There was another Game Trials game for Switch Online members last week, and oh boy, it's a big one. It took a solid six days, but I'm ready to talk about Disgaea 5! BACKGROUND:
I've heard the name "Disgaea" a bunch before, but I never really knew what it was (other than it was some sort of JRPG). So when the Game Trials for Disgaea 5 was announced, my interest was immediately piqued. Other than brief explanations from a friend who really likes this series, I am going into this as blind as I possibly could. PLOT: Disgaea 5's story is set in the Netherworlds, a dimension filled with all sorts of planets (individually called "Netherworld") inhabited by demons. There may be more to it than that (perhaps there's a more substantial explanation in the previous games, but I am told the games aren't that intertwined in terms of lore), but from what I understand, this is essentially hell if it were a universe filled with planets. Each Netherworld is ruled by what's called an Overlord, a powerful demon with (usually) insane powers. The demons are more than just the usual red-skin-and-horns stereotype, as there are a wide variety of monsters that call this place home. They also don't act overly demonic (something that does come up a lot in the main plot) and feel more like regular people in terms of behavior. The game's main campaign is set in the middle of a crisis across all the Netherworlds. Demon Emperor Void Dark, the biggest demon shithead of them all, has brought about full-scale chaos, sending his army (called The Lost) to terrorize various Netherworlds, killing millions of demons and enslaving the rest. Total conquest seems all but inevitable at this point. Our story begins in earnest when Seraphina, princess Overlord of Gorgeous (that's really what her homeworld is called) encounters the mysterious Killia, a lone wanderer who is fixated on vengeance against Void Dark. Seraphina's goals align with his, so she insists that they team up to increase their chances at defeating Void Dark. From there, they travel from Netherworld to Netherworld, finding new allies who also have a score to settle with Void Dark. As the game progresses, their quest goes from one driven purely by vengeance to something much bigger than personal vendettas. Overall, I enjoyed the story. I don't know how else to describe it other than it's quite "anime"; there's a big focus on the bonds of the main characters, and how that transcends raw power and cruelty. Characters start out with distinct flaws, but as they grow into better people, their power in combat reflects it. The tone also shifts a lot from super serious and emotional (teetering well into angsty, edgy territory for some characters and tear-jerking for others) to hilariously goofy without feeling too jarring, which is something a lot of anime series do really well. This is definitely not a story for everyone, though; if you have something against stories about "friendship always wins" or are averse to melodrama, there is a good chance you will find this game's plot insufferable. I'm not really a stickler for tone or themes (not anymore, anyway), so I don't really have any major qualms about what we have here. Speaking of main characters, a lot of them are tropes (Killia's the angsty lone wolf with a tragic past, for example), but what makes them compelling to me is how they mature over the course of the game. They often start out weighed down by their emotional hang-ups, but gradually, they overcome these hurdles thanks to the encouragement of allies and pivotal moments during their journey. We've all been there, and it's just nice to see someone get through it, even if it's just a video game character with weirdly revealing clothes. As the main characters become closer friends, their banter gets more interesting, both in terms of humor and emotional depth. While I wouldn't call it Oscar-worthy, I still found it entertaining to watch (especially the stupid comedy bits; there are some genuinely funny moments in this game). The "skits" in between missions and the end-of-chapter mock previews (which feature hilarious art) are exemplary of this game's humor. The villains, while seemingly stereotypical themselves at first, do have a chance to show their nuance in later chapters. They do enough to get you to feel a level of sympathy for them, but not to the point that you go, "I'm cool with genocide now." The story is spread out across 16 chapters, and is generally well paced and connects to each other properly. Each chapter has a clear focus, so I didn't find the story's trajectory hard to follow at all. I wouldn't call it too predictable, but there are some things I saw coming pretty far ahead. That said, there were a few twists that I didn't see coming, and while I wouldn't classify them as shit-my-pants swerves, I was pleasantly surprised by most of them. The twists didn't feel like they were done for the sake of bamboozling the audience, either, as the reveals helped tie everything together. In terms of lore, a lot of the important details are talked about in cutscenes, so there's not a lot you have to piece together on your own. One may find all the talking overbearing, or the occasional disregard for the "show, don't tell" principle of storytelling frustrating, but I could at least understand what's happening. I personally would've loved a bit more world-building (I found the Netherworlds concept super interesting, and they only really hint at the world of angels in the main plot), but the lack of focus on it doesn't bother me. There's also a lot of yelling out attack names here. If you didn't grow up with stuff like Dragon Ball Z like I did, you might find that dumb. Just a heads up. Oh, and if you're that annoyed by the story for whatever reason, you can skip pretty much all the dialogue. Don't worry about it. PRESENTATION: Once again, I cannot find a better word other than "anime." Why are people allowing me to write stuff on the Internet? Jokes aside, the art style is solid, and the character designs are rather inspired.... and also don't leave a lot to the imagination. Look at Killia's outfit; what is that, even? Are those even clothes? Look at his abs! Some of the female outfits are equally ridiculous; I've looked at the Nine-tails design for what feels like the 50th time and still can't tell if they're naked or not. Also: boobs, because of course. There are also a good variety of monster designs, from the iconic Prinny to those badass-looking knight things with the giant horse. A lot of them are just recolored sprites as the difficulty rises, but the variety is impressive nonetheless. What I found particularly impressive about Disgaea's visuals are the in-game sprites. I could have sworn that they were digital drawings with a few frames of animation, but upon closer inspection, they're just super detailed pixel art. Compared to the character art that appears during cutscenes, it looks pretty damn close, and that's mind-blowing to me. The level designs are just as inspired as the wide variety of character designs, with fun concepts like "volcanic wasteland + feudal Japan", "resort area, but the water is poison", and what feels like a reimagining of The Wizard of Oz. Each level had something unique to bring to the table, and that made each battle worth looking forward to. Another thing that makes this game stand out in my eyes is how insanely over-the-top it is. This is evident in a lot of the sillier story moments, as characters make all sorts of goofy expressions. But the absurdity really shines in the lengthy skill animations. Some of these attacks are the most batshit insane things I've ever seen in my entire life. You'll have to look up some of them for yourself, because there is no way I can do something like "Resident Undead" or "Tera Fire" justice by describing it in text form. The music is solid, too, with an assortment of great battle themes, a few tracks with vocals, and tracks that have some sort of story significance. The voice acting is no slouch, either, with the entire cast doing a mighty fine job portraying such distinct characters. I'd also like to mention the text descriptions for things like items and spells, many of which are cheeky jokes and amusing quips. You could tell they were having fun with all the silly descriptions for all sorts of things. GAMEPLAY: Disgaea 5 is a tactical RPG where you move the characters on a grid-based map and have them perform various actions during a single turn. Think Fire Emblem, except the game has an isometric view. The fundamentals are largely the same as other games in this genre; you can deploy a set amount of units, each has access to basic actions (attack, move, use skill/cast spell), and the goal is to clear the map of enemies. If you've played games of this kind before, this shouldn't feel too foreign, but if you haven't, the game does ease you into it adequately. In terms of positioning, Disgaea 5 is like certain tactical RPGs where the direction your characters are facing matters. Getting hit from the side or from behind will deal more damage, so you'll have to be careful with how you orient your units before you end your turn. Of course, the enemies operate by the same rules, so you'll want to donkey punch a bitch on the back of their head as much as possible so you can kill them quickly. Positioning is also significant in terms of offense, as attacking an enemy when an ally is next to you can occasionally result in a combo attack that deals big damage. Some skills are only accessible if certain units are next to each other, and I love me some combo moves. Movement is made interesting thanks to the lift/throw mechanic. One of your units can pick up an ally and throw it a certain number of spaces (a variable determined by character class). You can even create a totem pole of several units to get someone across the map by chaining throws in quick succession. It's a neat mechanic that adds a lot of depth to map control, and it feels incredibly satisfying to use it to cut corners and reach enemies before they can close in on you. The lift/throw mechanic can also be used on enemies, and throwing a motherfucker on another motherfucker leads to an interesting interaction. Doing this eliminates the enemy you threw from combat, but in exchange, the target gains the stats of the enemy that was just removed. It's an interesting tradeoff; do you brave the siege of enemies, or do you take a gamble and try to gang up on one super jacked enemy? Unit deployment works a little differently in this game. Instead of having specific marked spaces on the map for a set number of characters to start on, each map has what's called a Base Panel. Everyone is deployed from this singular point, so your initial turn has you figure out your position on the fly as opposed to working off of what the game forces you into. I like the open-endedness of this, and I also like the ability to have units return to base (and be removed from play) if you have them walk over the Base Panel again. Each character has your typical RPG stats (ATK, DEF, SPD, INT, etc.), a main class and sub-class, as well as two weapon slots and three armor slots. Unlike other games, there are very few weapon restrictions for characters; anyone can equip and master pretty much anything, so pick what works for you. That said, character classes lean more towards certain weapon types, so it may be best to stick to what they're good at from the start. The more a character uses a weapon, the more their mastery of it increases. As it levels up, the character will learn better and better skills specific to the weapon. In my experience with similar games, you usually only get special passive abilities when leveling up weapons, so I thought it was cool that you got special attacks the more you use a particular weapon. Characters also have what's called Evilities. It's essentially this game's version of passive abilities. Many characters have a unique Evility, but they also have slots you can equip extra Evilities on. A character's class determines the kind of spells and Evilities they learn. The main characters have a unique class that grant exclusive skills, but you can give them a sub-class so they can learn additional things on top of that. This gives you a degree of freedom on how to build your characters, which is always great in games like this. Classes also determine other factors, like elemental spell resitances and weapon resistances. There are a plethora of skills in the game, ranging from damaging spells, elemental attacks, status infliction, buffs/debuffs, healing, and more. I have only encountered a fraction of these skills, and the few I've seen and used are a lot of fun to play around with. Like weapons, there's also skill mastery; the more you use the skills, the better they get (the range increases, in the case of healing spells). There are a wide variety of classes available, and early on in the game, you can recruit generic characters of these classes to your party on top of using the main characters. This is pretty much the game's create-a-character feature, and you have a bit of freedom with naming them and choosing their sprite's color palette. Although I mostly used the main characters, I dabbled with this feature a bit, and the ability to make characters that suit your playstyle is cool. In my case, I recruited a healer, and she ended up being a constant MVP throughout the campaign. Many of the characters are humans (or humanoids, at least), but you can also have monster characters on your party. They work a little differently, as they can only equip monster-specific weapons, and their lift/throw has slightly altered mechanics. The most unique thing about them is their ability to Magichange; using this skill transforms them into a weapon that a humanoid character can equip, and in so doing, grants that character access to special skills and the monster's Evilities. I didn't use it a lot, but it's a really cool mechanic that gives you even more options in combat. Enemies can Magichange too, and it made some fights particularly challenging because some of the enemy Evilities are pretty tough to deal with. There's also something called Revenge Mode, which works like the Limit meter in FFVII. Whenever your units get their asses kicked, each character's Revenge meter fills up, and once it's full, Revenge Mode activates. In this state, units will always dish out critical hits, can cast any spell for 1 SP, and take a little less damage. It's a hell of a comeback mechanic, and while it can help you turn the tide, enemies also have access to Revenge Mode, and oh boy, will they rinse you with it if you're not careful. Certain characters (mostly the main ones) also get something special during Revenge Mode: something known as an Overload skill. Think of it like a Limit Break (again, from FFVII); it's a busted skill that can seriously tip the scales in your favor. Each Overload skill has a unique effect and they all change the game in a meaningful way. It feels incredibly cathartic to activate them and lay waste to the entire map, but the catch is that you can only use them once per battle, so you have to make your one use count. And yes, bosses have Overload skills as well, and they are horrific. One particular thing I loved about the Overload skills is how they're connected to the story. The main characters often acquire them once they have their big character growth moment, and it's usually available to use in the following battle. This is a good example of story and gameplay working well in tandem; gaining access to these skills not only feels great in terms of gameplay (because now you can wreck shit), but it also feels meaningful from a storyline perspective because it signifies that a given character has matured or overcome their struggle. Each of the main story's 16 chapters is split into five levels, all of which feature unique map layouts and enemies. Most maps are manageable, but a few are particularly rough in terms of enemy volume or cumbersome layouts. Some levels also have unique effects (like lower fire resistance in the fire maps, or spawning mushrooms in the forest map), as well as what's known as Geo Panels. Geo Panels are the game's equivalent to terrain effects; some tiles on the map will have these colored panels, and a color has a specific effect on the units standing on it. Some of these effects can be beneficial, but most of the time, they're there to make your life miserable, and eliminating them (by destroying specific objects on the map) is almost always a necessity to survive. Many of the maps in the game feature highly varied topography, with plenty of elevated areas. I found this mildly frustrating to navigate due to the game's isometric view, and I found myself having to rotate the camera multiple times just so I could see what was happening. The different elevations were also challenging to deal with in the context of the game itself, because getting to higher places requires judicious use of the lift/throw. There were a few maps that required you to lift/throw blocks you can stand on in order to reach higher places, which I thought was a fun way to interact with the environment. Every map also has a Bonus Gauge, which fills up the better you do on a map (killing enemies, landing combo attacks, stuff like that). You can fill it up multiple times during the level, and once you complete the level, you will be awarded with items, money, or XP based on how many times you filled up the gauge. Each map has a special one-time bonus that is fixed and can only be earned once, but it requires you to fill the gauge nine times. These rewards are usually pretty good, so it may be a good idea to replay maps to get these items. The Bonus Gauge also has another use that the game, for whatever reason, doesn't really teach you. Once per battle, you can use up a filled Bonus Gauge to apply or remove a map effect. It's a good incentive to fill the gauge outside of the completion rewards, and is actually quite helpful on maps with annoying map effects. HUB WORLD: Well, that's a lot on just the combat alone, but what do you do in between battles? That's where the pocket Netherworld comes in; it's got all the facilities you need to prepare yourself for the next chapter. And there is... a fucking lot you can do here. First off, you have the hospital. Pretty self-explanatory; heal up damaged or KO'd characters here. The catch is that it costs money the more you do it, but it doesn't really make a dent in your wallet (unless you're particularly extravagant). There's also a reward system that gives you items depending on the cumulative HP/SP you've healed and units you've revived, which I thought was neat. I guess it incentivizes getting your ass kicked? Next, you have your shops, both for weapons/armor and consumable items. Again, it's self-explanatory; just buy the stuff with the bigger numbers. The shops level up the more you buy, and better items are unlocked over time. On the subject of items, they also have slots for something called Innocents. I like to think of Innocents as passive abilities, but for items. Each item (weapons, armor, and anything else in between) has a few slots to equip these things, and you can acquire these Innocents through various means. There are many types of Innocents, and having them on your items can further boost your characters' stats and even give them useful buffs like status resistances. You can manage all this in a dedicated area of the hub world. You can also manage skills in the hub world. By spending mana (a completely separate resource that is earned in battle similar to XP and is separate for each character), skills can be upgraded to increase their damage or expand their area of effect, with the drawback that SP required to cast the skill will increase. Mana's a little hard to manage, but upgrading skills is absolutely worthwhile. There's also squads, where you can assign units to a specific squad that either gives thes specific buffs or allows them to perform other actions in the hub world. I mostly used squads that were useful in battle, but I did mess around with a few of the ancillary squads, like the curry cooking one (which allows you to make curry to give your team a stat bonus or buff on the next map) and the interrogation one (which allows you to recruit enemy units that you capture or that surrender in battle, and feels kind of like a war crime). Also available in the hub world is something called the Item World, which is like a gauntlet of maps you can clear in order to upgrade an item. It's a good way to grind as well as improve things like your weapons or armor, but I only used it a few times since it takes quite a while to make progress in it. Then there's the Chara World, which is like Mario Party, but in Disgaea form. You play this board game where you have to roll a dice to get to the end while also somehow battling enemies like you do in the regular game. This is played with one character at a time, and completing a run allows you to improve that character's stats. It's actually kind of fun, and it does have a meaningful impact in the regular game. It's not an RPG without side quests, and the hub world has a quest tracker just for that. Many of the quests aren't time-consuming and can usually be completed just by playing through normally (kill x number of this enemy type, acquire this item), but a few actually unlock bonus maps that, when cleared, allow you to recruit a special character. This is also the primary way you unlock more recruitable character classes. I did a good number of the bonus maps and went out of my way to unlock some of the other character classes, and it was quite satisfying to be able to expand my options in terms of the roster. If you think that's a lot, there is still a good amount of shit that I didn't have time to play around with. There's a cheat shop where you can adjust some game settings (like increase XP gain or activating ridiculous effects), a pretty extensive Netherworld editor that allows you to customize the look of the hub world, an item alchemy thing that allows you to combine existing items to create unique ones, a feature that allows you to "research" Netherworlds (I honestly didn't understand what it was about), and even a weird legislation mechanic where you bribe senators into passing "laws" that grant you access to even more things that I don't even understand (the fuck is reincarnation?). Hell, I may have missed something that I haven't even seen/unlocked yet or forgot to talk about. OTHER THINGS: Speaking of things to do, this is the complete version of Disgaea 5, so there's a bunch of extra content. The game grants you access to an assortment of extra characters at the start, as well as a good number of special DLC chapters that have their own story and unlock even more characters to add to your party. From what I understand, the post-game is where the real action is at. Obviously, due to the nature of the Game Trials, I didn't really have the time to get into it proper. I think the idea is to jack up your units to ridiculous levels to clear the super hard maps. Seems like a hell of a post-game; I'm not big on grinding, but this is certainly a good time sink for people who like minmaxing or enjoy the battle system. There's apparently a New Game Plus that allows you to replay the story from the beginning, but I don't know how much it changes. If you're an avid achievement hunter, there are a whole bunch of trophies to earn. Some of them are pretty tough to get, though. VERDICT: Disgaea 5 is a bloody massive game with an overwhelming amount of things to do and manage, but based purely on my limited time clearing the main campaign, I enjoyed this JRPG experience. The story was entertaining in many different ways, the characters were charming, the visuals and voice acting are impressive, and the battles had plenty of depth to offer. I wish I didn't have had to deal with the pressure of beating this within a week because of the Game Trials, but I was still able to appreciate most of what the game had to offer one way or another. The game seems to have a ton of replay value as well, and that's always nice to see (especially in JRPGs). I don't think this is a game for everyone. Outside of the story possibly not being one's cup of tea and the usual barriers of JRPG complexity to casuals, the bulk of this game seems to be grinding to the biggest numbers possible to clear as many maps as quickly as you can, and one may find that to be a Sisyphean task. That said, I think playing through the main campaign is worth checking out at the bare minimum; it has a serviceable story and the gameplay offers a decent challenge. Disgaea 5 is also on Steam. Here's the link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/803600/Disgaea_5_Complete/ - end -
0 Comments
I'm currently in the middle of writing a pretty substantial blog entry on something, so I chose a shorter read for this week so I don't spread myself too thin. Hope that's OK. BACKGROUND:
I've already read and talked about two of these at this point, so I don't think I need to set the scene a third time. THE WRITING: This volume is more in line with the first issues and focuses on team-ups with DC heroes. No Hanna-Barbera crossover this time, unfortunately. The first story has Scooby and the gang assist the Phantom Stranger and Deadman with ghosts that have gone missing. The irony of the Mystery Gang helping ghosts instead of hunting them down is amusing, and I love that the Spectre (who is, in my opinion, one of the coolest DC characters ever) gets involved in the most hilarious way possible. Second, you have the gang help Aquaman and Mera fend off Black Manta and Ocean Master. This is more of a basic DC tale that happens to have Scooby and friends in it, so there isn't much to say. The gang's next adventure has them team up with The Flash in a ghost-hunting mystery in Gorilla City. As expected, Gorilla Grodd gets involved, but he is strangely not the main conflict. Next, the gang helps track down the Marvel Family (Shazam and co.), who have been kidnapped by Mister Mind (if you watched the Shazam movie, he's the caterpillar dude from the post-credits scene) and the Monster Society of Evil. I really appreciate the use of the obscure villain, and I loved how the wizard gets involved and helps the Mystery Gang in the most fitting way I can imagine. The penultimate story has the gang team up with Hawkman and Hawkgirl to investigate spooky goings-on in the museum Carter and Shiera Hall (the secret identities of the heroes) work at. I appreciated the use of more obscure villains and the primer on the origin of the hawks (which many people may not be familiar with unless you've seen Legends of Tomorrow). I think the hawks are underrated heroes, so I personally found all this quite enjoyable. Lastly, we have a dog-focused outing that sees Scooby-Doo (and only him) team up with classic DC dogs Krypto the Super-Dog and Ace the Bat-Hound on an intergalactic adventure that takes them to a planet full of talking dogs and cat supervillains. It's as ridiculous (in a good way) as it sounds. THE ART: There hasn't been much deviation from the style of the previous volumes, so I won't repeat myself on that either. It's still nice to look at. VERDICT: Scooby-Doo Team-Up, though formulaic at this point, is still enjoyable, thanks to the more inspired choices for DC team-ups. There's a mix of familiar (like the Flash and Aquaman) and a great helping of more obscure stuff (especially Mister Mind), and I quite enjoy that as a longtime fan of DC. This is a great way to introduce kids to these lesser-known characters. Scooby-Doo Team-Up Vol. 3 is available on Comixology: https://www.comixology.com/Scooby-Doo-Team-Up-2013-Vol-3/digital-comic/503096?ref=c2VhcmNoL2luZGV4L2Rlc2t0b3Avc2xpZGVyTGlzdC9pdGVtU2xpZGVy - end - There's new stuff to play on the NES and SNES Online emulators for Switch Online! Let's do this dance once again, starting with a formerly Japan-exclusive Super Famicom title. BACKGROUND:
I never knew this game existed until it was revealed to be coming to the SNES emulator. I was immediately excited for it because I fucking love picross. SUMMARY: It's picross, but Mario. I already explained the basics of picross in my blog entry on Pixel Puzzle Collection, so I won't repeat myself here. There is a tutorial in the game, but it's in Japanese. Initially, you have access to four "levels", each with twelve puzzles. The difficulty increases as you go across levels, starting out with super simple 5x5 puzzles, to the moderate 10x10 puzzles, ande the more challenging 15x15 puzzles. As you clear all 12 puzzles in a level, more levels are unlocked. The first time you beat a level, Wario shows up, unlocking a whole new set of levels, effectively doubling the number of picross puzzles you can solve. Wario's puzzles provide a greater challenge compared to the regular Mario ones, but it's nothing insanely impossible. For the Mario levels, the puzzles have a 30-minute time limit, which is kind of generous. It also penalizes you for filling in a square that isn't supposed to be filled in (I think it removes a couple extra seconds from the clock). I don't know what happens when you run out the clock. For whatever reason, the Wario levels don't have a time limit or a wrong square penalty; perhaps it's to compensate for the difficulty. Though this is a serviceable picross game, it doesn't have the conveniences that modern games do these days. The game doesn't auto-fill completed rows, and you have to manually mark individual number clues as cleared (modern games do this automatically). Other than that, the UI is clear and it controls fine; you can even hold the button and hold a direction to quickly fill in adjacent squares in succession (though in my experience, this causes a lot of wrong inputs very often). My only gripe is that there is no dedicated "erase" button; you have to press the corresponding button again to erase a filled square or crossed-out square. In terms of presentation, I like how they presented each puzzle as if you're chiseling away at a stone to form the image. Most picross games I've seen don't really do anything special when presenting the puzzles. The music is pleasant, too. The solved images themselves are simple designs based on various things (from kana characters, to everyday objects), and some even have animations when you solve them. Other than that, there's not much to say about them; they largely have nothing to do with Mario or Nintendo in general. It makes me wish we had some sort of Nintendo picross game where you form classic 8-bit sprites from the NES days. This game was never translated to Japanese, but thankfully, the language barrier is not a hindrance here, as the game does not require any sort of reading comprehension to enjoy (well, other than the ability to understand Hindu-Arabic numbers). In fact, this game is probably a good way to add some words to one's Japanese vocabulary; solving a puzzle reveals not only the image itself, but its name. VERDICT: Mario's Super Picross is a solid picross game; though it lacks the quality-of-life polish that newer picross games have, it's still easy to play, has a decent amount of puzzles, and nice presentation. This is a great way to get into picross; I highly recommend playing it if you've never done a picross puzzle before. - end - This is the first time I've done a straight revisit of a game for the blog, and it is for good reason. For one, my time with the game predates the existence of the blog, and for another, there is a special occasion today revolving around this game. BACKGROUND:
I remember hearing so much about Rocket League back when it first came out, and I enjoyed a lot of what I saw of the game online. I ended up finally getting the game in 2018, and it was among one of the first games I got for my newly-bought Switch. I played a ton of it during that time, but eventually fell out of it in favor of other games. I heard that this was going free-to-play, so I thought that now would be a great time to get back into the game so I can welcome my friends who will be coming in. PLOT: Nope. PRESENTATION: The visuals look pretty good, with vibrant colors, lots of neon lights, decent textures, and flashy particle effects. The Switch version in particular is kinda rough around the edges, with its occasional performance hiccups. It also isn't much of a looker in handheld mode, but that is to be expected. It's been quite a while since I last played this, and it seems like they've done a lot to polish the visuals for this version. There's a decent variety of stages, ranging from bustling cities, sunny beaches, rustic farmlands, and even futuristic-looking space stations. It's kind of hard to appreciate them when you're too focused in a match, but they all look really nice. While there's usually no music during matches, the wide selection of tracks in the menu is fantastic. Majority of them are techno/EDM-style songs, so if you're not into that, you may disagree with me on that one. Personally, I like many of these tracks; they fit the high-octane action of the game. The sound design is equally impressive, with satisfying car sounds, drift sound effects that perfectly match the terrain of the stage, crowd cheering that adds a lot to the atmosphere, and even stage-specific sounds like a Japanese announcer for the Tokyo stage, or a chiming clock for the train station-looking stage. The range of cosmetics in the game is astounding. You can customize everything about your car, from the model all the way down to the decals, and even change stuff like your boost trail and the explosion that happens when you score. There are also neat trinkets like toppers and antennae, and banners for your player card. For the Switch version, you have exclusive cars based on Mario and Metroid. GAMEPLAY: It's soccer, but instead of people kicking, you drive the car into the ball. That's all this game is, but goddamn, it is absolutely fun. Your car has the basic stuff (drive, reverse, power slide/drift), but it also has a boost (which is self-explanatory, but can also allow your car to fly) and a jump (which you can double tap to do a flip in the direction you're holding). These two mechanics really open up your mobility, allowing you do things like front flip into the ball to hit it farther, or jump and boost to sail over an opponent. They're also deceptively tricky to get a hang of despite being fundamentally easy to understand; I have lost count at how many times I've completely whiffed a shot by flipping in the wrong direction. There are also more complex techniques aside from that, like air rolls and feathering boosts. This game is definitely one of those "easy to learn, hard to master" experiences. I have clocked in about 40 hours total in this game, and I'm pretty sure I'm still hot garbage at it. Hitting the ball in the direction you want it to go is easier said than done, positioning takes quite a bit of time to get used to (especially in the air), and defending is hilariously easy to fuck up. Despite this, I still have a ton of fun every match, even if my team ends up in a huge score deficit in the vein of that one Brazil-Germany match at the World Cup. There are a variety of ways you can play this game. The standard is 3v3 team matches, but there are also doubles, 1v1 duels, and the aptly-dubbed Chaos mode (which has four players on each team). You can either go casual (which is what it is) or competitive, which has a ranking system tied to it. You can also participate in tournaments if you're feeling extra competitive. In addition to the regular modes, you also have a small assortment of extra modes. There's Snow Day, which replaces the ball with a hockey puck, Hoops, which replaces the usual goal with a hoop you have to hit the ball into, Rumble, which is a normal match but with Mario Kart-esque power-ups, and Dropshot, where the floor breaks and goals are scored when the ball falls into gaps of said floor. These are all really enjoyable spins on the regular game, each having their own quirks that make them their own experience. I personally have way more fun playing these modes. You can also set up custom modes both online and offline, so you can have fun with modified rulesets on top of the existing ones. There are plenty of things you can adjust, including wackier settings like ball size or gravity. There aren't a lot of single-player modes (other than training or AI matches), so if you're not into playing against others, you may not have a lot to do in this game. The only substantial single player mode is Season Mode, which has you compete against AI across several weeks in order to improve your team standing and eventually qualify for the playoffs. In terms of actual layout, most stages are flat fields, with only a select few having unique topography. Most matches take place in the flat stages, which is probably for the best especially for competitive matches. The ones with raised ground or walls tend to be confusing to play around. Since I've gotten back into this game, crossplay has been fully implemented across every platform, so you can team up with friends regardless of console. There is, of course, local play, which I was able to do a lot of when I'd take the Switch to campus, and it's tons of fun. If you can, you should absolutely play this game with friends. With the upcoming free-to-play change, cosmetics have been reworked into your usual item shop that uses microtransaction currency. This game used to be loot box galore, but it seems like they've moved away from that in favor of a less egregious daily shop rotation system. You can also earn blueprints simply by playing, which unlock new cosmetics if you spend a certain amount of the premium currency on them. I didn't really care for how they handled cosmetics before (it reminded me too much of CS: GO), and this doesn't seem as bad. My only question is how to earn this new currency without spending real money; as of this writing, I have not encountered a way to earn these things simply by playing the game. I also wonder if normal cosmetic unlocks from before still exist; since returning to the game, I've only unlocked the occasional blueprint, so I fear that they've removed cosmetic rewards in favor of this blueprint system. As of right now, I don't know what else is being changed once the game goes F2P, but I do know they're adding some sort of Battle Pass mechanic that rotates every season, which is in the vein of many other F2P games like Fortnite. I have no strong feelings over this, though I suppose it's another way to earn stuff simply by playing. I assume there will also be some sort of premium Battle Pass that you can pay for. I also don't know if they'll be changing events moving forward, but the ones I was able to participate in rewarded you with event-specific currency that you can trade in for limited-time cosmetics. I'm guessing that will still exist in some form minus the loot box shit. VERDICT: Rocket League is still a lot of fun, even after my extended hiatus. It takes a simple yet outlandish concept and builds an exciting competitive experience that rivals (or even surpasses) other sports games. It's easy to pick up, but the skill ceiling is quite high, making it a game that people of any skill level can enjoy. Though not really single-player friendly, playing matches with others (whether online or otherwise) is a blast, to the point that I have to actively remind myself to stop playing so I can do more important shit. This is a game that's absolutely worth checking out no matter your gaming background, and with it going free-to-play soon, there is no better opportunity than today. The fact that there will be an influx of new players coming was exactly what brought me back, and with just a couple of hours playing again, I was quickly reminded of how much fun this game is. I really think this is a game anybody can enjoy (either casually or competitively), and if you haven't already, I implore you to check it out when you can. Rocket League is free-to-play on every platform RIGHT NOW. Since there's crossplay, just pick your preferred console (or PC) and download the game there. If you're on Switch or PS4, you won't even need the online subscription service to play online! Here are links to the PC version: Here's a Spotify playlist containing the entirety of the Rocket League soundtrack. There are several OST albums for this game, so I deemed it more convenient to find a playlist that has everything: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5jSM6lE56BKLKRiavRO4Aw?si=KEziQL5FRMaRQFAF91h52g - end - I've been reading a bunch of Marvel stuff over the past few weeks, so why don't we venture into some unfamiliar territory this time around? BACKGROUND:
I've only read a preview of the first issue of Mosaic before, so I'm not that familiar with this character. He's also a fairly recent creation, so I haven't seen him in a lot of other comics, either. I'm pretty much going in blind here. THE WRITING: Morris Sackett has it all: he's a famous and talented basketball player, lives an expensive lifestyle, and is dating a literal pop star. All that is taken when the Terrigen mists engulf him and turn him into an Inhuman, taking away his physical form and leaving him incorporeal. Now, he has the ability to "possess" people, taking over their bodies and having access to all their memories and knowledge. He struggles to get a hang of these powers as he tries to find a way to get his old life back. Initially, Sackett is a massive dickbag who thinks little of people who have to work hard as opposed to someone like him, who has natural talent. While he doesn't quite have a full change of heart when he gets his powers, the things he finds out about his life as shaped by his father knocks him down a peg, and one can't help but feel a little bad after the revelations. The nature of his powers also has him relive the memories and feel the emotions of the person he's inhabiting, and although he can still be a little judgmental, he does learn to be a little more empathetic. Sackett doesn't fight a villain in this volume, but he does come across a mysterious group known as Brand Corp, who was hired by his father and has ties to his backstory. They don't do much other than be one of a couple of things that upend Sackett's perception of his father, a man he always listened to and admire. There are hints that this organization has more sinister plans, and hopefully that's something that is explored in later volumes. Mosaic's powers aren't anything new; taking over someone's body and acquiring their knowledge and memories are abilities we've seen in many characters before. What makes him interesting is that he apparently can't possess the same person more than once, and that he still has access to a person's memories even after he's left. In addition, he is also invisible to anybody except people he's already inhabited before. This volume doesn't really go in depth on the true nature of Mosaic's powers, but it has laid plenty of foundations for some interesting stories or interactions. Speaking of interesting interactions, Mosaic gets to take over the body of an established Marvel character in one of the issues. It's a really cool moment. THE ART: This comic has an interesting style; although there are plenty of straight lines and clean curves throughout, many characters have "jagged" outlines that define their shape. It's evident in Mosaic's design himself, among others. The colors are bright and varied (but tend to stick to more muted shades and tones), and the faces are quite expressive and have good detail to them. Mosaic's design is pretty cool; he looks like a sort of energy being with patterns on his body that look very much like.... well, a mosaic. And much like a mosaic, he looks like he's a hodgepodge of tiny pieces, with bits of whatever-he-is floating around his person at all times. VERDICT: Volume 1 of Mosaic is a solid introduction to a brand new Inhuman. Its main character still has room to grow as a person but has a sympathetic backstory, superpowers that may not be completely unique but have interesting wrinkles to them, and a simple conflict that may grow into something more as the story progresses. I am now quite interested in this character, and look forward to reading more stories with him in it. Read Mosaic Vol. 1 on Comixology: https://www.comixology.com/Mosaic-Vol-1-King-of-the-World/digital-comic/485487?ref=c2VhcmNoL2luZGV4L2Rlc2t0b3Avc2xpZGVyTGlzdC9pdGVtU2xpZGVy - end - This week, I have another Black Panther comic, and it's one that I might say is one of my all-time favorites. BACKGROUND:
Captain America and the Black Panther teaming up in WWII is one of my absolute favorite Marvel team-up stories, but I have never actually read this particular take on it until now. Needless to say, I'm super excited to get into this. THE WRITING: The Nazis are developing a missile system designed to attack Washington DC directly, but to do that, they require vibranium. Since there's only one place to get the metal, Baron Strucker prepares an invasion of Wakanda. Out to stop them is none other than Captain America (who, at this point, is just starting out), and he has Sgt. Nick Fury and the Howling Commandos for backup. They fly into Wakanda looking to stop the Nazis, but they are greeted by Azzuri, the Black Panther (T'Challa's grandfather). The Americans quickly realize that there's more to the Wakandans than meets the eye, as they easily slaughtered a contingent of the Nazi army with little effort. Later on, the Red Skull arrives to assist Baron Strucker, and he's brought some superpowered Nazi friends: Master Man, Warrior Woman, and Tiger Man. He also enlists the help of the White Gorilla (who I assume is M'Baku's ancestor) to help their efforts (much to the chagrin of the mega racists within the Nazi ranks). With these villains (and a giant mech piloted by Red Skull), the Nazis unleash a full scale assault on Wakanda, but it was not enough to defeat the combined might of Captain America, the Howling Commandos, and the Black Panther. Though this is a rather short series, there was plenty of room for interesting character interactions. Cap's purity and Nick Fury's willingness to go into gray areas (a trait that would continue to define him as director of SHIELD later on) was a time-honored clash of ideals, while Azzuri and Cap's friendship was interesting to see as they both found common ground. One of the Howling Commandos (Gabe) gets a bit of the limelight, as he (a black man) narrates his experiences in Wakanda, which is a stark contrast to his life in America. This was long before the days of the Civil Rights movement, so his shock and awe at this kingdom is a sobering reminder of how poorly his people were treated in that era of America's history. Since this is WWII-era Marvel, you won't get any big references to anything else, but stuff like T'Chaka (T'Challa's father) as a child and a brief mention of Namor exist to remind us that this is still very much in-universe. The only thing that's missing is a Magneto reference. THE ART: The comic has this "rough sketch" look to it, with the use of lines to give detail and shading to characters and environments. The colors are bright, but have this sort of old-timey filter over them, making the entire thing feel like a flashback. It's not an art style I see appealing to everyone, but I appreciate what it's going for. VERDICT: Flags of Our Fathers is up there as one of my absolute favorite Marvel stories of the WWII era. It has one of the coolest duos in Marvel ever, has interesting character moments, makes Wakanda feel even more impressive as a place, and sees a bunch of Nazis get their asses handed to them. Highly recommended if you like both Cap and Black Panther. Read Flags of Our Fathers on Comixology: https://www.comixology.com/Captain-America-Black-Panther-Flags-Of-Our-Fathers/digital-comic/343125?ref=c2VhcmNoL2luZGV4L2Rlc2t0b3Avc2xpZGVyTGlzdC9pdGVtU2xpZGVy - end - I'm checking out another free eShop game again! Today, it's all about Spellbreak. BACKGROUND:
I saw the launch announcement for this game on Nintendo's Twitter. I watched the trailer and thought it looked cool, so here we are. PLOT: From what I can gather from the trailer, it seems that magic is outlawed and forbidden, and those who harness it are called Vowbreakers. There's not a lot to it after that, and the game itself (as far as I can tell) doesn't have a story component to it. PRESENTATION: The game takes on this sort of cel-shaded art style, and while it's no Wind Waker, I think it looks pretty nice. The look of the terrain is decent (and quite varied), and the visual effects on the spells look real flashy. There's not much to say about music, because it's pretty much dead silent in gameplay, and the few tracks there are didn't really do anything for me. GAMEPLAY: Spellbreak is a battle royale, but instead of shooting guns, you cast magic to deal damage. I like to think of it as an action RPG in battle royale form. The structure of the gameplay is identical to a lot of games in the genre. There's a massive world map, you choose a place to drop, you go down and collect some loot, the play area gets smaller over time, and last person standing wins. If you've played one of these before, you won't have trouble grasping the fundamentals. Before you get into a match, you select a gauntlet corresponding to an element. This determines your default spell loadout, which is your primary mode of offense. There are six elements, each with their own basic spells (the standard attack, if you will), and what's called a "sorcery" (the equivalent to a special attack or powerful skill). For example, the fire gauntlet's basic spell is a fireball (classic projectile), while its sorcery casts a large wall of fire across a small area. Each element lends itself well to different play styles, so it may serve you well to experiment to see what works for you. Casting these spells isn't free; they cost mana. Basic spells are cheap and can be cast until you run out, while sorcery spends more mana and has a cooldown. Don't worry if you run out, because mana recharges over time (unless there's another person nearby, in which case you should be concerned for your immediate survival). Mana is also used for levitation. Yes, you can sort of fly in this game. Holding down the jump button allows you to levitate up to higher elevations and hover over gaps. It's nothing complex, but it's a really fun mobility tool and makes combat more chaotic (most fights devolve into everyone zipping around the sky). Additionally, each gauntlet has levels, which increase over time as you survive into the match. Reaching these levels grants special passive effects unique to the gauntlet element. Poison, for instace, can grant you immunity to your own toxic cloud spells if you reach level 2. I thought this was a neat mechanic; these passives make each element's play style more distinct from one another. Completing matches not only levels up your player, but also your proficiency in the gauntlet element you were using. Leveling up in general gives you neat rewards like currency and special cosmetics, but leveling up element proficiency unlocks special passive skills called Talents, which you can also equip before battles. Talents are classified based on three stats: Body, Mind, and Spirit. Each skill has a set value of Talent points, and your equipped skills cannot exceed your limit (the default appears to be 6; I do not know if that can be changed). These skills have all sorts of effects, from defensive buffs that protect you from status ailments, or offense oriented skills like faster cast speed. Each element has its own unique set of skills that you can unlock, so it may be worth it to level them all up to a certain point. Instead of Fortnite's flying bus that flies a random path each time, the way you drop into the map is through an assortment of portals whose locations are random every match. I found this to be a easier way to handle controlling where you land, as the portals are usually distributed somewhat evenly across the entire map, allowing you to go pretty much anywhere. In some cases, you still have to go out of your way to reach a certain spot, but I generally had a solid sense of control as to where I wanted to go. Once you land, you'll want to find some loot, of which there are many kinds. These can be found littered about in the world, or in chests that you can open. Defeated enemies will also drop all their loot. First, you have your consumables: health and armor, which come in small and large varieties, restoring a respective amount of each stat over time. Pretty self-explanatory. Next, you have equippable items. You have boots, which increase your running speed, belts (which give you armor), and amulets (which increase your max mana). These all come in different rarities (from common to legendary), with the better ones granting higher stats. You'll want to find these as soon as possible and upgrade when you can; you will get your ass kicked without armor and extra mana can make a difference in a fight. You also have runes, which are a sort of active skill that grants you buffs. There are ones that grant invisibility, ones that let you teleport, ones that reveal enemy locations for a short period, and more. These also have rarities, with the better ones lasting longer or having less cooldown. Finding these can definitely help you out, and while you can stick to one rune throughout a match, it's not a bad idea to swap out runes depending on the situation you're in. There are also scrolls, which upgrade the Body, Mind, and Spirit stats and improve their effects. You can only get three of each, but the boosts are significant if you manage to get that far along in upgrades. These scrolls are a bit harder to come by, but defeated enemies usually drop them. Lastly, you can also find other elemental gauntlets. "Don't you already have one going in," I hear you ask. Well, you have two arms, so that other gauntlet goes on the other one, and that grants you access to more spells. The ability to wield two different elements is easily the most fun mechanic in the game. Not only is it cool to fling boulders and launch fireballs simultaneously like you're the fucking Avatar, some of the elements actually synergize with each other. For example, the toxic cloud sorcery of the poison gauntlet will explode if you hit it with a fireball, or freeze if you shoot an ice lance at it. It's a lot of fun to see what different element combinations do, and it makes battles with other players absolutely bananas as everything on the screen explodes into a million colors. Like the other items, gauntlets also have rarities, which determine the damage output of spells. Equipping a secondary gauntlet unfortunately does not grant you passive buffs like how your default upgrades over time. Finding a duplicate of your default gauntlet isn't terrible by any means, as finding one of a higher rarity allows you to upgrade. There are three game modes: squad (which puts you in a team of three), duos, and solos. You can't play the other two until you've played a bunch of squad fames, so you'll probably spend some time getting needlessly frustrated with unhelpful randoms. Solo is way more fun in my experience, but if you have a couple of friends, I'm sure the team modes are a blast. Like in other battle royales, the team modes have a revive mechanic once you're downed. Their take on it is you become this ball of light that can move around towards teammates, but enemies can get to you first and confirm the kill. I found it amusing to zip around the map in a middle of a firefight as a dumbass orb hoping to be revived. As this is free-to-play, you would be right to expect microtransactions. The only thing you can pay real money for is gold (the premium currency), and they're only used for cosmetics. The shop's daily rotation is rather limited, which I find mildly vexing, and you only get a modest amount of gold by leveling up, but other than that, this isn't egregiously bad. On the subject of cosmetics, you can change a lot of stuff, from your player card, to emotes, skins, and fun knick-knacks your character can have on their person. Some are unlocked by just leveling up, but the rest are found in the shop. I wish I knew the scope of what was available, but the shop's limited selection doesn't help with that. VERDICT: Spellbreak is a fun spin on the battle royale formula, with simple spell-based combat that has a respectable amount of depth to it. In a genre slowly but surely getting saturated with loot-and-shooters (I have nothing against those, mind you), I appreciated the more fantasy-style setting and a visual style that doesn't feel overly realistic. I likely won't stick around long-term, but I have enjoyed my time so far playing a few matches. This game is free, so check it out for yourself and see it's for you. Don't worry; there's crossplay and cross-saves, so you can carry over progress on your preferred platform and play with anyone regardless of console! Here it is on the Epic Games Store: https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/product/spellbreak/home - end - 2020 is a fucking shitshow of a year, and in light of recent events, it felt only right to read a Black Panther comic. BACKGROUND:
This series apparently came out around 2-3 years ago, but I've never heard of it until now. It's a good example of how there's still so much in the world of comics I've yet to explore despite all my knowledge and experience. THE WRITING: There are three stories in this series. The first three issues centers around T'Challa investigating a mysterious blackout caused by an earthquake and what seems to be a giant monster. The second story spans two issues and sees T'Challa fight M'Baku and the White Gorilla Cult again. Lastly, we have a one-issue comic that isn't focused on T'Challa, but on Ngozi instead. Ngozi is the Black Panther/Venom hybrid from the Edge of Venomverse series (which saw other Marvel characters bond with the Venom symbiote), and we see her return home to Nigeria to spend some time with family (and run into mutant-related trouble). The first story is interesting in that it isn't a typical Black Panther vs. villain scenario. It's him dealing with a series of (un)natural disasters and investigating the source. It highlights how T'Challa is very involved and hands-on as king when it comes to the well-being of Wakanda. I also enjoy that the Hatut Zeraze agents who accompany T'Challa throughout the story make jokes at his expense; it makes him feel less uptight that you might expect him to be. Another interesting tidbit about this story is the nature of the disaster itself. It reveals yet another layer to the nature of vibranium, and it involves elements of T'Challa's (and even his father's) past. It also expands the world of Wakanda a bit by introducing a region called the Mute Zone, an area of the country where the inhabitants have gone off the grid and live in isolation. The second story is more of the typical superhero fare, but is made interesting thanks to a figure in T'Challa's past playing a big role in the plot. Baron Macabre is also involved, and there are robot animals, but other than that, this is business as usual for the Black Panther. The last story will likely confuse readers that have never heard of Ngozi, but it's a self-contained comic that doesn't really reference anything else, so you won't have to worry about following plotlines from other things. And while you don't learn a great deal about Ngozi's origin (you'll have to read Edge of Venomverse for that), you get a good sense of her character here, especially in relation to the symbiote. THE ART: Each story's art is done by a different team, so you'll get a mix of styles here. The first one has thin outlines, lighter tones for its colors, minimal shading, and a decent amount of detail (also accomplished with super thin lines). The second one feels more like a kids' cartoon: thicker lines, more vibrant colors, and is overall simpler in terms of detail. The third story sits at the other end of the spectrum, featuring more varied line art, shading and colors that feel more realistic, and a greater attention to detail in certain panels. I really enjoy the mishmash of styles, but if I were pressed for an answer, I would say I personally loved the art style of the first story. Something about it just feels pleasing to look at. VERDICT: Though far from game-changing in terms of overarching story or character development, I still enjoyed Black Panther: Long Live the King and its smaller-scale, more standalone adventures featuring the hero himself (plus a version of Black Panther you may not have seen before). Seeing the character and Wakanda itself in a variety of art styles was a delight to boot. Go read this comic on Comixology: https://m.comixology.com/Black-Panther-Long-Live-The-King/digital-comic/654471?ref=c2VhcmNoL2luZGV4L21vYmlsZS90cmFkZUl0ZW0 As an added bonus, here's links to a bunch of single issues for Black Panther, Shuri, and Killmonger. Comixology has made them all free (for what I assume is a limited time), so if you're reading this at the time I published it, you may want to get in on this action before time passes. There are over 250 comics you can get for free, and if my math is right, you'll be getting over $500 of value for not even a penny. In fact, the single issues of the Long Live the King series are among the free offerings, so you can read the entirety of this series for free that way. - end - Nintendo dropped a Direct last night focused on Mario's 35th anniversary, and one of the many insane announcements in it was the shadow drop of a new addition to the SNES Online emulator. Today, I talk about said addition. BACKGROUND:
I knew of Super Mario All-Stars beforehand, but having already played the original versions of the four games included in the collection, I saw no need to check it out. Now that I can access it legally, I thought, why not? SUMMARY: Super Mario All-Stars is a collection of all the Super Mario NES games in one package. You have the original Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (which was Super Mario Bros. 2 in Japan), Super Mario Bros. 2 (the one that the West got), and Super Mario Bros. 3. What makes this collection special is that it's more than just a bundle of classic games: every game on here has been overhauled to have 16-bit visuals, upgraded sounds, more detailed sprites and backgrounds, and even some unique animations. This is essentially Mario Remastered, but for the '90s. Everything looks great and fresh, but the charm of the originals isn't completely erased. If you've played the original NES versions like I have, you will immediately notice quite the difference in terms of presentation. They almost feel like brand new games because of the more detailed backgrounds, the more defined sprites, the more refined music, and all the extra animations that weren't in the original. Mario 1 and Mario Lost Levels in particular feel like a drastic upgrade from the originals. Though you may expect these games to look like Super Mario World (the actual Mario game of the Super Nintendo), the games still retain the aesthetic of their NES counterparts to a degree. Mario 2 is exemplary of this; the NES version did not use a lot of black outlines for its sprites, and the same can be said of the All-Stars version. Some sprites have been changed outright, however; most notably, Bowser looks more like his more modern incarnations rather than the green turtle-dragon freak that he was in Mario 1. Aside from the overhaul in the presentation, you can now save each game (with multiple save slots to boot). This was probably a big deal at the time (few NES games had saves, and the feature only became more prominent during the SNES era), but in 2020 when save states for the originals are possible, it's not really anything special. Other than that, all the games pretty much play the exact same way as the originals. If you've played the NES version, the game will not feel foreign at all. Nothing outside of the presentation has changed, no new bells and whistles were added, and there are no changes to gameplay or anything like that. As I mentioned in the first paragraph, I saw no need to play this at the time because I'd already played the originals, so unless you are interested in the new visuals, you may feel the same way. I've already talked about all four games in this collection on here via the NES Online blog posts, albeit only briefly. I beat them all again in a span of about five hours (spread across two days), so I think this is a good opportunity to really zero in on my thoughts on each game. Below are my thoughts on each game individually: Super Mario Bros. Ah, the classic. This game pretty much pioneered the side-scrolling platformer, and its significance in the industry should not be ignored. It's still very much a simple experience: go right, jump on the enemies, get to the end; no wacky mechanics, just pure platforming. I still enjoyed myself despite this being my nth playthrough; something about its simplicity just makes it so pleasant to revisit time and time again. I suppose there's also the speedrunning aspect to it; I've played this enough times that I know where a lot of the secrets are (especially the warp zones that let me skip through 75% of the game), and my clear time getting shorter and shorter makes revisits appealing. The variety in terms of level aesthetic has never really been a strong point of this game, but the All-Stars edition helps compensate by making those few designs really stand out. Like I may have said before, this is what I'd call a gaming "essential," so I think it must be played at least once by pretty much everybody. Go play it if you haven't. Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels This was Mario 2 in Japan, and Nintendo thought it was too hard for the Westerners and released a different Mario 2 for them instead. They were certainly onto something; this is pretty much just the first game, except the level designers upped the ante on the bullshit. The levels are way trickier and require more precision than the original, mechanics like wind are introduced to throw you off, some levels are a pain in the ass to figure out (like the ones that require you to find hidden blocks or the endless loop ones where you have to perform trial-and-error to find the correct path), and there are things that are in place specifically to piss you off (like the poison mushroom, fire flowers that are impossible to get, and warp zones that send you back to the first world). Since the original Lost Levels is practically Mario 1 but with different levels, don't expect too much deviation in terms of visuals. Only play this game if you want to subject yourself to a rather difficult, somewhat obtuse challenge. Otherwise, playing Mario 1 will suffice. And don't feel bad for using save states or the rewind feature, either; this is definitely the kind of game you wanna use it for. Super Mario Bros. 2 This is the Western Mario 2, and it plays almost nothing like the original. Instead of killing enemies by stomping them, you can pick up objects you're standing on (including enemies themselves) and throw them at anything that moves. It'll be weird if you've never played this game before, but once you get used to it, throwing a motherfucker at another motherfucker is a satisfying feeling. Boss fights are a little more involved as well thanks to this mechanic; not only are you actively taking the fight to a wider variety of bosses, but you're using the environment to do so. This is a Mario game, though, so it's still not that difficult. Mario 2 has fewer levels than Mario 1 or the lost levels, but the larger levels more than make up for it. You do significantly more exploring here than you do in the first game, and there are a good amount of bonuses and shortcuts to find if you look hard enough. In particular, I love how warp zones are handled here; instead of walking past the end, you have to take the flask (which brings up a door that takes you to a special zone when you throw it) near a "pipe" and then jump down. What also makes this game unique is its roster. You can play as either Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Toad, and they all play differently from one another. It's in this game that a lot of the traits these characters are known for are introduced; Mario's the all-rounder, Luigi has a higher jump, Peach can float, and Toad runs fast. Though this game is not as well remembered as the others, a few now-classic Mario characters come from this game. Shy Guys, Bob-ombs, Pokeys, and Birdo all debuted here. The enemy variety in Mario 2 easily beats out the first game, even if a lot of the iconic ones (like the Goombas and the Koopa Troopas) are absent. Plus, the way the mechanics are allows for unique interactions; since you don't kill enemies by stomping them, you can ride on top of them to another part of the level or use them as stepping stones. You're actually required to do this in a number of places, usually atop a flying enemy. Both in the original and in the All-Stars edition, Mario 2 has a distinct look about it that sets it apart from the other Mario games visually. I remember the first time I saw this game and thinking, this looks nothing like Mario. This game is also an improvement in terms of level variety. For the first time, you get to run around the desert and icy mountains. At this point, there are very little places Mario hasn't been (the dude has been to space, for crying out loud), but seeing where Mario level variety really started to take off is something I can still appreciate. I've always enjoyed how different Mario 2 is from the rest of the bunch, and playing through it again reaffirms my love for it. I think it's worth checking out especially if you've never played it before; it may feel foreign compared to what you think a Mario game is, but there's still a fun game underneath the surface. Super Mario Bros. 3 Often hailed as the best 2D Mario, and with good reason. It took the winning formula of Mario 1 and expanded it completely, turning it from a level-to-level platformer to a whole world to explore. Instead of the game taking you from level to level automatically, there is a world map where you can select which levels you want to take on. For the most part, it's linear, but once you start beating levels, the paths will open up and passageways will unlock, allowing you to forge your own path through the world. It's a level of freedom that didn't really exist for platformers at the time, and the variety of paths you can take makes each playthrough a little different from the last. The overworld is made even more exciting thanks to locations such as bonus rooms that give you items or 1-Ups, or random encounters with enemies like Hammer Bros. Mario 3 tones it down a bit by reducing the cast to the original brothers, but it makes up for it by expanding Mario's arsenal. You still have your fire flowers and mushrooms, but on top of that, you have the Super Leaf that lets you fly, the Frog Suit that helps you swim faster, and more. The Super Leaf in particular is a significant addition, as lets you explore a Mario level in ways the first game never could, allowing you to find out-of-the-way secrets. The exploration aspect extends to the world map as well; certain power-ups allow you to unlock even more paths on the map that can take you to bonus rooms or even help you skip entire areas. In terms of mechanics, there is a healthy mix of old and new. Classic enemies and power-ups make a return, and all the other usual Mario trappings (like your ? Blocks and warp pipes) are present. Mixed in with the new shit are the aforementioned new power-ups, a slew of new enemies (some of whom are now Mario staples like the Thwomp, Boo, and Chain Chomp), new mechanics (like spinning platforms, and the debut of the P Switch), and the ability to hold and throw items like shells (which isn't technically new if you're going by Mario 2, but it functions a little differently). In this regard, Mario 3 feels more like a sequel to the first game than Mario 2 does; it takes what worked in the original and builds upon it to provide a more robust experience. This game also marks the debut of the Koopalings, Bowser's Koopa minions-slash-probably-children. Whereas a lot of Mario 2's new bosses outside of Birdo have largely been forgotten (RIP Wart), the Koopalings managed to stand the test of time to become a series staple themselves. Although the fights themselves are hilariously simple (this is a Mario game, after all), I still really like these little idiots. The level aesthetics are also a great mix of old and new. You have the classic stuff (grassy plains, underground, underwater, Bowser's lava fortress), designs expanded upon from Mario 2 (ice world, desert), and entirely new and fun concepts (like the airship levels, the world where everything is giant, and the pipe maze). A lot of these concepts have since been revisited and refined in later games, but like I said in the previous section, it's still awesome to see. Despite Super Mario World being my absolute favorite 2D Mario, Mario 3 comes in at a close second for me. As mentioned before, this is a good example of a fantastic sequel, and I really enjoy both the freedom of going through the world map your own way as well as mechanics like the Super Leaf. Most people would point you in the direction of this game if you ask for a great 2D Mario platformer, and I can't say I disagree. VERDICT: Super Mario All-Stars is admittedly redundant when you consider the fact that the games it collects can be played in their original form via NES Online, but it is nonetheless a solid remaster that gives four classic games a fresh 16-bit coat of paint. I still like the originals as they are, but All-Stars is a great effort to make something old new again. I certainly had a blast playing everything, because not only do I already like these games, but the graphical overhaul made it feel like a different experience (even if it clearly isn't gameplay-wise). I would still recommend playing the NES versions if you haven't played them at all before, but this is not a terrible place to start by any means either. Though they look nothing like the originals, they all play exactly the same, so you'll be getting mostly the same experience, just with more polished visuals. If you've already played these games, revisiting them via the All-Stars pack is a good way to enjoy Mario in a slightly different way. Again, you may not be compelled to check it out if you've already beaten all four of these games, but I still suggest playing a little bit just so you can compare and contrast the graphics with the original. - end - Ah yes, the rare blog entry on a mobile game. I thought this one was worth talking about briefly, so here we are. BACKGROUND:
You know those emails from Apple that give you app recommendations? Well, this is the one time something on there has actually piqued my interest. PLOT: Unless you consider short snippets of facts as plot, there is no plot. PRESENTATION: There isn't much to say here. The game looks all right visually (though there are no graphical bells and whistles, or distinct art styles), the UI isn't cluttered and presents everything clearly, and the art looks faithful to the retro era it pays homage to. GAMEPLAY: This game is essentially Konami's nonograms (or picross, as I have come to know this game). If you don't know what a nonogram is, it's a logic puzzle where you fill up squares in order to form an image, with the clues coming in the form of numbers that denote how many squares are filled in a given row or column. Even if you've never heard of it, you'll pick it up quickly thanks to the game's somewhat overbearing tutorial. It gets super tricky as you go along, but this game eases you into it by giving you easy puzzles at the start. At the start, you'll only be solving puzzles of size 5x5 (which are incredibly easy), but as you clear more puzzles, you'll eventually unlock more complex boards of size 10x10 and 15x15. Unlike other games of this kind, you don't actually get to select which puzzle you wanna do; you are given one at random each time, an approach that lends itself well to the "play in short bursts" model that is common in a lot of mobile games. Overall, there are a whopping 500 puzzles to solve, so there is no shortage of content in the game. The finished art of each puzzle features a reference to classic Konami games from long ago. You have art based one the A-list Konami properties (like Castlevania, Contra, Bomberman, and Gradius), retro stuff that most people my age won't be familiar with (TwinBee, Circus Charlie, Yie Ar Kung Fu, to name a few), and even shit that I have never heard of (the fuck is Nuts & Milk?). The game also provides a short description of the finished art and what it means in its game of origin. I have some familiarity with the old Konami games (thanks to my time emulating a small number of them back in the day), so seeing a bunch of them be referenced in this game through pixel art is really neat. Konami as a company has made some big stumbles in recent memory, and this game is a sort of reminder that they still have a respectable legacy of games behind them. If you're not into Konami or don't care about old games, that's completely fine; your unfamiliarity with the art will not hinder your experience at all. That said, if you're curious, this game tells you what old Konami game the art is referencing, and you can always look them up (or even play them, if you're so inclined). Some of these old games are still worth playing today, so I think it's worth exploring if you're interested. Some of the puzzles in this game are designated as boss puzzles. Appropriately, these are 15x15 puzzles, and take quite a bit of effort to complete. Once you do, the finished boss puzzle forms a small part of an even bigger image. This is a cool idea, but I find it mildly vexing that there's a 3-hour timer before you can access one again. I guess even this game has to have some sort of stamina system despite not needing one at all. Once you complete a puzzle, it becomes available for viewing in the collection menu. The game tells you your exact completion percentage, and you also have the option to replay puzzles you've already done. There is a timer in the game, so you can replay puzzles to get a better time if you wish. Now, since this is a mobile game, you may be expecting microtransactions. In a pleasant twist, there are none. You can enjoy this game entirely for free; no pay-to-win, just pure picross goodness. Notably, the few ads there are in this game are all promotion for other Konami games, which is a welcome departure from the usual ads one sees in a lot of these free-to-play mobile games. VERDICT: I've always enjoyed picross, and Konami's Pixel Puzzle Collection is a decent take on it. It's simply the classic puzzle with a Konami coat of paint, and I am satisfied with that. Though you may be better served playing the many other picross games out there, this is an easily accessible entry point for the unfamiliar. It's completely free, it teaches the mechanics well, and you may learn some Konami trivia along the way. Try the game for yourself for free on your preferred mobile platform: - end - |
Categories
All
Archives
June 2024
Derryck
|