DeltaWDunn
1998
This review contains spoilers
Hey, remember at the end of my review for the first Armored Core when I said I’d be reviewing Echo Night? This was mostly a cheeky joke referring to Dark Souls, but I did have the intention of playing this game eventually. Well, here I am, having completed Echo Night before not only Dark Souls, but also Resident Evil and Silent Hill.
Despite the fact that I haven’t beaten Resident Evil, what I have played shows a lot of how Echo Night was lacking. In Resident Evil, enemy encounters are made engaging because of the different options and factors to consider. In Echo Night, most interactions just involve running from enemies. It also hurts a bit that resource management really isn’t that… Hey wait a minute, this is exactly how I started my review for Yomawari Midnight Shadows! These games are pretty similar, honestly. However, a few things separate Echo Night from Yomawari Midnight Shadows.
While enemy interactions are shallow, the purpose of these enemies is usually just roadblocks. Sometimes you do just have to run from an enemy (Especially later in the game), but often you need to use an item or something to make the ghost go away or find a way to turn on a light. It’s a missed opportunity, but it was never meant to be the crux of the gameplay. That crux would be the puzzles involving the pacifist ghosts. Usually, you help a ghost who’s not at peace for some reason, and in return you get an item needed to progress. The puzzles for finding out how to help these ghosts aren’t great, but they’re fine, and some are fun. I can’t really discuss them without spoiling the solutions, but it’s mostly simple stuff that requires you to pay attention to your surroundings.
In terms of the story, it’s alright. Most of it consists of trying to solve the mystery of this boat that went missing called the Orpheus. There’s some stuff about a red stone and blue stone, and your dad has something to do with all of this, but you’re not given much to go off initially. As you progress though, you help the ghosts on board and learn their stories, and possibly more about the greater plot. It’s an alright concept, but the execution leaves a bit to be desired. First, I rarely feel like I’m actually aboard a ship. A lot of the game is inside rooms that aren’t necessarily characteristic of boats. Second, helping ghosts often involves teleporting through space and time, which is something that just happens without any explanation or player input. It’s not just like you get to view past events either, you must take items from the past to use in the future. There are probably more natural ways to get across these backstories than what we have here, and I generally enjoyed the puzzles that took place on the boat more. Well, I say that, but the stuff on the boat itself is some kind of teleportation from the beginning of the game where the player character’s father is missing. When you’re teleported to the boat, it’s just hanging out in the water. Is the boat actually somewhere in the physical world? It went missing, right? Maybe this is a nitpick, but I just don’t want to be wondering about time-travel stuff in a horror game.
Maybe I’m being a little harsh on this game. This was made by a small team, after all. It’s not entirely fair to compare it to something like Resident Evil. It does have the atmosphere down. The sound design is pretty solid and the visuals do feel unsettling in many ways. However, there’s one way that the game could’ve been great independent of budget: Writing. I mean, sure, it was pretty much inevitable that the voice acting would suck (I still love it for the goofiness), but the actual words the characters say could’ve been good. I know this is a Japanese game originally and maybe the Japanese version has incredible writing, but in English, the writing is very disappointing. In horror/puzzle games, it’s often fun to interact with an item and get some flavor text. Maybe it tells us a bit about the character. Maybe it paints a more vivid picture of the world than the limited graphics can display. In Echo Night, 9/10 times you interact with something, it says, “There is a ___.” You look at a chair? “There is a chair.” You check out a bed? “There is a bed.” This is not hyperbole, almost everything that isn’t absolutely tied to solving a puzzle has this kind of description. Could they not be bothered to write something else?!? Did they only have a week to localize the game? I don’t know, but it hurts the final product, and it’s truly a shame.
Echo Night is passable. It’s pretty rough around the edges, something that could also be said about Armored Core, but that game was unique and more focused on a specific premise. Maybe I’ll play the sequels someday, but I think it’s time I play another Fromsoft game. You know, the one that put them on the map for some people when it came out back in the day, where you battle monsters in a brutal world. Yep, it’s finally time. I’m playing King’s Field next! See you then.
Despite the fact that I haven’t beaten Resident Evil, what I have played shows a lot of how Echo Night was lacking. In Resident Evil, enemy encounters are made engaging because of the different options and factors to consider. In Echo Night, most interactions just involve running from enemies. It also hurts a bit that resource management really isn’t that… Hey wait a minute, this is exactly how I started my review for Yomawari Midnight Shadows! These games are pretty similar, honestly. However, a few things separate Echo Night from Yomawari Midnight Shadows.
While enemy interactions are shallow, the purpose of these enemies is usually just roadblocks. Sometimes you do just have to run from an enemy (Especially later in the game), but often you need to use an item or something to make the ghost go away or find a way to turn on a light. It’s a missed opportunity, but it was never meant to be the crux of the gameplay. That crux would be the puzzles involving the pacifist ghosts. Usually, you help a ghost who’s not at peace for some reason, and in return you get an item needed to progress. The puzzles for finding out how to help these ghosts aren’t great, but they’re fine, and some are fun. I can’t really discuss them without spoiling the solutions, but it’s mostly simple stuff that requires you to pay attention to your surroundings.
In terms of the story, it’s alright. Most of it consists of trying to solve the mystery of this boat that went missing called the Orpheus. There’s some stuff about a red stone and blue stone, and your dad has something to do with all of this, but you’re not given much to go off initially. As you progress though, you help the ghosts on board and learn their stories, and possibly more about the greater plot. It’s an alright concept, but the execution leaves a bit to be desired. First, I rarely feel like I’m actually aboard a ship. A lot of the game is inside rooms that aren’t necessarily characteristic of boats. Second, helping ghosts often involves teleporting through space and time, which is something that just happens without any explanation or player input. It’s not just like you get to view past events either, you must take items from the past to use in the future. There are probably more natural ways to get across these backstories than what we have here, and I generally enjoyed the puzzles that took place on the boat more. Well, I say that, but the stuff on the boat itself is some kind of teleportation from the beginning of the game where the player character’s father is missing. When you’re teleported to the boat, it’s just hanging out in the water. Is the boat actually somewhere in the physical world? It went missing, right? Maybe this is a nitpick, but I just don’t want to be wondering about time-travel stuff in a horror game.
Maybe I’m being a little harsh on this game. This was made by a small team, after all. It’s not entirely fair to compare it to something like Resident Evil. It does have the atmosphere down. The sound design is pretty solid and the visuals do feel unsettling in many ways. However, there’s one way that the game could’ve been great independent of budget: Writing. I mean, sure, it was pretty much inevitable that the voice acting would suck (I still love it for the goofiness), but the actual words the characters say could’ve been good. I know this is a Japanese game originally and maybe the Japanese version has incredible writing, but in English, the writing is very disappointing. In horror/puzzle games, it’s often fun to interact with an item and get some flavor text. Maybe it tells us a bit about the character. Maybe it paints a more vivid picture of the world than the limited graphics can display. In Echo Night, 9/10 times you interact with something, it says, “There is a ___.” You look at a chair? “There is a chair.” You check out a bed? “There is a bed.” This is not hyperbole, almost everything that isn’t absolutely tied to solving a puzzle has this kind of description. Could they not be bothered to write something else?!? Did they only have a week to localize the game? I don’t know, but it hurts the final product, and it’s truly a shame.
Echo Night is passable. It’s pretty rough around the edges, something that could also be said about Armored Core, but that game was unique and more focused on a specific premise. Maybe I’ll play the sequels someday, but I think it’s time I play another Fromsoft game. You know, the one that put them on the map for some people when it came out back in the day, where you battle monsters in a brutal world. Yep, it’s finally time. I’m playing King’s Field next! See you then.
2002
This review contains spoilers
In my review of Armored Core 2: Another Age, I lamented that the series was becoming stagnant and worried that the release rate was hurting the games. Armored Core 3 came out just short of a year after Another Age and is in many ways a remake of the first and a reboot of the series. I was unsure whether a reboot/remake was really a good idea at this point, but this game ended up being one of the best in the series.
It's still the same old Armored Core. There are a few additions, but if you played Armored Core 2 you have a good idea of what’s gonna be here. Same kinds of weapons for the most part, the arena’s here, you still can’t use the right stick to move the camera (Or anything else. This game was released in 2002). Even the same kind of story, although I’d still say it’s an improvement over the narrative of the original Armored Core. However, it’s great in pretty much every way that you’d hope. The controls and movement are a little smoother but are still weighty. In general, the game just feels more polished than earlier entries. Quad legs actually walk now. It’s more fun to play in a way that’s hard to explain.
What's a little easier to explain the greatness of is the mission design though. This was such a breath of fresh air after Another Age. Not every mission is super unique, but there are a ton of memorable ones. Retrieving a package from a sinking ship, saving floating cargo on the water, Traveling through air ducts to disable EMPs, and way more missions were really interesting. Missions now take much more advantage of parts like hover legs and radiators too, which is nice. Funnily enough, despite being a soft remake of the first game, this game has fewer overt remake levels than Armored Core 2 from what I remember. The first missions are clear callbacks, but that’s mostly it.
There are definitely improvements in other fields though. Menuing is a big part of this series, and it’s been made much more convenient. Transitions are faster, the garage and shop have been combined into one section, and you can sell parts in the equip area. However, for some reason stat comparisons in the shop have been removed, meaning you can’t easily see how your part is better or worse than a prospective purchase.
While there are no new part types, there are iterations on pre-existing parts. In Armored Core 2, Overboost was a new addition that I really enjoyed. In Armored Core 3 your core may have Overboost, but it could also come equipped with Orbital Cores. These are auto firing energy weapons with infinite ammo that can be really useful on longer missions or if you really need max firepower and no mobility. There’s also a few more options for left arm parts. Now you can equip howitzers and flamethrowers instead of swords and shields. It seems FromSoft is slowly realizing that there’s really no need to differentiate between left arm weapons and right arm weapons. Slowly.
You can also drop weapons mid-mission. This can lighten your AC, and you don’t actually have to pay for the dropped ammo. Unfortunately, you have to enter a Street Fighter Combo to drop a weapon. Hmm, if only there was a stick that could free up some other buttons for alternative use…
You know what’s back though? The Arena! It’s still good, but it’s a little worse than that of Armored Core 2. That game’s arena was more difficult and had me really considering my parts and tactics. In this game, fights are much easier. However, they did limit the amount of fights you can do by making you complete more missions. That was probably a good idea, because these matches are still the best way to earn money. I was a little in debt once, but after playing enough arena matches, I was a millionaire.
Now, we must talk about the story. It’s good enough. It uses the main structure of the first game’s story, but it’s a little different. The Controller’s existence is well known and supported by the trio of corporations. Even when the Controller begins to seemingly glitch and start randomly sending robots to destroy stuff, the corporations trust it. You could definitely pull some sociopolitical commentary from this, but we never learn really why the Controller is doing what it does. It just happens. Why did the Controller open the surface up at the end? Was it a test to see if humanity was strong enough or something? Maybe I’ll find out in the next game, but still. We’re also missing Nineball here, which I guess means the Controller isn’t in charge of the Raven’s nest this time. I’m not sure why they changed that. Overall, I think this game’s story could’ve been a little better.
I don't usually bring up the audiovisuals in my reviews of these games, but Armored Core 3 is an exception. The visuals are good. Everything looks fine. But for some reason, the soundtrack here blows every previous soundtrack out of the water. It’s really good. They went for a mix of techno and orchestra, and the songs are really good without feeling intrusive.
This is a great game. In fact, it’s the best game in this marathon I’ve been doing. If you want a taste of old gen Armored Core, this might be the best game to start with. Just make sure you rebind the controls after the first mission. I was really considering giving this a 9/10, but I think I’ll leave it at an 8/10 for now. Next I’ll be playing Silent Line.
It's still the same old Armored Core. There are a few additions, but if you played Armored Core 2 you have a good idea of what’s gonna be here. Same kinds of weapons for the most part, the arena’s here, you still can’t use the right stick to move the camera (Or anything else. This game was released in 2002). Even the same kind of story, although I’d still say it’s an improvement over the narrative of the original Armored Core. However, it’s great in pretty much every way that you’d hope. The controls and movement are a little smoother but are still weighty. In general, the game just feels more polished than earlier entries. Quad legs actually walk now. It’s more fun to play in a way that’s hard to explain.
What's a little easier to explain the greatness of is the mission design though. This was such a breath of fresh air after Another Age. Not every mission is super unique, but there are a ton of memorable ones. Retrieving a package from a sinking ship, saving floating cargo on the water, Traveling through air ducts to disable EMPs, and way more missions were really interesting. Missions now take much more advantage of parts like hover legs and radiators too, which is nice. Funnily enough, despite being a soft remake of the first game, this game has fewer overt remake levels than Armored Core 2 from what I remember. The first missions are clear callbacks, but that’s mostly it.
There are definitely improvements in other fields though. Menuing is a big part of this series, and it’s been made much more convenient. Transitions are faster, the garage and shop have been combined into one section, and you can sell parts in the equip area. However, for some reason stat comparisons in the shop have been removed, meaning you can’t easily see how your part is better or worse than a prospective purchase.
While there are no new part types, there are iterations on pre-existing parts. In Armored Core 2, Overboost was a new addition that I really enjoyed. In Armored Core 3 your core may have Overboost, but it could also come equipped with Orbital Cores. These are auto firing energy weapons with infinite ammo that can be really useful on longer missions or if you really need max firepower and no mobility. There’s also a few more options for left arm parts. Now you can equip howitzers and flamethrowers instead of swords and shields. It seems FromSoft is slowly realizing that there’s really no need to differentiate between left arm weapons and right arm weapons. Slowly.
You can also drop weapons mid-mission. This can lighten your AC, and you don’t actually have to pay for the dropped ammo. Unfortunately, you have to enter a Street Fighter Combo to drop a weapon. Hmm, if only there was a stick that could free up some other buttons for alternative use…
You know what’s back though? The Arena! It’s still good, but it’s a little worse than that of Armored Core 2. That game’s arena was more difficult and had me really considering my parts and tactics. In this game, fights are much easier. However, they did limit the amount of fights you can do by making you complete more missions. That was probably a good idea, because these matches are still the best way to earn money. I was a little in debt once, but after playing enough arena matches, I was a millionaire.
Now, we must talk about the story. It’s good enough. It uses the main structure of the first game’s story, but it’s a little different. The Controller’s existence is well known and supported by the trio of corporations. Even when the Controller begins to seemingly glitch and start randomly sending robots to destroy stuff, the corporations trust it. You could definitely pull some sociopolitical commentary from this, but we never learn really why the Controller is doing what it does. It just happens. Why did the Controller open the surface up at the end? Was it a test to see if humanity was strong enough or something? Maybe I’ll find out in the next game, but still. We’re also missing Nineball here, which I guess means the Controller isn’t in charge of the Raven’s nest this time. I’m not sure why they changed that. Overall, I think this game’s story could’ve been a little better.
I don't usually bring up the audiovisuals in my reviews of these games, but Armored Core 3 is an exception. The visuals are good. Everything looks fine. But for some reason, the soundtrack here blows every previous soundtrack out of the water. It’s really good. They went for a mix of techno and orchestra, and the songs are really good without feeling intrusive.
This is a great game. In fact, it’s the best game in this marathon I’ve been doing. If you want a taste of old gen Armored Core, this might be the best game to start with. Just make sure you rebind the controls after the first mission. I was really considering giving this a 9/10, but I think I’ll leave it at an 8/10 for now. Next I’ll be playing Silent Line.
2017
The fact that this is one of the best Indie 3D Platformers I've played is kinda sad, but more than that it's just really funny.
I know that this is shorter than most of my reviews, but I don't wanna spoil this for anyone. If it seems interesting, play it.
I know that this is shorter than most of my reviews, but I don't wanna spoil this for anyone. If it seems interesting, play it.
You climb a giant Mario statue and the level on his crotch is filled with balls.
7/10
7/10
Usually, I have a really hard time putting into words why I love games I rate 10/10 so much, but I think I can finally, at the very least, explain the genius of Majora's Mask.
You've probably played a really hard game, right? Whether it's cryptic or just unforgiving, a hard game can be really fun- when you get good at it. Sometimes, that takes a while. Sometimes hours. Sometimes you have to play through the game all over again to 'truly enjoy it'. A bit of hyperbole, but point is, many games are better on replay as a result. There's an argument to whether or not the first or subsequent playthroughs are more important when rating a game. Personally, I feel the best games are great on a first play and even better on replay. And what's so genius about Majora's Mask is that it emulates this experience in a single playthrough.
Let's say you're playing the game. You're at the Great Bay Temple. You get near the end, and now the moon is about to kill everyone. You get annoyed, and you play the song of time. Ok, now you gotta restart. You know what to do this time though, and you have a limited amount of time to do it. And you DESTROY the dungeon. And you probably feel really good. Your mileage may vary, of course. AVGN played the game in 2020 and the 3 Day mechanic annoyed him thoroughly. But to me, what should be a tedious mechanic combines with what is a really steep learning curve and creates an extremely satisfying experience!
All of this ignores some great stories, an interesting world, excellent music, NPCs that run on schedules, excellent side content, incredible atmosphere, and some of the best and most creative dungeon design in gaming, and so many other positives. Point being, it's an extremely unique yet still well-made game that I'm happy has recieved the acclaim it deserves.
You've probably played a really hard game, right? Whether it's cryptic or just unforgiving, a hard game can be really fun- when you get good at it. Sometimes, that takes a while. Sometimes hours. Sometimes you have to play through the game all over again to 'truly enjoy it'. A bit of hyperbole, but point is, many games are better on replay as a result. There's an argument to whether or not the first or subsequent playthroughs are more important when rating a game. Personally, I feel the best games are great on a first play and even better on replay. And what's so genius about Majora's Mask is that it emulates this experience in a single playthrough.
Let's say you're playing the game. You're at the Great Bay Temple. You get near the end, and now the moon is about to kill everyone. You get annoyed, and you play the song of time. Ok, now you gotta restart. You know what to do this time though, and you have a limited amount of time to do it. And you DESTROY the dungeon. And you probably feel really good. Your mileage may vary, of course. AVGN played the game in 2020 and the 3 Day mechanic annoyed him thoroughly. But to me, what should be a tedious mechanic combines with what is a really steep learning curve and creates an extremely satisfying experience!
All of this ignores some great stories, an interesting world, excellent music, NPCs that run on schedules, excellent side content, incredible atmosphere, and some of the best and most creative dungeon design in gaming, and so many other positives. Point being, it's an extremely unique yet still well-made game that I'm happy has recieved the acclaim it deserves.
This review contains spoilers
Castlevania is one of my favorite game series. Not only do I love the linear stage-based game style, but I love the castleroid style as well. However, there is a third game style that Castlevania never seemed to really get right. No, not a fighting game with art by the creator of Death Note. No, the 3D style of game.
Adapting to 3D can be hard. I started taking Calculus III recently and have had a bit of trouble adapting to the third dimension. However, I think Lament of Innocence just barely gets a thumbs up from me. It's a faithful adaptation of the castleroid style of the series, but it definitely stumbles a bit. I'd honestly sell the game as Harmony of Dissonance in 3D. I'm not a huge fan of that game, but I think this game does enough to improve upon that one.
For example, my biggest gripe with Harmony of Dissonance is that to actually play optimally, you have to enter the menu a lot. Let's say I wanted to use a spellbook once in that game. I go into the menu, activate the book, go out of the menu, use it, go back into the menu, turn it off, then leave the menu. It's dumb, and despite being a GBA game they could've easily done better. Ironically, you still have to menu a lot in Lament of Innocence, but it's all in real time. Want to use a potion? Real time menu. Want to turn a relic on or off? Real time menu. Want to use a ticket to get out when your health is low? You better be quick in that menu! It makes fights tense, and it's something that even the most critically acclaimed game this year got wrong, so I have to give Lament of Innocence credit.
The combat isn't particularly great aside from that though. It's usually pretty button mashy. If you've played PS2 God of War, you have a good idea of how this game is with its combat. However, a few elements elevate it. First is the subweapons. They're all well-balanced, and using orbs changes their utility. There's also relics, which upgrade you for the cost of MP. To get MP back, you have to time blocks well. Dodging is less risky, but also less rewarding. It's a very simple but effective system.
However, I think a lot of the other series staples weren't adapted very well. It's extremely apparent that Igarashi had a comically small amount of resources to work with when it came to this game. This was probably true of the handheld games, but those are obviously gonna be cheaper than this kind of game. One way this shows is the exploration. Most areas do have unique theming visually, but the areas themselves are pretty repetitive when it comes to layout. Most rooms are flat arenas, and the ones that aren't are dedicated platforming areas. There's no blend of action and platforming, or at the very least interesting level design for battle arenas. Thankfully, the enemies themselves are pretty varied though.
This issue also extends to the actual exploration. I like that you can choose the order in which you play each stage, but actual exploration in each stage is super dull. You go somewhere, do a thing that opens a door far away, go to that door, repeat. There are some optional areas, which is neat, but an actual sense of exploration between levels just isn't there because the room visuals and layouts are just so repetitive.
Another issue is that the game doesn't really have much you can actually buy in the shop. Unlike many of the Castlevania games at the time, you can only use the whip here, so no buying alternate weapons. Subweapons are obtained in-stage. Orbs are obtained by defeating bosses. You can buy a few relics, but only a few. The rest is consumables, but most of those will be potions to heal and tickets to teleport. There should've been much more to obtain here, because after a point I had tons of money and little to spend it on.
Another area where the lack of resources is apparent is the visuals. Not just the environments, but the character models and animations. Our protagonist looks like a dope. Walter looks dumb too. The main villain looks kinda like Takumi from the Shoujo classic Nana. Spoilers from her on (For Nana as well). Honestly, I could see Takumi becoming an evil vampire. It seems he's characteristically two-timing Hachiko with some girl named Elizabetha, which is the dumbest name I've ever heard. Elizabetha dies though, and Takumi is so pissed that he becomes a vampire to get revenge on God. Actually, this is nothing like Takumi, he would just shrug if his wife died.
Uh... Anyway, Our hero Leon Belmont has to save his wife Maria from a vampire named Walter. He does so, but Walter bit Maria, so Maria is becoming a vampire. Apparently though, killing a willing vampire with a whip makes it a super whip. It like imbues the vampire's soul into the whip. So, Maria offers herself to upgrade Leon's whip because it's the only way to defeat Walter. This is like a step above the wife arm from Bionic Commando. Anyway, Leon defeats Walter, but then Takumi comes in and takes Walter's soul to power himself up or something. Apparently, he planned all of this. So, he planned for Walter to kidnap Maria, bite her so that she would start to become a vampire, then Leon would come and save her without dying, she is becoming a vampire but isn't one quite yet, she consents to becoming a powerful whip, then Leon would defeat Walter so that he could take his soul. Wait, Leon only knew about the whip thing because his buddy Rinaldo told him, and Rinaldo was only around because Walter killed his family and vampirized his daughter. Did Takumi plan that? Was Walter working with him? It doesn't seem like it. What if Walter killed Rinaldo? How would Leon know about the whip thing? What if Leon died, or took too long to rescue Maria? I dunno, whatever. Weirdly enough though, the final encounter here is Death, not Takumi. I mean, it's fine, but it was a bit surprising. Such ends one of like, three Castlevania origin stories.
Anyway, while the visuals aren't great, just look at that box art. Even among Castlevania box art it stands out. The same goes for the music. It's really, really good.
So, the game is good overall, but just barely. I'm definitely gonna try Curse of Darkness soon. 6/10.
Adapting to 3D can be hard. I started taking Calculus III recently and have had a bit of trouble adapting to the third dimension. However, I think Lament of Innocence just barely gets a thumbs up from me. It's a faithful adaptation of the castleroid style of the series, but it definitely stumbles a bit. I'd honestly sell the game as Harmony of Dissonance in 3D. I'm not a huge fan of that game, but I think this game does enough to improve upon that one.
For example, my biggest gripe with Harmony of Dissonance is that to actually play optimally, you have to enter the menu a lot. Let's say I wanted to use a spellbook once in that game. I go into the menu, activate the book, go out of the menu, use it, go back into the menu, turn it off, then leave the menu. It's dumb, and despite being a GBA game they could've easily done better. Ironically, you still have to menu a lot in Lament of Innocence, but it's all in real time. Want to use a potion? Real time menu. Want to turn a relic on or off? Real time menu. Want to use a ticket to get out when your health is low? You better be quick in that menu! It makes fights tense, and it's something that even the most critically acclaimed game this year got wrong, so I have to give Lament of Innocence credit.
The combat isn't particularly great aside from that though. It's usually pretty button mashy. If you've played PS2 God of War, you have a good idea of how this game is with its combat. However, a few elements elevate it. First is the subweapons. They're all well-balanced, and using orbs changes their utility. There's also relics, which upgrade you for the cost of MP. To get MP back, you have to time blocks well. Dodging is less risky, but also less rewarding. It's a very simple but effective system.
However, I think a lot of the other series staples weren't adapted very well. It's extremely apparent that Igarashi had a comically small amount of resources to work with when it came to this game. This was probably true of the handheld games, but those are obviously gonna be cheaper than this kind of game. One way this shows is the exploration. Most areas do have unique theming visually, but the areas themselves are pretty repetitive when it comes to layout. Most rooms are flat arenas, and the ones that aren't are dedicated platforming areas. There's no blend of action and platforming, or at the very least interesting level design for battle arenas. Thankfully, the enemies themselves are pretty varied though.
This issue also extends to the actual exploration. I like that you can choose the order in which you play each stage, but actual exploration in each stage is super dull. You go somewhere, do a thing that opens a door far away, go to that door, repeat. There are some optional areas, which is neat, but an actual sense of exploration between levels just isn't there because the room visuals and layouts are just so repetitive.
Another issue is that the game doesn't really have much you can actually buy in the shop. Unlike many of the Castlevania games at the time, you can only use the whip here, so no buying alternate weapons. Subweapons are obtained in-stage. Orbs are obtained by defeating bosses. You can buy a few relics, but only a few. The rest is consumables, but most of those will be potions to heal and tickets to teleport. There should've been much more to obtain here, because after a point I had tons of money and little to spend it on.
Another area where the lack of resources is apparent is the visuals. Not just the environments, but the character models and animations. Our protagonist looks like a dope. Walter looks dumb too. The main villain looks kinda like Takumi from the Shoujo classic Nana. Spoilers from her on (For Nana as well). Honestly, I could see Takumi becoming an evil vampire. It seems he's characteristically two-timing Hachiko with some girl named Elizabetha, which is the dumbest name I've ever heard. Elizabetha dies though, and Takumi is so pissed that he becomes a vampire to get revenge on God. Actually, this is nothing like Takumi, he would just shrug if his wife died.
Uh... Anyway, Our hero Leon Belmont has to save his wife Maria from a vampire named Walter. He does so, but Walter bit Maria, so Maria is becoming a vampire. Apparently though, killing a willing vampire with a whip makes it a super whip. It like imbues the vampire's soul into the whip. So, Maria offers herself to upgrade Leon's whip because it's the only way to defeat Walter. This is like a step above the wife arm from Bionic Commando. Anyway, Leon defeats Walter, but then Takumi comes in and takes Walter's soul to power himself up or something. Apparently, he planned all of this. So, he planned for Walter to kidnap Maria, bite her so that she would start to become a vampire, then Leon would come and save her without dying, she is becoming a vampire but isn't one quite yet, she consents to becoming a powerful whip, then Leon would defeat Walter so that he could take his soul. Wait, Leon only knew about the whip thing because his buddy Rinaldo told him, and Rinaldo was only around because Walter killed his family and vampirized his daughter. Did Takumi plan that? Was Walter working with him? It doesn't seem like it. What if Walter killed Rinaldo? How would Leon know about the whip thing? What if Leon died, or took too long to rescue Maria? I dunno, whatever. Weirdly enough though, the final encounter here is Death, not Takumi. I mean, it's fine, but it was a bit surprising. Such ends one of like, three Castlevania origin stories.
Anyway, while the visuals aren't great, just look at that box art. Even among Castlevania box art it stands out. The same goes for the music. It's really, really good.
So, the game is good overall, but just barely. I'm definitely gonna try Curse of Darkness soon. 6/10.
2021
It seems the surprise popularity of Pizza Tower brought a bit of attention to the Wario Land series, and by extension another upcoming Wario Land inspired game, Antonblast. However, did you know that this won’t be Anton’s first adventure? Indeed, he first showed up in Sonic Spinball for the Sega Genesis! Just kidding, he showed up in Antonball Deluxe. There’s no normal Antonball, by the by, just this deluxe version and the beautifully titled free version, Antonball Deluxe Lite.
Antonball Deluxe is basically the arcade age of Mario meets Breakout. That’s an interesting idea, but I must admit that I was deliberate in my reference to Sonic Spinball earlier. That’s another game that combines 2D platforming with ball-based arcade outings, and I think most would agree that it’s not good. Sometimes unique ideas just don’t pay off. However, Antonball Deluxe does succeed for the most part.
You have a very basic platforming moveset: A dash, jump, and high jump. You need to use these to maneuver Anton so he can knock the ball into the bricks. You can also change the direction of the ball by pressing up and down. It’s fairly simple, but as in most arcade style games, the devil is in the details. Generally, I think the level design is very good. The game starts very simple. The out zone for the ball is narrow, the platform layout is very simple, and there’s no enemies or pits. Once these new ideas are introduced, they’re done in such a way that it’s easy to immediately understand, usually being isolated in a simpler stage. Coins that give you extra points are critically placed in locations that are risky to go to. Likewise, dashing is a way to go faster, but dashing into the ball will make it go flying. If you want to finish the stage quickly for the time bonus this is good, but it can also make the ball harder to keep track of. There’s some pretty fun powerups thrown in for good measure too, most of which really do a good job at making the game more complex. The gun is the best example, as you may try to shoot a brick that will spawn a ball. The caveat is that hitting the brick with the ball makes it spawn two balls instead, so you may want to abstain from shooting the multiball brick in most cases. There’s a lot of little things here that really make the moment-to-moment decision making really fun. My biggest issue with the campaign is that sometimes the ball is just bouncing around in the brick area and you kinda just have to wait for it to come back to start playing again. Thanfully, as the game introduces more enemies and hazards, this becomes less of a problem.
Anyway, let’s look at the other stuff in the game. There’s another mode called Punchball. I admittedly didn’t finish this, but it’s basically the Mario Bros arcade game but you throw a ball to get rid of enemies instead of bonking them from below. Not as intriguing of a concept as the main game in my opinion. This is a fun enough game with its own cool ideas, but I’d rather play the normal game. This mode has just as many levels as the main game too, which I thought was odd. Why not just have 50 levels of the main draw instead of 30 for 2 individual games?
I’d talk about Vs Mode here, but I currently don’t have anyone to play with. I’ll leave a comment if that changes, but let’s go on to the characters in the meantime. Yeah, you can play as 23 different characters. I was kinda hoping that this game would do something similar to Crypt of the Necrodancer where each character is basically a really unique game mode that adds replayability and all, but they all play the same unfortunately. Some of these characters are pretty funny though. You can play as the aptly named ‘Ant on Ball’, or maybe you want to play as Anton’s dog for some reason. Among the goofy cast are a few guests, including Peppino himself. Yeah, I liked playing as him. Most of his animations are made to look like those in Pizza Tower too. There’s also Clive from Clive n’ Wrench, which is a game. I was kinda expecting Voodoo Vince to show up too, but unfortunately he didn’t. I thought all of the characters were neat, but some way to differentiate them from each other could’ve been nice.
Overall, this was a really good game I could see myself coming back to a lot. My biggest fear with Antonblast is that it will be too derivative of Wario Land, but if there’s as much creativity on display in that game as there is in this one, I don’t think that’ll be an issue. 7/10, close to an 8.
Antonball Deluxe is basically the arcade age of Mario meets Breakout. That’s an interesting idea, but I must admit that I was deliberate in my reference to Sonic Spinball earlier. That’s another game that combines 2D platforming with ball-based arcade outings, and I think most would agree that it’s not good. Sometimes unique ideas just don’t pay off. However, Antonball Deluxe does succeed for the most part.
You have a very basic platforming moveset: A dash, jump, and high jump. You need to use these to maneuver Anton so he can knock the ball into the bricks. You can also change the direction of the ball by pressing up and down. It’s fairly simple, but as in most arcade style games, the devil is in the details. Generally, I think the level design is very good. The game starts very simple. The out zone for the ball is narrow, the platform layout is very simple, and there’s no enemies or pits. Once these new ideas are introduced, they’re done in such a way that it’s easy to immediately understand, usually being isolated in a simpler stage. Coins that give you extra points are critically placed in locations that are risky to go to. Likewise, dashing is a way to go faster, but dashing into the ball will make it go flying. If you want to finish the stage quickly for the time bonus this is good, but it can also make the ball harder to keep track of. There’s some pretty fun powerups thrown in for good measure too, most of which really do a good job at making the game more complex. The gun is the best example, as you may try to shoot a brick that will spawn a ball. The caveat is that hitting the brick with the ball makes it spawn two balls instead, so you may want to abstain from shooting the multiball brick in most cases. There’s a lot of little things here that really make the moment-to-moment decision making really fun. My biggest issue with the campaign is that sometimes the ball is just bouncing around in the brick area and you kinda just have to wait for it to come back to start playing again. Thanfully, as the game introduces more enemies and hazards, this becomes less of a problem.
Anyway, let’s look at the other stuff in the game. There’s another mode called Punchball. I admittedly didn’t finish this, but it’s basically the Mario Bros arcade game but you throw a ball to get rid of enemies instead of bonking them from below. Not as intriguing of a concept as the main game in my opinion. This is a fun enough game with its own cool ideas, but I’d rather play the normal game. This mode has just as many levels as the main game too, which I thought was odd. Why not just have 50 levels of the main draw instead of 30 for 2 individual games?
I’d talk about Vs Mode here, but I currently don’t have anyone to play with. I’ll leave a comment if that changes, but let’s go on to the characters in the meantime. Yeah, you can play as 23 different characters. I was kinda hoping that this game would do something similar to Crypt of the Necrodancer where each character is basically a really unique game mode that adds replayability and all, but they all play the same unfortunately. Some of these characters are pretty funny though. You can play as the aptly named ‘Ant on Ball’, or maybe you want to play as Anton’s dog for some reason. Among the goofy cast are a few guests, including Peppino himself. Yeah, I liked playing as him. Most of his animations are made to look like those in Pizza Tower too. There’s also Clive from Clive n’ Wrench, which is a game. I was kinda expecting Voodoo Vince to show up too, but unfortunately he didn’t. I thought all of the characters were neat, but some way to differentiate them from each other could’ve been nice.
Overall, this was a really good game I could see myself coming back to a lot. My biggest fear with Antonblast is that it will be too derivative of Wario Land, but if there’s as much creativity on display in that game as there is in this one, I don’t think that’ll be an issue. 7/10, close to an 8.
2001
Devil May Cry is considered the grandfather of the... 'character action' genre (If anyone has a better genre name, please tell me), but it's certainly different from many of the other games in the genre. There is some over-the-top action, but the game is also permeated with atmosphere on many occasions. Oftentimes, you have to collect items and solve puzzles in a medieval castle. There's also fixed camera angles. In case you didn't know, Devil May Cry was originally going to be a game from the Star Fox series. Just kidding, it was actually going to be a Resident Evil game, and you can certainly tell. Even the menus are reminiscent of Resident Evil.
Anyway, this game is much simpler than other... '''character action''' games, which is understandable. You can switch between weapons, but it takes time and doesn't allow for cool combos like in later DMC games. Either way, it's still really fun learning all of the moves and using them to demolish your enemies. However, one thing I noticed is that even when I was steamrolling enemies, that didn't necessarily mean I was getting a good ranking. And when I did get a good ranking, I often wasn't sure what I did differently this time than other times. I have to guess it's based mostly on just getting in a bunch of hits instead of a variety, but I'm not sure. Combine this with bosses and many enemies where using the guns is the best option, and it seems to me that the developers weren't aware of what makes games in this genre fun. Honestly, I'm really disappointed that Kamiya didn't have a firm grasp on what people liked in the genre he was pretty much creating. Jokes aside, this is the only part that I'd say the 'this game hasn't aged well' argument fits at all, unless someone's really gonna argue that underwater levels and repeating boss fights three times were beloved in 2001.
Also, I know I was making a joke with the whole Starfox thing approximately 11 sentences ago, but the last two levels do have on-rails shooter sections. I just played Rayman 3, and it did the same thing. Apparently the new Sonic game did something similar. Why do games feel the need to completely change their genre in the last minute? Once again, was this something people liked in 2001? I don't think it is.
That aside, onto the story. Spoilers, I guess. Uh... Some girl named Trish tries to kill main character Dante and subsequently asks him to help her kill an evil demon guy, and Dante's like, 'yeah sure'. Then they don't interact for like two thirds of the game. Then it turns out Trish is evil, but then she saves Dante, and now she and Dante and buddies so they beat up the bad guy and leave the island. The biggest problem is that Trish just disappears midway through, so we don't see her and Dante grow close. They're still basically strangers by the end of the game, but they act like best friends. Also, the main villain, Mundus, is just some guy. He's boring. I'm not asking for much from these games' stories, I just want the cutscenes to be entertaining and motivating, and Devil May Cry's story was only entertaining sometimes, mainly when it was Dante just swinging weapons around and making fun of bosses.
Visually, the game is an early PS2 game. It looks fine. I like many of the enemy designs, but the castle is pretty basic in terms of visuals. The audio seemed pretty unmemorable to me to be honest.
I was considering giving this game a 7/10, but there were a few too many flaws, so 6/10 it is. Either way, I'd definitely recommend this to fans of the... '''''Character Action''''' genre.
Anyway, this game is much simpler than other... '''character action''' games, which is understandable. You can switch between weapons, but it takes time and doesn't allow for cool combos like in later DMC games. Either way, it's still really fun learning all of the moves and using them to demolish your enemies. However, one thing I noticed is that even when I was steamrolling enemies, that didn't necessarily mean I was getting a good ranking. And when I did get a good ranking, I often wasn't sure what I did differently this time than other times. I have to guess it's based mostly on just getting in a bunch of hits instead of a variety, but I'm not sure. Combine this with bosses and many enemies where using the guns is the best option, and it seems to me that the developers weren't aware of what makes games in this genre fun. Honestly, I'm really disappointed that Kamiya didn't have a firm grasp on what people liked in the genre he was pretty much creating. Jokes aside, this is the only part that I'd say the 'this game hasn't aged well' argument fits at all, unless someone's really gonna argue that underwater levels and repeating boss fights three times were beloved in 2001.
Also, I know I was making a joke with the whole Starfox thing approximately 11 sentences ago, but the last two levels do have on-rails shooter sections. I just played Rayman 3, and it did the same thing. Apparently the new Sonic game did something similar. Why do games feel the need to completely change their genre in the last minute? Once again, was this something people liked in 2001? I don't think it is.
That aside, onto the story. Spoilers, I guess. Uh... Some girl named Trish tries to kill main character Dante and subsequently asks him to help her kill an evil demon guy, and Dante's like, 'yeah sure'. Then they don't interact for like two thirds of the game. Then it turns out Trish is evil, but then she saves Dante, and now she and Dante and buddies so they beat up the bad guy and leave the island. The biggest problem is that Trish just disappears midway through, so we don't see her and Dante grow close. They're still basically strangers by the end of the game, but they act like best friends. Also, the main villain, Mundus, is just some guy. He's boring. I'm not asking for much from these games' stories, I just want the cutscenes to be entertaining and motivating, and Devil May Cry's story was only entertaining sometimes, mainly when it was Dante just swinging weapons around and making fun of bosses.
Visually, the game is an early PS2 game. It looks fine. I like many of the enemy designs, but the castle is pretty basic in terms of visuals. The audio seemed pretty unmemorable to me to be honest.
I was considering giving this game a 7/10, but there were a few too many flaws, so 6/10 it is. Either way, I'd definitely recommend this to fans of the... '''''Character Action''''' genre.
2020
Alright, I'll start with the good stuff. Obviously, the audiovisuals are great. In particular, the way that chunks of meat fall off of demons as you hurt them is genius. The controls are good, all the guns are fun and varied too.
Okay, now I get to talk about why this game doesn't really work for me. First is that there is an excess of moves, weapons, and progression systems. By the end of the game, you have seven normal weapons. Each of these weapons also has two mods, which can in themselves be upgraded and switched between mid-battle, and many of these mods completely change the function of the gun. You also have glory kills, the chainsaw, and the flame belch. Each of these can be used against enemies to gain health, ammo, and shield respectively. Next is the grenade. There's a normal one and an ice one. Next is the dash, which gives you a quick burst of speed. Don't forget the two superweapons. One is obviously the BFG, a massive damaging attack. The next is a sword which has tamer animations than the glory kill despite being built up massively throughout the story. There's also the blood punch, which is built up through glorykills. Aside from your moves and weapons there's also multiple progression systems, each of which uses a different currency. There's one for your guns, one for your suit, one for new abilities, and one for stats. Look, I get wanting to add new stuff, but isn't this a little too much?
Of course, excess isn't always a killer. In fact, it often feels like Doom is trying to be a Spectacle Action game similar to Devil May Cry. However, one thing that separates Devil May Cry and DOOM Eternal is that DMC often gives the player much more freedom in what it lets the player use. However, DOOM Eternal feels so deadset on forcing the player to play the way the developer intended. The cacodemons is a good example. You could fight it the normal way, or you could just throw a grenade at it and glory kill. The latter is extremely easy and efficient, so obviously it's what you want to do. A lot of enemies have similar weaknesses, some of which I do think work. The pinkies are vulnerable on the tail, so freezing them with the ice bomb is the logical course of action. Hitting a group of enemies with the flame belch is also very intuitive and logical. Honestly, looking at some of these weaknesses separately, it all seems good. However, when you put them all together, the entire game is just "Use the specific weapon or hit the specific part". It's also annoying that the game points all of these weaknesses out, so there's really never a need to experiment using different weapons or anything. As such, there's a clear lack of expression in using your weapons.
All of this is brought to a head with the marauder. With these guys, you have to stand at a specific range, wait for them to lower their guard, hit them with a burst weapon, and repeat until it dies. And my gosh, the discussion around this enemy is so stupid. I've seen so many people be like, "This enemy isn't that hard to beat." This is true. As long as it's one-on-one, these encounters aren't that difficult. However, they just aren't fun to fight.
As such, gameplay wise, DOOM Eternal is less than the sum of its parts. Many ideas seem good, but when put together, they just don't fit, even if the weapons are cool and satisfying to use.
Alright, now the story. I've made it known that with these kinds of games, I don't expect much storywise. DOOM Eternal mostly does the job. It contextualizes everything well enough, and I'm glad that most of it is kept to datalogs that I don't have to read. Still I do have complaints. First, the game really wants you to know how cool the Doomslayer is. This is strange, because Doomslayer/Doomguy is usually just... well, a guy in most games, including the game preceding Eternal. Aside from this tonal shift, it just annoys me in general. I probably would've enjoyed this angle more if the infamy of the Slayer grew as you played, but it seems all of that took place in between 2016 and Eternal. The other thing is that the cultists' dialogue, which appears occasionally all throughout the game, is really dumb and not funny. Once again, none of this is a big deal and it doesn't change my opinion that much at all, but I thought I might as well discuss it.
Overall, DOOM Eternal is fine. It's occasionally fun, but too many systems simultaneously overwhelm and restrict the player. It could change to a 6 later, but I'm giving it a 5/10 for now.
Okay, now I get to talk about why this game doesn't really work for me. First is that there is an excess of moves, weapons, and progression systems. By the end of the game, you have seven normal weapons. Each of these weapons also has two mods, which can in themselves be upgraded and switched between mid-battle, and many of these mods completely change the function of the gun. You also have glory kills, the chainsaw, and the flame belch. Each of these can be used against enemies to gain health, ammo, and shield respectively. Next is the grenade. There's a normal one and an ice one. Next is the dash, which gives you a quick burst of speed. Don't forget the two superweapons. One is obviously the BFG, a massive damaging attack. The next is a sword which has tamer animations than the glory kill despite being built up massively throughout the story. There's also the blood punch, which is built up through glorykills. Aside from your moves and weapons there's also multiple progression systems, each of which uses a different currency. There's one for your guns, one for your suit, one for new abilities, and one for stats. Look, I get wanting to add new stuff, but isn't this a little too much?
Of course, excess isn't always a killer. In fact, it often feels like Doom is trying to be a Spectacle Action game similar to Devil May Cry. However, one thing that separates Devil May Cry and DOOM Eternal is that DMC often gives the player much more freedom in what it lets the player use. However, DOOM Eternal feels so deadset on forcing the player to play the way the developer intended. The cacodemons is a good example. You could fight it the normal way, or you could just throw a grenade at it and glory kill. The latter is extremely easy and efficient, so obviously it's what you want to do. A lot of enemies have similar weaknesses, some of which I do think work. The pinkies are vulnerable on the tail, so freezing them with the ice bomb is the logical course of action. Hitting a group of enemies with the flame belch is also very intuitive and logical. Honestly, looking at some of these weaknesses separately, it all seems good. However, when you put them all together, the entire game is just "Use the specific weapon or hit the specific part". It's also annoying that the game points all of these weaknesses out, so there's really never a need to experiment using different weapons or anything. As such, there's a clear lack of expression in using your weapons.
All of this is brought to a head with the marauder. With these guys, you have to stand at a specific range, wait for them to lower their guard, hit them with a burst weapon, and repeat until it dies. And my gosh, the discussion around this enemy is so stupid. I've seen so many people be like, "This enemy isn't that hard to beat." This is true. As long as it's one-on-one, these encounters aren't that difficult. However, they just aren't fun to fight.
As such, gameplay wise, DOOM Eternal is less than the sum of its parts. Many ideas seem good, but when put together, they just don't fit, even if the weapons are cool and satisfying to use.
Alright, now the story. I've made it known that with these kinds of games, I don't expect much storywise. DOOM Eternal mostly does the job. It contextualizes everything well enough, and I'm glad that most of it is kept to datalogs that I don't have to read. Still I do have complaints. First, the game really wants you to know how cool the Doomslayer is. This is strange, because Doomslayer/Doomguy is usually just... well, a guy in most games, including the game preceding Eternal. Aside from this tonal shift, it just annoys me in general. I probably would've enjoyed this angle more if the infamy of the Slayer grew as you played, but it seems all of that took place in between 2016 and Eternal. The other thing is that the cultists' dialogue, which appears occasionally all throughout the game, is really dumb and not funny. Once again, none of this is a big deal and it doesn't change my opinion that much at all, but I thought I might as well discuss it.
Overall, DOOM Eternal is fine. It's occasionally fun, but too many systems simultaneously overwhelm and restrict the player. It could change to a 6 later, but I'm giving it a 5/10 for now.
1989
Since this is a Gameboy launch title, it's not like I could expect that much, but I still think this game could've been better. It's fairly linear and extremely short, so there's not much replay value. There's a top score counter on the title screen, but that resets when you turn the game off, so it's pretty useless.
For the most part, the game is similar to SMB1, but it also has some spaceship/submarine levels (Including the final boss). I get annoyed by this kind of variety in general, but especially so for a game like this, which is extremely short.
Probably the best part of the game is the soundtrack, which is pretty good. Nintendo should pull more songs from the Mario Land series. Visually, the game sure is a Gameboy launch title. Each level does have a little bit of background and decoration, but not that much.
I really don't know what else to say. Maybe if the game was a little more unique, more replayable, or better thought out I would give it a higher score, but I can't really go higher than a 5/10 for this one. Still, this can be beaten in under an hour, so I'd recommend it to those who like 2D Mario.
For the most part, the game is similar to SMB1, but it also has some spaceship/submarine levels (Including the final boss). I get annoyed by this kind of variety in general, but especially so for a game like this, which is extremely short.
Probably the best part of the game is the soundtrack, which is pretty good. Nintendo should pull more songs from the Mario Land series. Visually, the game sure is a Gameboy launch title. Each level does have a little bit of background and decoration, but not that much.
I really don't know what else to say. Maybe if the game was a little more unique, more replayable, or better thought out I would give it a higher score, but I can't really go higher than a 5/10 for this one. Still, this can be beaten in under an hour, so I'd recommend it to those who like 2D Mario.
The 3D Platformer is my favorite genre, but that doesn't mean I automatically like every 3D Platformer. Moreso, it means I really love a great one and am annoyed by boring ones. One of the most common annoyances with the genre I have is when a 3D Platformer feels like it's ashamed with the genre. There's a weird amount of '3D Platformers' with platforming that is extremely easy and/or simple, where there's more focus placed on other elements. Banjo Kazooie arguably started this trend, but a few key elements make Banjo a good game, albeit one I personally don't like as much as other people. Despite the lack of difficulty, there's still always a feeling of vertical progression in each level, and platforming challenges often take place in fantastical areas or are contextualized with humourous mini-stories. The moveset ironically de-emphasizes movement, but the level design is so dense that exploring is extremely fun, and the platforming simply compliments that. Tie in some good audiovisuals, and you have a winner of a game.
A lot of games, especially in the late 90's, were influenced by Banjo. This is fine, but many failed to realize what made that game good, and Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage is one of the best examples of this. It does get one thing right: The audiovisuals. The music keeps the fantastical style of the original Spyro, and the visuals are still well animated, even moreso in the Reignited Trilogy rerelease. However, things begin to fall apart after that. You see, there's another element of Banjo I neglected to mention: minigames. I thought the minigames were pretty middling overall, but they're also not the main focus, so I still enjoyed the game. The problem with Ripto's Rage is that the focus is switched from platforming to these minigames. Instead of building a world with platforming challenges and sprinkling in the minigames, Ripto's Rage built a world filled with minigames and put platforming challenges between them.
Honestly, this could've worked as far as I know, but the issue is that neither element is good. The minigames are pretty middling overall and all of them feel extremely disconnected. The platforming takes place in levels with basic level design and a very simple moveset, which leads to most sections feeling very mindless. It leads to a game where each part feels like a chore, because that's basically what it is. Ripto lacks any presence in the overall game, and most substories are completely disconnected from the core conflict, so I never felt much actual importance in what I was doing.
My point is that Ripto's Rage has a lot of the stereotypical flaws of the genre without any particular strengths. The platforming is weak in both level design and movement, the story has some decent characters but the events are disconnected and not entertaining, and the minigames aren't good. You could probably say at least one of those about many decent 3D Platformers, but the fact that all of them apply to Ripto's Rage is what makes it a 4/10 for me.
A lot of games, especially in the late 90's, were influenced by Banjo. This is fine, but many failed to realize what made that game good, and Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage is one of the best examples of this. It does get one thing right: The audiovisuals. The music keeps the fantastical style of the original Spyro, and the visuals are still well animated, even moreso in the Reignited Trilogy rerelease. However, things begin to fall apart after that. You see, there's another element of Banjo I neglected to mention: minigames. I thought the minigames were pretty middling overall, but they're also not the main focus, so I still enjoyed the game. The problem with Ripto's Rage is that the focus is switched from platforming to these minigames. Instead of building a world with platforming challenges and sprinkling in the minigames, Ripto's Rage built a world filled with minigames and put platforming challenges between them.
Honestly, this could've worked as far as I know, but the issue is that neither element is good. The minigames are pretty middling overall and all of them feel extremely disconnected. The platforming takes place in levels with basic level design and a very simple moveset, which leads to most sections feeling very mindless. It leads to a game where each part feels like a chore, because that's basically what it is. Ripto lacks any presence in the overall game, and most substories are completely disconnected from the core conflict, so I never felt much actual importance in what I was doing.
My point is that Ripto's Rage has a lot of the stereotypical flaws of the genre without any particular strengths. The platforming is weak in both level design and movement, the story has some decent characters but the events are disconnected and not entertaining, and the minigames aren't good. You could probably say at least one of those about many decent 3D Platformers, but the fact that all of them apply to Ripto's Rage is what makes it a 4/10 for me.
Alright, these next two paragraphs are going to be me talking about my personal experiences leading up to purchasing the game, so skip those if you just want my analysis of the game.
A while back, I had played the other Rayman games sans the first, so I decided to ask Reddit (I was young and foolish), and I quote, "Is Rayman 3 worth the buy?" Now, some friends of mine followed me on Reddit and thought this question was peak comedy, so it became an inside joke.
However, Rayman 3 wasn't a game I was particularly in a rush to get. I did eventually buy a copy on Gamecube, but it messed up after the first world, so I couldn't really answer the question. After that, I asked my father to get it for me for Christmas, but we soon after had a falling out and I haven't talked to him since, so no good there either. Finally, I got the GBA version of Rayman 3, but that game is worth its own review. Eventually, I realized the game was available digitally on the XBox 360, and bought it for $9.99 USD. It took me three years to get this game. But hey, I am typing this on a website named Backloggd.
Let's start the biggest improvement from Rayman 2: The combat. Rayman 3 has some of the best combat in a 3D Platformer I've played. That's a pretty low standard, but the combat can be fun. It simply feels better than in Rayman 2, but aside from that, the powerups and level design add much more to many encounters. Many of the bosses are really good too. Some can be annoying, but they often use the powerups in cool ways. I'd even call the final boss great if it didn't end with a turret section. Other than that, there's not much to say about the combat, but it does its job as a diversion from the platforming
...Is what I'd say if the combat wasn't so prevalent. As mediocre as the combat was in Rayman 2, it was usually done and over extremely quickly. In Rayman 3, It's half the game. If the combat was combined with platforming more often, I probably would've been fine with this, but the combat can still be pretty repetitive.
Honestly, the platforming lacks variety as well, despite the solid controls and movement. The powerups add a bit of variety, but the only platforming-focused ones are the flight and hookshot ones, which are pretty one-note in their use. You occasionally shrink down and race in a shoe, but these sections are pretty boring. All you do is ram into the other shoe a few times. In between worlds, you do race through this funky wormhole, which is fun, but if you were expecting sliding, plum-riding, or any other fun mechanic from Rayman 2, you'll be disappointed. Instead, the game starts with an on-rails flying section and ends with a turret section. Awesome...
Another gameplay note is that Rayman 3 is really easy. Most Rayman games are really easy, but 3 might be the easiest to beat. Throughout the game, I only died twice, and I'm not that good at these games. However, the scoring system kept me engaged (Even if it needed some work in terms of what it prioritized), so it's not that big of an issue overall.
Storywise, the game is far from great. Globox accidentally vores the main villain Andre, so he and Rayman go to a bunch of national stereotype doctors to try and un-vore Andre. Each doctor is just like, 'uh... I can't do anything. Now go to this guy.' It's a bit repetitive, but whatever. The Rayman series has never been known for its brilliant narratives or character studies (I mean, Legends didn't even have a story), but Rayman 3 was trying to be funny. Sometimes it is, but its often just annoying. Either way, I'm glad excess dialogue is often held during gameplay. Not just because I don't want a bunch of cutscenes, but because the VA dubbing is weirdly bad here. I'd imagine the animation sync is better in France or other Countries, but as a citizen of The United States of America, I am truly disappointed in the dubbing of Rayman 3.
Audiovisually, the game is quite good. The animations are mostly nice, there's a great variety of locations, Rayman's new design is great, and the artstyle is overall very good. While I can't say every track in the game is a bop, I can remember two that stick out, which were the snowboarding theme and the final boss theme.
So it's time to answer the question: Is Rayman 3 worth the buy? Honestly, I've been mulling this over for a while. I'm kinda between a 5/10 and 6/10. I suppose either way, Rayman 3 is only worth the buy if you're a fan of the series or 3D Platformers in general. Otherwise, Rayman 2 is a much better outing.
Well, I've played every Rayman game now, except for the first. I've heard it's rather hard. I'll have to see for myself.
A while back, I had played the other Rayman games sans the first, so I decided to ask Reddit (I was young and foolish), and I quote, "Is Rayman 3 worth the buy?" Now, some friends of mine followed me on Reddit and thought this question was peak comedy, so it became an inside joke.
However, Rayman 3 wasn't a game I was particularly in a rush to get. I did eventually buy a copy on Gamecube, but it messed up after the first world, so I couldn't really answer the question. After that, I asked my father to get it for me for Christmas, but we soon after had a falling out and I haven't talked to him since, so no good there either. Finally, I got the GBA version of Rayman 3, but that game is worth its own review. Eventually, I realized the game was available digitally on the XBox 360, and bought it for $9.99 USD. It took me three years to get this game. But hey, I am typing this on a website named Backloggd.
Let's start the biggest improvement from Rayman 2: The combat. Rayman 3 has some of the best combat in a 3D Platformer I've played. That's a pretty low standard, but the combat can be fun. It simply feels better than in Rayman 2, but aside from that, the powerups and level design add much more to many encounters. Many of the bosses are really good too. Some can be annoying, but they often use the powerups in cool ways. I'd even call the final boss great if it didn't end with a turret section. Other than that, there's not much to say about the combat, but it does its job as a diversion from the platforming
...Is what I'd say if the combat wasn't so prevalent. As mediocre as the combat was in Rayman 2, it was usually done and over extremely quickly. In Rayman 3, It's half the game. If the combat was combined with platforming more often, I probably would've been fine with this, but the combat can still be pretty repetitive.
Honestly, the platforming lacks variety as well, despite the solid controls and movement. The powerups add a bit of variety, but the only platforming-focused ones are the flight and hookshot ones, which are pretty one-note in their use. You occasionally shrink down and race in a shoe, but these sections are pretty boring. All you do is ram into the other shoe a few times. In between worlds, you do race through this funky wormhole, which is fun, but if you were expecting sliding, plum-riding, or any other fun mechanic from Rayman 2, you'll be disappointed. Instead, the game starts with an on-rails flying section and ends with a turret section. Awesome...
Another gameplay note is that Rayman 3 is really easy. Most Rayman games are really easy, but 3 might be the easiest to beat. Throughout the game, I only died twice, and I'm not that good at these games. However, the scoring system kept me engaged (Even if it needed some work in terms of what it prioritized), so it's not that big of an issue overall.
Storywise, the game is far from great. Globox accidentally vores the main villain Andre, so he and Rayman go to a bunch of national stereotype doctors to try and un-vore Andre. Each doctor is just like, 'uh... I can't do anything. Now go to this guy.' It's a bit repetitive, but whatever. The Rayman series has never been known for its brilliant narratives or character studies (I mean, Legends didn't even have a story), but Rayman 3 was trying to be funny. Sometimes it is, but its often just annoying. Either way, I'm glad excess dialogue is often held during gameplay. Not just because I don't want a bunch of cutscenes, but because the VA dubbing is weirdly bad here. I'd imagine the animation sync is better in France or other Countries, but as a citizen of The United States of America, I am truly disappointed in the dubbing of Rayman 3.
Audiovisually, the game is quite good. The animations are mostly nice, there's a great variety of locations, Rayman's new design is great, and the artstyle is overall very good. While I can't say every track in the game is a bop, I can remember two that stick out, which were the snowboarding theme and the final boss theme.
So it's time to answer the question: Is Rayman 3 worth the buy? Honestly, I've been mulling this over for a while. I'm kinda between a 5/10 and 6/10. I suppose either way, Rayman 3 is only worth the buy if you're a fan of the series or 3D Platformers in general. Otherwise, Rayman 2 is a much better outing.
Well, I've played every Rayman game now, except for the first. I've heard it's rather hard. I'll have to see for myself.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land is the first true 3D Kirby game, and it's all in all a pretty by-the-books adaptation of the 2D mechanics into the new dimension, which seems to irk many. Certainly, you can't control the camera, but the game often frames the landscapes itself in cool ways, and you have to remember that this game is also made for multiplayer (Although the fact that Bandana Dee is the only other playable character is really stupid). As such, I don't think the game "Not taking advantage of 3D" is a huge flaw.
The thing is though, most of the new copy abilities do take advantage of the new perspective. Drill simply couldn't work in 2D, and the implementation of Ranger is not only surprisingly effective, but adds a lot of variety. This applies to all of the evolutions to copy abilities as well. Just because you can't control the camera doesn't mean the game doesn't take advantage of being 3D at all.
Anyway, going back to copy abilities, there's only a dozen this time. However, a few things do kind of supplement this. First, the aforementioned evolutions. Most copy abilities have three variants, and after unlocking them all you really should never use the first one. The second and third do have their strengths and weaknesses, but are at heart the same abilities with just enough changes to make them feel distinct.
My biggest complaint with the copy abilities is that many don't have any interesting movement options. You can't do dash attacks here or falling attacks at all, and tornado and needle do have more interesting movement, but that's all there is to those abilities. You can press guard + jump to do a Kirby slide kick, so why other copy abilities besides sword didn't replace this slide kick and add an aerial function is beyond me.
The other thing that supplements the low copy ability count is the Mouthful Mode, which are basically situational copy abilities. "Carby", for example, is basically the wheel copy ability from previous games, except more restrictive in where you use it. This lack of freedom with many cool abilities does kind of suck, but it also means levels can be built around these abilities. However, some of these are also subpar or glorified QTEs, so don't expect these to replace all of your favorite copy abilities.
Even that aside, I have a few issues with the twelve we have here. Sleep? Really? Crash? Why not UFO as an OP move if we were going with quality over quantity? And more importantly, was sacrificing some potential copy abilities for gotcha machines and a bunch of glorified mobile games really worth it? Imagine how cool abilities like beam and whip would've been in 3D.
There's also the mission system, and I think a lot of people are missing the point with this issue. I think the way they reveal the missions after beating a level would've been fine, as you now have a good hint when you replay, but many missions themselves simply don't work with that system. I remember I completed every mission in one level except for "Sleep by the pool" or something like that. Even if I knew to do this going in, does it make completing the mission fun? All I would do is go to the pool, inhale the sleeping enemy, and that's it. This isn't a massive deal, as none of this is needed to finish the game, but it's indicative of the fact that the game wasn't entirely focused on what it should've been focused on, and cared too much about side content that's really just a distraction at the end of the day.
All of that aside, the game is still very good. Aside from the frame drops for far away enemies, the visuals are excellent in detail, animation, and interesting settings. The music is pretty good too. Kirby and the Forgotten Land is a good game, but it could've been great with better priority.
The thing is though, most of the new copy abilities do take advantage of the new perspective. Drill simply couldn't work in 2D, and the implementation of Ranger is not only surprisingly effective, but adds a lot of variety. This applies to all of the evolutions to copy abilities as well. Just because you can't control the camera doesn't mean the game doesn't take advantage of being 3D at all.
Anyway, going back to copy abilities, there's only a dozen this time. However, a few things do kind of supplement this. First, the aforementioned evolutions. Most copy abilities have three variants, and after unlocking them all you really should never use the first one. The second and third do have their strengths and weaknesses, but are at heart the same abilities with just enough changes to make them feel distinct.
My biggest complaint with the copy abilities is that many don't have any interesting movement options. You can't do dash attacks here or falling attacks at all, and tornado and needle do have more interesting movement, but that's all there is to those abilities. You can press guard + jump to do a Kirby slide kick, so why other copy abilities besides sword didn't replace this slide kick and add an aerial function is beyond me.
The other thing that supplements the low copy ability count is the Mouthful Mode, which are basically situational copy abilities. "Carby", for example, is basically the wheel copy ability from previous games, except more restrictive in where you use it. This lack of freedom with many cool abilities does kind of suck, but it also means levels can be built around these abilities. However, some of these are also subpar or glorified QTEs, so don't expect these to replace all of your favorite copy abilities.
Even that aside, I have a few issues with the twelve we have here. Sleep? Really? Crash? Why not UFO as an OP move if we were going with quality over quantity? And more importantly, was sacrificing some potential copy abilities for gotcha machines and a bunch of glorified mobile games really worth it? Imagine how cool abilities like beam and whip would've been in 3D.
There's also the mission system, and I think a lot of people are missing the point with this issue. I think the way they reveal the missions after beating a level would've been fine, as you now have a good hint when you replay, but many missions themselves simply don't work with that system. I remember I completed every mission in one level except for "Sleep by the pool" or something like that. Even if I knew to do this going in, does it make completing the mission fun? All I would do is go to the pool, inhale the sleeping enemy, and that's it. This isn't a massive deal, as none of this is needed to finish the game, but it's indicative of the fact that the game wasn't entirely focused on what it should've been focused on, and cared too much about side content that's really just a distraction at the end of the day.
All of that aside, the game is still very good. Aside from the frame drops for far away enemies, the visuals are excellent in detail, animation, and interesting settings. The music is pretty good too. Kirby and the Forgotten Land is a good game, but it could've been great with better priority.
2007
NOTE: I did not finish this game. However, I played about half of it, so I think I've played enough to form an opinion.
Bioshock starts out incredibly strong: An interesting world, Solid gunplay, Unique abilities, and great atmosphere. Solid stuff. However, the problems become apparent fairly early on. Namely, upon one's first death. There is no punishment for dying. Sorry, there is a punishment: The inconvenience of walking back from a spawn point to wherever you died. However, the enemy is still as damaged as before, and all progress is saved. This means first aid kits are pretty much just for convenience, and any encounter can be trivialized.
I just want to stress that this is already a massive potential turnoff for me. Games at their core are about making meaningful choices, and choices can't be meaningful if there's no consequences. Now, games can be easy and have meaningful choices. The good Kirby games are fun because of all the copy abilities, and the fun comes from trying all of them. Same with Pokemon (Both of these series do have punishments for losing, but I digress). While Bioshock does have many fun uses of progression, many choices are entirely arbitrary and, as cliche as it is to say, the illusion of free choice. The best example of this is the hacking system.
The idea is simple: You can hack robots and several kinds of shops/stations for different benefits. The robots are a solid mechanic, because the player has to make the risk of getting close before hacking. There's also safes that are super hard to hack, which have much more risk in doing so. However, hacking first aid dispensors, ammo stations, and crafting stations for discounts is entirely arbitrary, because there's no reason to not hack any of them. The worst case scenario is that you trigger security which summons drones, but this is extremely easy to avoid. You may get hurt by a short circuit, but once again, this is usually very easily avoidable. The point is, you should absolutely hack every station you see, meaning you'll have to play the same minigame over and over again.
Even a few cool progression abilities feel pretty underdeveloped. There's an ability very similar to the Gravity Gun from Half-Life 2, but it's utilization is even more basic than it was in HL2, and it mostly just boils down to tossing trash cans at enemies. However, most of the abilities are at least alright, and add to that whole meaningful decision thing I was talking about.
I do have to give the game credit though, fighting the Big Daddies is pretty fun. There's much more tension because in the time it takes to walk back to a Big Daddy, the sisters could've already escaped, meaning you really want to take them out in one go. Planning all of that out is pretty fun, although it still doesn't entirely escape that difficulty problem I discussed.
Anyway, I may come back to this game, but I haven't had fun the last few times I've started it up. The story is kind of interesting, but nothing special, really (Although I heard there's a big twist near the end, so maybe that's really cool). Either way, 4/10, close to a 5.
Bioshock starts out incredibly strong: An interesting world, Solid gunplay, Unique abilities, and great atmosphere. Solid stuff. However, the problems become apparent fairly early on. Namely, upon one's first death. There is no punishment for dying. Sorry, there is a punishment: The inconvenience of walking back from a spawn point to wherever you died. However, the enemy is still as damaged as before, and all progress is saved. This means first aid kits are pretty much just for convenience, and any encounter can be trivialized.
I just want to stress that this is already a massive potential turnoff for me. Games at their core are about making meaningful choices, and choices can't be meaningful if there's no consequences. Now, games can be easy and have meaningful choices. The good Kirby games are fun because of all the copy abilities, and the fun comes from trying all of them. Same with Pokemon (Both of these series do have punishments for losing, but I digress). While Bioshock does have many fun uses of progression, many choices are entirely arbitrary and, as cliche as it is to say, the illusion of free choice. The best example of this is the hacking system.
The idea is simple: You can hack robots and several kinds of shops/stations for different benefits. The robots are a solid mechanic, because the player has to make the risk of getting close before hacking. There's also safes that are super hard to hack, which have much more risk in doing so. However, hacking first aid dispensors, ammo stations, and crafting stations for discounts is entirely arbitrary, because there's no reason to not hack any of them. The worst case scenario is that you trigger security which summons drones, but this is extremely easy to avoid. You may get hurt by a short circuit, but once again, this is usually very easily avoidable. The point is, you should absolutely hack every station you see, meaning you'll have to play the same minigame over and over again.
Even a few cool progression abilities feel pretty underdeveloped. There's an ability very similar to the Gravity Gun from Half-Life 2, but it's utilization is even more basic than it was in HL2, and it mostly just boils down to tossing trash cans at enemies. However, most of the abilities are at least alright, and add to that whole meaningful decision thing I was talking about.
I do have to give the game credit though, fighting the Big Daddies is pretty fun. There's much more tension because in the time it takes to walk back to a Big Daddy, the sisters could've already escaped, meaning you really want to take them out in one go. Planning all of that out is pretty fun, although it still doesn't entirely escape that difficulty problem I discussed.
Anyway, I may come back to this game, but I haven't had fun the last few times I've started it up. The story is kind of interesting, but nothing special, really (Although I heard there's a big twist near the end, so maybe that's really cool). Either way, 4/10, close to a 5.
2021
Yeah yeah, I was brought here by Nitro Rad too. Is the game good though?
Yeah, I guess, but that comes with a lot of asterisks.
The movement and moveset in general are excellent. I could nitpick a few details, like the side somersaults' uselessness due to the triple jump not being space-sensative like in Super Mario 64. Also, the grapple hook and timestop are pretty situational in use/ Regardless, this is a very good moveset that makes the player plan each jump in advance, unlike A Hat in Time.
The level design isn't the best, but I think it's mostly fine. The game beckons players to master the moveset and perform skips in pretty much every level. Combine this with a genius checkpoint system that allows the player to control their respawn position, and those seemingly ludicrous skips are much more achievable and fun to try. I also appreciate that you can get every collectible on the first run and you don't have to come back with the turf abilities (which you earn in each boss fight) or something. Point is, the level design is pretty basic, but the game does a really good job of distracting that fact.
But now its time to talk about the highlight of every 3D platformer! Combat! Oh boy! I dunno though, this really wasn't that bad. Probably like half the levels have required combat sections, and they're over really quick. Still, that's far from a compliment. What really pisses me off is that the final boss is kind of purely combat, which I think is dumb for a 3D Platformer.
Uhh... There's a story. Is there? Yeah, but it's pretty nothing. There's an attempt at some kind of arc with the protagonist Beebz's friend, but this leads to nothing. I like the concept of beating these bosses up and gaining clout overtime, but the game doesn't really expand on this in an interesting way.
Also, this game definitely lacks the level of polish of a game like A Hat in Time. The movement feels great, but the way Beebz interacts with the environment feels spotty at times. Most of the minor NPCs look really bad too. Lastly, I ran into a few glitches.
There's also the structure of the game. Now, there's 28 Levels, and each level has a post-boss version that changes things up a bit and utilizes the newly acquired turf ability. So, there's like 56 levels in total, and beating a level gets you a battery, right? Well, for the most part, the structure is simple. Beat all 7 levels in the world in whatever order you please, fight the boss, go to the next world.
However, to fight the final boss, you need 50 Batteries, so you have to beat 50 out of the 56 levels (Or maybe there's other ways to get batteries. I haven't delved that much into the side content). Keep in mind, half of these levels are reskins. As heavily altered as a reskin can be, they're still reskins. Imagine if to fight Bowser you needed 110/120 stars. Like, why not make me just get all at that point? I guess I'll take it though, because I only had 40 batteries after beating the 4th boss, so I had to play 10 more levels, which kind of ruined the pacing.
Despite all of those problems, Demon Turf can be really fun. It has some great ideas, but I think the devs were just a bit too ambitious. Maybe if the game was a bit better paced, the combat was gone, the story was minimized, the moveset tweaked a little, all the fluff was removed, and the visuals were more consistent I'd like this game more. Oh wait, the standalone expansion Demon Turf: Neon Splash did this and it costs $20 less than this game (Not a sponsor). The lesson is, you should probably get that instead. Still, if you like 3D platformers, this is a fine time.
Yeah, I guess, but that comes with a lot of asterisks.
The movement and moveset in general are excellent. I could nitpick a few details, like the side somersaults' uselessness due to the triple jump not being space-sensative like in Super Mario 64. Also, the grapple hook and timestop are pretty situational in use/ Regardless, this is a very good moveset that makes the player plan each jump in advance, unlike A Hat in Time.
The level design isn't the best, but I think it's mostly fine. The game beckons players to master the moveset and perform skips in pretty much every level. Combine this with a genius checkpoint system that allows the player to control their respawn position, and those seemingly ludicrous skips are much more achievable and fun to try. I also appreciate that you can get every collectible on the first run and you don't have to come back with the turf abilities (which you earn in each boss fight) or something. Point is, the level design is pretty basic, but the game does a really good job of distracting that fact.
But now its time to talk about the highlight of every 3D platformer! Combat! Oh boy! I dunno though, this really wasn't that bad. Probably like half the levels have required combat sections, and they're over really quick. Still, that's far from a compliment. What really pisses me off is that the final boss is kind of purely combat, which I think is dumb for a 3D Platformer.
Uhh... There's a story. Is there? Yeah, but it's pretty nothing. There's an attempt at some kind of arc with the protagonist Beebz's friend, but this leads to nothing. I like the concept of beating these bosses up and gaining clout overtime, but the game doesn't really expand on this in an interesting way.
Also, this game definitely lacks the level of polish of a game like A Hat in Time. The movement feels great, but the way Beebz interacts with the environment feels spotty at times. Most of the minor NPCs look really bad too. Lastly, I ran into a few glitches.
There's also the structure of the game. Now, there's 28 Levels, and each level has a post-boss version that changes things up a bit and utilizes the newly acquired turf ability. So, there's like 56 levels in total, and beating a level gets you a battery, right? Well, for the most part, the structure is simple. Beat all 7 levels in the world in whatever order you please, fight the boss, go to the next world.
However, to fight the final boss, you need 50 Batteries, so you have to beat 50 out of the 56 levels (Or maybe there's other ways to get batteries. I haven't delved that much into the side content). Keep in mind, half of these levels are reskins. As heavily altered as a reskin can be, they're still reskins. Imagine if to fight Bowser you needed 110/120 stars. Like, why not make me just get all at that point? I guess I'll take it though, because I only had 40 batteries after beating the 4th boss, so I had to play 10 more levels, which kind of ruined the pacing.
Despite all of those problems, Demon Turf can be really fun. It has some great ideas, but I think the devs were just a bit too ambitious. Maybe if the game was a bit better paced, the combat was gone, the story was minimized, the moveset tweaked a little, all the fluff was removed, and the visuals were more consistent I'd like this game more. Oh wait, the standalone expansion Demon Turf: Neon Splash did this and it costs $20 less than this game (Not a sponsor). The lesson is, you should probably get that instead. Still, if you like 3D platformers, this is a fine time.