a badass version of The Thing. A lot of the key things about what actually happened are also explained somewhat sufficiently, like how Battleworld came to be, and how the initial collapse of the multiverse started (though again, you'll have to fill some of the gaps by reading some older comic series). The main conflict of Doom vs. the heroes is a tale as old as time, but there is quite a bit of nuance to it. Doctor Doom didn't simply ascend to godhood to satisfy his megalomania; there was a certain necessity to his actions, but of course, his selfishness and insecurities are still very much present. His opposition has more straightforward goals: restore the universe to the way it was. The most interesting foils in particular to Doom in this story (in my view, anyway) were Mister Fantastic (of course), Thanos (who challenges Doom's idea of godhood), and Doctor Strange (who plays a key role in the birth of Battleworld). Outside of Battleworld itself, there's a good number of jaw-dropping moments in the story, but in the interest of saving surprises for would-be readers, I won't give them away here. THE ART: Secret Wars has fantastic art across the board. Firstly, the cover art for each main issue was done by Alex Ross, one of the most iconic comic artists I know. His unmistakable realistic style is in full force in each cover, and I never get tired of looking at his art. The interior art also has a somewhat realistic style, but the coloring and shading style is quite distinct. It feels like it was roughly colored and shaded in with pencil, and I found myself really enjoying the very texture of the art (especially with some of the more memorable splash pages). Some panels don't quite abide by this style, though, but those instances don't really feel out of place unless you look closely. VERDICT: Secret Wars has a premise that promises a tale of epic proportions: universes being destroyed, an amalgam of shattered dimensions coming to be, and all manner of alternate versions of things popping up. Though there's sometimes too much going on at once (and a few things aren't 100% explored), I really enjoyed this story; this take on Battleworld has so many interesting facets to it (even if only a fraction of it is only explored in the comic), there were a lot of awesome moments, and I'm always down for a story where Doctor Doom is the main antagonist. I really don't think this is a friendly jumping-in point for people who are not as well-versed in comics, because a lot of the setup for this event is done in previous comic series. That said, if you kinda know what's going on, or you simply don't mind not knowing 100% of the details, I think this is a perfect taste of what a multiverse-spanning story looks like in Marvel Comics. Check out Secret Wars on Comixology: Secret Wars - Comics by comiXology - end - Me, playing more mobile games? It truly is the end times. BACKGROUND:
I learned about this game through Devolver Digital's social media page, and I was quite surprised by it. Devolver doesn't publish mobile games too often, and it's just as uncommon to see one of their titles get another entry in the franchise. Coupled with the fact that I've played (and rather enjoyed) the original My Friend Pedro (I talked about it here), I was immediately interested in playing this game. PLOT: This game is even lighter on the plot than the original. Our banana pal Pedro shows up and simply tells the player character that he needs you to save his family. Do bananas have families? These are the mysteries of life. If you're looking for a more story-driven experience, this game won't be what you're looking for. Personally, I don't mind; both games are more focused on the stylish gameplay anyway, and some of the humor of the original is still present within the game. PRESENTATION: Since this is on mobile, it doesn't quite have the visual fidelity of the original game, but it makes up for it with a cutesy chibi aesthetic for the characters and a slightly cartoony visual style that looks pretty nice on the small screen. Notably, this iteration isn't as bloody as the original My Friend Pedro, which, while not outright gory, certainly had its fair share of blood fountains exploding out of enemies. This still has blood, but not as over-the-top. The music is pretty good, providing an upbeat vibe to the game's flashy action. I usually play mobile games on silent, and this is one of those games where it's worth turning off silent mode. GAMEPLAY: Much like its predecessor, Ripe for Revenge is a 2D platformer where you shoot enemies down with guns. There are only really a handful of differences from the original, so instead of repeating myself, I'll just point those differences out. The most notable change off the bat is the control scheme. Again, this is on mobile, so your typical button controls don't really apply here. Instead, the way you move around is dragging your thumb in the opposite direction you want to go, and your character will essentially be slingshot away. It's certainly odd at first, but it's surprisingly intuitive. At the same time, though, it makes platforming a tad trickier than you expect, since you auto-snap to walls. Plus, many of the level mechanics from the original are present in this game, which means you'll have to work around them while platforming. Shooting is straightforward: just tap in the direction you want to blast. Unlike the original, you only have access to dual pistols here, so you won't have to think about weapon types or ammo management. The slow motion mechanic is adapted to work such that it activates while you're shooting mid-jump. It makes the combat a tad easier, which may be a bummer for people who want a bit more depth, but it still looks cool. Levels are a lot shorter than the original game, which may disappoint people who want a bit more substance to the campaign (especially since there are only a couple dozen levels total). Personally, I think it's fine; it fits the short-burst gameplay model of most mobile games, and it's actually fun to speedrun levels. Like before, each level has a star rating system based on points, but the calculation is much simpler since the only factors are how quickly you kill enemies and a score multiplier based on chaining multiple kills quickly. So, this is a mobile game; there must be microtransactions, right? Oddly enough, you'd be wrong on that front, as there's only a single purchase where you unlock the premium version, which adds a new mode called Blood Rush. However, there's another catch: another feature is exclusive this premium version, and that's the ability to play levels freely. Essentially, the free version doesn't allow you to start from checkpoints, so if you die.... you have to start from the beginning. This is probably the only thing I find annoying about the game, but hey, no ads. And for what it's worth, I enjoy replaying the levels and getting faster at clearing them, so it doesn't completely ruin the experience for me. VERDICT: My Friend Pedro: Ripe for Revenge is the smaller scale equivalent of its parent game, adapting the original's gunplay in a way that works really well for the mobile platform. It obviously doesn't have all the mechanics of the original and has even less of a story than before, but it still captures what made its predecessor such a fun game, but simplified. Really, the only thing I found remotely unappealing was the fact that you had to restart the campaign arcade-style if you died, but even that I could get past because of how much fun it is to just try and blast through the short levels. And as far as the usual mobile game shit goes, there's only one purchase and there are no ads, so that's a breath of fresh air. I'd still recommend playing the original My Friend Pedro for the definitive batshit gunplay experience, but if you want a little taste to convince yourself that it's a game worth trying out, Ripe for Revenge is a good place to get a sense of the gameplay. Best of all, it's free to play, so you don't have to take my word for it; just try it yourself! Choose your preferred platform: - end - I've just started getting through the latest additions to the Switch Online emulators, and boy, do we have some weird ones on deck. BACKGROUND:
Would it surprise you that I didn't know this game existed prior to its addition to the emulator? SUMMARY: Bombuzal is a puzzle game where the objective is to blow up all the bombs in the field without dying. Each level has an isometric view (or overhead, if you toggle it) and is composed of tiles, and you control this weird blue dude and walk around one tile at a time. Every map will have bombs or land mines on them, and you have to detonate these bombs such that you aren't caught up in the explosion or don't fall into the abyss because a tile was destroyed. Once you succeed, it's off to the next level to do the same thing. The core idea is pretty simple, but the game is much trickier than it looks. For one, actually figuring out what stuff does is trial-and-error in itself, and I died a bunch just trying to experiment with each level's mechanics. But once I got over that hurdle, the levels themselves were quite challenging, as there are various mechanics that make blowing up all the bombs easier said than done. For one, there are various bomb types to contend with, each with a different blast radius. You can only detonate the smallest regular bomb safely without dying, as you're able to safely move away from its blast radius after igniting it. For everything else, you'll need to set off a chain reaction to detonate, and that will require studying the map and finding the safest small bomb to detonate. To make things tougher, more unique bomb types also show up in later levels, like land mines that you can't step on (thus requiring a chain reaction to detonate), bombs that change size (and blast radius) at set intervals, or bombs with a label that detonate simultaneously regardless of proximity to a blast zone. It's not really communicated well what these specialized bombs do at first, so you'll likely die in an attempt to learn. Once you've figured it out, playing around these bombs adds to the challenge of the levels. If that's not enough to worry about, the very tiles you walk on also have different types. You have cracked tiles that break after you step off of them, teleporters that warp you to a specific tile, tiles with rails that allow you to reposition bombs placed on top of them, unbreakable tiles immune to explosions, and even ice tiles that make you slide in the direction you stepped in. Detonating the bombs from a safe distance is tricky enough, but these mechanics will have you planning out your route well ahead of time so you know where to position yourself when the last bomb goes off. There are also a few other mechanics you can encounter in a level, like drones that you can use to safely trip mines or detonate bombs from far away, interactable switches that toggle level elements on and off (finding out what these do per level can be a little annoying in terms of trial and error), and what I can only describe as weird gas clouds that move around and kill you on contact (but can be destroyed via explosion). All these elements come together to create several dozen levels that provide an admirable challenge and have all manner of solutions. Many levels have you blowing up bombs in a specific order, while others have you time your detonations at the right moment. Some levels require a lot of setup before you can detonate anything, while others can be a little more straightforward. I found myself scratching my head with some of the levels at first glance, but as tricky as they can be, they're rarely ever obtuse, and it's always satisfying to complete a level. The game has a points system, awarding more points the faster you complete a level. There's also a score bonus for the number of tiles that remain after you clear a level, which seems to imply that there are possibly solutions that have minimal "casualties", so to speak. Apart from earning extra lives, there's little to gain from chasing a high score, so don't worry about it too much. As a bonus, some levels have a bit of artistic flair to them. Clearing a level will almost certainly leave some remaining tiles on the map, and when the view changes to show said map, sometimes those tiles form an image. It doesn't really mean anything gameplay-wise, but I thought it was neat. VERDICT: Despite its rather oddball aesthetic, I found Bombuzal to be a surprisingly engaging puzzle game with a simple premise, but a handful of tricky mechanics to make the several dozen levels a challenge to beat. It reminds me of Wrecking Crew (an NES game I really enjoyed) in that it's all about studying the level, planning out your route, and commencing the destruction. Apart from the initial struggle of figuring out what shit does, this game successfully scratches my puzzle game itch, and I enjoyed playing around with the mechanics. It's kind of a meme at this point to scoff at any new additions to the Switch Online emulators, but I implore people who like puzzle games to give this one a chance. - end - Another free weekend opportunity has presented itself, and you best believe I'll take advantage. As luck would have it, this time it's a game I've had every intention of checking out for myself. BACKGROUND:
This game was teased at an E3 many years ago, and being a huge Marvel fan, I was excited by the idea of a full Avengers game. Unfortunately, it took two whole years until we actually got to see anything about the game, as it wasn't until 2019's E3 where we got to see what the game actually was. I thought at the time that what I saw seemed interesting. The game came out late last year, and the discussion about it online has been... quite fascinating, to say the least. From what I can tell, the game got pretty mixed reviews. Those who liked it have stood by the game since launch and have built what seems to be a small but tight-knit community, while those more critical of the game have come up with what seems to be an innumerable amount of ways to say that this game's very existence was a mistake. As I'm somebody from the outside looking in, I didn't really know what to make of this, and I wanted to play the game simply to see what the fuck people were on about. Now, I have that very opportunity. PLOT: Set in its own continuity, this game sees the Avengers as an established team, so established that they have their own Avengers Day celebrating the reveal of the Chimera, a new Helicarrier powered by a mysterious mineral called Terrigen. The weirdly self-indulgent festivities even have a fanfiction contest where the finalists are flown to San Francisco. One of the participants is a young Kamala Khan, who is a huge fan of the Avengers. Through her perspective, we see some fun times unfold, and she even gets to meet her heroes briefly. Wholesome times. The party is cut short when the Golden Gate Bridge is attacked, prompting the Avengers to respond. It seems like a run-of-the-mill terrorist attack, but it's then revealed that the Chimera itself has also been hijacked, and the resulting chaos leads to a massive explosion that destroys most of San Francisco as well as presumably killing Captain America. The Avengers are blamed for the disaster, and are forced to disband at the behest of the US government. A-Day, as the incident has come to be known, also dispersed the Terrigen crystal as a gas, causing certain people to transform into Inhumans. Though the lore is not established in the game, the basic idea is that Inhumans are regular people with altered DNA (due to their ancestors having been subjected to genetic experiments by the Kree, the same alien race you may have seen in the Captain Marvel movie, and exposure to Terrigen mist activates their latent abilities. These Inhumans face persecution and are feared by the rest of humanity, and yes, I'm aware that this is literally the plot of the X-Men. The "Inhumans as X-Men substitutes in the 2010s comics" is an interesting topic of conversation for another time. With the Avengers gone, the organization known as AIM (Advanced Idea Mechanics) was able to rise to power unopposed, enacting something close to a police state in the United States. They are led by George Tarleton, who was the lead scientist behind the Chimera. Throughout the campaign, it's uncovered that AIM has been kidnapping and experimenting on Inhumans to amass power and become a global force. The game's events start in earnest five years after A-Day, and a slightly older Kamala Khan (who happens to be an Inhuman whose powers have manifested) accidentally stumbles upon evidence that could potentially expose AIM's underhanded plot and show that the Avengers are innocent. Naturally, AIM hunts her down, and Kamala is forced on the run, with her only chance being finding a supposed Resistance movement hellbent on opposing AIM's tyranny. Her adventures eventually lead her to cross paths with each member of the Avengers, and through her convincing, the team slowly but surely reassembles to face the threat of AIM. I thought this was a neat story, mixing together elements of the Inhumans storyline from the mid-2010s (which saw Terrigen dispersed throughout the world), a spin on Ms. Marvel's origin (which saw her get her powers from a similar incident), and a dash of Avengers Disassembled. I also liked some of the changes they made for this story, like AIM being an actual force to be reckoned with (they even have an army of Adaptoids, which is awesome), and the change to MODOK's origin and powers (though I take exception to how he got his actual name here). The surprise at the story's climax was also pretty awesome, as it pulls from the more cosmic side of Marvel (something I didn't expect this game to do). Perhaps the only gripes I have with the story is the Avengers roster themselves, which is pretty much just the original MCU roster (minus Hawkeye, for some odd reason). Don't get me wrong, that roster (plus Ms. Marvel) is tried-and-true, but I'd have preferred if they mixed up the team with a few other characters, especially considering characters like Hank Pym actually show up in the story. The use of villains is also sadly limited; apart from MODOK, Abomination, and Taskmaster (the latter two are literal one-offs), most of the opposition is just a bunch of AIM jobbers. It makes sense narratively, sure, but if you're gonna position AIM as a superpower, there should be more than just two villains out there willing to work with them. Kamala Khan is easily the strongest character in the story, as you see her admiration for the Avengers inform her eventual growth into the hero she eventually becomes. Her willingness to fight for her fellow Inhumans despite the odds is admirable, and her unwavering belief for the Avengers is so strong that it's enough to reassemble a team fractured and demoralized by the tragedy of A-Day. I could see her being a tad too cheesy for some people, but hey, she's a kid; the writing makes sense to me on this one. As for the other characters, the Avengers' characterizations also pull from the MCU portrayals, so there's not much in the way of stuff I'd consider new (other than the events that they're reacting to). AIM is also a pretty standard villain group as well; they just want to exterminate/weaponize Inhumans, and MODOK in particular just wants the Avengers destroyed. Not much to say here. The game has a few optional story chains, but they're all sort of tangential to the main AIM plot as opposed to more unique scenarios. This feels like a missed opportunity in my view, but not a total loss. PRESENTATION: This is yet another game I'd say has the fabled "AAA graphics", with impressive visual fidelity across the board: detailed textures, polished models, lots of flashy effects... it's all here. Style-wise, the game leans more towards the somewhat grounded aesthetic that the MCU has, which I felt was a missed opportunity. The game looks great and all, but I would have preferred a more distinct visual style than simply emulating the feel of the movies. As far as character designs go, the game can be a little hit-or-miss. Some costumes look great, like Thor's threads or Black Widow's suit. Others look weird, like Cap's costume, which looks like a strange take on tactical gear, or some of the new suits the team gets at the end, which feel unnecessarily high-tech (Hulk especially looks out of place with gauntlets and armored shorts). The villains are kind of in the same boat; MODOK looks awesome, and I like the techno feel to the classic AIM beekeepers, but some of the larger robotic enemies feel awfully generic. The game does have skins for the playable characters, so if you're not feeling the story costumes, you can switch them out for outfits with more unique color palettes or are based on the movies and comics. Some of these alts can be a little odd (shirtless Cap is one of those oddities, for one), but I think most of them look fine. GAMEPLAY: Note: most of my limited time with the game was spent in the single player, so for majority of this section, my thoughts will be going off of what I played there. At its core, Avengers is a 3D brawler-style action game where you control Earth's Mightiest Heroes and beat the shit out of waves of enemies. Each hero has a unique set of moves, but the basics apply across the board: everyone has a light and heavy melee attack, a ranged attack, a block/parry, an Intrinsic Ability (which is a passive buff that expends a corresponding meter), Assault and Support Heroic Abilities (super moves that do damage and provide buffs respectively), and an Ultimate Heroic Ability. Though the basics are mostly the same across the board, every character on the roster has unique mechanics that makes them feel distinct from everyone else. Iron Man can switch out his ranged weapons from repulsors to lasers or rockets, Black Widow has a ranged parry in her grappling hook, and Cap's shield can ricochet between several enemies. Truthfully, these are only slight variances, and the basic combat can feel same-y after a long play session, but these differences are meaningful enough to make each hero feel distinct on some level (for me, anyway). Out of the main roster, the ones I really enjoyed playing were Cap, Thor, and Iron Man, because their ranged combat perfectly captures what's so iconic and awesome about each respective character. The other characters are perfectly solid, with Black Widow's hand-to-hand combat feeling great, Ms. Marvel's polymorph abilities being entertaining to watch, and Hulk being as unga bunga as you expect. The campaign has you play as a single character throughout the duration of a mission, apart from the beginning and the end, which have awesome sequences where you switch between each character's perspective. At some point, you gain the ability to freely choose the character you play. My only issue with this is how the campaign paces unlocking the characters, but otherwise, the approach of having a level dedicated to you learning the character's moves and then letting you choose your favorite after a while is a sensible one. In terms of enemy variety, the game can be hit-or-miss. You only really get a handful of unique enemies, with slight variations that change their attack types or patterns slightly. Bosses are kind of in a similar boat, with some (like the multi-phase MODOK fight) being fun and engaging, while others being typical boss fight fare (like your usual "hit all the weak points" boss or "alternate between waves of enemies and fighting the boss" boss). It's here where I really wish the game had more established Marvel villains to fight; at some point, 31 flavors of giant robot wears thin, and I'd rather fight something else. Additionally, it's with the enemies that the otherwise fun combat can start to lose its depth; I found myself just spamming a few moves and winning with no problem in certain sections regardless of the enemy types (which, to be fair, can be entertaining depending on the move I'm spamming), and popping Heroic Abilities when shit gets rough. Don't get me wrong; there's always fun to be had pummeling enemies this way (that's what hack-and-slash games are all about, after all), but even the novelty of being an Avenger can wear off eventually when you're kicking the same AIM jabroni ass over and over. As for the levels, there's a small variety of maps that you traverse in the story, and some of them can be surprisingly large with a few nooks and crannies to find secrets in. However, it feels like there's not much sense in the levels being as large as they are, because the game isn't built around exploration. Sure, there's stuff to find, but outside of the collectibles, you can earn pretty much acquire all that stuff through other means. Some of the levels in the campaign have gameplay segments outside of the main combat, like the occasional platforming section or even a few stealth sections. I didn't mind that these were in the game, but I find them worth mentioning since some players don't enjoy when the game changes the gameplay on them. Call this a warning of sorts, I suppose. Speaking of the levels themselves, as good as they look, none of them stood out to me in memory. The only maps I really remember are the ones involving huge set pieces, like the sequence on the Golden Gate Bridge or the battle atop the Helicarrier. Everything else is just some generic area of some sort (like a cityscape, or a desert, or some forest), with only a few elements that stick out (like various AIM installations, or arbitrary floating platforms). The variety is there somewhat in terms of locales, but it felt like there was something missing to make the locations truly memorable. The game has a bunch of RPG elements to it. First, each hero has an individual level; earning XP not only increases their stats, but adds skill points that can be spent to unlock skills in their respective skill trees. The skills in question range from new moves, additional passive buffs, and improvements to existing abilities. While it adds an element of grinding to the game, I mostly didn't mind heroes having XP, if only because I like the progression afforded by the skill tree. Each hero also has access to gear, which also influence stats and can confer passive buffs on top of that. Said gear can be acquired through looting in the game's levels, purchasing through the shops in the game's hub areas (the currency for which is also acquired through looting), or as quest rewards. Like most RPGs, the gear is more or less just "equip the one with the biggest numbers", but there's potential in some of the armor sets (which seem to favor certain stat builds) and the various status ailments you can inflict with some of the gear pieces. Unfortunately, some of this more fun stuff can only be played around with when you acquire high rarity gear, and as you may have guessed, that will require some grinding. The less glamorous side of the game's RPG aspects rear their ugly head once you get to the post-game and dip into the multiplayer. Here, the real gameplay loop of Avengers comes alive: do some missions to get gear and resources, equip and upgrade gear, do some more difficult missions now that you're stronger, repeat. On paper, sure, that sounds repetitive, but maybe the combat being fun will get me through it, I told myself. But when you realize you're doing the same assortment of objectives you did in the campaign, against the same assortment of enemies, in the same generic environments, all for some gear to pad your stats, the folly of it becomes more apparent, and not even the primal joy of bonking motherfuckers with Mjolnir can make it better. In the game's defense, the devs appear to be doing what they can to expand this aspect of the game. Since the game's launch, they seem to have added unique events and modes, some new fights, and even a couple of new heroes (with standalone campaigns to go along with them). Unfortunately, what they have at the moment isn't really enough to hold my interest for too long; the new characters and battles will be exciting for a couple of hours, but once the novelty wears off, it's still mostly the same grind. Obviously, it would be cruel to demand a ton of post-launch content in the middle of a pandemic, but it remains that apart from a massive content update, I don't see myself sinking too many hours into this game on a regular basis. There are very few games where I actually enjoy the grind (whether it's because of engaging combat or variety of combat scenarios), and this isn't one of them. Also, there's microtransactions, but they appear to be entirely for cosmetic options. In my book, I can ignore that freely, but the microtransactions are definitely there if you're a stickler for that sort of thing. VERDICT: Overall, the Avengers game to me feels like two halves warring for control. It may not be perfect, but I enjoyed the single player campaign a lot, as it tells a fun story and establishes Ms. Marvel as an endearing character for people who aren't familiar with her. I could largely ignore some of the stuff I didn't really like about the gameplay because I'm progressing the story and slowly rebuilding the Avengers roster, switching between their mostly distinct combat as I get through chapter after chapter. That experience as it is was enjoyable to me, even if the enemies got old after a while and the gear mechanics felt inconsequential. Once that's done, all that's left is the multiplayer half, which has you trapped in a gameplay loop of "beat shit up for gear so you can beat up stronger shit". At that point, I realized how much of this game is just the same things over and over: same missions, same enemies, same locations, same grind. Sure, the core experience of playing as the heroes can still be fun (how can throwing the shield as Cap not be fun, right?), but even that can wear thin when there's not really a lot to break up the monotony. To me, a game with a grind can be made enjoyable with (among other things): variety (either with the challenges you face or the ways you can tackle a challenge) and engaging combat (either with challenging enemies or combat that simply feels good to play). Avengers doesn't go all the way with either aspect: there's only a handful of playable characters to go against a small variety of similar enemy types, and the only difficulty they can really provide is higher damage output or health pools. The combat itself is enjoyable to an extent, sure, but it can only take me so far until I realize the other aspects of the grind aren't as fun. My problems with multiplayer go even outside the multiplayer itself, as elements of it seep into the single player and detract from the experience. I just want to play through the story, but the game keeps telling me to equip gear, or it keeps breaking up the pace by making me select the campaign like it's a multiplayer mission. It's like the game is trying its damnedest to pull me into the grind and keep me there for all eternity. I wanted to like every aspect of this game, but I can only really say that I like the single player. The multiplayer, in my view, needs a ton more variety for me to truly get into it; as it is, there simply isn't enough to hold my interest for long, and some elements of it even got in the way of me enjoying the campaign. Perhaps a more focused experience (either going all in on the single player, or going all in on the multiplayer, or even just a solo game for one of the characters) would have been more beneficial, but the two warring halves left me feeling "this game is fine, I guess." Honestly, I don't know what to write in terms of recommendations. The most I can say is that while the story might be a worthwhile experience for Marvel fans (especially more casual ones), I don't think it's worth full price if you want to experience just that. If the grind of this game sounds appealing to you, then by all means, get it, but I must warn you that there's not a lot of variety to be had right now. My issues aside, I still commend the devs for sticking with this game and doing what they can to add more to the game despite the ongoing pandemic. I also have to hand it to the community still playing this game, whose continued enjoyment of the game is likely motivating the devs to do their best. In the game's current state, I can't say I see myself making the full purchase, but maybe somewhere down the line, the game will be expanded enough for me to change my mind. Check out the game on Steam: Marvel's Avengers on Steam (steampowered.com) - end - |
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Derryck
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