This game was so much fun, I put off writing this because I continued playing after beating the main story. BACKGROUND:
This was another one of those games I heard about just because it made a few headlines when it came out. Don't know much about it, but I'm intrigued enough to check it out. PLOT: The game kicks off when FizzCo, a beverage company, hosts a pre-release party for their new drink OverCharge in Sunset City. Unfortunately, it turns out OverCharge has a dangerous side effect: people who drink it are transformed into grotesque mutants. In a matter of minutes, the party becomes ground zero for a mutant outbreak, plunging all of Sunset City into chaos. In an effort to cover things up, FizzCo quarantines the city, making escape all but impossible. Your player character (whom you customize at the very beginning) was part of the sanitation team during the party, and manages to survive the outbreak. You'll be teaming up with an assortment of characters in an effort to escape (or perhaps even save) the city. The whole "city becomes a dystopia after an outbreak that transforms humans into monsters" angle is by no means original, but Sunset Overdrive more than makes up for the basic plot by being one of the most ridiculous fucking things I've ever had the pleasure of witnessing. If the circumstances that cause the outbreak didn't give it away, this game absolutely doesn't take itself seriously, and leans all the way towards incredibly over-the-top stupidity (I say that as a compliment) and zany humor. Majority of the events that transpire during the course of the story defy all manner of explanation; without giving anything away, I had my fair share of "what the fuck am I looking at" moments while playing. The comedy isn't for everyone, and not all the jokes land, but the amount of absurd horseshit that happens in the story, all the irreverent, tongue-in-cheek meta jokes, and all the weird-ass characters was more than enjoyable to me. I streamed most of my playthrough to friends on Discord, and the lot of us were cracking up at all the shit we were witnessing. All of the characters have strong personalities, but the standout to me is, strangely enough, the player character. Despite being an interchangeable avatar that you make at the start, the protagonist is fully voiced and has a distinct personality all their own. They're also a big source of the game's humor, given how they get to talk not only during the story moments but in gameplay. PRESENTATION: The game's art style oozes personality. Not only is it bright and cartoony, but the effects are something out of a comic book; explosions aren't just a shower of particles, but they also leave the words "boom" for a brief moment. Along with the spectacle of the game's ludicrous action and all the fever dream scenarios that take place, the game leaves a lasting impression visually. I also really enjoyed the game's music, which leaned heavily towards punk rock for its soundtrack. It took me back to my days playing the Tony Hawk games, which goes for the same genres for its song selection (and happens to be influential in shaping my taste in music). As I'll explain later on, this is not the only thing in the game that gives me Tony Hawk vibes. Sunset City is fantastically designed, with every location feeling distinct and memorable. The enemy designs are equally memorable, and the weapon designs fall quite in line with the over-the-top vibe of the game. There are a ton of customization options for your player character, with a plethora of outfits you can swap around to put together a look that's just for you. Again, this reminds me of the character creator in Tony Hawk games, which had plenty of clothing options. The voice acting is also great, especially for the player character, who absolutely feels like a fully fleshed out character because of all the personality in their dialogue. Interestingly, you can toggle the vulgarity (of which there is a lot in this game) on and off; I'm not sure that'll be enough to lower the game's Mature rating, but it's there, I guess. My favorite thing by far in this department is the wide variety of respawn animations. Every time you die and respawn, your character makes a ridiculous entrance that fits in well with the absurdity of the entire game. A lot of these animations are referential of pop culture, with references to movies (the hanging-from-a-cable entrance from Mission Impossible, arriving from the DeLorean Back to the Future-style), TV (the Star Trek teleport beam), and more. Death isn't particularly punishing in this game, and these respawn animations make it an actually pleasant experience. GAMEPLAY: Sunset Overdrive is a third person shooter. As you may expect, you'll face off against hordes of enemies and use a wide variety of weapons to fend them off. What makes this game special, however, is the flow of its combat. Compared to something like Gears of War (also a third person shooter), this game doesn't emphasize defending yourself by hiding behind cover. Instead, the game encourages you to be aggressive and move around a lot (much like Doom). And movement in this game is something else. Mobility in this game is much like Jet Grind Radio (if you don't know what that game is, it's basically a game where you roller-blade everywhere), as you'll be grinding on rails and wires to move quickly. You'll also be able to bounce on various objects to gain height, wall run Mirror's Edge-style, air dash, and even run across water. It feels really good to perform all these actions, as the world is designed such that you can chain them all together (almost like a combo in a Tony Hawk game), and your momentum is carried all throughout. There's even a combo counter that increases every time you chain these movement options in quick succession, adding to the satisfaction. This game has you explore a decently sized open world, and because of how the world is designed, it feels really good to go from point to point using your movement abilities. It was so fun to the point that I didn't even bother using the game's fast travel system. This is another thing that reminded me of Tony Hawk games; the great thing about those games is the level designs are tailor-made for you to chain tricks together to move across and around, and that design philosophy is present in Sunset Overdrive for pretty much the entire open world. Your movement abilities matter a lot in combat, because you are your most vulnerable against enemies on the ground. Apart from a dodge roll, you can't do shit simply walking around, so the best way to avoid damage is to use your environment to zip around enemies while shooting them. Again, it's similar to Doom where holding still is a death sentence, but this game has an added flair to the way you move to keep yourself alive. The weapon variety in the game is impressive. You have access to shotgun-type weapons, assault-rifle-style weapons, grenade launchers, and even guns that deploy traps. Many of these weapons can have unique effects, like electricity that stuns, fire damage, freeze, enrage (which charms enemies to make them fight for you), and even acid. They all have their uses (mostly based on enemy effectiveness), and they're all pretty satisfying to use. As an added bonus, they all have ridiculous designs. The fast-paced nature of the game also removes the need for reloading, allowing you to focus purely on shooting. In addition, weapons level up the more you use them, increasing their ammo capacity each time. There's unfortunately no reliable way to acquire ammo drops, but I rarely ran into situations where I was completely defenseless (because you can switch between weapons and you have a decent melee attack). You can upgrade your character and weapons using Amps, which are equippable mods that provide all manner of passive buffs. These are purchased by cashing in the game's many collectibles (of which there are an overwhelming amount strewn about the world), and you can swap out what you have equipped at any time. What's interesting is that Amps are only activated when your Style Meter is full. The Style Meter is filled when you manage to chain both movement tricks and enemy kills quickly, which encourages you to move and shoot constantly to keep yourself at full strength. You also have something called Overdrives, which are another type of equippable mods. These are purchased by spending Badges, which are earned by performing certain actions enough times (for example, you get Grind Badges when you do enough grind tricks). The Overdrive buffs are super helpful, and it's cool that you can unlock them simply by playing. There are a decent number of enemy types, ranging from the OverCharge mutants, marauders known as Scabs, and even killer robots. The challenge is definitely managing their numbers (especially tough during the tower defense modes). There aren't a lot of bosses, but they're pretty wild, and their fights are also designed to take full advantage of the game's mobility. There's a good amount to do in the open world apart from the main missions (which you can replay if you wish). There are a ton of collectibles to find (and it's great because most of them are actually used to acquire Amps, and only are few are collectibles-for-collecting's-sake), plenty of side missions (ranging from traversal missions that test your understanding of the game's mobility, fetch quests, and combat challenges), and a ton of enemies that endlessly spawn (if you just want to kill shit). There are even two DLC missions you can buy if the main story isn't enough. Some of the main missions have you take control of a temporary weapon, and they're up there as among the most fun the game has to offer. There's one where your melee weapon is replaced with an absolutely busted enchanted sword, and it's hilarious. VERDICT: I had a blast playing through Sunset Overdrive. Its flashy combat paired with its super fun movement felt rather satisfying, the story and humor, while far from perfect, was entertaining, exploring the world felt great, and both the visuals and the music helped enhance the game's shenanigans. I wouldn't call it the most innovative shooter out there (a lot of its elements are things you've likely seen elsewhere), but I think it stands out enough on its own as a high-octane, batshit experience of a shooter. I can recommend this game for people looking for a shooter that's just semi-mindless fun. The movement takes a bit of getting used to if you haven't played games like Jet Grind Radio (or even Tony Hawk's Pro Skater), but I think it won't take long for most people to figure it out. If you're looking for something decidedly more complex or serious, you won't get much enjoyment out of this game, but if you just want to have a fun weekend, this is absolutely worth playing. Check out the game on Steam: Sunset Overdrive on Steam (steampowered.com) - end -
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I need to stop playing emotionally taxing games at 9 in the morning. BACKGROUND:
I've heard the name Hellblade a bunch in online discussions, but don't know about it apart from that it seems to be critically acclaimed. I'm intrigued enough by what little I know to check it out. PLOT: Hellblade follows the journey of the titular Senua as she travels to Helheim in order to save the soul of her lover Dillion. In addition to fighting through hordes of supernatural enemies, Senua must struggle against her trauma, grief, and what she believes to be her "curse". Senua's "curse", as it turns out, is a case of psychosis, which manifests itself in the voices she hears in her head, as well as various hallucinations she witnesses throughout her journey. As such, it's hard to tell which of the events that transpire in the game actually happened or are simply how Senua perceived what was happening. I read a bit about the development of this game, and it looks like the devs consulted mental health experts with the depiction of the condition. I cannot speak to the accuracy of how psychosis is portrayed in the game, but it certainly feels like they handled it in a tasteful way, neither demonizing nor romanticizing the condition. Most notably, the game shows that it's still 100% possible for Senua to lead a fulfilling life with her condition, as opposed to simply framing it as something to be beaten. Whether by virtue of Senua's condition (mostly via a narrator voiceover that is canonically one of the voices she hears in her head) or Senua herself recalling the events, you discover her harrowing backstory, which sees her endure a childhood of abuse yet somehow seeing a glimmer of hope when she meets Dillion. Then you see the circumstances behind Dillion's death, which Senua believes is her fault, and you see the grief that follows. You really get into the mind of Senua throughout this game, and her story is absolutely heartbreaking. The world Senua finds herself in is based heavily on Norse myth, with the protagonist fighting the likes of Surtr in order to make it to Helheim and face Hela, the goddess of death. You'll also encounter something called Lorestones, which narrate various Norse tales (like the story of Baldur/Baldr, the Ragnarok prophecy, the story of Sigmund and his sword, and more). Most of this is ancillary to the main plot, but I liked how they explored lesser known Norse stories, and their interpretations of stuff like Hela's design are neat. PRESENTATION: Hellblade's visuals are what I call AAA graphics: a style that leans towards realism, an amazing amount of detail and polish with character models, textures, and environment, and fantastic-looking animations (especially with the life-like facial expressions). When you're in the sections of the game where you're just idly walking, it is a delight to stop and look around. The AAA production quality extends to the sounds, with a haunting, atmospheric soundtrack, excellent voice acting, and polished sound design. To put it simply, this is one of those games that is absolutely worth busting out the headphones for. The game takes full advantage of the polished audio and visuals to deliver what's perhaps its defining trait: a depiction of psychosis. In many instances throughout the story, the game's visuals distort in all sorts of ways, giving the impression that reality is constantly warping. Such distortions in the visuals coincide with Senua's current disposition; moments where she feels fear has the screen shake, or see grotesque figures shuffle about in the darkness. For most of the game, however, the depiction of the hallucinations are significantly more subtle, as opposed to a cheap attempt at delivering a constant barrage of bizarre visuals. The more vivid changes in the visuals only occur during important moments in the story. Although the game never reaches Mortal Kombat levels of gory, the game has more than its fair share of disturbing or unsettling imagery. Coupled with the game's more realistic style, it may be a bit much for some people. Just a heads up if you've not the stomach for such things. Where I think this game does the best is its use of sound to give you a sense of what psychosis is like. Throughout the entirety of the game, you will often hear the chatter of the other voices within Senua's mind, and the polished sound design makes them sound like they're whispering right in your ear. What's more, it sounds like you're constantly surrounded by these voices, with the stereo sound really coming into play. It's an experience that's unlike any I've ever come across, and it made the game that much more memorable to me. What makes the voices all the more impactful is that they're not just random babble; everything the voices say has meaning. Some of the voices are encouraging, giving you hints on how to proceed in the game or just providing positive feedback. Others are more derisive, telling you that your actions are worthless, telling you to turn back and give up, or straight up lying to you on what to do. Sometimes those two sets of voices argue amongst themselves, and sometimes they chatter to the point that Senua herself shushes them out loud. The incessant talking coupled with the things the voices are saying dominated most of my playthrough and was always in the back of my head; it really put into perspective what people who live with this condition deal with on a regular basis. To add to the immersion, there are no GUI/HUD elements on the screen at all. It can make things like finding what you need to interact with a bit cumbersome, but the lack of any external UI elements adds a lot to the game's atmosphere. Moreover, the game is designed adequately enough that you don't have to rely on things like a health bar or quest markers to know where you're at. GAMEPLAY: Hellblade's gameplay is split primarily into two parts: the larger of the two is an exploration-based game where you solve puzzles in order to progress, while the other is an a sort of hack-and-slash combat game where you fight enemies much like you do in a 3D Zelda game. The exploration bit is largely walking around, listening to the narration, and immersing yourself in the game's environment and experience. Occasionally, you'll run into doors that require simple puzzle-solving to unlock, sections that require you to traverse quickly (usually to avoid danger), or the aforementioned combat sections, which usually happen in big arena-style areas. The game's puzzles primarily use a mechanic called Focus, where the camera zooms in, and, well, focuses on what you're looking at. This is how you interact with a lot of things in the game, though some things (like opening doors) are done simply by pressing A. Most of the puzzles involve you using Focus to line up objects in the environment to form the shape of runes, which will unlock corresponding doors, but there are a bunch of other mechanics that are introduced to mix things up. These include (but are not limited to) switching between a Light World and Dark World to change the environment, using controller vibrations or sound to navigate a pitch-black area, or lighting up areas with a torch to avoid a creature that hunts in darkness. From a gameplay standpoint, the puzzles aren't anything particularly difficult or unique, but I love the forced perspective angle they went for when it comes to the rune door puzzles (even if they got rather repetitive by the end). That said, what stands out to me about these puzzles is how they revolved around perceiving the game's world in a different way than we're used to. The way Senua sees the world is different from how most of us see reality, and the game builds around that notion to create puzzles that has her make sense of her perception in order to progress (e.g. looking at an area from a different angle reveals a path where one wasn't before). It's a novel approach that gets the point across, even if the puzzles themselves aren't the most engaging. Although you're navigating through a massive-looking 3D environment in the game, you don't really do any exploring apart from a number of puzzle sections that require you to look around. For the most part, the game takes you through the world in a linear fashion, and there are very few branching paths (if at all). The only optional thing you have to really look out for are the Lorestones, which are sometimes off the beaten path. The combat in this game is pretty simple; you have a light attack and a heavy attack with your sword, you can dodge, and you can block. Senua targets foes automatically, and all you have to do is approach and wallop them with the sword. It's not at all deep, and the flowchart of dodge-attack-attack-attack was more than enough to carry me through pretty much every enemy. There's little variety in terms of enemies, too, and that variety is largely irrelevant once you figure out what their attacks are and you know when to dodge (because once you figure that out, just beat the shit out of them). Combat only really gets tough when you start getting surrounded by enemies, and even the bosses (which, in all fairness, are all memorable fights) offer only a few new attacks to watch out for. The most depth you get is a sort of parry you can do when you time your block perfectly (which looks badass and feels satisfying to land, to be fair), a dash-strike that staggers most enemies, and the ability to use Focus in combat (which slows down time and makes shadow enemies vulnerable). The game is pretty lenient when you take too much damage. Instead of killing you outright, you get knocked down, and you have the opportunity to pull yourself back up before an enemy lands a mortal blow. You can also scale back the difficulty of combat at any time if you just want to experience the story. Overall, the combat was pretty average to me. It's not really groundbreaking or complex in any sense, but it feels mostly good to stab the shit out of freaky draugr-looking motherfuckers. The only real gripe I have is how battles immediately become less fun when there are too many enemies onscreen or you're fighting in a small arena; some breathing room would be nice. VERDICT: While Hellblade may not necessarily blow any minds in terms of its actual gameplay, it more than makes up for it as a full experience. The level of polish in the presentation is put to its most effective use by delivering an immersive experience, one that puts you in the shoes of someone who lives with psychosis. It's a subject matter that (as far as I know) hasn't been fully tackled in a game, and it's done so with a level of nuance that shows respect and a modicum of understanding to people who have actually experienced the condition. Along with Senua's heartbreaking tale and her harrowing journey to face Hela and her own trauma, it all comes together to deliver one of the most impactful games I've played in recent memory. Though I wish there were more variety in the combat, and the puzzles were more intricate, I think everything else was outstanding. I feel compelled to point out that this game isn't for everybody. It's not for people who are looking for a more straightforward experience where gameplay is the forefront, and works more for people who lean towards the story-driven titles that focus more on presentation and narrative. The plot itself is one of those emotionally heavy stories with serious, sometimes uncomfortable themes (especially since it tackles a subject matter that is unfortunately still treated as taboo by society), and if you're not into that, you may dislike this game. With all that said, I implore people who are willing to give this game a chance to do so; there's not many games that deliver the experience that Hellblade does, and I think it's a great example of how effective games can be as a highly artistic storytelling medium. Hellblade is available on Steam. Here's the link: Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice on Steam (steampowered.com) - end - I'm on the home stretch of the Master Chief Collection. Let's talk about game 5 of 6. BACKGROUND:
I was actually kind of following Halo: Reach's pre-release marketing because my friend was showing me trailers and stuff back in high school. I never ended up absorbing much information at the time because I simply didn't know enough about Halo to really get into it. PLOT: Halo: Reach is the first game of the series timeline, taking place before Halo 1. As the name implies, it's set on the planet known as Reach, one of the worlds humanity has colonized, as well as the stronghold of the UNSC. By this point, the war between the humans and the Covenant have taken its toll, and Reach is one of the last bastions left standing. You follow the adventures of Noble Team, a special ops unit composed of Spartan super soldiers (you know, like Master Chief). Specifically, you're assuming the role of Noble Six, the newest recruit of the team. The game explores Noble Team's various missions as they discover the worst case scenario: the Covenant are on Reach, and they're planning an invasion. The events that transpired on Reach have been alluded to in previous games, so if you were paying attention, you know exactly how this story ends. Despite knowing this, I still found the game's narrative compelling. While I liked all the world-building in the original trilogy, Reach's story is a simple, straightforward war story where the protagonists are fighting a losing fight, and seeing them struggle to the bitter end made for a gripping tale. Although the characters aren't well developed, the drama of the events and the actions they take in response were still enough to make an impact. They don't quite have the team dynamic of the ODST team, and you don't get to play as the others, either (so you don't even get to know them in that sense), but I still thought Noble Team was cool. I just wish they had taken the time to build these characters so I cared about them more. Much like ODST, Reach is a more standalone affair, and I once again enjoyed the approach of exploring a separate corner of the Halo universe with new locales and characters. The tie-in to the main trilogy doesn't happen until close to the end, and the way it's handled adds a newfound gravitas to the opening minutes of Halo 1. There are even small references to ODST throughout the game, which I thought was cool. PRESENTATION: Like Halo 3 and ODST, Reach was released on Xbox 360, but the graphics are significantly better, with improved quality across the board (the faces on character models look much better now, for instance) and more cinematic flair with its cutscenes. The music is as fantastic as ever, with more epic tracks that retain the Halo theme motifs. Other than that, not much to say. GAMEPLAY: Reach's FPS gameplay is mostly the same as its predecessors, but of course, there are changes that differentiate it from the rest. The health mechanics return to that of Halo 1, where shields and HP are both tracked, and the latter can be healed back with health packs. Dual wielding is also notably absent in this game, and grenade types have been limited back to the classic frags and plasma grenades. This all seems like a step back, but none of it feels like a regression from Halo 2 or 3. Something that carries over from both Halo 3 and ODST is the improved UI. Stuff like the compass and better quest markers make a return, along with a clearer HUD and a helpful weapon info menu that shows you what things do. The flashlight mechanic (which has been around since Halo 1) has also been reworked into night vision, which feels better to use. Most of the weapons are returning from previous games, but a few have been reworked (like the Battle Rifle), and there are completely new ones as well (like the Plasma Repeater and the Focus Rifle). The new stuff was fun, but the older weapons still feel great. Vehicles are the same way, with most of the selection being from older games. There are a couple of new ones, like the Falcon and the Revenant. The most notable addition is the Sabre, which is a straight up starfighter that you control in the game's brand new dogfighting section. As someone who played a ton of classic Star Wars Battlefront 2, that section of the game scratched a particular itch. The equipment mechanic from Halo 3 makes a return, but instead of an assortment of single-use power-ups, Reach instead gives you armor modifications that you can use indefinitely (albeit with a cooldown). These mods range from a sprint (can you believe this game didn't have a sprint until now?), active camo, the Drop Shield (which is like the Bubble Shield from Halo 3 but it heals you), and the Armor Lock (which renders you immobile, but you're impervious to damage). There's even a jetpack! While I do like Halo 3's power-ups, these armor mods felt infinitely more useful, because I could use them whenever they're available (as opposed to having to make my single use count). Though I enjoyed all of the campaign missions, the one that stood out to me the most was the final one. It didn't stand out because it was a fun or innovative mission (it is very much neither), but because it has story impact. It's a rather powerful note to end the game on. VERDICT: Halo: Reach is probably my favorite Halo of the bunch, with a story that had me completely hooked, the most polished shooter gameplay the series has seen yet (despite only a few changes), and cool new additions like the armor equipment and the Sabre dogfights. I enjoy many aspects of the previous Halo games, but out of all of them, Reach is the one that feels like the total package to me, even with the few qualms I have. We shall see if Halo 4 changes my mind. - end - I downloaded this game early on when I got Game Pass, but for whatever reason, I only got around to playing it now. BACKGROUND:
I remember seeing this on a stream one time and loving the art style and the classic Zelda vibe, so I kept the game in mind. I intended to play this on Switch, but I thought I'd try it on PC first since I have the opportunity. Perhaps I'll buy it to keep on console depending on what I feel during my time here. PLOT: The game is set on the Isle of Ditto, which is under a terrible curse. Every 100 years, the evil being known as Mormo awakens, bringing ruin to the land. The island's only chance at hope lies with the Sword of Ditto, a hero who wields a legendary sword and is tasked with slaying Mormo. Whether or not the Sword succeeds, the cycle continues every century, with Mormo's strength dependent on what happened in the last cycle. It's a pretty basic, not at all deep story: chosen hero rises up to fight an ancient evil, with the added twist that the story repeats itself each time with a few changes. Both aspects are straight out of Zelda, though the main difference is Swords of Ditto has a significantly more light-hearted vibe. Everything from the dialogue, characters, and story elements are silly and humorous (like how the powerful artifacts of the game are straight up just toys called Toys of Legend), which meshes well with the game's presentation. PRESENTATION: Right off the bat, the game's super cartoony art style caught my eye. It looks and animates as if it's straight out of a new show from Cartoon Network. Everything from the locations and the monsters has a charming aesthetic, and the vibrant palette makes playing through this game a delight. The music matches the charm of the visuals, with cheery (and catchy) tracks that complement the vibe of the current area. Along with that, there are plenty of goofy sound effects that add to the cartoony feel (including a lot of kazoos). GAMEPLAY: Swords of Ditto plays like classic Zelda games like A Link to the Past: top-down perspective, big world map to explore, slash bitches with your sword, and clear dungeons to obtain special items. The main goal is to enter Mormo's Dungeon and defeat her in combat, and like the original Zelda (or if you want a more recent example, Breath of the Wild), you have a fair bit of freedom on whether to explore the world to get stronger or face Mormo immediately. More than a few things make Swords of Ditto stand out from classic Zelda. For one, there's a leveling system where your damage and HP grows as you earn XP. Levels matter when it comes to enemy encounters, as all enemies have levels that dictate how much damage they deal and take. There isn't a great need to grind since there are a lot of enemies and quests that give you XP, but I observed that it does take some time to level up. Combat is pretty basic, and swinging your sword is enough to get you through. You can of course use alternate weapons and deal different damage types, but for the most part, slashing and dodge rolling is enough. The main thing that sets this game apart from the games it's inspired by is its rogue-like conceit. The cyclical nature of Mormo's curse is present in gameplay, which means dying or succeeding starts a brand new run. For each reset, the game's layout changes slightly, the dungeons have different layouts and rooms, and all the enemies are stronger. Depending on whether you defeated Mormo or failed, the world improves or gets worse (in gameplay terms, the number of enemies you encounter changes). The resets are a cool concept on paper, but some elements of the gameplay kind of get in the way of making it a satisfying mechanic. In most rogue-likes, many elements of each run change to make every play session unique (whether through the game's RNG or through your choices). In Swords of Ditto, nothing significant really changes apart from the shuffled layouts and the stronger enemies. You're doing the same thing of gathering power to face Mormo and visiting mostly the same locations until you succeed. The journey to face Mormo also has a caveat: you only have a couple of in-game days to prepare before you're forced into the dungeon to face Mormo. The time limit isn't actually that bad in practice since time only passes in the overworld and there are ways to extend the limit, but there's something rather unintuitive to me about giving the player a big area to explore (with plenty of secrets, no less) and only having so much time to explore it. I would have preferred a scenario where either the time limit was removed entirely or the game is reworked completely to make the time limit a more effective mechanic. The game has difficulty options that allow you to play however you like. The lower difficulties make some of the mechanics (like the time limit) more lenient, but the hardest difficulty retains the permadeath nature of the original release. The lower difficulties are more forgiving with the deaths, with only deaths in Mormo's dungeon counting as a reset, but in the highest difficulty, any death starts you over. As someone who plays way too many rogue-likes, I don't mind permadeath at all, but it just feels terrible in this game. If you lose in other rogue-likes, it'll feel bad, but at least there's the promise of the next run maybe having the items or upgrades that'll get you a win, or there'll be things that allow you to keep permanent progress. Swords of Ditto doesn't really have that silver lining. Very few things carry over across runs (certainly not the things you want to carry over), nothing significant changes in the next run apart from map layouts, and there's nothing in the game that will force you to change your game plan (the basic flowchart of do dungeons and grind before time ends is enough to see you through). Death in rogue-likes shouldn't feel like a chore, and I feel like Swords of Ditto unfortunately fits that bill. It's a shame given how death is a big part of the game's story, but I found that I would rather play this on a lower difficulty. Although you can beat a run once and call it a day, getting the true ending requires you to win five or six times. Given how little changes in the world and the fact that you pretty much do the same things each run, that may not feel worth it for some players. If you're the kind of person who gets a sense of satisfaction in optimizing runs and such, you may actually enjoy this aspect of the game. There are also a few strange bugs or quirks that make the game less enjoyable. One that I found particularly notable is that enemies falling into a pit doesn't count as them dying, so you can get stuck in a dungeon room where you need to kill everything to unlock the door. Also, the tutorial character pops up a lot. That may be annoying for many people. My apprehensions aside, Swords of Ditto is a solid Zelda-style game. There are a ton of locations to find, the dungeons (while the puzzles are basic) have cool rewards in the Toys of Legend (which are the equivalent of special items like the bow and bombs), there's a cool customization mechanic where you can equip stickers (which give you different passive buffs), and I like having the option to face Mormo immediately (which is pretty challenging) or take the time to weaken her/strengthen yourself by playing through dungeons. There's even the ability to mix up your runs with different starting gear. VERDICT: I really wanted to love Swords of Ditto, and I do love certain aspects of it. The presentation is charming and reminds me of cartoons I enjoy, and the Zelda-style action-adventure gameplay (along with a few twists) is pretty good. However, the design decisions they made with its rogue-like mechanics didn't feel right in practice, and it ended up weighing down an experience I would have enjoyed otherwise. I thought the concept was interesting, too, but the execution just doesn't work for me. I think I need to give this game another chance (I still intend to get it on Switch on sale), but based on the time I spent with it, I'm not sure this one is for me. Of course, this isn't to say the game is terrible, or that it isn't for you. Outside of my qualms with its design choices, I think there is plenty of merit to checking this game out. The art is quite delightful, and if you don't mind the rogue-like aspect and are OK with grinding and/or time pressure, I think the gameplay is a good callback to the Zelda games of old. Here's the game on Steam: The Swords of Ditto: Mormo's Curse on Steam (steampowered.com) - end - I played this game significantly longer than I thought I would, which may speak to how much I enjoyed it. BACKGROUND:
I think the first time I saw this game was through a trailer at The Game Awards. I remember being immediately hooked by its premise and really wanting to get it. My plan was to get the Switch version, but after hearing horror stories of its poor performance and seeing that it's on Game Pass PC, I thought to just play it on PC. Additionally, I felt it important to point out that I've never played a Fallout game before (and no, Fallout Shelter doesn't count in this context). This game is meant to be a sort of spiritual successor to one of the Fallout titles, but I naturally won't be able to speak to that on the account of my lack of experience. Perhaps I'll get around to playing a Fallout game in the future instead of watching videos of gameplay. PLOT: The game is set in a futuristic 24th century, where space travel is possible and humans have settled in distant worlds. The worlds we visit in the game are part of the Halcyon star system, whose planets have been colonized and are controlled by various corporations. People from Earth travel in stasis on ships to Halcyon in order to start a new life and become a part of the colony's workforce. Your player character is one such individual, in stasis on a vessel called the Hope. The unfortunate thing is, the Hope has been adrift in space for 70 years, far longer than the trip should have taken. You were revived by one Dr. Phineas Welles, who enlists your help to save Halcyon. He explains that the colony's people are suffering due to the negligence of the Board (the collective of mega-corporations governing all of Halcyon). He sends you off via escape pod to Terra-2, one of Halcyon's main worlds, to the Emerald Vale, and that is where your journey really begins. From that point, your decisions in dialogue interactions influence the story. The main quest lines have you choose between helping Phineas or siding with the Board, but there are a myriad of other decisions that influence other aspects of the story, such as your interactions with the game's various factions, and specific NPCs. By the end of the game, you get a full rundown of endings for each of the game's factions, notable NPCs, and Halcyon itself, and from what I can tell, there are a ton of ending combinations you can arrive at depending on what you do or not do in the game. The amount of influence your character exerts on the game's events is staggering, and it's one of the reasons I love this game. Overall, I really enjoyed this game's story. Not only was the prospect of being a spacefaring adventurer inherently exciting to me, and not only did I love being in full control of how it played out, but the way the game explored the underlying themes of corporate greed and capitalism ruining regular lives was done with nuance. While it's more or less unequivocally established that the Board is doing more harm than good, and that they couldn't care less about their workforce, a lot of the decisions you can make that go against them aren't simply treated as "you're doing the right thing and there are zero consequences." Regular folk would get mad that you upended their way of life, for example, and there are a few Board-aligned NPCs who, for all their missteps, do mean well and want to do right by their people. Most of the characters in the game are pretty interesting, with even unnamed generic NPCs having a ton of personality. Your actions and dialogue make a difference here, too, and certain story decisions may allow you to see facets of their character you may otherwise not see. The standouts here are the companions that you recruit on your journey. Although the manner in which they're recruited feels unceremonious, their character-specific quest lines and their small talk with you and other party members flesh them out really well. I went out of my way to do every companion quest, and I'd say it was worth it, because doing so made me more invested in them. I also found the nature of the decisions you can make throughout the story to be nuanced as well. Though you ostensibly have two choices when it comes to the main plot (side with the people vs. side with the corporations), there are more than a few story choices that are more in-depth than that. For example, siding with a corporation in one decision may feel like an asshole move in the short term, but it can actually open up a better scenario down the line for the people. In another, you can simply choose between helping one of two warring factions, but depending on what you do or not do, you can actually figure out a way to have them meet in the middle and join forces. In a world that seems to rely too much on dichotomies, I appreciated how the game gives you more than two options in many instances. I got a kick out of the game's humor, which played off of the omnipresent nature of corporations in Halcyon. The commercial jingles were silly and charming, the forced ad reads from most of the NPCs were hilarious, the satirical jabs at harmful company policies were clever, and the amount of completely weird shit some of the NPCs say was amusing. The world-building is pretty solid, with Halcyon's many facets sufficiently fleshed out through dialogue. You have to go out of your way to learn certain things, however, but all that extra reading adds rather interesting layers to particular places, characters, or events. Stuff like the history of Halcyon, the nature of each of the worlds you visit (and the locales within them), and the past actions of certain NPCs are given even more meaning thanks to all these extra bits of lore, and I enjoyed the process of discovering it all. On the subject of the game's locales, they do a great deal when it comes to reinforcing the game's focus on the Board's negligence on its workforce. Most of the towns are completely run down and struggling to stay afloat and meet Board quotas, and the juxtaposition of that squalor next to Byzantium, a Board-controlled city where all its citizens live in excess luxury does more than enough to drive home the disparity between the working class and the elite. PRESENTATION: The game's visuals strike a decent balance between realism and something a bit more cartoony. The various planets look great and boast unique-looking flora and fauna, you have impressive-looking textures and shading, but the aesthetic feels stylized as opposed to another one of those AAA attempts at replicating an uncanny level of realism. In terms of visual design, the game has an interesting mix of styles, like product ads that look like they came out of the '40s, sci-fi elements that have a gritty look to them (as opposed to something like Star Trek, where everything looks sleek and futuristic), and many of the character outfits and armor seem like something out of a post-apocalyptic story. I can't say much of the aesthetics of the areas themselves, however; though individual aspects of some locations were interesting, I don't think any of them stood out as particularly memorable. Although the game's music leans more on the ambient side, the soundtrack is solid, with tracks that feel like they were taken from popular space operas and Westerns. The voice acting is fantastic as well, helping sell the personalities of all the NPCs. I also like the '50s-style commercial jingles for all the products in the game. An interesting thing the game does during dialogue is shifting the game's perspective to a full view of the person you're talking to. Here, you get to see the character in question emote, look around, or do idle animations depending on what you say. It's a cool approach that adds even more personality to the characters, but I found that the animations in these moments can be a bit hit or miss. CHARACTER PROGRESSION: The Outer Worlds is an action RPG where the combat is a first person shooter. You run and you gun like any other shooter, but in addition to that, you have to worry about stats, skills, party members, and items. There's a lot to take in, so I'll split up gameplay into sections. At the start, you're thrown into a character creator. In addition to designing your character's look (the options for which are pretty expansive), this is where you build your character in terms of their stats and skills. Here, you assign or take away points from your main stats (Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, etc.), which influence the values you get for your skills. You also get a head start on figuring out your skill build here, which I'll get into later. Once you've done all that, it's off to the races. Stuff like completing quests, discovering points of interest in the world, and killing enemies give you XP, and when you level up, you're able to assign points to skills and even unlock perks. Your skills are the most important numbers you need to keep track of. The skills are split into categories like, melee, ranged, tech, stealth, etc., and each category has individual skills (e.g. melee covers one-handed and two-handed weapons). Each individual skill influences an action you can do in-game; skills that pertain to melee and range weapons naturally increase your damage, but you also have skills like Hack or Lockpick, which allow you to perform said actions if your skill level is high enough. You are free to assign skill points depending on your play style, so if you wanna go in guns blazing, pump it all into combat skills. Personally, I found building on non-combat skills to be more fun, as being able to just sneak, hack, and lockpick my way through the game made it more exciting to me. There are also skills that give you additional dialogue options, which are my favorite sort of skills in any RPG. If your skill level is high enough, you can easily lie, persuade, or intimidate your way out of any situation, and I found a ton of enjoyment in such scenarios. When you reach a certain number of points for a particular skill, you unlock all sorts of passive buffs. For instance, reaching the 20 point threshold for Sneak grants you the ability to use sneak attacks, which does a significant amount of bonus damage. Many of these buffs are quite helpful, but a few are RNG-based, so the question of whether or not it's worth assigning a ton of points to particular stats can have different answers. As you level up, you'll also be able to unlock perks, which are a whole other category of passive buffs you can give yourself. The effects you get vary greatly, from movement speed increases to stat bonuses. For the most part, they're helpful, but apart from a select few perks, none of them seemed to really impact my gameplay all that much. An interesting way to get additional perk points is through Flaws. If you find yourself in unfortunate situations (e.g. getting attacked a lot by a certain enemy, taking specific damage from something), you get the choice to activate a Flaw. Doing so gives you one additional perk point to spend at the cost of stat penalties in certain conditions (there's one that debuffs you if you're facing mechanical enemies, for instance). It's a neat tradeoff mechanic, and I also find the unlock method for them amusing; just take stupid damage like an idiot. COMBAT AND ARSENAL: Like I said, this game is an FPS. If you know how to play one of those, you'll be mostly fine. The Outer Worlds has a mechanic called Tactical Time Dilation which slows down time. It doesn't last too long (once the meter runs out, you're right back in the action), but it gives you enough time to position yourself, aim, and even highlight enemies so you can learn more about them. If your weapon skill is high enough, highlighting enemies in TTD gives you the option to target certain body parts for serious debuffs; for example, you can Maim enemies by shooting at or whacking their limbs. TTD is a valuable mechanic that's worth using all the time, as it adds a bit of strategy to engagements and can make certain fights significantly easier. Weapons are either ranged or melee, with ranged being split to handguns, long guns, and heavy weapons, and melee split into one-handed and two-handed. There are a good variety of weapons for each category that fit different play styles (you have shotguns, LMGs, assault rifles, pistols, all sorts of whacking sticks, etc.), but I found little incentive to really switch up my arsenal of four weapons once I found the ones I was most comfortable with. That isn't to say there is no benefit to doing so; I just rarely, if ever, encountered a situation where I felt like I absolutely had to switch. Aside from weapons, you'll also be equipping armor, which is split into the helmet and the main armor/outfit. They primarily determine damage reduction, but certain armor pieces also give passive stat bonuses, so depending on the situation, there may be cause to switch to armor with a lower rating in exchange for a helpful stat boost. Other than that, this bit is straightforward. Both weapons and armor have a durability counter, so you'll have to keep track of what you have on you lest they reach zero and break. You can acquire weapon and armor parts either by scavenging or breaking down unwanted weapons/armor, which you can then use to repair the weapons/armor with wear and tear. From my experience, I was rarely in a situation where I lacked armor or weapons, as scavenging yields a lot of good shit, so I assume this mechanic only becomes really important on higher difficulties. In addition to repairing, you can also tinker with weapons/armor (raising their damage output/armor rating respectively), as well as install mods on certain weapons/armor. These mods mostly give you stat bonuses and passive buffs, but in the case of weapons, you can completely change the type of damage the weapon deals when you use it. Tinkering is a great way to make sure your gear can handle tougher enemies if you don't feel like switching, but the cost of tinkering increases the more you do it. Speaking of damage types, weapons can have or be modified to output plasma damage, shock damage, and more. These inflict status effects on enemies, and certain damage types do extra damage to specific enemies. While I got by simply using regular bullets, it definitely helps to have weapons that inflict different types of damage. Healing is pretty simple thanks to the Combat Inhaler, which is mapped to a specific button. By default, the inhaler has a healing item called Adreno equipped, but with high enough skill, you can add consumables to the inhaler to augment that healing with other effects. The consumables you find range from food items, to beverages, and even drugs, and they can give you stat bonuses or helpful buffs. I didn't really find myself in too many situations where I felt like it was vital to use these consumables in combat, but some of them are quite helpful with certain skill checks (like using Lockpick or activating special dialogue prompts). There are only a small variety of enemies, and once you figure out their weak points or acquire the most effective weapon, most engagements will be trivial. Coupled with the straightforward weapons and somewhat standard customization/upgrade mechanics, I feel like the game has decent but not remarkable combat. The most I can say is that TTD is fun, but that's about it. EXPLORATION: Halcyon has you explore a small assortment of areas, from planets, to moons, to asteroids, and even a large ship. Though styled like an open world game, the game's various areas aren't too large, so exploring everything won't take that long. Some of the areas do suffer from the problem of too much empty space, but for the most part, all the points of interest are relatively close to each other. Throughout your journey, you'll visit towns, encounter vending machines (from which you can purchase items), find workbenches (this is where you tinker, add mods, and repair weapons/armor), take side quests from NPCs, loot the shit out of every item you see, and run into enemies. You can go out of your way to look at everything, but once you've found all the important shit and talked to all the named NPCs, there isn't much else to find. The game keeps track of your reputation with certain factions. If you help out people of a specific faction in quests, they think more positively of you, which leads to vendor discounts (not the most impactful benefit, but it's something). If you do anything to piss them off (which includes, but is not limited to: stealing, trespassing, and murdering), your reputation decreases. Do this enough, and you'll be marked "kill on sight", which means setting foot on the faction's turf means you'll be met with lethal force. Though I like seeing tangible gameplay consequences for your decisions, and I do see the fun in going scorched earth and pissing everyone off, it just makes the game harder to explore, plus you can get locked out of certain quests. On the subject of quests, there are a ton of side quests, ranging from random NPC quests, faction-specific quests, and quests focused on your party members. I found that pretty much all of these quests were worth doing, as they either added a brand new layer to the world of Halcyon, led to interesting character interactions or discoveries, or even unlocked new story options. The best part is that a lot of these quests tend to be on the way to the main quest, so I ended up clearing everything in my playthrough. Early in the game, you acquire a spaceship, which serves as your fast travel mechanic between worlds. There are also fast travel points on each individual world, but they require you to find said points first before you can use them. Perhaps the least enjoyable mechanic in my view is the weight mechanic for all the items. All the loot you pick up has an assigned weight value, and if the sum total exceeds your character's weight limit, your move speed takes a significant penalty and you can't fast travel. While I don't usually mind games that challenge you with limited inventory, I think this is the least fun way you could go about it. It basically punishes you for picking up all the shit you see (which is hard to do because there are a ton of items lying around and enemies drop all sorts of things) by making you slower. At least make the penalty something more dire instead of something that's just a chore. COMPANIONS: Throughout the game, you'll be able to recruit six companions. A maximum of two can join you at any given time. The companions have their own weapon and armor slots, as well as their own perks, all of which you can manage yourself. Primarily, each companion gives you stat bonuses, allowing you to get past skill checks you otherwise couldn't on your own. I found myself switching up the party to get the skill points I wanted for specific areas. You can change the AI's behavior in combat, allowing the companions to be more aggressive or passive depending on what you need. You can also issue commands on the fly, like telling them to move to a specific spot or to target a single enemy. Each companion also has a special ability that does something unique in combat, but I rarely ever used these. VERDICT: The Outer Worlds really impressed me with its player-driven story and its freedom of choice, and I had a blast carving my own path in Halcyon. Though some aspects of the gameplay didn't really do anything for me or simply felt average, I enjoyed using subterfuge to get through the game, using TTD to eviscerate enemies, and exploring as much of the story and the characters as I could with side quests. Overall, this is up there as one of my favorite adventure games. If you're looking to be a space adventurer yourself, like the idea of an RPG-FPS hybrid, and/or are intrigued by how much you can influence this game's story, I think The Outer Worlds is well worth checking out. The only thing I will say is that it's pretty short for an RPG (I did all the side quests and clocked in at only around 20-something hours), so if you're one of those people who's particular about the price-to-time ratio, you might want to wait for a sale (this game is still a full $60 last I checked). Check out The Outer Worlds on Steam: The Outer Worlds on Steam (steampowered.com) - end - Hopping back into the Master Chief Collection again for today. This time, we're taking a bit of a detour. BACKGROUND:
I've heard the name "ODST" before but I have never understood if it was some sort of spinoff or a prequel or... something. Guess I'll find out for sure today. PLOT: ODST takes place between Halo 2 (at the same time when Master Chief and co. chase after the High Charity) and Halo 3 (when the Covenant find the artifact connected to the Ark). The game focuses on a team of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (that's what the acronym stands for), a special class of UNSC soldiers who drop in from space to the surface of a planet. For most of the story, you'll be seeing the perspective of the unnamed Rookie, who, along with his teammates Buck, Dutch, Mickey, Romeo, and Dare, fight through the African city of New Mombasa, which has been invaded by the Covenant. I thought this new direction was super interesting. This game has you exploring a series of events that happened concurrently with the main games with brand new characters and encountering bits of lore that expand the game's universe. I liked learning about the ODSTs and discovering the Engineers, and I enjoyed how you explored more of New Mombasa (which was a key location in both Halo 2 and 3). The characters, while not all that fleshed out, had enough going for them that I was interested in watching them do stuff. I'd say the main exception is the Rookie himself, who is your standard silent protagonist. PRESENTATION: Graphically, ODST is more or less similar to Halo 3, so I won't repeat myself here. I will say that the faces look extra rough in this one. The game is also a departure from the mainline titles in that its soundtrack is quite different from what you'd expect from a Halo game. None of the main motifs and themes of previous Halo games show up here; instead, the soundtrack leans a bit more into jazz. It wasn't at all what I expected from the music, but I still thought it was great. GAMEPLAY: ODST is still very much an FPS like any other Halo game, and for the most part, a lot of the gameplay elements are straight out of Halo 3. However, this game makes a number of changes that sets it apart from the other titles. The first thing you'll notice is that you're no longer playing Master Chief, and instead assume the role of the ODSTs. Unlike Master Chief (who is practically a super soldier), the ODSTs are more or less regular humans, so their abilities are understandably reduced. Things like fall damage are now a hurdle you have to deal with, and you also don't have access to mechanics like dual wielding. Instead of energy shields, you'll have to manage stamina. Every time you get hit, you lose stamina, and if you keep getting hit while having low stamina, your health will start to go down. In order to regain stamina, you need to take cover and wait, and to recover health, you'll need to find health kits strewn about. It's not that different from Master Chief's shields conceptually, but the game goes out of the way to make the distinction with all sorts of subtle details (like the character's grunting or heavy breathing when their stamina is low). The ODSTs also come equipped with what's known as a VISR, which outlines important objects with different colors (e.g. enemy is red, items are blue, interactables are yellow). Along with a compass, quest markers, and even a helper function that marks where you should go, the game is leagues better in terms of making sure you can find your way around. Weapons, enemies, and vehicles are all taken from the previous games, so there isn't much I can add there. The most I can say is that the Beam Rifle (which was absent in Halo 3) makes a return, which I was excited about because it's one of my favorite weapons. The campaign's structure is pretty interesting, as it has you alternate between the perspectives of the Rookie and the other ODSTs. As the Rookie, you'll be exploring an open area of New Mombasa, looking for clues as to the whereabouts of your teammates. Once you find one of those clues, the next chapter of the campaign has you play as the other ODSTs, showing you what happened before the Rookie arrived on the scene. I liked the approach of you piecing together the events as you explore, and the exploration itself is fun (even if the areas aren't large). The sections where you play as the other ODSTs feel more like traditional Halo, with plenty of shooting, as well as the occasional vehicle section. VERDICT: Halo 3: ODST isn't breaking any new ground in terms of gameplay, but its completely different setting and characters help make it its own experience. And despite only a few changes, the shooter gameplay still feels great, and the different campaign structure further helps give the game its own identity. It's a little on the short side, but I had a fun time playing through it. - end - It's not often that I get to play a game Day 1 of release. BACKGROUND:
I don't remember exactly when I first saw the trailer for this, but I was quite interested in the game because a) it looks like an homage to the original Ninja Gaiden, and b) it's published (but not developed) by Yacht Club Games. Thanks to Game Pass PC being a brilliant service that somehow had this game right on release, I was able to play this almost immediately after it came out. PLOT: The game is set in the futuristic Mekacity, which has been taken over by Dr. Progen and his army of synthetic warriors. It falls to Shadow, the last ninja of his clan to stop the doctor before it's too late. The plot itself is standard stuff, but I did find the mixture of the mysticism of the ninja clan and the sci-fi machinery to be a fun hybrid. The world-building establishes some interesting ideas (like the use of "Essence" and fusing it to machines), but you have to go out of your way to read text to get a sense of what's going on. PRESENTATION: This game is very much a love letter to the NES era, with faithful 8-bit pixel art and chiptune music (which, by the way, is pretty great). For the most part, the game looks and sounds like a lot of the games from the '80s, but there are some subtle flourishes that remind you that this is a game that came out in 2021. One thing I loved about this game are the occasional cutscenes that feel like they were taken straight out of Ninja Gaiden. These aren't fully animated, but they boast some impressive-looking pixel art. GAMEPLAY: Cyber Shadow is an NES era throwback in terms of gameplay, too. It's a 2D action platformer that's in the vein of Ninja Gaiden: run, jump, and slash your way through the game's levels. Even the controls are ripped straight out of the '80s: you only use two buttons and the D-Pad. That means some of the inputs are button combinations (like the classic up-attack input you may have encountered in Castlevania), and while I appreciate the throwback, it's a control scheme that shows its age and lends itself to some unfortunate wrong inputs. Other than that, the game's controls feel great. Movement feels precise overall, the hitboxes mostly make sense (sometimes), and the behavior of enemies and objects are more or less consistent. I will say that the knockback is also from the NES era and is pretty unforgiving. Expect deaths caused by an enemy knocking you back into a pit. The game's structure is linear, but the levels are laid out such that a few of them connect into each other. There are more than a few optional areas that have rewards in them, as well as some old-school-style secrets (like Castlevania "wall chicken" and secret areas accessed in the same way you would Mario's warp zones). It's certainly no Metroidvania, but I did get plenty of enjoyment scouring the areas. The levels themselves are pretty tough, with a lot of the difficulty coming from the devious enemy placement around tricky platforming sections. There are a wide variety of enemies that do a ton of damage and will piss you off one way or another, but if you can manage to find your way around them (easier said than done), most of them are pretty easy to dispatch. In terms of platforming itself, there's not much in the way of unique movement mechanics, and the level mechanics you have to navigate around aren't anything new (moving platforms, insta-death spikes, crushers... that kind of thing). There are a good amount of bosses in this game, and they're all pretty formidable (especially since most of them have two health bars). They're far from unbeatable, however, as a lot of their attack patterns are predictable and they have mostly consistent behavior. A few fights blindside you with multiple phases (which can be rough, since dying makes you start from the first phase), but for the most part, I enjoyed most of the boss fights in this game. Although this game very much takes most of its design cues from Ninja Gaiden, Cyber Shadow is a tiny bit more forgiving than the game it's inspired by. There's no real penalty for death (no game overs or anything like that), there are a good amount of checkpoints (although some of them are spaced out way too far, especially in later levels), and the enemies only respawn if you reenter a room (games like Ninja Gaiden and Ghosts 'n Goblins are notorious for respawning enemies on a timer). That said, the game itself is still challenging on its own. Throughout your journey, you'll collect a bunch of crystals that serve as the game's currency. These are used at the many checkpoints, and you spend them to unlock special features, like HP and SP refreshes when you step on that checkpoint, and even generating power-ups for you to use. It's a neat use for money that helps mitigate the difficulty should you need it, but other than that, it serves no purpose. Speaking of power-ups, you can collect a small variety of them in your journey. These range from offensive power-ups (like the game's take on the iconic windmill shuriken from Ninja Gaiden), defensive power-ups (like a Leaf Shield-style barrier), or something else entirely (a drone that replenishes your SP). A lot of these power-ups are incredibly fun to use and do a lot to make things easier, and it's balanced in an interesting way. Technically, these power-ups have unlimited uses, but if you get hit, they lose a charge. If you get hit three times, the power-up breaks and you lose it. Since a lot of these are super helpful, having them gives you extra incentive to be cautious when playing. Along with these power-ups, you'll also acquire an assortment of permanent upgrades. These range from attacks like the shuriken (these attacks are the ones that expend SP), mobility upgrades like the wall jump and dash (which also gives you a cool dash-slash), passive buffs like a charge slash, and even a projectile parry (which I really liked, but was kind of a pain to execute because of its control bindings). Some of the upgrades are more useful than others, and a few kind of have untapped potential (the downward strike could've been implemented in more platforming sections, for instance), but I thought they were all interesting overall. These permanent upgrades kind of gave me some Mega Man/Metroid vibes in the sense that you slowly expanded your arsenal as you progressed, which isn't really something that exists in the original Ninja Gaiden (thereby giving this game a notable difference). In addition to all that, you can also pick up HP and SP upgrades that add more to your bar. Many of these are found in the optional areas I mentioned, and as long as you pay attention to any branching paths, you're bound to run into a lot of them with little trouble. These upgrades do make things a bit easier in that you can take more hits and throw out more special attacks, so I think they're worth going out of your way for. VERDICT: Although Cyber Shadow feels like Ninja Gaiden in a lot of ways, it does plenty of things that make it stand out as a good game in its own right. It's still quite the challenge with its level designs, but there are changes that reduce the difficulty a little bit, and while I wish they could have done more with the platforming, going through the levels felt good. The combat is solid, too, with a good variety of fun abilities and power-ups to play around with and some thrilling boss fights. I can't say that I was too invested in the story, and I thought certain choices in the gameplay were best left in the retro era the game is an homage to, I still like this game a lot. If you're looking for a tough action platformer, Cyber Shadow is one to check out. I will say that it's a rather short game, so if you feel like its current asking price is a bit much, you may be better served waiting for a sale. Given that this game literally just came out at the time of writing, you may have to wait a bit for that to happen. Here's Cyber Shadow's Steam page: Cyber Shadow on Steam (steampowered.com) - end - I think I've passed the 30 mark in my quest to play as many Game Pass games as I can within three months. Not bad considering I don't exactly have all the free time I want. BACKGROUND:
Yooka-Laylee was kind of a big deal when it first arrived on the scene, as it was a spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie (a beloved N64 classic) developed by former Rare employees. I never got around to playing the first game (I'll get that on Switch), but I really wanted to get into this new series. As such, I decided to check out the second game on Game Pass PC. PLOT: The dynamic duo of Yooka (the chameleon) and Laylee (the bat) face off against the nefarious Capital B as the latter attempts to enslave the bees of the Royal Stingdom using his Hive Mind staff. With the help of Queen Phoebee, Yooka and Laylee find their way to the Impossible Lair to fight Capital B, but Capital B uses the Hive Mind to enslave the Beettalion, an army of bees that grant invincibility. In order to stand a chance, the duo must assemble a brand new Beettalion by finding bees around the game's world, then return to the Impossible Lair to defeat Capital B once and for all. It's a pretty basic plot, but I do like that the endgame is presented to you right at the beginning. There's something neat about seeing (or in this case, actually experiencing) the final area of a game, kinda like how you see the castle when you first start Dragon Quest I. I also enjoyed the game's zany humor (especially Laylee's constant shit-talking), but it's not a style of humor that's for everyone. PRESENTATION: Yooka-Laylee has a wonderfully colorful, cartoony design that immediately grabbed my attention the first time I saw it. Everything from the character designs and the level aesthetics hearkens back to the N64 days the original was meant to be an homage to; lots of goofy-looking characters, and distinct, inspired settings for levels. Unlike its predecessor, though, Impossible Lair is more of a 2.5D game, meaning that its perspective is locked in 2D but it still boasts polished 3D models and background elements. The game's soundtrack is just as delightful as the visuals, as many of them have an upbeat and relaxing vibe to them that made playing through levels pleasant. I found out that David Wise (composer for the Donkey Kong Country games) and Grant Kirkhope (former Rare composer who had a hand in the OSTs for the likes of Banjo-Kazooie) were involved in composing this game's soundtrack, and I'm not surprised that the music turned out as amazing as it did considering their involvement. GAMEPLAY: Impossible Lair is kind of a game of two halves, but primarily, it's a 2D platformer that plays a lot like Donkey Kong Country. There are a few dozen levels you can play through, and the objective is simply to get to the end and collect the bee. Mechanically, Yooka-Laylee has straightforward controls. You have your basic run and jump, a tail whip that acts as your standing attack, a forward roll that damages enemies DK-style and also speeds you up, a Dixie Kong-style twirl that extends your jump distance a tiny bit, and a ground pound. It's not a lot, and it's nothing you haven't seen before, but all these abilities flow well together, and the game provides more than enough level mechanics that take advantage of all these basic abilities. Getting hit doesn't spell instant death in this game; instead, Laylee flies about when you take a hit, and you have a short window to catch her before she flies away. If you catch her (which, annoyingly, is a bit harder to do than it sounds), you're fine, but if you don't, Yooka will have to brave the rest of the level alone; not only does this mean that the next hit kills you, but you're also stripped of certain abilities (like the twirl and the ground pound). There are ways to get Laylee back even if you don't catch her, but the penalty for death isn't that bad since you only lose money (there are no lives in this game) and there are a good amount of checkpoints. What makes this game really interesting is that the final level (AKA the Impossible Lair) is accessible at any time, even at the very beginning. Theoretically, you can beat the game in less than an hour if you beat the Impossible Lair straight out of the tutorial. Unfortunately, the level lives up to its name, and is pretty fucking hard. I've played a lot of infuriatingly difficult platformers, and the Impossible Lair is up there as one of the more punishing levels I've played. There is very little room for error, and I have the dozens of failed attempts to prove it. This is where the other game's levels come in. As I mentioned, the end of every level has you collect a bee in the end. This bee is part of the new Beettalion you're assembling, and for every bee you collect, that's one free hit you can take when attempting the Impossible Lair. It's a really neat approach that incentivizes you to play as many of the game's levels as you can, because the reward actually means a great deal in the endgame. I've attempted the Impossible Lair a few times with a couple of bees and those extra hits make quite a difference. However, the bees are finite, which means if you go down to zero bees, you're in danger. You still have to be careful to a degree playing through the Impossible Lair, but the bees give you a margin of error. The main issue with the Impossible Lair (at least in my view) is related to the overall difficulty of the other levels. Though some of the regular levels can be a bit tricky, none of them feature the caliber of tough platforming you need to get good at to beat the last level, and they're also more lenient with their checkpoints and their lack of game overs. Nothing in the rest of the game really prepares you for the Impossible Lair, and I can easily see the harrowing experience ruining an otherwise fun time for other players, even with the bees. If you're a true glutton for punishment, there's a toggle to play the Impossible Lair without any bees. Basically, you have to get everything right in one go. Unless you're like me and are used to difficult platformers slowly chipping away at your sanity and your free time, I strongly advise against trying to beat the game this way. The game's 20 regular levels are all well done, with all sorts of neat (albeit not that innovative) mechanics that make each individual level unique, collectibles known as TWIT coins that are well-hidden and satisfying to find, and even secret exits that get you extra bees. What's awesome about this game is that each level has a remixed version that uses the same layout, but introduces a brand new mechanic that completely changes how it plays. You're pretty much getting twice the levels, and it's great. In between levels, you explore the overworld, which is kind of its own game. It has a top-down perspective (though the y-axis still works and you can jump), and the idea is to explore the areas and solve puzzles to unlock more of the world, among other things. Most of the puzzles are simple yet clever, and some of these puzzles are the key to unlocking the remixed versions of the levels (which I thought was really cool and creative). As far as world maps go, this is probably one of the most interesting out there, as it's more than just a glorified level select and is actually its own experience. I found myself spending more time trying to unlock everything in the overworld than I did playing the actual levels, which I think speaks to how well they did in making it interesting. In addition to solving the overworld's various puzzles, the TWIT coins you collect in the game's levels are spent in the overworld to open gates (which block off new areas), as well as purchase useful bonuses. There are also Pagies you can talk to, which take you to brief challenge levels where you have to kill all the specified enemies. Doing so alters the overworld layout, allowing you to reach previously inaccessible points or solve brand new puzzles. I like that there's a bit of variety to expanding the world, but the gates that require TWIT coins may feel like a bit of a grind for players who don't really like replaying levels. As I like finding all the secrets, this is not an issue to me at all. The overworld is also where you find Tonics, which serve as the game's modifiers. Once you find a Tonic, you must spend Quills (the game's currency, collected by playing through the levels) to unlock them for use. The effects of the Tonics vary, but they fall into one of three categories: cosmetic (i.e. it merely alters the game's visuals), helpful (like passive buffs that improve your forward roll or a secret detector), or make the game more challenging (like the game's view becoming upside down, or inverted controls). Some of the Tonics affect the Quill Multiplier, which determines the percentage of Quills you collect after beating a level. Cosmetic Tonics don't alter the multiplier, but the helpful ones lower it and the challenge-based one raise it. Most of the Tonics are worthwhile, but you may have to go out of your way to grind Quills depending on how many of the Tonics you want. VERDICT: I really enjoyed Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair. The fact that you can play the last level anytime is such a novel concept, and there's plenty of incentive to play the game's 40 other levels despite that being the case (other than the fact those levels are all fun). Plus, the overworld was an unexpected highlight, featuring a bit of the exploration and puzzle-solving that I enjoy from 3D platformers. It's not the most innovative platformer out there in terms of mechanics, and its otherwise interesting Tonic system does require a bit of grinding, but I still had a blast playing through this game. I highly recommend this game if you're in the mood for a light-hearted platformer romp, but I must warn you that the Impossible Lair is no joke. I suggest enjoying the rest of the game before tackling the last level; not only will you stand a better chance at beating it down the line, the rest of the game is pretty enjoyable. That said, I don't think they did the best job of scaling the difficulty of the regular levels such that you're prepared for the Impossible Lair, and I can see it still being frustrating even for players who have a lot of bees (especially if they're not as experienced with platformers). Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is on Steam. Here's the link: Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair on Steam (steampowered.com) Listen to the game's wonderful soundtrack on Spotify: Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair (Original Game Soundtrack) - Album by Various Artists | Spotify - end - Halfway through the Master Chief Collection! BACKGROUND:
Again, refer to the Halo 1 blog entry for my background on the Halo series. PLOT: Halo 3 picks up right where the last game left off, as Master Chief returns to Earth to stop the Prophet of Truth from activating the other Halos. In Halo 2, the existence of something known as the Ark was revealed, and it does exactly what the Prophet wants. It quickly becomes a race between the Covenant and the UNSC to get to the Ark, but things get complicated when the Gravemind (who was also introduced in Halo 2) gets involved. Joining Master Chief is the Arbiter and his band of Elites, who were cast out by the rest of the Covenant in the previous game. Now aware of the lies of the Covenant doctrines, they help the humans in their fight to stop the Prophet as well as the Gravemind. I really liked this alliance; it's a bit more nuanced than the typical "aliens bad, humans good" narrative that the first game was, plus I liked how the Arbiter and Master Chief gradually grew to respect one another. My only gripe is that the Arbiter is just along for the ride in this one, as opposed to his more prominent role in Halo 2. Compared to Halo 2, Halo 3 is a more straightforward plot, focusing solely on the race to the Ark (as opposed to doing a lot of world-building). It's easier to follow overall, and unlike Halo 2, it actually has a definitive (and satisfying) ending. The only real thing that strikes me as odd is the abruptness of some character deaths, the game's penchant for cutting into weird "hallucination" sequences, and the strange influx of truces followed immediately by double crosses. There isn't much to say about the characters, apart from the Master Chief-Arbiter alliance I previously mentioned. Cortana isn't as prominent in this one as she was previously, and Gravemind is still too enigmatic a character for me to get into. Also, Guilty Spark (who has been around since Halo 1) really overstays his welcome at this point (at least for me); something about the character just didn't click with me. PRESENTATION: There's no remastered version of Halo 3's graphics, so you get the original look, except upscaled to 1080p60. Compared to the previous two games, this game aged a bit better (and the upscaled resolution helps with that), but stuff like the faces still look dated. The music is still great, and all the renditions of the Halo main theme in here are fantastic. All I'll add is that Halo 3's OST has done more than enough to cement its place as one of my favorite video game soundtracks ever. I will mention that the HUD for this game is much more improved than that of the previous games. I didn't mention the HUD in the blog entries for Halo 1 and 2 (mostly because they weren't that notable), but Halo 3's HUD is larger and much easier to read. GAMEPLAY: Again, Halo 3 retains the first person shooter gameplay of the first two games, but adds a bunch of new stuff and changes to keep things fresh. Apart from what I'll say below, there isn't much in the way of significant overhauls (apart from completely new level designs, of course). As expected, you have a bunch of new weapons to try out, like the Spiker, the Mauler, and the really fun Gravity Hammer. Older weapons have been altered slightly as well, like how the Needler can't be dual-wielded anymore. In addition to that, there are new grenade types too, like incendiary grenades. Another cool thing you can do is detach mounted turrets and wield them as two-handed weapons, which is fun (though you move slower when doing this). I liked a lot of the new features (especially the unga bunga nature of the Gravity Hammer), and I'd go out of my way to use them despite being accustomed to the older weapons. Another new thing you can use is equipment. These are like power-ups you can pick up, and they all have various effects. The Bubble Shield, for example, deploys a shield you can stand in, while an Auto Turret sets down... an automatic turret (makes sense). You can only carry one piece of equipment at a time, however. I thought this was a cool addition, as these items really come in handy in a pinch. New vehicles also join the fray, like the Hornet (which is essentially the human equivalent of the Banshee), the Chopper (the Brute version of the Ghost), anti-tank Wraiths, and more. There are still a good amount of dedicated vehicle sections in some of the levels, and they're still a ton of fun (especially with the new vehicles). Most of the enemies are from previous games, but there are a few new ones, plus alterations to some existing ones. In place of the Elites, you'll be mostly fighting Brutes, which is a change that reflects the story developments of the last game. A quality-of-life change I really appreciated is the game making more use of quest markers during gameplay. I mentioned having trouble finding my way around in the first game, and that issue is practically nonexistent here. VERDICT: Halo 3 doesn't do much to change the series formula established at the point of its release, but its tried-and-true FPS gameplay still feels really good, and the small updates and new levels are enough to keep things fresh. The story, albeit basic, is decent and actually has a conclusion; plus, it caps off the original trilogy in an interesting way. Though I quite like the first two games, I think this is my favorite Halo game so far. - end - In retrospect, perhaps I shouldn't have started my morning playing this game, because now I'm sad. BACKGROUND:
I don't really know much of anything about this game. I just heard the title mentioned a few times somewhere and ended up remembering it. It happened to be on Game Pass, so I might as well check it out. PLOT: The game follows the perspective of Edith Finch, who visits the ancestral Finch home on an island off the coast of Washington state. She returns here after many years because her late mother gave her a key to the house, and she's here to find answers about her family history. The Finches have an extraordinarily unfortunate curse that has spanned at least five generations; each member of the family dies in unusual, tragic ways. Edith explores the house to learn about each member's death, then she writes about it in her journal. Every time Edith finds something that reveals information about a family member's death, the game then shifts to the perspective of that family member, showing the moments leading up to their demise. It's sort of like an anthology of short stories, with the connecting thread being Edith's journey to discover them all. As you can probably tell, this game is rather somber, as you see the Finch family go through tragedy over tragedy. Not only do you learn about each member's death, you'll also piece together how the surviving members dealt with that loss. It's of course pretty sad, but there are a few brief moments where you see joy or solace from the characters. There are also unsettling moments, shocking moments, and even funny moments in some of the stories. Overall, it's a deeply emotional ride that really makes you ponder about mortality and how fleeting life is. And despite knowing how every story ends, I still found myself glued to the screen, curious to see how things played out, and eager to know more about these characters. While there is certainly a lot of narration and exposition from Edith, the game does go for the "show, don't tell" approach a lot when telling its many stories. Elements in the background like the belongings in a specific family member's room tell you more than enough about who they were and what they were like before they died, and the individual stories themselves leave a lot of what actually happened up to interpretation. Some of their perspectives are straight up surreal, making you question if the stories these people left behind actually happened. Despite this, you can actually kind of piece together the truth (well, some of it, at least) just by looking around or by observing context clues. Despite the obvious focus on the other Finch family members, you do get to learn a great deal about Edith herself. As you go along, you'll learn about her life when she used to live at the house, her relationship with the family members she got to spend time with, and even a big twist about herself that reveals the true nature of why she's writing her journal. The last bit in particular made the ending incredibly poignant. PRESENTATION: The game looks great and leans more toward a realistic art style. There's an impressive amount of detail to the environment, which is most evident when you examine all the clutter in the abandoned Finch house. In some of the shifts in perspective, the game takes on different art styles (like the flipbook art in Milton's story, or the comic book aesthetic of Barbara's), which I found wonderful. Apart from that, there isn't much to say about the visuals. The music captures the melancholy of the story quite well, with most of the tracks having a somber vibe to them. Along with the music, you're accompanied by Edith's occasional narration (which also appears in text form in your surroundings as you progress). GAMEPLAY: What Remains of Edith Finch is played in a first person perspective. You play as Edith and as her, you will explore the Finch house and uncover the family's history of untimely deaths. The main objective of the game is to explore the house and find each family member's bedroom. Once there, they will each have an item you can interact with that triggers the respective character's individual story, and you'll play through that story in its entirety before returning to Edith's perspective to continue scouring the house for the other stories. Although the house is Resident Evil levels of contrived with its 7 million secret passageways and bizarre opening mechanisms, the game takes you through it in a linear fashion, and there isn't much in the way of puzzles (unless you count looking around for the few interactables in a room as puzzles). The interactables are simple themselves; just press the interact button on them and move your mouse/right stick if necessary. Some of these have unintuitive controls (like using your movement keys to zoom in with a camera; that one really threw me for a loop), but for the most part, it's quite easy to figure out. Apart from that, you're pretty much just walking around. If you're looking for something more engaging, you won't find it here, but I don't think it's fair to hold that against this game given its focus is more on the story. The individual stories themselves are where the game mixes things up. While almost all of them control exactly the same as Edith (move around an area in first person), some of them have neat mini-game elements. For example, one of the stories has you taking pictures Pokemon Snap-style, while another has you try and juggle two tasks at once. These slight changes in gameplay also add to the characters whose final moments you're reliving; it shows you their state of mind in gameplay form, albeit in a surreal fashion. It makes each experience that much more memorable. VERDICT: What Remains of Edith Finch is a one-of-a-kind experience that perfectly demonstrates how video games can be an effective storytelling medium. Though its gameplay is simple, the few mechanics are more than enough to make its bittersweet narrative more impactful, and the individual stories of the Finch family were all memorable despite being quite brief in length. Despite only experiencing their last moments, I still felt like I got to know these characters, and outside elements like stuff in the house did plenty to fill in quite a few gaps and flesh out the stories. I really loved this game and all the stories it told, and it left such a strong impression that I doubt I'd ever forget about it. If you want a purely story-driven game, this is one to get. If I had heard of its premise prior to checking out this game, I think I would have gotten it sooner, and if you find yourself similarly interested by the game's narrative, I highly recommend checking it out. I will say that its base price is a bit much considering how short the game is (I think I beat it 100% in around two hours), but other than that, I feel like this is one of those games you absolutely have to check out at least once. Here's the Steam link for the game: What Remains of Edith Finch on Steam (steampowered.com) - end - Well. That took a while. BACKGROUND:
My experience with the Final Fantasy series is mostly limited to FFVII (which I talked about here) and the occasional spinoff (like Dissidia). As far as mainline games go, I don't really know much. Game Pass PC has a couple of FF titles available (and I hope I have enough time to play through all of them), but I decided to start with XV first as it's the latest and because during the time I was writing this, it was scheduled to leave the Game Pass catalog in two weeks. PLOT: FFXV is set in the world of Eos, divided into four major nations: Niflheim, Lucis, Accordo, and Tenebrae. The empire of Niflheim is the most dominant of the four, having control over almost all the other nations apart from Lucis, with whom they are currently at war with. Eos itself still has the sci-fi and fantasy elements that I recognize from other Final Fantasy games, but the world itself feels quite like our own, almost to an unnerving degree. People have phones, the cars look like old cars in real life, there are '50s-style diners, highways, and most of the cities take inspiration from real-life locales (albeit with more outlandish architecture). I found the juxtaposition of freaky demon monsters, magic spells, giant airships, and mechs alongside what looks like your average American interstate to be quite novel in terms of setting. Some of the more mystical elements of the setting aren't 100% explained (like the gods of Eos, or the origin of the nocturnal daemons that roam the night), and require you to seek out in-game lore dumps for yourself. I thought the world-building was pretty interesting, but it takes a considerable amount of effort to piece together what the fuck is going on. From what I gathered, fully understanding everything about FFXV also requires seeking out DLC content, other games, and even other media. It's a bit much for most people (I wouldn't fault anyone for not bothering and deciding to just read a wiki or whatever), but if you're anything like me and enjoy needlessly complex world-building, it may be worth seeking all these extra things out. The story begins in earnest when Noctis, prince of Lucis, travels with his pals Gladiolus, Ignis, and Prompto to Altissia in order to marry Lunafreya, Oracle of Tenebrae. What starts out as four lads going on a road trip immediately turns sour as they hear the news of the Imperial attack on Crown City (the capital of Lucis) that occurred in their absence. Joined by his friends, Noctis must now journey around the world to gather enough strength to take on the empire of Niflheim, avenge his people, and claim his birthright as king. I thought the story was good overall, but found that it jumped around and glossed over things a bunch. Early on, it's established that Noctis must collect the Royal Arms (the weapons of the past kings of Lucis) in order to grow stronger, but that's established in a way that made me go "well, I guess that's what we're doing now." Same goes for his quest to receive the blessings of the gods of Eos (though that was usually offset by awesome cutscenes). Other things go without explanation or are just simply dropped, like the explanation behind one of the characters leaving for one chapter (though it appears that and other questions are answered in DLC content), the stakes escalating all of a sudden, or the nature of the villain. What I think is the best aspect of the game's story is its main cast: Noctis and his friends. Some of the other characters outside of that group are just as memorable and have meaningful interactions with Noctis and co. (the most notable of which is Noctis's relationship with Lunafreya), but it's the dynamic between the four lads that really got me invested. They all have wildly different personalities, they make small talk and joke around; sometimes they'd bicker and get angry at one another, but they stand by each other no matter what. Even seemingly mundane moments (like when they're just driving down the highway) feel meaningful due to their conversations and banter. The four truly feel like friends who've known each other forever, and as somebody who is fortunate enough to have friendships like that, it was compelling to see such a bond be tested by all the harrowing events brought upon by the main plot. PRESENTATION: The visuals of this game are impressive, leaning as close to realism not only in the design of its locations, but with the appearances of character models and the details in the environment. Some of the game's more fantastical elements look incredible in this style, like the gods and many of the regular enemies. FFXV goes all out with the visuals when the cinematic cutscenes kick in. Some of the cutscenes depict a mind-blowing action sequence, and scenes like that really added to the epic feel of certain story moments. The most notable examples of this are the animations for the summons; seeing a "realistic" Leviathan in HD fucking obliterate an entire city was quite the spectacle. My only gripe with visuals is the occasional camera weirdness that occurs during gameplay. Certain things cause the angle to change abruptly, and that can lead to some annoying moments when I can't see what's happening. The music is equally fantastic, with beautiful orchestral tracks that range from somber, to cheerful, and epic. Some of the tracks have vocals, and a few even go into different genres (which is most evident with the tracks you can play on the car radio). I think my favorite track is still Apocalypsis Aquarius (the theme of the Leviathan fight); that track made an already epic fight even more legendary. As an added bonus, you can access a small assortment of tracks from past Square Enix titles on the car radio. I may or may not have have some FFVII tracks on repeat while on the road. COMBAT & PROGRESSION: FFXV is an action RPG, more in line with later FF titles as opposed to the more "traditional" turn-based or active time battle systems. You primarily control Noctis and do so in real-time encounters; you're able to move him around in real time, and you have to manually press buttons to hit your basic attacks. If you're used to the more turn-based affairs, this might be a bit much at first, but it's not as technically demanding as something like Monster Hunter or Dark Souls, where you really have to think about when to attack and where to position yourself. You still have to think about those things in this game, to be fair (especially during boss fights), but you can usually get by most regular battles just hitting buttons. As you control Noctis, the rest of your party (AKA his three friends) perform their actions automatically. There isn't really a reliable way to issue commands to them (e.g. "move here", "target this enemy", "retreat"), so I found it difficult to properly take advantage of their unique skill sets. The only thing you can really do to control their actions directly is command them to use special Techniques, which are special attacks/moves that use your Tech Bar (a green bar that fills up in battle). I wish you could control their behavior much better, but despite the lack of such methods, they were still pretty helpful in most battles. You can even pull off combo attacks with them automatically if they happen to be nearby when you perform certain things (like successfully hitting a backstab attack), but those tend to be hard to set up given how the AI just kinda does what it wants. While I did say that most battles can be beaten by hitting buttons, the combat does offer some amount of depth. In addition to basic attacks and movement, Noctis can dodge attacks when you hold the Defend button. A successful dodge expends your MP, so you can't exactly just hold the button down forever. For certain enemy attacks, holding down Defend will cause Noctis to block the attack, giving him a window to parry. That window is annoyingly small sometimes, but if you get it, it'll give you a pretty good advantage in the fight. If you have the patience, you can take advantage of Defend to scope out and completely evade enemy attack patterns (you will have to for a bunch of the boss fights given how rough they can be), but in my experience, an aggressive offense usually suffices as a good defense. Perhaps the coolest move Noctis is able to pull off is called the Warp-Strike. This move allows Noctis to close the distance between him and an enemy by hurling his weapon at it and immediately teleporting to where the weapon landed. Not only is it an awesome maneuver that lets you rush down enemies, it can be used on Point-Warp points, which allow you to suspend yourself from a height to recover some HP and MP. These Point-Warps are also used in some really cool set pieces (like a battle that has you warp between imperial airships). The way this game handles damage is... interesting, to say the least. If your HP hits zero, you're not actually dead yet; a second gray bar gradually decreases and you're left in a Danger state (where you can't do anything apart from using items). This gray bar denotes your maximum HP; if you happen to heal yourself, your max HP caps out at wherever the gray bar stopped the moment you healed. If you get your ass kicked again, the same thing happens, and your max HP goes lower and lower each time. If you get hit while in Danger, that gray bar decreases even more, and if your max HP hits zero, you're officially dead (meaning you have to use a Phoenix Down to revive yourself at that point). I found that this mechanic makes the game simultaneously lenient and frustrating; sure, I still have a bit of a fighting chance if I hit zero HP, but if I don't act quickly (which can happen extremely easily when you're facing an enemy that attacks a lot or you're surrounded), the ass-beating I receive snowballs and I'll find myself with only a sliver of max HP. One way to get out of the Danger state is for your allies to come over to your position and "revive" you. It's a crapshoot whether or not you're revived quickly depending on how the AI feels, so I found myself relying on items more to restore myself. You can do the same to allies in Danger, which is thankfully more consistent since you're in control. There are also a bunch of other mechanics, like enemy vulnerability, and cross chains/chain attacks, but those seem to just happen at complete random that I question their addition. The ability to summon the likes of Bahamut and Ramuh also return, but you can only do so in specific moments; it's kind of a shame since summons are a ton of fun, but the summon animations themselves are badass, so I can kind of let it slide. You will face all manner of enemies, each with their own resistances/weaknesses, all sorts of annoying attacks/status effects that will mess you up, and unique drops when you kill them (which can be used for spell crafting, among other things). The trouble with them is usually managing their numbers (you get swarmed a lot in this game), or in the case of tougher enemies/bosses, you'll have to actually learn their attack patterns in order to learn when to dodge and when to attack. On the subject of bosses, there are a whole bunch in this game, and they are rather formidable. A few of the fights do have scripted sequences that trivialize the challenge, but that's OK because those sequences are badass-looking spectacles and make you feel absolutely unstoppable. The highlight for me is still the Leviathan fight (which was easy, but looked fucking epic all throughout), but other fights like the fight with Cerberus, the encounter with Ifrit and the gauntlet of The Fierce, The Rogue, and The Mystic stick out in my memory as quite challenging. If all this sounds intimidating and you just wanna enjoy the story, fret not, as you can scale down the difficulty to Easy anytime. The most notable feature when in this mode is a free resurrection every time you die. If you ever hit a point where you just can't beat a boss, don't be ashamed to turn this one on; I did this for one particularly frustrating boss, and despite the free revives, I still had to make the effort to actually fight the boss. However, it's important to note that Easy mode isn't available for some fights, but from what I can tell, the fights you can't set to Easy all seem to be optional challenges. In terms of equipment, each character can equip a couple of weapons they can switch to mid-battle, as well as accessories that give various passive buffs. Your three friends can only equip two weapons at a time, and those weapon types are fixed (for example, Ignis's primary is daggers, and his secondary can only be lances). Noctis is slightly different in that he can equip four weapons in total, and he has no weapon restrictions. At some point, Noctis will be able to wield the Royal Arms, which are super powerful weapons only he can use. You can kick serious ass with them, but using the Royal Arms slowly drains your health, adding a bit of risk/reward dynamic. In addition, you'll be able to unleash Armiger, which is like a powered-up state where Noctis can fly and attack with all of the Royal Arms simultaneously. You have to charge up a separate meter to use Armiger, and it doesn't last very long, but it feels awesome to trigger it (especially in the scripted sequences). Spells work a bit different in this one. Everyone can equip spells, but the catch is that you have to craft spells through the Elemancy menu. You'll need to acquire elemental energy in the overworld, and that's what you use to craft spells. There sadly isn't that much in the way of variety here (you can only get ice, fire, and lightning energy), but Elemancy allows you to mix things up by allowing you to add items while crafting. For example, you can add a Potion in addition to a bunch of Fire energy, which turns it into Healcast (which is just Fire, but it heals the caster). It's a cool mechanic on paper, but the fact that you just get 31 flavors of Fire/Blizzard/Thunder + passive kinda makes it not interesting (though the tradeoff is that you don't have to think about too many elemental weaknesses/resistances). To make things more perplexing, your spells are AoE attacks that also hit your allies, so more often than not, you'll be accidentally fucking over your allies in the process of casting. I ended up not using spells because of all this, other than that one time I wanted to try out Stopcast and accidentally froze my entire party. Overall, I thought they tried some neat things with the combat, but certain approaches to some mechanics just didn't click with me. There are moments when I actually feel like I'm using skill to deftly dodge enemies and attack during an opening, but there are just as many moments when I'm just mindlessly mashing attack/dodge yet I still win. Level progression is also a bit different. You still earn XP per usual after winning battles and completing quests, but you need to go to a rest point for it to actually count; in short, if you want to level up, you have to actually make it to a rest point (or the end of a story chapter). It's not that big a deal in practice, but it feels like an unnecessary hurdle. When leveling up or performing certain tasks, you earn something called AP. These are spent in the Ascension menu, which has a bunch of skill trees that give you all sorts of helpful buffs that give you an edge in combat. It takes some doing to earn AP, but the buffs are mostly worth the trouble. One of the most notable things you can unlock in the skill tree is the ability to actively control the three other party members; the mechanic itself is great (as they all have their own unique combat abilities), but I wish it were a core mechanic as opposed to a technically optional unlock. Noctis and co. also have skills outside of all this that level up over time. For example, Noctis has a Fishing skill that levels up the more he fishes. Gladiolus has the Survival skill, allowing him to get better quality random drops after battles the higher the level. Ignis has Cooking, which improves every time he cooks meals (more on that later), and Prompto has Photography, which doesn't influence much other than contextualize the game's neat photo mode. They might not mean much in the grand scheme, but I like that these are here; they add to the personality of each character. EXPLORATION: FFXV has a decently large open world that you can explore at your leisure during certain points in the story, as well as during the post-game. Exploration is a bit cumbersome given the abundance of natural barriers everywhere and the fact that large portions of the map are just boring highways, but other than that, it feels nice to walk around and see a bunch of interesting locales. There are a good amount of optional areas to find, too, if you look hard enough. Exploration is made more fun with the Regalia, which is the car Noctis and friends drive around in. You can choose to drive the car yourself or have Ignis drive the car, and navigation is mostly easy thanks to helpful quest markers. Steering isn't an issue as the game does its best to course correct you (except for one specific section of the game), so you're mostly free to take in the sights, listen to some tunes, and enjoy the ride. You do have to refuel occasionally at gas stations, but there are a bunch around the world, so you likely won't be in too much trouble. On the map, you'll find all sorts of key locations like shops, diners, parking spots, lodging, campsites, and resource gathering areas. Shops are self-explanatory; you can buy stuff and you can sell stuff. Diners are where you buy stat-boosting meals, acquire information, and participate in hunts (side quests that give you some extra cash). Lodging and campsites are where you rest up and cash in your earned XP; the difference is that lodging usually has XP multipliers, and campsites are the only place where Ignis can cook meals using the materials you've gathered (including enemy drops). Resource gathering areas are also self-explanatory; these resources are used for cooking meals, for crafting, or you can just sell them. Parking spots serve as fast travel points in addition to being the places where you can park the Regalia. I mentioned side quests already, and yes, there are a whole bunch you can do. These range from killing enemies, fetch quests, optional dungeons, and even things like photo ops or fishing quests. They're completely optional, of course, but doing them helps if you need some XP or money. Some of the side quests also give you unique rewards, like upgraded weapons, or even a few extra Royal Arms for Noctis to wield. Yes, there are chocobos in this one, and you can ride them around instead of walking if you want. OTHER THINGS: There are likely a bunch of other things you can do that I just skipped out on, like changing the car's appearance. If you're worried about not having much to do in this game, don't be, because there seems like there's a lot. And even if you beat the story or otherwise end up at points where you can't explore certain areas, there's a feature that allows you to go back to past chapters and explore at your leisure. One thing I found super odd is how the game handles saving. The game has autosave during certain story moments and when stopping at rest points, but also has a separate checkpoint system that doesn't count as a save file. There's also a manual save, but you can't use it in dungeons or during missions (AKA the places where saving would be most helpful). As somebody who doesn't have the time to play this twelve hours straight and has to stop at regular intervals, the inconsistent handling of saves meant I had to go out of my way to find rest points or straight up clear a portion of a quest just so I can save. It's not that big a deal overall (at least I don't think it would be for most players), but it is certainly something that gave me trouble since I have stuff to do during the day and can't just sink my time into the game. As mentioned, this game has a bunch of DLC expansions. They appear to be focused on the other main characters, so it's worth checking out if you want to learn more about the rest of the cast. I don't have the time or money to play everything, unfortunately, so I'll just have to live vicariously through gameplay videos and story summaries online. There's also a somewhat helpful tutorial mode that you can play through to get a hang of things, if that's a thing you're concerned about. I must warn of the abundance of quick-time events in battles. If you don't like quick-time events, this is not gonna be a fun time for you. This doesn't really mean anything, but the product placements in this game kinda weirded me out. There's something rather peculiar about seeing Coleman outdoor gear (which is a thing in real life) in a game where a giant fucking water serpent pops out of the ocean and destroys what is essentially Venice, Italy. I will say that the fact that one of the side quests is pretty much just a huge ad for Nissin Cup Noodles is hilarious to me. VERDICT: I have my gripes with FFXV, like how it handles some aspects of its story and combat, but overall, I walked away from the experience feeling mostly positive about it. Despite my issues, the battles looked cool, the main characters were fantastic, there were a ton of impressive visuals, the music is amazing, and exploration felt nice (especially in the car). Even if some elements of the game ended up not being my cup of tea, I still had a fun time with this Final Fantasy title. If you're new to Final Fantasy, I'm not sure this is the one you want to start with. I think VI or VII are your best bets when it comes to that, but FF games aren't connected in terms of story, so there really isn't any consequence to starting with XV (other than missing out on the turn-based combat Final Fantasy is more renowned for). Otherwise, I think this is worth checking out if you're into JRPGs with real-time combat and like open world exploration. I'll say that the story will take some figuring out and the combat could easily get stale, so if either of those things are concerning to you, you may want to think twice. You don't have to take my word for it, as this game has a free demo you can play. Here's the Steam page that also lets you download the demo, should you wish to try it: FINAL FANTASY XV WINDOWS EDITION on Steam (steampowered.com) Plus, here's the OST on Spotify, because Square Enix is nice like that: FINAL FANTASY XV Original Soundtrack - Album by Yoko Shimomura | Spotify - end - I play all manner of serious, story-driven games, games that require a lot of brainpower and strategy, and games that require skilled execution on my part. But sometimes, I'm just in the mood for a simple game that's all fun and nothing more. BACKGROUND:
I recall watching a bit of this game on a stream and getting some serious Katamari vibes, so I was immediately interested. Never really got around to buying it, but luckily, it showed up on Game Pass PC one day. PLOT: Mira is an employee for a donut shop in Donut County, working alongside BK, who is a raccoon. Lately, BK has been obsessed with a mobile app trying to earn points to acquire a quadcopter. This app allows him to schedule donut deliveries to the many residents of Donut County. Unfortunately, the app isn't delivering donuts; it's sending holes to the locations that consumes everything in its path, destroying homes and businesses, as well as trapping people underground. This is probably up there as one of the most ridiculous stories I've ever seen, and I mean that in the best way possible. The premise is absurd at the start, but the way it escalates in absurdity is hilarious. Though most of the narrative is humorous in nature and not meant to be taken seriously, there's a bit of heart to the characters as well. Each of the game's levels sees you follow the hole's destruction from the perspective of each of the characters, and most of the dialogue is everyone berating BK for his irresponsible behavior. A lot of this back-and-forth is amusing due to BK's constant denial and all the random shit the others say. PRESENTATION: The art style is quite simple in terms of its designs (not much detail to most things, flat colors throughout), but the overall aesthetic is pleasant-looking with its bright but not too flashy palette, and the simplistic characters have a certain charm to them. The music is mostly on the chill side, complementing the game's stress-free gameplay. I'd say it's perfect background music for work. GAMEPLAY: In Donut County, you move a hole around the stage, and your goal is to consume all the objects in the area. The hole's size starts out relatively small (so you can only consume objects that are slightly smaller), but as you take in more objects, the hole grows in size, allowing you to consume larger objects. If you've played Katamari before, it's the same principle; accumulate more objects to get bigger objects (except in this case, you're not trying to roll a big-ass ball). For the most part, this is all the gameplay is, but some levels have basic puzzle-solving aspects to them depending on what objects you consume. For example, consuming something with fire causes hot air to rise out of the hole, allowing you to cause a hot air balloon to rise. There are various other examples, like using a drinking bird to clear out water from the hole, but they all tend to be quite simple to figure out. Overall, these puzzles lead to entertaining moments, and add a lot of personality to the game's solid variety of levels. At some point, you unlock the Catapult mechanic, which launches certain objects out of the hole when you press a button/click the mouse. It's only useful in a handful of puzzles, but it's certainly an amusing way to progress through levels. Watching the carnage slowly unfold as the hole gets larger is easily the most entertaining thing about this game. There is something oddly satisfying starting out from eating up random litter to consuming entire buildings. Again, it's the same as Katamari in this sense. There's also something called the Trashopedia that tracks all the objects you've consumed, but it's just amusing flavor text and doesn't really impact gameplay meaningfully. VERDICT: Donut County is one of those games where there isn't much to do and it takes just a few hours to beat, but the core mechanic is simple yet satisfying, and the overall premise is hilariously absurd that I didn't mind how short it was. It scratched that Katamari itch for me where I just chill out and watch something get ridiculously massive with little effort on my part. I'm not sure its length justifies its current price, but if you're willing to pay for what's pretty much a therapeutic game you can chill out and have a laugh with, I highly recommend this. The game is available on the following platforms: - end - Now, onto game 2 of 6 of the Master Chief Collection. BACKGROUND:
There's isn't really anything more to add that I haven't already said in the Halo 1 blog post. The only thing that comes to mind is that I'm aware of how significant this game was in revolutionizing online multiplayer. PLOT: Set after the events of the first game, Halo 2 kicks off when a Covenant fleet shows up on Earth. Master Chief is sent to deal with the situation, and after a tough series of battles, follows the remaining ship in the fleet through slipspace (this game's equivalent of hyperspace jumps). What they find on the other side is... another Halo. Because of course there's more than one. What makes this game interesting is that you see two perspectives of this one story. In Halo 2, you're introduced to a disgraced Covenant Elite who is anointed the Arbiter (a special rank of Elite) by the leaders of the Covenant. The Arbiter is deployed on various missions, such as investigating the ruins of the first Halo to stop a rebellious Elite faction, and going to the second Halo to find its Index (AKA the key that activates the ring's primary function). Though I very much liked seeing the Arbiter's perspective and learning more about the Covenant's inner workings, it does distract a bit from the human side of things. I didn't really mind that I didn't get to spend as much time as Master Chief, but I could see how this game could have been a bit of a letdown for people who liked Halo 1 and wanted more Master Chief. Also, the Covenant side has a surprising amount of bickering amongst its various factions, and it could possibly come off as Star Wars prequel trilogy levels of politics for some players. In addition to expanding on the Covenant's lore, the game also does a bit more world-building in terms of the Halo ringworlds themselves, clarifying things established in the first game and adding brand new elements to their origin (like the fact that there's more than one). Though I thought all these new developments were interesting, there were some things that I found very odd (like the Gravemind; without giving away what exactly that is, I thought that shit came completely out of left field and felt out of place next to everything else in the story). Overall, I liked the story despite any weird pacing issues caused by the whole "two perspectives" angle and all the weird reveals, but one thing that irked me was the rather abrupt cliffhanger ending. It didn't feel satisfying at all. In terms of characters, I'd say Cortana is still the one with the most personality (even if you don't get to hear her as much compared to the first game), but Master Chief stands out to me in this game. He's still a man of few words here, but now his few words are badass one-liners. Third place goes to the Arbiter, whose journey as a Covenant outcast was an interesting viewpoint to see. Everyone else is kind of whatever. PRESENTATION: As with Halo 1 Anniversary, the version of Halo 2 in the Master Chief Collection allows you to switch between the original graphics and a remastered look. I'll say that the remastered visuals of this one looked better than Halo 1's; their remaster of this game didn't look as cluttered in terms of the textures and such. The music is as great as ever, retaining much of the same style as the first game, but also adding tracks that lean into other genres (like rock/metal). GAMEPLAY: Halo 2 pretty much has the same first person shooter action as its predecessor, but with a few key changes and entirely different levels. All the other mechanics are more or less the same (or have been altered only slightly). First, your arsenal has been expanded greatly. Most of the weapons from the first game make a return, but you get a bunch of new weapons to play around with along with that. These include (but are not limited to): the Covenant Carbine, the Brute Shot (which functions like a grenade launcher), the Sentinel Beam, (a continuous beam attack), the Beam Rifle (a plasma sniper rifle, essentially), and the iconic Energy Sword. In addition, most weapons now have a zoom-in function, and you can also dual wield certain one-handed weapons (which is a ton of fun). I enjoyed the added variety, but I enjoyed slicing motherfuckers in half with the Energy Sword even more. Some new vehicles have also been added for you to pilot, like the Spectre (the Covenant equivalent of the Warthog) and the Wraith (which was in the first game, but you couldn't drive it). Vehicles from the previous game have also had their functionalities expanded, like the Ghost having a boost. The biggest change by far is the brand new ability to hijack vehicles controlled by the enemy; it's quite satisfying to throw a bitch out of a Ghost and then immediately run them over afterwards. Not only does the story show you the Arbiter's side of things, but certain levels allow you to play as the Arbiter, too. There's no mechanical difference to playing the Arbiter, but he does get an innate active camouflage ability, which is neat. Most of the enemies are returning from the first game, but there are a bunch of new ones, like the Brutes, the Honor Guards, and various annoying bastards that fly around. They have access to the same weapons as you (which can prove to be problematic in some situations), and if you're not careful, they can hijack your vehicle if you let them get too close. Aside from that, there isn't much to add. VERDICT: Halo 2 is a solid follow-up to the original, with small but meaningful expansions of the mechanics and a story that further builds upon the game's universe. I wouldn't call it particularly innovative, and there were some plot elements that I found peculiar, but I still had a fun time going through the campaign and trying out all the new weapons. Also, the sword is sick as fuck, so that's immediate bonus points. Once again, here's the Master Chief Collection on Steam: Halo: The Master Chief Collection on Steam (steampowered.com) - end - I'm a little over one-third of the way of my free Game Pass PC sub, and I've played a ton of games in that month. Believe it or not, however, I'm just getting started. BACKGROUND:
Most of what I know about this game is based on competitive gameplay videos I've seen online. I grew up liking Power Rangers and enjoy watching tag fighters, so the game made for a fun watch for me. Since it's on Game Pass, I thought I'd take the opportunity to try the game out for myself and see if it's worth buying to keep. PLOT: This game has a short story mode based on the Shattered Grid storyline of the Power Rangers comics. The gist is that an alternate version of Tommy Oliver (the Green Ranger from the original Power Rangers series) becomes evil, takes the name Lord Drakkon, and starts traveling across dimensions to kill as many versions of Power Rangers as possible to take their morphers (and add to his own power). The surviving Rangers band together to try and put a stop to this. It may come off as a story that takes itself a bit too seriously (Power Rangers is usually a campy, kid-friendly series), and it requires quite a bit of prerequisite knowledge of multiple Power Rangers series, but I personally thought the concept was interesting. As somebody who's read a bit of Shattered Grid and is a fan of any Ranger crossover stories, you'd think I'd like the story mode, but it doesn't really present the story in a satisfying manner. All of the fights that you go through seem arbitrary, you don't take the time to get to know any of the characters, the overall pacing feels rushed, and the few dialogue interactions there are leaves a lot to be desired. I think I would have liked this more if they took the time to set the pieces and build the characters and world instead of cramming everything into a two-hour romp. PRESENTATION: Honestly, this game isn't much to write home about in terms of presentation. The graphics look OK at best and don't really boast a distinct art style, and the music, despite having hints of the original Power Rangers theme song, isn't all that remarkable. GAMEPLAY: As established, Battle for the Grid is a tag team fighting game, in the same vein as Marvel vs. Capcom. If you've played MvC before, you'll feel right at home here. Mechanically, Battle for the Grid is a bit simpler than Marvel vs. Capcom. You still face off in 3v3 bouts, but the inputs are simplified (light/medium/heavy, plus a dedicated special button), you don't have to do motions for moves (most moves are just direction + button), assists are simplified, the inputs for some advanced tech (like push blocking) are easy to execute, and supers have a dedicated button. Despite the simplicity, there's a lot of freedom when it comes to chaining together moves, and you can definitely pull off some nasty touch-of-death combos if you know what you're doing. As far as fighting games go, I feel like this one's easy to pick up even for casuals. There are a few mechanics that do set this game apart from other tag fighters. In addition to the super move, you can also spend meter to perform an EX special, which is a special move with armor that you can combo into or use to beat out an opponent's attacks. You can also perform a Swap Strike that forces a character change if it connects. Tagging also works slightly differently in this game, as there is no dedicated active switch button; you have to press the assist button twice, which usually means the incoming character performs an assist before tagging in. The most drastic difference in terms of mechanics is that you're able to use the Megazord in battle. There are a few choices when it comes to the Megazord, and once you fill up its dedicated meter, you can activate it to unleash devastating attacks. It seems overpowered to call in a giant fucking robot in a fistfight, but it's surprisingly far from oppressive (there's a fair bit of warning and you can block most of the Megazord attacks). I didn't really care for this mechanic, though I did like that you can use it as a block counter; that seemed more useful to me than the comeback mechanic it was intended to be. Though the game has since gotten a couple of DLC characters, the base roster is... disappointing. There are only a handful to choose from, which means you don't get much variety when it comes to building teams. Also, despite having literally 25+ years of Ranger series to pull from, majority of the picks are from the original series. They do have a few villains, as well as Ranger representatives from Zeo, Time Force, and SPD, but as a fan of Power Rangers, they definitely could have done a lot more. I mean, they go to Corinth (the setting of Power Rangers RPM) in the story mode, but there isn't a single RPM Ranger on the roster, which is perplexing to me. If you're mostly a single player person, I'm afraid there isn't much to do other than story and arcade. It seems that most of the replay value is tied to multiplayer, so if that's more your scene, you're in luck. VERDICT: Though most aspects of Battle of the Grid didn't do anything for me or left me wanting more, the core gameplay itself actually feels really good. It's a lot easier to get into than most other tag fighters, yet still retains the depth you'd normally expect from other games like it. Even if the story and roster aren't much, I still enjoyed playing the actual game, and could actually string together decent combos with little trouble. If you're itching for an easy-to-learn tag fighter but don't like Marvel Infinite, this might actually scratch your itch. Otherwise, I'm not sure I could recommend this on the account of its shallow single player and unremarkable roster. Here's the game on Steam: Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid on Steam (steampowered.com) - end - I meant to play this earlier, but an installation snafu made the game not run on my machine. I figured out what was wrong, so I can now get to it. BACKGROUND:
The original Battletoads is rather infamous for being one of the most infuriatingly difficult games of the NES era. Even as someone who wasn't around during that time period, I have heard plenty about the game and have seen plenty of videos on it. I don't think I've ever played it though, even back in my emulating days. I had forgotten that they had made a reboot of the game recently, so I was rather surprised to see it among the games offered on Game Pass. I thought I'd check it out now, but I have to make a mental note to also play the original. PLOT: The Battletoads are back after 26 years! But it turns out they've been living in a fantasy simulation during that entire time, and they've escaped to find that they're no longer the famous heroes they were in the '90s. In an attempt to reclaim their former glory, they seek out their old nemesis the Dark Queen, but instead of fighting, they find themselves teaming up to take on the entity responsible for trapping the toads in the simulation: the aliens known as the Topians. Overall, the story is your typical Saturday morning cartoon silliness. There's not really a strong narrative, compelling themes, or deep characterization; it's just three toads getting into wacky hijinks (which is fine by me, but I tuned out most of what was happening). The game tries to be meta at certain points by taking jabs at the obscurity of Battletoads, but I don't really feel that it comes across as funny. The comedy overall is OK; there were some genuinely hilarious jokes, but I can see some of the attempts at humor coming across as trying too hard, being a tad juvenile, or simply non sequitur nonsense. PRESENTATION: Right out the gate, the visuals of this game caught my eye. It's this vibrant, cartoony art style that reminds me of cartoons like Mighty Magiswords, Teen Titans GO, and other similar animated series that have simplistic designs but over-the-top animations. It's a little much for my taste, but I think the art style looks solid regardless. I don't think it's an art style everyone would like, though (especially if you're not really into cartoons with similar aesthetics). The music goes for a rock vibe with lots of intense guitar riffs to match the action. They go in pretty hard on some of the tracks, which I enjoyed. Other than that, I would say the soundtrack is decent overall. GAMEPLAY: The "main" portions of Battletoads are your usual side-scrolling beat-'em-up. It's pretty much like any other title in the genre; move forward, beat the shit out of enemies, repeat. Mechanically, it isn't anything special (you do get neat combos and there's a bit of strategy when breaking enemy block and dodging attacks), but it feels good to play, so I'm not at all upset at the somewhat standard gameplay. The only thing that's really unique in this aspect of gameplay are the tongue moves, which have a bunch of interesting uses. If you were looking for something more complex, I'm afraid you might find this game a tad shallow. Structurally, Battletoads is less of a full beat-'em-up and more of a mishmash of minigames that span different genres. You have silly quick-time event minigames, obstacle courses inspired by Turbo Tunnel (by far the most infamous level in the original), straightforward 2D puzzle platformer sections, shoot-'em-ups set in space, "hacking" minigames, and even rock-paper-scissors. This game keeps you on your toes by switching things up mostly every section, so if you're looking for variety, this game might be up your alley. On the other hand, if you wanted a more straightforward experience, the constant changing may be too jarring for you. I will say that as amusing as most of the minigames are, the game doesn't pace them all that well. Sometimes, you're just thrown into a completely different minigame without so much as a warning; other times, you're made to repeat a few specific minigames more than once. Some minigames go by too quick, while others feel rather dragged out. It felt really jarring to play the game through in one sitting because of this inconsistency. In terms of difficulty, you're able to set the game to one of three difficulties. I played on the game's equivalent of normal, and from what I can tell, it doesn't really capture the difficulty of the original. There were a few sections that required me to retry a few times, but on normal, none of them were rage-inducing. The game is also pretty lenient with checkpoints, so there's room for error. If you crave the difficulty of the original, the equivalent of hard may be more your scene. Otherwise, normal will be manageable for most players. Some of the levels have optional collectibles you can go for if you're a completionist type. The game makes it easy for you to get them with a convenient stage select. You can also try and improve your high score or your clear time, but there doesn't seem to be much point in doing so. VERDICT: Although the combat wasn't that remarkable and the minigames weren't paced well, I still found some enjoyment out of playing through Battletoads. The various gameplay modes amused me one way or another, and as much as the story didn't hold my interest, I can still appreciate some of the humor they were going for (even if some of the attempts fall flat). I think this is worth checking out if you're into minigame compilation-style titles, though the story and humor may not be to your liking. I cannot speak to how this game holds up as a successor to the original, as I have yet to play the NES Battletoads. From what I can tell, people seem divided on whether or not this game captures what made the original special. Perhaps I'll update this post with my insight whenever I get around to playing that. Like many beat-'em-ups, this game can be played co-op with three players. If you can find two other people to play with, this may be even more fun. Check out the game on Steam: Battletoads on Steam (steampowered.com) - end - |
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