FallenGrace
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I only found out this game existed a couple of years ago as my interest in the Sakura Wars franchise grew thanks to work by fans on patches bringing them over to the West in English for the first time. Sakura Wars: Go Forth Young Cadet! as translated is kind of an interesting game. It seems to be set during the latter half of the first Sakura Wars game (1996) and to be honest I feel that playing that first is a necessary perquisite to play this. Knowing the characters makes a huge difference.
You play the role of a young unnamed candidate with high spirit power scouted by Vice Commander Ayame Fujieda of the Imperial Assault Troupe. If successfully chosen you are invited to a month long trial with the troupe to see how you perform. The premise is kind of...odd to be honest. This is never mentioned in any form to my knowledge anywhere else (so probably isn't regarded as cannon?) and recruiting someone off the street for only 30 days to teach them everything about a top secret military unit hidden in the heart of Tokyo with no intention of keeping them permanently? It seems a little tactically unsound.
Regardless the premise sets up for a clean slate to meet the girls from the unit and spend time with them either training or just socially. The cadet has several attributes to manage over the 30 days. Stamina, Intellect, Spirit Power, Guts, Agility and Accuracy. You can spend time training up to twice a day to improve these at the cost of stamina or skip a training session to recover your stamina by having a nap (as apparently sleeping over night doesn't do that?). At the end of the 30 days you are given a rank based on your performance. I got rated as an Usher though the description made that sound like a positive thing at least.
The morning training sessions are mapped out for you over the course of a week training with Sakura, Sumire, Kanna, Iris, Kohran, or Maria. Each character builds up a different stat and you can choose who to train with in the afternoons if you want to specialise further. At the end of each week you have a mock battle in one of the Koubu mechs. It's a turn based affair with which Koubu you choose being directed by the stats you've built or relationships you want to increase further.
This is where the game comes across as a little odd again because it takes the almost dating sim / visual novel elements of the main game with talking with the girls in-between training. You select dialogue options on how to respond resulting in neutral, positive or negative retorts. At times it's a bit flirty but will never go anywhere due to set ups from the original game. The girls are spread all over the theatre you all work from in the morning, noon and evening though there is no way to tell who they are until you begin the conversation. If you build up a good enough relationship with a character you will get extra scenes and endings with them. I focused on Sakura to see most of hers. Some conversations will give you minigames to play like shooting targets or hitting wood blocks with swords as the most interactive part of the whole game. Some conversations will also lead to instant game overs which was irritating. In my case on my recent run I ended up with some permanent damage from a situation I couldn't get rid of and there is no way in most cases of knowing a possible outcome. In that conversation it was instant game over or permanent stat damage as my two options having rewound on emulation to see.
I really dislike the trial and error nature of the visual novel having such frustrating effects with no way of knowing and it's not that frequent that it's possible to play through without even knowing they are there. So when it does happen it's like a bolt out of nowhere. Whilst it is designed to have multiple play throughs to see all events (Someone trying the worst possible run without game overs amuses me) in it's short play length. Having the character icons on the map hidden at a cost of 5000 points per girl when a single playthrough only earns you 2000 is one hell of a grind. (Though this game also had an extra peripheral of a modified Tamagotchi called pocket Sakura that worked as a pedometer to gain points for the shop when connected to your gameboy) You can also buy music, voice clips and bromide pictures of the girls from the shop for these points too.
This brings me to my last point and the most impressive is the production values. Maybe because it's more visual novel than game but Sakura Wars on the Gameboy colour looks and sounds phenomenal for the system. The character sprites, art design and backgrounds are so far of anything else I've seen on the system. They really did manage to bring the game to a portable without losing the aesthetic that makes this series what it is. the music transitions amazingly well too. The theme title is instantly recognisable albeit without the singing. Other Tracks from the original game transition just as well.
So an odd game in some ways but I must admit despite that I kind of like it? It's technically extremely impressive and getting to spend more time with the Sakura Wars cast on a platform I didn't think was capable of capturing the essence was a pleasant surprise. I hope Sakura Taisen GB2 gets translated at some point in the future as I understand that is more of a dungeon crawler so would be interested to know how it fares.
+ Amazing visuals and music considering the platform limitations.
+ Getting to spend more time with the Sakura Wars cast is great for fans.
+ Lots of replayability and things to unlock.
- Some instant game overs just aren't fun.
- The unlockable extras to navigate the game easier are way too expensive.
- Game's story premise seems slightly out of place in the grand scheme of things.
You play the role of a young unnamed candidate with high spirit power scouted by Vice Commander Ayame Fujieda of the Imperial Assault Troupe. If successfully chosen you are invited to a month long trial with the troupe to see how you perform. The premise is kind of...odd to be honest. This is never mentioned in any form to my knowledge anywhere else (so probably isn't regarded as cannon?) and recruiting someone off the street for only 30 days to teach them everything about a top secret military unit hidden in the heart of Tokyo with no intention of keeping them permanently? It seems a little tactically unsound.
Regardless the premise sets up for a clean slate to meet the girls from the unit and spend time with them either training or just socially. The cadet has several attributes to manage over the 30 days. Stamina, Intellect, Spirit Power, Guts, Agility and Accuracy. You can spend time training up to twice a day to improve these at the cost of stamina or skip a training session to recover your stamina by having a nap (as apparently sleeping over night doesn't do that?). At the end of the 30 days you are given a rank based on your performance. I got rated as an Usher though the description made that sound like a positive thing at least.
The morning training sessions are mapped out for you over the course of a week training with Sakura, Sumire, Kanna, Iris, Kohran, or Maria. Each character builds up a different stat and you can choose who to train with in the afternoons if you want to specialise further. At the end of each week you have a mock battle in one of the Koubu mechs. It's a turn based affair with which Koubu you choose being directed by the stats you've built or relationships you want to increase further.
This is where the game comes across as a little odd again because it takes the almost dating sim / visual novel elements of the main game with talking with the girls in-between training. You select dialogue options on how to respond resulting in neutral, positive or negative retorts. At times it's a bit flirty but will never go anywhere due to set ups from the original game. The girls are spread all over the theatre you all work from in the morning, noon and evening though there is no way to tell who they are until you begin the conversation. If you build up a good enough relationship with a character you will get extra scenes and endings with them. I focused on Sakura to see most of hers. Some conversations will give you minigames to play like shooting targets or hitting wood blocks with swords as the most interactive part of the whole game. Some conversations will also lead to instant game overs which was irritating. In my case on my recent run I ended up with some permanent damage from a situation I couldn't get rid of and there is no way in most cases of knowing a possible outcome. In that conversation it was instant game over or permanent stat damage as my two options having rewound on emulation to see.
I really dislike the trial and error nature of the visual novel having such frustrating effects with no way of knowing and it's not that frequent that it's possible to play through without even knowing they are there. So when it does happen it's like a bolt out of nowhere. Whilst it is designed to have multiple play throughs to see all events (Someone trying the worst possible run without game overs amuses me) in it's short play length. Having the character icons on the map hidden at a cost of 5000 points per girl when a single playthrough only earns you 2000 is one hell of a grind. (Though this game also had an extra peripheral of a modified Tamagotchi called pocket Sakura that worked as a pedometer to gain points for the shop when connected to your gameboy) You can also buy music, voice clips and bromide pictures of the girls from the shop for these points too.
This brings me to my last point and the most impressive is the production values. Maybe because it's more visual novel than game but Sakura Wars on the Gameboy colour looks and sounds phenomenal for the system. The character sprites, art design and backgrounds are so far of anything else I've seen on the system. They really did manage to bring the game to a portable without losing the aesthetic that makes this series what it is. the music transitions amazingly well too. The theme title is instantly recognisable albeit without the singing. Other Tracks from the original game transition just as well.
So an odd game in some ways but I must admit despite that I kind of like it? It's technically extremely impressive and getting to spend more time with the Sakura Wars cast on a platform I didn't think was capable of capturing the essence was a pleasant surprise. I hope Sakura Taisen GB2 gets translated at some point in the future as I understand that is more of a dungeon crawler so would be interested to know how it fares.
+ Amazing visuals and music considering the platform limitations.
+ Getting to spend more time with the Sakura Wars cast is great for fans.
+ Lots of replayability and things to unlock.
- Some instant game overs just aren't fun.
- The unlockable extras to navigate the game easier are way too expensive.
- Game's story premise seems slightly out of place in the grand scheme of things.
1989
The first Phantasy Star on the Sega Master System was a surprise to me. Maybe it's a feeling I had that because it was the oldest one in the series on an earlier console it would be bad? It's dated in many ways but bad? Not even close. Impressive art, music and technical feats on the system made it a really fun little game. The second Phantasy Star title is equally a surprise to me but literally in the polar opposite direction. I assumed because it was on the megadrive it and a sequel it would be an improvement on everything laid before it.
I was wrong.
I actually kind of actively hate this game and I just didn't expect that going in. The story starts with an interesting premise. Set 1000 years after Phantasy Star the Algol star system is ruled by a super computer called Mother Brain that has made every decision for it's residents. Controlling everything to make their lives easy but when something goes wrong they are not equipped to deal with it. As an agent of the governor you are chosen to find out the cause behind a new wave of monsters appearing due to Mother Brain not taking action. I like the idea a lot of people becoming too dependent to act on their own though the game never feels like that in the actual world.
The 80s/90s anime sci-fi visual design is still quite striking. Characters have mixture of, knives, boomerangs, magic, laser swords and plasma pistols in a mixture of high fantasy and sci-fi. It's a great blend the game works well cohesively with the character designs of shoulder pads and big hair dos with obvious Star Wars influences. Whilst I like the art and atmosphere I did find it actually less impressive from a technical standpoint than it's predecessor. The dungeons losing their first person view into the more traditional top down exploration with that was disappointing though, but that's the least of the dungeons problems.
They. Are. Terrible.
Initially they aren't too bad but as the game progressed further and further my drive to continue lessened with my progress. Each dungeon is a giant sprawling maze filled with warp points zooming you from floor to floor. It's full of unrewarding dead ends and twists with no in game map to help you navigate the labyrinthine nightmares. It's no wonder on release the game came with a guide book with a walkthrough and maps, they knew. I followed an online walkthrough in the end because I couldn't see myself brute forcing through without one. At one point the guide describes a new dungeon you come to as: "The first floor has no less than 69 chutes leading up to the next floor (No, I'm not kidding. There really are 69 chutes. Stop laughing.)" and many later are even worse. In an interview in 1993 whilst promoting Phantasy Star IV the game designer Kotaro Hayashida discusses Phantasy Star II and when asked about the dungeons he is translated as stating:
"Another issue was related to the dungeons, which were created by a new employee. Because he was new, he put a ton of effort into the maps and kind of overdid it… the game became more about the complex dungeons than anything else. I think you really see that on the Dezolis dungeons. They were really well done, and when Chieko Aoki saw them she didn’t want all the new employee’s work to be for naught, so we ended up using those maps… albeit with some mixed feelings. They contributed to the latter half of the game being unbalanced"
I agree with this though think Phantasy Star II being generally unbalanced from the get go. Due to the huge twisting warping bland looking dungeons and encounters every two steps the amount of combat in the game is kind of staggering. The amount of experience you get from them though is pitiful to the point that grinding and battling over and over just to gain one level up that does little towards improving your overall strength made the experience of playing extremely tedious. (Fans have created a double money, double experience hack due to this) I was even using fast forward playing this on the Playstation 4 Megadrive collection so god only knows how it would have felt at the original speed. To compound matters the games combat feels slightly unwieldly but to it's credit also a little ahead of it's time in some ways. There is a button to fight where the party will just auto combat each turn. In between you can manually select orders to the team to make them use spells, items or defend but it means going through extra menu steps each time unnecessarily. The menus generally feel kind of poorly implemented and equipping items, giving them to each other or using healing spells outside of battle was irritating every time. Despite all of this I did continue on as I wanted to see all the game had to offer only to reach an ending that actually made me think all the effort flat wasn't worth it.
In the same interview mentioned above on shupcompilations they discuss the game originally being made on the Master System then changed and ported in an extremely short amount of time. It sounds like it was a miracle and hard work the game came out at all to which I respect them greatly. I'm glad I finally finished the first RPG released on the Sega Megadrive and such a pillar of gaming history I was missing. It doesn't change my opinion though that Phantasy Star II is actually pretty poorly designed and not actually very fun to play.
As a Sega fan, retro gaming fan and RPG fan, this hurt to write. Half a star for the art design though, especially the cover art. Hitoshi Yoneda's work is stunning.
+ I like the story premise.
+ The ingame art design and promotional artwork is wonderful with a blend of high fantast and tech heavy sci-fi.
- It has possible the worst dungeons of the nearly 150 JRPGs I have played. Extremely tedious. Every one made me want to quit.
- It's a huge grind but feels unrewarding with it.
- Story is generally unsatisfying.
I was wrong.
I actually kind of actively hate this game and I just didn't expect that going in. The story starts with an interesting premise. Set 1000 years after Phantasy Star the Algol star system is ruled by a super computer called Mother Brain that has made every decision for it's residents. Controlling everything to make their lives easy but when something goes wrong they are not equipped to deal with it. As an agent of the governor you are chosen to find out the cause behind a new wave of monsters appearing due to Mother Brain not taking action. I like the idea a lot of people becoming too dependent to act on their own though the game never feels like that in the actual world.
The 80s/90s anime sci-fi visual design is still quite striking. Characters have mixture of, knives, boomerangs, magic, laser swords and plasma pistols in a mixture of high fantasy and sci-fi. It's a great blend the game works well cohesively with the character designs of shoulder pads and big hair dos with obvious Star Wars influences. Whilst I like the art and atmosphere I did find it actually less impressive from a technical standpoint than it's predecessor. The dungeons losing their first person view into the more traditional top down exploration with that was disappointing though, but that's the least of the dungeons problems.
They. Are. Terrible.
Initially they aren't too bad but as the game progressed further and further my drive to continue lessened with my progress. Each dungeon is a giant sprawling maze filled with warp points zooming you from floor to floor. It's full of unrewarding dead ends and twists with no in game map to help you navigate the labyrinthine nightmares. It's no wonder on release the game came with a guide book with a walkthrough and maps, they knew. I followed an online walkthrough in the end because I couldn't see myself brute forcing through without one. At one point the guide describes a new dungeon you come to as: "The first floor has no less than 69 chutes leading up to the next floor (No, I'm not kidding. There really are 69 chutes. Stop laughing.)" and many later are even worse. In an interview in 1993 whilst promoting Phantasy Star IV the game designer Kotaro Hayashida discusses Phantasy Star II and when asked about the dungeons he is translated as stating:
"Another issue was related to the dungeons, which were created by a new employee. Because he was new, he put a ton of effort into the maps and kind of overdid it… the game became more about the complex dungeons than anything else. I think you really see that on the Dezolis dungeons. They were really well done, and when Chieko Aoki saw them she didn’t want all the new employee’s work to be for naught, so we ended up using those maps… albeit with some mixed feelings. They contributed to the latter half of the game being unbalanced"
I agree with this though think Phantasy Star II being generally unbalanced from the get go. Due to the huge twisting warping bland looking dungeons and encounters every two steps the amount of combat in the game is kind of staggering. The amount of experience you get from them though is pitiful to the point that grinding and battling over and over just to gain one level up that does little towards improving your overall strength made the experience of playing extremely tedious. (Fans have created a double money, double experience hack due to this) I was even using fast forward playing this on the Playstation 4 Megadrive collection so god only knows how it would have felt at the original speed. To compound matters the games combat feels slightly unwieldly but to it's credit also a little ahead of it's time in some ways. There is a button to fight where the party will just auto combat each turn. In between you can manually select orders to the team to make them use spells, items or defend but it means going through extra menu steps each time unnecessarily. The menus generally feel kind of poorly implemented and equipping items, giving them to each other or using healing spells outside of battle was irritating every time. Despite all of this I did continue on as I wanted to see all the game had to offer only to reach an ending that actually made me think all the effort flat wasn't worth it.
In the same interview mentioned above on shupcompilations they discuss the game originally being made on the Master System then changed and ported in an extremely short amount of time. It sounds like it was a miracle and hard work the game came out at all to which I respect them greatly. I'm glad I finally finished the first RPG released on the Sega Megadrive and such a pillar of gaming history I was missing. It doesn't change my opinion though that Phantasy Star II is actually pretty poorly designed and not actually very fun to play.
As a Sega fan, retro gaming fan and RPG fan, this hurt to write. Half a star for the art design though, especially the cover art. Hitoshi Yoneda's work is stunning.
+ I like the story premise.
+ The ingame art design and promotional artwork is wonderful with a blend of high fantast and tech heavy sci-fi.
- It has possible the worst dungeons of the nearly 150 JRPGs I have played. Extremely tedious. Every one made me want to quit.
- It's a huge grind but feels unrewarding with it.
- Story is generally unsatisfying.
2024
Nottolot is part of a Namco Bandai programme to help give experience to some of it's junior developers. The games are published on steam for free for people to try and gain feedback, The first batch of games were initially released in Japan only with the three 2024 titles (Nottolot, Doronko Wanko and Boomeroad) being released internationally for everyone to play.
Of the three games the one that interested me the most was Nottolot. As a fan of Sci-fi, Wall-E and Astrobot the appeal of a cute robot escaping it's production factory to see the sky should be immediately apparent. First thing I need to highlight is this game will start in Japanese but thanks to other steam users advice it does have an English menu option. (In order to change it to English click on the second menu tab, here are the options and now go to the last menu tab at the bottom and change it to English.)
The game itself once that is sorted is extremely simple. Your robot, Rolly is a ball that can jump, dash, move around by...rolling and hack as a small set of abilities. You need to sneak and solve some basic puzzles on the way across three stages that in total take about an hours playtime. As you travel through the production facility there are plenty of other robots that are on alert for you. There isn't really any stealth needed though getting in their line of sight is an issue but fortunately Rolly can hack other robots inserting itself in their back socket and taking control of them making it invisible to the other robots. Whilst controlling them there is a timer for how long you can control them before being thrown out and the robot exploding though you can do the same of your own accord any time. There are three robot types to control, a little walker, a flyers and spiders. Each robot (apart from giving Rolly invisibility) is needed to pass certain basic puzzles to get keycards to go to the next area. Switches, platforms and lasers mostly involving the robots. Walkers can go over electrified panels without damage, flyers can reach areas others can't and pick up and drop walkers and spiders can crawl along certain walls and ceilings. None of the puzzles are remotely hard and the little game feels very family friendly in both gameplay and art design.
The visuals are cute and crisp. Rolly itself despite being just a ball with eyes is quite a cool little character. He has a nice animation where if you stop rolling around he will hop onto the side so his face is forward rather than at the ground or sky I thought was a nice touch. The whole game is set in the production facility but it comes across as unrealistically super sleek with bright clean metal panels, pipes and boxes. It has a nice visual style where everything is clear to see.
For free this was a great little experience and like an extremely well polished student project in some ways. I don't feel that scoring a free project made for developers to gain experience is the right way to do this so I will just say I had fun during it's playtime. The art style and gameplay mechanics have quite a lot of potential and I would love to see an expanded version of this with more robots, puzzles, chase scenes, areas and mechanics.
Of the three games the one that interested me the most was Nottolot. As a fan of Sci-fi, Wall-E and Astrobot the appeal of a cute robot escaping it's production factory to see the sky should be immediately apparent. First thing I need to highlight is this game will start in Japanese but thanks to other steam users advice it does have an English menu option. (In order to change it to English click on the second menu tab, here are the options and now go to the last menu tab at the bottom and change it to English.)
The game itself once that is sorted is extremely simple. Your robot, Rolly is a ball that can jump, dash, move around by...rolling and hack as a small set of abilities. You need to sneak and solve some basic puzzles on the way across three stages that in total take about an hours playtime. As you travel through the production facility there are plenty of other robots that are on alert for you. There isn't really any stealth needed though getting in their line of sight is an issue but fortunately Rolly can hack other robots inserting itself in their back socket and taking control of them making it invisible to the other robots. Whilst controlling them there is a timer for how long you can control them before being thrown out and the robot exploding though you can do the same of your own accord any time. There are three robot types to control, a little walker, a flyers and spiders. Each robot (apart from giving Rolly invisibility) is needed to pass certain basic puzzles to get keycards to go to the next area. Switches, platforms and lasers mostly involving the robots. Walkers can go over electrified panels without damage, flyers can reach areas others can't and pick up and drop walkers and spiders can crawl along certain walls and ceilings. None of the puzzles are remotely hard and the little game feels very family friendly in both gameplay and art design.
The visuals are cute and crisp. Rolly itself despite being just a ball with eyes is quite a cool little character. He has a nice animation where if you stop rolling around he will hop onto the side so his face is forward rather than at the ground or sky I thought was a nice touch. The whole game is set in the production facility but it comes across as unrealistically super sleek with bright clean metal panels, pipes and boxes. It has a nice visual style where everything is clear to see.
For free this was a great little experience and like an extremely well polished student project in some ways. I don't feel that scoring a free project made for developers to gain experience is the right way to do this so I will just say I had fun during it's playtime. The art style and gameplay mechanics have quite a lot of potential and I would love to see an expanded version of this with more robots, puzzles, chase scenes, areas and mechanics.
1988
Sometimes when playing retro titles the hardest part isn't choosing which game to play but which version of it. In the case of Aleste after seeing peoples opinions varying I decided to try both the Master System original release (known as Power Strike when released outside of Japan) as well as the MSX2 port released 5 months later.
I ended up playing the MSX version first which is why it's the version I'm reviewing, (that and the cool cover art anyway). The game is, for those unaware, the first part of a shoot 'em up series across several consoles ranging from Master system to Sega CD and beyond that is still going. You play the role of Raymond Waizen piloting the fighter ship Aleste trying to take down an infected supercomputer who when going rogue injured his girlfriend Yuri. This is all told in a short anime style cutscene before the game throws you into the action. And action it is! I was impressed by how smoothly this game ran with a ton of enemies and effects though sprite flickering was happening quite a lot as the MSX tried not to set itself on fire.
Aleste plays from a vertical view point with surprisingly fast scrolling. It is a fairly simple game due to the era, (remember this came out in 1988) with only two buttons for weapons. A base gun which can be upgraded with power chips for more salvos per shot and a type of gun that is interchangeable by power ups. These power ups are numbered with each number representing a weapon type from 1-8. The weapons are varied from forward lasers, spinning balls, waves etc. Though I found two of them completely useless the others were all strong in their own ways. One feature I did think was neat was the power ups move vertically away from you on the screen until you collect them. This means that it's unlikely you might pick one up by accident you don't want unless you play very front facing. It also means that selecting when to shoot a power up does matter as too quick and it will go off screen almost instantly. Of the weapon types available my favourite is no. 7 which acts like a ball of energy on the front of your ship acting like a battering ram and shield which destroyed bosses in seconds when available.
Of course the bosses themselves were easily crushed with any weapon frankly because it became apparent quite quickly they were all exactly the same following the infected computer story theme of panels and turrets in grid formations firing at you. In all honesty the bosses were brain dead and easy lacking any imagination or flair. It's rather disappointing when the main level is so much harder than the repetitive end stage challenges. To add to this the levels are extremely long with the same enemy patterns throughout meaning I found my attention drifting at times due to the monotonous nature of the action and challenges.
when starting the Master system original Power Strike after finishing Aleste it was a bit of a surprise to see there is no animated cutscene, in fact the whole first city level after it also wasn't there. Whilst the story context is less smooth I found it to be a more compact experience overall and the rest of the levels didn't feel quite as long or drawn out because of it. In fact Aleste on MSX took me about an hour and 10 minutes where as I finished the Master System version in about 45. Power Strike generally felt faster actually, the ships and pace the game moves at was really impressive. It made the smooth MSX version feel slow comparatively but equally because of that this game felt really bloody hard. Getting overwhelmed and dying happened a lot and the weapon power ups which have timers when used felt less frequent to boot. Dying is also a brutal result losing all your power chips to your base weapon really setting you back with no real way of getting back up to the power level quickly. It's either quite easy at full power or a brutal slog with little in between with mistakes punished unequivocally.
The visuals for both systems will be a matter of preference. I think I do prefer the MSX's smaller sprites, more detail and slightly less vibrant colours. Both games look pretty good though and there is something satisfying about Power Strikes chunkier visual design. What is more of a clear difference is the music where the MSX's capabilities really outshine the Master System. I like the soundtrack generally on both platforms but the quality difference is night and day. Compare Level 2 (starts at 6:15, could only find one video) with it's counterpart to see what I mean. Enjoyed both versions when playing, they have their charm but one is a far beat above the other.
So overall between the two of them the MSX version to me does edge out the Master System. Aleste's added cutscene, opening level, music and easier difficulty made it the better of the two. That's not to say the Master system's incredibly fast pace, and more compact experience don't have positive merits however.
As a game for either version though? Happy I played it but it's just fine. Some nice music and power ups but overly long and unvaried levels with no boss variation what so ever do leave the overall game feeling forgettable. For 1988 though? I bet this was pretty rad. I was only 4 then though.
+ Fast paced action.
+ Neat power up system make weapon selections easy and choices of them moving away tactical.
+ Nice soundtrack with some ear worms.
- Pretty hard.
- Levels are too long and repetitive.
- Bosses are just all the same.
I ended up playing the MSX version first which is why it's the version I'm reviewing, (that and the cool cover art anyway). The game is, for those unaware, the first part of a shoot 'em up series across several consoles ranging from Master system to Sega CD and beyond that is still going. You play the role of Raymond Waizen piloting the fighter ship Aleste trying to take down an infected supercomputer who when going rogue injured his girlfriend Yuri. This is all told in a short anime style cutscene before the game throws you into the action. And action it is! I was impressed by how smoothly this game ran with a ton of enemies and effects though sprite flickering was happening quite a lot as the MSX tried not to set itself on fire.
Aleste plays from a vertical view point with surprisingly fast scrolling. It is a fairly simple game due to the era, (remember this came out in 1988) with only two buttons for weapons. A base gun which can be upgraded with power chips for more salvos per shot and a type of gun that is interchangeable by power ups. These power ups are numbered with each number representing a weapon type from 1-8. The weapons are varied from forward lasers, spinning balls, waves etc. Though I found two of them completely useless the others were all strong in their own ways. One feature I did think was neat was the power ups move vertically away from you on the screen until you collect them. This means that it's unlikely you might pick one up by accident you don't want unless you play very front facing. It also means that selecting when to shoot a power up does matter as too quick and it will go off screen almost instantly. Of the weapon types available my favourite is no. 7 which acts like a ball of energy on the front of your ship acting like a battering ram and shield which destroyed bosses in seconds when available.
Of course the bosses themselves were easily crushed with any weapon frankly because it became apparent quite quickly they were all exactly the same following the infected computer story theme of panels and turrets in grid formations firing at you. In all honesty the bosses were brain dead and easy lacking any imagination or flair. It's rather disappointing when the main level is so much harder than the repetitive end stage challenges. To add to this the levels are extremely long with the same enemy patterns throughout meaning I found my attention drifting at times due to the monotonous nature of the action and challenges.
when starting the Master system original Power Strike after finishing Aleste it was a bit of a surprise to see there is no animated cutscene, in fact the whole first city level after it also wasn't there. Whilst the story context is less smooth I found it to be a more compact experience overall and the rest of the levels didn't feel quite as long or drawn out because of it. In fact Aleste on MSX took me about an hour and 10 minutes where as I finished the Master System version in about 45. Power Strike generally felt faster actually, the ships and pace the game moves at was really impressive. It made the smooth MSX version feel slow comparatively but equally because of that this game felt really bloody hard. Getting overwhelmed and dying happened a lot and the weapon power ups which have timers when used felt less frequent to boot. Dying is also a brutal result losing all your power chips to your base weapon really setting you back with no real way of getting back up to the power level quickly. It's either quite easy at full power or a brutal slog with little in between with mistakes punished unequivocally.
The visuals for both systems will be a matter of preference. I think I do prefer the MSX's smaller sprites, more detail and slightly less vibrant colours. Both games look pretty good though and there is something satisfying about Power Strikes chunkier visual design. What is more of a clear difference is the music where the MSX's capabilities really outshine the Master System. I like the soundtrack generally on both platforms but the quality difference is night and day. Compare Level 2 (starts at 6:15, could only find one video) with it's counterpart to see what I mean. Enjoyed both versions when playing, they have their charm but one is a far beat above the other.
So overall between the two of them the MSX version to me does edge out the Master System. Aleste's added cutscene, opening level, music and easier difficulty made it the better of the two. That's not to say the Master system's incredibly fast pace, and more compact experience don't have positive merits however.
As a game for either version though? Happy I played it but it's just fine. Some nice music and power ups but overly long and unvaried levels with no boss variation what so ever do leave the overall game feeling forgettable. For 1988 though? I bet this was pretty rad. I was only 4 then though.
+ Fast paced action.
+ Neat power up system make weapon selections easy and choices of them moving away tactical.
+ Nice soundtrack with some ear worms.
- Pretty hard.
- Levels are too long and repetitive.
- Bosses are just all the same.
2020
I've seen a lot of reviews refer to The Pathless as a 'Journey like' title. I can certainly see the connection as the game's developer Giant Squid was initially formed by ex-ThatGameCompany staff. Their debut title Abzu certainly didn't stray too far from that initial vision creating a short beautiful underwater fantasy title. The Pathless is more than that though, it takes aspects of those types of games and expands it into a much bigger adventure game. In my opinion for both better and worse.
You control a nameless archer trying to end a curse put on an island by the Godslayer corrupting the former animal gods that resided there. Each has it's own domain it rules over you have to cleanse section by section by exploring ruins and solving puzzles before culminating in a fight against the corrupted god at the end.
Exploring around, at least for me was extremely satisfying, though not at first. It has a unique mechanic where you use your bow to shoot at floating talismans by holding R2 which give you a burst of speed and an energy bar allowing you to keep running until it drains. These talismans are everywhere so if you continuously chain your shots you can smoothly sprint across the plains, fields and forests. The talismans when aiming have a bar themselves with two points, a full charge and a half charge. If you let go at the right time at the half way point you perform a 'skill shot' which means you fire faster and get a bigger speed boost. The game doesn't tell you this that I saw though and I found out by looking up trophies. with practice this can become second nature allowing a really smooth movement from location to location.
When not on a flat surface you can jump and grab onto your pet eagle to glide. shooting talismans gliding gives the same speed boost in mid air and a slight lift to keep your momentum going. The eagle can also flap to lift you a set amount up. You only have a certain amount of flaps which grow as you explore. Much of the environment has puzzles that as rewards give gold gems. Collect enough of these gives you another flap which allow you to explore and travel higher faster, getting to more puzzles to unlock more flaps. Though the flaps can take some time to unlock requiring a lot of gems I did enjoy the exploration and reward loop where they tie into each other.
The puzzles are going to be hit and miss depending on how you like your puzzling. I like mine simple enough I don't get frustrated and can work out what to do relatively quickly then spend time actioning which is what you get here. The mechanics are limited though, using your bow to light torches, or bounce arrows from mirrors mixed with using your eagle to carry pots of pull some items is your entire repertoire.
The simple puzzles and smooth traversal is exactly what I wanted. The gorgeous art design of ruins, statues, mountains and skylines accompanied by a stellar soundtrack by Austin Wintery makes playing the Pathless is a beautiful and relaxing experience.
Until it isn't.
Where my enjoyment of The Pathless comes to a screeching halt is everything related to the story. The story itself isn't very good. The Godslayer is just comically evil for no reason I can fathom. He wants to kill the gods and reforge the world for an incredibly vague reason about a path to truth and even hunting through the lore whilst exploring I couldn't see a more in depth reason then he's just a tosser. I can live with this though, it's an established trope to give an antagonist I've seen many times before. Where it really grates me though is the game actively gets in my way of enjoying it by having each corrupted animal god have a red storm in it's area until cleansed. the corrupted god is inside it and the storm moves around sometimes especially when you first enter their domain seems to home in on you. If you go into it you have to do a stealth sequence where it searches for you whilst you try to get to your eagle. If you're caught you can permanently lose some gold gems.
It's awful.
whilst exploring an area I would sometimes have to wait until the storm moved away to avoid it so I could carry on exploring. It actively gets in the way of me enjoying it. Unfortunately the boss fights aren't really much better and just feel like they get in the way as something I had to do. Each one starts with a chase through fields of fire before fighting in an arena with a specific mechanic. The final boss and slight spoilers here, turns into a giant doom demon towering above you like something out of Devil May Cry that's so out of place I couldn't work out if I'd changed games by accident. It was actively comical.
A bit of a shame as the core exploration loop, wonderful vistas and music make for a great experience. Overall it's a fun game and it plays super smooth on the Playstation 5 with an easy platinum to boot. I had a good time with it, I'd recommend it but where the game veers into more adventure territory away from it's origins is where my enjoyment wobbled. Still pretty excited for their next title Swords of the Sea, now that is a Journey like!
+ Movement mechanic is fun and unique.
+ Beautiful art design and use of colours.
+ Wonderful soundtrack with a focus on drums, string and wind instruments.
- Storm sections get in the way of the game being fun.
- Boss fights are intrusive and feel out of place, especially the final boss.
- Story is uninspired.
You control a nameless archer trying to end a curse put on an island by the Godslayer corrupting the former animal gods that resided there. Each has it's own domain it rules over you have to cleanse section by section by exploring ruins and solving puzzles before culminating in a fight against the corrupted god at the end.
Exploring around, at least for me was extremely satisfying, though not at first. It has a unique mechanic where you use your bow to shoot at floating talismans by holding R2 which give you a burst of speed and an energy bar allowing you to keep running until it drains. These talismans are everywhere so if you continuously chain your shots you can smoothly sprint across the plains, fields and forests. The talismans when aiming have a bar themselves with two points, a full charge and a half charge. If you let go at the right time at the half way point you perform a 'skill shot' which means you fire faster and get a bigger speed boost. The game doesn't tell you this that I saw though and I found out by looking up trophies. with practice this can become second nature allowing a really smooth movement from location to location.
When not on a flat surface you can jump and grab onto your pet eagle to glide. shooting talismans gliding gives the same speed boost in mid air and a slight lift to keep your momentum going. The eagle can also flap to lift you a set amount up. You only have a certain amount of flaps which grow as you explore. Much of the environment has puzzles that as rewards give gold gems. Collect enough of these gives you another flap which allow you to explore and travel higher faster, getting to more puzzles to unlock more flaps. Though the flaps can take some time to unlock requiring a lot of gems I did enjoy the exploration and reward loop where they tie into each other.
The puzzles are going to be hit and miss depending on how you like your puzzling. I like mine simple enough I don't get frustrated and can work out what to do relatively quickly then spend time actioning which is what you get here. The mechanics are limited though, using your bow to light torches, or bounce arrows from mirrors mixed with using your eagle to carry pots of pull some items is your entire repertoire.
The simple puzzles and smooth traversal is exactly what I wanted. The gorgeous art design of ruins, statues, mountains and skylines accompanied by a stellar soundtrack by Austin Wintery makes playing the Pathless is a beautiful and relaxing experience.
Until it isn't.
Where my enjoyment of The Pathless comes to a screeching halt is everything related to the story. The story itself isn't very good. The Godslayer is just comically evil for no reason I can fathom. He wants to kill the gods and reforge the world for an incredibly vague reason about a path to truth and even hunting through the lore whilst exploring I couldn't see a more in depth reason then he's just a tosser. I can live with this though, it's an established trope to give an antagonist I've seen many times before. Where it really grates me though is the game actively gets in my way of enjoying it by having each corrupted animal god have a red storm in it's area until cleansed. the corrupted god is inside it and the storm moves around sometimes especially when you first enter their domain seems to home in on you. If you go into it you have to do a stealth sequence where it searches for you whilst you try to get to your eagle. If you're caught you can permanently lose some gold gems.
It's awful.
whilst exploring an area I would sometimes have to wait until the storm moved away to avoid it so I could carry on exploring. It actively gets in the way of me enjoying it. Unfortunately the boss fights aren't really much better and just feel like they get in the way as something I had to do. Each one starts with a chase through fields of fire before fighting in an arena with a specific mechanic. The final boss and slight spoilers here, turns into a giant doom demon towering above you like something out of Devil May Cry that's so out of place I couldn't work out if I'd changed games by accident. It was actively comical.
A bit of a shame as the core exploration loop, wonderful vistas and music make for a great experience. Overall it's a fun game and it plays super smooth on the Playstation 5 with an easy platinum to boot. I had a good time with it, I'd recommend it but where the game veers into more adventure territory away from it's origins is where my enjoyment wobbled. Still pretty excited for their next title Swords of the Sea, now that is a Journey like!
+ Movement mechanic is fun and unique.
+ Beautiful art design and use of colours.
+ Wonderful soundtrack with a focus on drums, string and wind instruments.
- Storm sections get in the way of the game being fun.
- Boss fights are intrusive and feel out of place, especially the final boss.
- Story is uninspired.
2023
I think there is this general thought floating around that when a company does something so well for so long it must be easy to create. In this particular example I am thinking of one of my favourite series Monster Hunter. Several other companies have put their hands into the hunter genre to various success but none have come close to the original's appeal and quality. Wild Hearts however gives a pretty good try and brings some really neat ideas to the table with it.
The most unique thing about Wild Hearts is it's Karakuri system. This allows the player to quick build wooden structures for use in combat as well as other functions. You can equip up to 4 basic ones that can also be used in fusion combinations to make different results. For example you can use a torch which on it's own will give a flame effect on your weapon but combine it with a celestial anchor which helps zip you around the map and it creates an extremely powerful cannon. These abilities create all sorts of effects like fireworks for knocking enemies out of the sky, walls for defence and to knock enemies over, hammers, traps, springboards, healing mist machines etc. The loadout you bring will depend on the weapon you use and enemy you face but are easy enough to switch out as and when is needed.
It is a brilliant system to be honest, they are quick to fire out, mostly nearly always useful and different players with different load outs can work well together. For example there is an enemy called the Kingtusk which is essentially a wild boar the size of a building who likes to charge attack. My friend's load out has a very quick release wall with a spring that only lasts a couple of seconds but will knock the boar on it's back when timed right allowing me to set up my above mentioned celestial cannon which takes some time to make and fire. The usage of these aren't infinite as they use a resource called thread you have a stock of. Depending what Karakuri you summon will effect the amount depleted. You build it back up through armour skills, environmental objects, attacking or jumping on wounded enemies and sucking it out of their wounds in a climbing exercise like shadow of the Colossus. Knowing how much thread you need to make things, how much you have and where to get more are the key loops to beating your enemies.
The Karakuri aren't limited to just combat though as you have another type called Dragon Karakuri which allow you to build permanent structures on each map. These structures are limited by elemental resources for each location you can expand as you play through the game to constantly work on what is available and as you unlock more Karakuri through upgrades. You can build your own camps for fast traveling, zip lines, updraft wind tunnels, giant wheel bikes, armour forges, search towers etc etc. Each player builds their own maps differently so joining online and seeing how they have theirs set up is really interesting. I tend to just have zip lines everywhere from camps to key areas like the worlds coolest assault course. Using a line from a cliff face, dropping off it half way to create a glider mid air to fly to your target before dropping down to attack will always be fun.
Alongside Karakuri you have your own weapon in which there are 8 to choose from; Katana, Nodachi, bow, maul, bladed wagasa, canon, claw blade and karakuri staff. Each weapon handles very differently with some being more simple than others but each having unique abilities. For example the Katana changing into a whip sword, or grappling in the air like an acrobat with the claw blade etc. I really like the weapons selections and some of them do some really interesting things like the Canon and Karakuri staff feeling more technical with a lot of steps to unlock their full potential. Their design is really interesting but honestly I feel they would be better utilised in a different game.
The issue is that the monsters you fight in most cases are so constantly aggressive it makes the Tigrex in Monster hunter look pretty laid back in comparison. They attack, non stop to the point at times it's actually ridiculous. Building up timed combo weapon changes in different rhythm multiple times to unlock the big hit with the Karakuri staff is more than often a laughable prospect. Their art designs are all really gorgeous at least. They are based mostly on fantasy looking corrupt animals like rats with flowers growing out of them, ice wolves, moss crocodiles etc. However there also just isn't enough of them, the game really lacks enemy variety. It plays over 5 chapters and just has the same half a dozen or so enemies over and over but the armour and weapon upgrades just aren't varied or interesting enough to not stop it feeling monotonous before you are even half way through.
I think if the story and characters could hold their own like the developers last attempt in the genre Toukiden then I could forgive that repetition along with the excellent combat system but sadly despite such a surprisingly large focus on characters and story it feels so dry and uninteresting with a terribly vague ending of nothing. It feels like the game needed more time in the oven to fully sculpt it's ideas. There is a lack of armour, weapon skills and build depth, a lack of enemy variety and a pretty uninteresting plot to boot and it's a real shame because some of the mechanics are really fantastic and I loved how it plays with it's gorgeous art design and music wrapping it all together. (I mean check out just the main menu theme.
It's a really good game, but it could have been an amazing one.
+ Karakuri system is utterly brilliant mechanic in and out of combat.
+ Beautiful art design and music.
+ Some seriously cool weapons...
-...some of which aren't worth using because the enemy AI is based around "relentless assault".
- Extremely limited enemy variety.
- Story and characters are uninteresting.
- Playing online due to EA's servers was a nightmare. Wouldn't let us play at all without telling why. Had to sign in with EA account on a PC to register it for this. It took us two days to figure this out. Why are they so terrible at everything they do? why?
The most unique thing about Wild Hearts is it's Karakuri system. This allows the player to quick build wooden structures for use in combat as well as other functions. You can equip up to 4 basic ones that can also be used in fusion combinations to make different results. For example you can use a torch which on it's own will give a flame effect on your weapon but combine it with a celestial anchor which helps zip you around the map and it creates an extremely powerful cannon. These abilities create all sorts of effects like fireworks for knocking enemies out of the sky, walls for defence and to knock enemies over, hammers, traps, springboards, healing mist machines etc. The loadout you bring will depend on the weapon you use and enemy you face but are easy enough to switch out as and when is needed.
It is a brilliant system to be honest, they are quick to fire out, mostly nearly always useful and different players with different load outs can work well together. For example there is an enemy called the Kingtusk which is essentially a wild boar the size of a building who likes to charge attack. My friend's load out has a very quick release wall with a spring that only lasts a couple of seconds but will knock the boar on it's back when timed right allowing me to set up my above mentioned celestial cannon which takes some time to make and fire. The usage of these aren't infinite as they use a resource called thread you have a stock of. Depending what Karakuri you summon will effect the amount depleted. You build it back up through armour skills, environmental objects, attacking or jumping on wounded enemies and sucking it out of their wounds in a climbing exercise like shadow of the Colossus. Knowing how much thread you need to make things, how much you have and where to get more are the key loops to beating your enemies.
The Karakuri aren't limited to just combat though as you have another type called Dragon Karakuri which allow you to build permanent structures on each map. These structures are limited by elemental resources for each location you can expand as you play through the game to constantly work on what is available and as you unlock more Karakuri through upgrades. You can build your own camps for fast traveling, zip lines, updraft wind tunnels, giant wheel bikes, armour forges, search towers etc etc. Each player builds their own maps differently so joining online and seeing how they have theirs set up is really interesting. I tend to just have zip lines everywhere from camps to key areas like the worlds coolest assault course. Using a line from a cliff face, dropping off it half way to create a glider mid air to fly to your target before dropping down to attack will always be fun.
Alongside Karakuri you have your own weapon in which there are 8 to choose from; Katana, Nodachi, bow, maul, bladed wagasa, canon, claw blade and karakuri staff. Each weapon handles very differently with some being more simple than others but each having unique abilities. For example the Katana changing into a whip sword, or grappling in the air like an acrobat with the claw blade etc. I really like the weapons selections and some of them do some really interesting things like the Canon and Karakuri staff feeling more technical with a lot of steps to unlock their full potential. Their design is really interesting but honestly I feel they would be better utilised in a different game.
The issue is that the monsters you fight in most cases are so constantly aggressive it makes the Tigrex in Monster hunter look pretty laid back in comparison. They attack, non stop to the point at times it's actually ridiculous. Building up timed combo weapon changes in different rhythm multiple times to unlock the big hit with the Karakuri staff is more than often a laughable prospect. Their art designs are all really gorgeous at least. They are based mostly on fantasy looking corrupt animals like rats with flowers growing out of them, ice wolves, moss crocodiles etc. However there also just isn't enough of them, the game really lacks enemy variety. It plays over 5 chapters and just has the same half a dozen or so enemies over and over but the armour and weapon upgrades just aren't varied or interesting enough to not stop it feeling monotonous before you are even half way through.
I think if the story and characters could hold their own like the developers last attempt in the genre Toukiden then I could forgive that repetition along with the excellent combat system but sadly despite such a surprisingly large focus on characters and story it feels so dry and uninteresting with a terribly vague ending of nothing. It feels like the game needed more time in the oven to fully sculpt it's ideas. There is a lack of armour, weapon skills and build depth, a lack of enemy variety and a pretty uninteresting plot to boot and it's a real shame because some of the mechanics are really fantastic and I loved how it plays with it's gorgeous art design and music wrapping it all together. (I mean check out just the main menu theme.
It's a really good game, but it could have been an amazing one.
+ Karakuri system is utterly brilliant mechanic in and out of combat.
+ Beautiful art design and music.
+ Some seriously cool weapons...
-...some of which aren't worth using because the enemy AI is based around "relentless assault".
- Extremely limited enemy variety.
- Story and characters are uninteresting.
- Playing online due to EA's servers was a nightmare. Wouldn't let us play at all without telling why. Had to sign in with EA account on a PC to register it for this. It took us two days to figure this out. Why are they so terrible at everything they do? why?
1991
I've been wanting to play the Trouble Shooter series for years (or Battle Mania as the series is called in Japan.) due to it's overall premise. It's a bit of a parody of the shoot 'em up genre in some ways though it does try some mechanically interesting ideas with it.
You control two combat operatives called Madison and Crystal who have been hired to save a kidnapped prince. Both characters have jet packs and blasters as basic gear and in between each level can select between 4 special weapons for their packs. This power up is their super attack essentially, (like a bomb in other shoot 'em ups) that after use recharges to fire again like it's an 80's powerpack. There are a variety of choices from lightning waves, missile barrages and lasers. If you don't like one then you can change it on the next mission to find one you like most though I found some more useful than others but that did also vary by level.
The main weapons they carry don't change, Madison fires little blue balls whilst Crystal carries a blaster that rapid fires some kind of orange arc beams that seem really powerful. You can get a few basic power ups that strengthen their attack, (In Maddison's case expand her cone of fire) and some speed ups, health ups and slow downs as well as one option turret that flies along firing with you. Overall the upgrades are limited and will mostly come down to your choice of special weapon. So load outs and power ups are pretty limited but where Trouble Shooter is interesting is that Crystal is more like an invincible option that follows you rather than a playable character. Only Madison actually takes damage and with a push of a button you can have Crystal flip 180 to start firing backwards to cover the rear if needed or have them both face forward for a full frontal barrage.
It's a really neat little idea to have it as a flexible use mechanic and what got me so interested in the series in the first place but it's just so bizarrely underused as a mechanic. Some enemies come from behind occasionally and a couple of bosses move around making it useful but it just doesn't feel like the game is designed around it enough and the limited weapons and lack of equipable load outs for each character compound that further. The level designs occasionally use it like in the second level with buzz saws coming from both directions as you travel down an underground base shaft which I liked and one boss in particular utilised it more than the others. Speaking of levels the game has 6 short stages even for a shoot 'em up and there seems to be little variety between playthroughs and it's on the easy side.
Though I enjoyed playing this quite a bit I was hoping to like this game more than I did overall. On the presentation front it has some decent music Stage 5 theme especially stood out as action packed and upbeat when I played. I like the visuals with chunky colourful sprites, paralax scrolling, level settings and anime character portraits during scenes. The mechanics and story writing though leave it as a good overall experience but it could have been an amazing one. So a good game but with missing potential as a final verdict.
I hear the sequel takes the idea and amps it up to 11 so I look forward to trying that.
+ Nice visuals and music.
+ I like the cover art of two sci-fi aerobics instructors, haters be damned.
+ Two characters with left or right shooting options is neat...
-...but severely underutilised.
You control two combat operatives called Madison and Crystal who have been hired to save a kidnapped prince. Both characters have jet packs and blasters as basic gear and in between each level can select between 4 special weapons for their packs. This power up is their super attack essentially, (like a bomb in other shoot 'em ups) that after use recharges to fire again like it's an 80's powerpack. There are a variety of choices from lightning waves, missile barrages and lasers. If you don't like one then you can change it on the next mission to find one you like most though I found some more useful than others but that did also vary by level.
The main weapons they carry don't change, Madison fires little blue balls whilst Crystal carries a blaster that rapid fires some kind of orange arc beams that seem really powerful. You can get a few basic power ups that strengthen their attack, (In Maddison's case expand her cone of fire) and some speed ups, health ups and slow downs as well as one option turret that flies along firing with you. Overall the upgrades are limited and will mostly come down to your choice of special weapon. So load outs and power ups are pretty limited but where Trouble Shooter is interesting is that Crystal is more like an invincible option that follows you rather than a playable character. Only Madison actually takes damage and with a push of a button you can have Crystal flip 180 to start firing backwards to cover the rear if needed or have them both face forward for a full frontal barrage.
It's a really neat little idea to have it as a flexible use mechanic and what got me so interested in the series in the first place but it's just so bizarrely underused as a mechanic. Some enemies come from behind occasionally and a couple of bosses move around making it useful but it just doesn't feel like the game is designed around it enough and the limited weapons and lack of equipable load outs for each character compound that further. The level designs occasionally use it like in the second level with buzz saws coming from both directions as you travel down an underground base shaft which I liked and one boss in particular utilised it more than the others. Speaking of levels the game has 6 short stages even for a shoot 'em up and there seems to be little variety between playthroughs and it's on the easy side.
Though I enjoyed playing this quite a bit I was hoping to like this game more than I did overall. On the presentation front it has some decent music Stage 5 theme especially stood out as action packed and upbeat when I played. I like the visuals with chunky colourful sprites, paralax scrolling, level settings and anime character portraits during scenes. The mechanics and story writing though leave it as a good overall experience but it could have been an amazing one. So a good game but with missing potential as a final verdict.
I hear the sequel takes the idea and amps it up to 11 so I look forward to trying that.
+ Nice visuals and music.
+ I like the cover art of two sci-fi aerobics instructors, haters be damned.
+ Two characters with left or right shooting options is neat...
-...but severely underutilised.
2001
"Devil May Cry's a Rockin, don't come a knockin baby yeah!"
So for a long time this was my favourite game ever and was the start of my solidification into a hardcore Capcom fan which has continued to this day. When this came out I was around 18 and a friend had bought it. We played it together and seeing a leather clad biker girl smash through a bar, a gothic castle and uppercutting a marionette with a sword then juggling it with dual wielding pistols was, at the time, the coolest thing ever. I knew this game inside and out speed running it, learning every move, or collecting over a million red orbs because I could. One weekend when I had the house to myself that same friend came and stayed over playing all night by setting up two PlayStation 2's next to two TVs so we could both play Devil May Cry on our own saves hunting S ranks until we had every one on every difficulty level including Dante Must Die. I loved it.
The thing is I'd never played a game like this before. It's roots starting as Resident Evil 4 before changing into it's own series are pretty evident in aspects of it's design. The gothic horror atmosphere slightly underlining it's occasionally camp and over the top exterior gelled for an extremely unique experience. I've seen a lot of reviews on here being pretty negative about it and you know what? I get it, I do. The static camera angle and controls built around it for people who having not played it during that era wouldn't care for or have the patience to learn would feel dated. The thing is though, the game is built around it fundamentally when you learn how to use it on it's terms. Enemies even off screen give audio attack cues, the controls are built around directions and angles in relation to the camera but are also designed for angle changes when you know how. It's a clever game for it's time and the mixture of basic exploration, puzzles and scattered battle arenas was just a fun mix as the game understands the importance of downtime.
It's also an impressive looking and sounding game. Remember this came out only a year after the PS2 launch and has these large levels, detailed character and enemy models and insane boss fights in which each feels like a real event to behold. I love the enemy designs such as shadow cats that launch spikes, incorporeal grim reapers and giant lava spiders. Though the boss fights do repeat they are such big spectacles and some of the hardest challenges in the game with some insane music. Speaking of which whilst the later soundtracks went a lot more metal with vocal tracks the original game has this mixture of gothic haunting melodies that could easily be in a horror game to sort of electronic rock tracks and just stands out a lot more from it's later sequels due to it.
Coming back to this in 2012 for the remaster and all the trophies then playing it again now and I still love it. Yes it's terribly cheesy with laughable lip synching, yes it's fixed camera can make the action feel unwieldly and yes it's probably one of those games you had to be there for....
....but it's the best Devil May Cry game though.
+ Horror and action roots mixed.
+ Combat and boss battles are exciting.
+ Great music and visuals.
+ Sometimes funny, sometimes intentionally.
- Fixed camera angle can take getting used to.
So for a long time this was my favourite game ever and was the start of my solidification into a hardcore Capcom fan which has continued to this day. When this came out I was around 18 and a friend had bought it. We played it together and seeing a leather clad biker girl smash through a bar, a gothic castle and uppercutting a marionette with a sword then juggling it with dual wielding pistols was, at the time, the coolest thing ever. I knew this game inside and out speed running it, learning every move, or collecting over a million red orbs because I could. One weekend when I had the house to myself that same friend came and stayed over playing all night by setting up two PlayStation 2's next to two TVs so we could both play Devil May Cry on our own saves hunting S ranks until we had every one on every difficulty level including Dante Must Die. I loved it.
The thing is I'd never played a game like this before. It's roots starting as Resident Evil 4 before changing into it's own series are pretty evident in aspects of it's design. The gothic horror atmosphere slightly underlining it's occasionally camp and over the top exterior gelled for an extremely unique experience. I've seen a lot of reviews on here being pretty negative about it and you know what? I get it, I do. The static camera angle and controls built around it for people who having not played it during that era wouldn't care for or have the patience to learn would feel dated. The thing is though, the game is built around it fundamentally when you learn how to use it on it's terms. Enemies even off screen give audio attack cues, the controls are built around directions and angles in relation to the camera but are also designed for angle changes when you know how. It's a clever game for it's time and the mixture of basic exploration, puzzles and scattered battle arenas was just a fun mix as the game understands the importance of downtime.
It's also an impressive looking and sounding game. Remember this came out only a year after the PS2 launch and has these large levels, detailed character and enemy models and insane boss fights in which each feels like a real event to behold. I love the enemy designs such as shadow cats that launch spikes, incorporeal grim reapers and giant lava spiders. Though the boss fights do repeat they are such big spectacles and some of the hardest challenges in the game with some insane music. Speaking of which whilst the later soundtracks went a lot more metal with vocal tracks the original game has this mixture of gothic haunting melodies that could easily be in a horror game to sort of electronic rock tracks and just stands out a lot more from it's later sequels due to it.
Coming back to this in 2012 for the remaster and all the trophies then playing it again now and I still love it. Yes it's terribly cheesy with laughable lip synching, yes it's fixed camera can make the action feel unwieldly and yes it's probably one of those games you had to be there for....
....but it's the best Devil May Cry game though.
+ Horror and action roots mixed.
+ Combat and boss battles are exciting.
+ Great music and visuals.
+ Sometimes funny, sometimes intentionally.
- Fixed camera angle can take getting used to.
When I was in my early 20's I had to go to London for an appointment. I had time to wait for a few hours so my mum said we should go to Westminster Abbey as it was nearby. I can't say this thought really interested me but that line of thinking soon changed when I actually entered the building. It's amazing how much you take your own country's landmarks and history for granted sometimes. Westminster Abbey is such a stunning cathedral full of history. Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Laurence Olivier, Geffery Chaucer, Charles Dickins, Winston Churchill, Rudyard Kipling among others are buried there. This is nothing compared with the architecture, artifacts (the coronation chair is located here) and atmosphere of the building. I've had a real interest in church and gothic architecture ever since. It was an eye opening experience that sometimes you can miss what is right in front of you.
How is any of this relevant to The Pillars of the Earth? It brought back that same feeling. That impression that I take more interest in other culture's history and landmarks than my own, this especially hit when I had to look up to see if King Stephen in this story was a real monarch (He was). You see this game is a work of historical fiction based on the novel by Ken Follet which much to my chagrin I also haven't read. It's set in 12th century England about the building of a cathedral, the clergy and monks, lords, politics and ordinary people around it over several years. There is a surprising amount of content included here with the game split into three sections called books where the characters vary as the story gets told from different perspectives. The characters are all extremely well written and the dialogue and pacing of the story wrapping everything together works far better than I had anticipated it would though it's very slow and mundane at times. It's not super thrilling or action packed but feels like a very mature and often disheartening story as I would expect based on the original source.
What really brings the characters and world together though is the games superb cast. The voice acting for each character just feels like perfect casting and considering the bulk of the game is these conversations it was imperative they got that right and I couldn't find a single fault. The games entire presentation is stunning actually. The game is 2D art and almost every scene just felt like a stunning painting with carefully calculated backgrounds and prominent character art and colours. It's often bleak in setting but gorgeous in visuals and sound. I never got tired of looking at it and I don't think I can praise it's presentation enough.
Whilst not admiring the vistas or enjoying the conversations, Pillars of the Earth from a gameplay perspective is a point and click. It really doesn't get much deeper than that, you pick up key conversations or items that you can use on characters to progress various quests or unlock more information. The items have a wheel or you can quick select on the d-pad. I appreciate there isn't anything bonkers like the Discworld games. Everything here is fairly straight forward and logical for the most part. It's clearly more about pushing the flow of the narrative of the source material rather than in engaging or challenging puzzles. The overall story is set but small actions you make or don't can have impact on aspects of it even if they seem small initially. Each chapter will highlight these decisions for you at the end.
Whilst I've been positive overall I did have some technical issues like once when loading my game I couldn't move my character at all, completely frozen meaning I had to restart a couple of hours of content as well as a crash and some audio issues which brought my enjoyment of the game down slightly. Despite that though I would really recommend it. It's like no point and click I've played or seen. The visual and audio quality are sublime mixed with an interesting period of history I really should learn more about.
+ Stunning artwork.
+ Great voice acting and casting.
+ Engrossing story.
- A few technical issues.
- Can feel slow at times, especially playing a lot it one sitting.
How is any of this relevant to The Pillars of the Earth? It brought back that same feeling. That impression that I take more interest in other culture's history and landmarks than my own, this especially hit when I had to look up to see if King Stephen in this story was a real monarch (He was). You see this game is a work of historical fiction based on the novel by Ken Follet which much to my chagrin I also haven't read. It's set in 12th century England about the building of a cathedral, the clergy and monks, lords, politics and ordinary people around it over several years. There is a surprising amount of content included here with the game split into three sections called books where the characters vary as the story gets told from different perspectives. The characters are all extremely well written and the dialogue and pacing of the story wrapping everything together works far better than I had anticipated it would though it's very slow and mundane at times. It's not super thrilling or action packed but feels like a very mature and often disheartening story as I would expect based on the original source.
What really brings the characters and world together though is the games superb cast. The voice acting for each character just feels like perfect casting and considering the bulk of the game is these conversations it was imperative they got that right and I couldn't find a single fault. The games entire presentation is stunning actually. The game is 2D art and almost every scene just felt like a stunning painting with carefully calculated backgrounds and prominent character art and colours. It's often bleak in setting but gorgeous in visuals and sound. I never got tired of looking at it and I don't think I can praise it's presentation enough.
Whilst not admiring the vistas or enjoying the conversations, Pillars of the Earth from a gameplay perspective is a point and click. It really doesn't get much deeper than that, you pick up key conversations or items that you can use on characters to progress various quests or unlock more information. The items have a wheel or you can quick select on the d-pad. I appreciate there isn't anything bonkers like the Discworld games. Everything here is fairly straight forward and logical for the most part. It's clearly more about pushing the flow of the narrative of the source material rather than in engaging or challenging puzzles. The overall story is set but small actions you make or don't can have impact on aspects of it even if they seem small initially. Each chapter will highlight these decisions for you at the end.
Whilst I've been positive overall I did have some technical issues like once when loading my game I couldn't move my character at all, completely frozen meaning I had to restart a couple of hours of content as well as a crash and some audio issues which brought my enjoyment of the game down slightly. Despite that though I would really recommend it. It's like no point and click I've played or seen. The visual and audio quality are sublime mixed with an interesting period of history I really should learn more about.
+ Stunning artwork.
+ Great voice acting and casting.
+ Engrossing story.
- A few technical issues.
- Can feel slow at times, especially playing a lot it one sitting.
2008
The start of the digital era of online game services is quite an interesting one as many companies experimented with what would work both in terms of both service and software. Take Wiiware for example, a service Nintendo introduced on the Wii in 2008. It allowed small teams to release small games (40mb limit) at budget prices. This was back at a time when shovelware appearing on these digital stores was a lot less of an issue and even some of the bigger known game developers were trying their hand in this type of market. This led Konami to release a trilogy of 'rebirth' games on the Wii. These games used existing intellectual property of Konami to make remake / remixes of older titles of Contra, Castlevania and the first of these three, Gradius.
The thing is that Gradius Rebirth just feels like a remix in every way. There isn't anything here that feels like this release was actually necessary. It's not that it's bad, it isn't. It plays like Gradius, looks like Gradius, sounds like Gradius but that's also kind of the problem. It's just so uninspired in a series hardly know for variation or innovation between titles. If you weren't a fan of Gradius this won't change your mind, if you were then you've basically played this game already. Otherwise it was just a Gradius title available on the Wii.
You play the role of James Burton piloting the iconic Vic Viper sent out to defeat the Bacterians. Like the rest of the series in Rebirth you can collect power ups that you choose when to use depending on how many you have collected which will upgrade a different element of the ship. Depending on the ship you choose (or later unlock) will depend on the load out available to upgrade. The upgrades are mostly weapons such as missiles, lasers, or two way firing but can also include the ships manoeuvre speed or force fields and shields as well. The various power up load outs have levels when used multiple times to gain strength to deal with the waves of enemies you will face over the course of the five levels.
I like the power up system, it gives control for what you want to upgrade and different ships handle different levels and bosses differently due to their slightly varied load outs. What I don't like is how utterly punishing it is when you die losing everything. Often if you die it will be because a section is hard to get by so going back into it with only a portion of your previous strength often means, (at least in my case) I will die there again. It feels there should be greater balance for a game that isn't an arcade coin gobbler like some of it's predecessors.
Whilst unfortunately Gradius Rebirth and the rest of this trilogy are currently lost to the annals of time with the Wiiware store closing in 2019. I also can't say unless you're a super fan you are missing out much with this one either. It's fine, it's just forgettable. Still I hope it does get a trilogy Rebirth release on modern platforms for preservation so that other gamers can at least find that out for themselves.
Half a star for the cover art. Gradius covers nearly always have stunning artwork and the usage of almost prism colours here really stand out.
+ Looks like Gradius, sounds like Gradius, plays like Gradius.
+ Gradius power up system and ship options are still pretty great a mechanic.
+ that cover art.
- Looks like Gradius, sounds like Gradius, plays like Gradius.
- Dying still feels brutally punishing.
The thing is that Gradius Rebirth just feels like a remix in every way. There isn't anything here that feels like this release was actually necessary. It's not that it's bad, it isn't. It plays like Gradius, looks like Gradius, sounds like Gradius but that's also kind of the problem. It's just so uninspired in a series hardly know for variation or innovation between titles. If you weren't a fan of Gradius this won't change your mind, if you were then you've basically played this game already. Otherwise it was just a Gradius title available on the Wii.
You play the role of James Burton piloting the iconic Vic Viper sent out to defeat the Bacterians. Like the rest of the series in Rebirth you can collect power ups that you choose when to use depending on how many you have collected which will upgrade a different element of the ship. Depending on the ship you choose (or later unlock) will depend on the load out available to upgrade. The upgrades are mostly weapons such as missiles, lasers, or two way firing but can also include the ships manoeuvre speed or force fields and shields as well. The various power up load outs have levels when used multiple times to gain strength to deal with the waves of enemies you will face over the course of the five levels.
I like the power up system, it gives control for what you want to upgrade and different ships handle different levels and bosses differently due to their slightly varied load outs. What I don't like is how utterly punishing it is when you die losing everything. Often if you die it will be because a section is hard to get by so going back into it with only a portion of your previous strength often means, (at least in my case) I will die there again. It feels there should be greater balance for a game that isn't an arcade coin gobbler like some of it's predecessors.
Whilst unfortunately Gradius Rebirth and the rest of this trilogy are currently lost to the annals of time with the Wiiware store closing in 2019. I also can't say unless you're a super fan you are missing out much with this one either. It's fine, it's just forgettable. Still I hope it does get a trilogy Rebirth release on modern platforms for preservation so that other gamers can at least find that out for themselves.
Half a star for the cover art. Gradius covers nearly always have stunning artwork and the usage of almost prism colours here really stand out.
+ Looks like Gradius, sounds like Gradius, plays like Gradius.
+ Gradius power up system and ship options are still pretty great a mechanic.
+ that cover art.
- Looks like Gradius, sounds like Gradius, plays like Gradius.
- Dying still feels brutally punishing.
1991
For many years I actually thought that Sonic the Hedgehog on the Master System was the same as the Mega Drive version only with 8-bit visuals. Not only is it a completely different game but it actually came out almost 6 months after the Mega Drive original.
There are some similarities, the opening stage is a version of Green Hill Zone (Complete with a nifty version of the level music) as are two others leaving 50% completely original locations. The general gameplay and structure of the game is also the same with several levels per each of the 6 zones followed by a fight with Robotnik and freeing the animals he captured as was the original game's premise.
The rest of the zones contained are different for both better and worse:
Zone 1 - Green hill - I like this zone, it's an easy going classic, there are reasons it or variations of it are normally starting zones
Zone 2 - Bridge - this is weirdly for a sonic game an auto scrolling zone. It kind of works though as this is a much slower paced platformer like it's Mega Drive counter part
Zone 3 - Jungle Zone - I have issues with this one listed below
Zone 4 - Labyrinth Zone - Another similar level from it's big brother, I like the underwater Sonic levels though I know I'm a minority there
Zone 5 - Scrap Brain Zone - So much better than it's big brothers version again, easier and less frustrating
Zone 6 - Sky Base Zone - I liked this level, had a great atmosphere
Of all the zones the only one I wasn't keen on was the Jungle zone. there is a section that's a bit tricky where you climb up a waterfall jumping on ledges and rocks. once the screen goes past a platform though it locks meaning if you try to jump back to it you instantly die even if it's a millimetre which is just kind of stupid. Other minor gameplay annoyances including how the rings work as the amount only matters for gaining extra lives. If sonic takes a hit he loses them all with one visible ring dropping you can't collect so essentially you only have the one hit to take regardless. The boss levels you don't have any rings at all though I kind of liked that as you had to learn the pattern and play skilfully. The bosses themselves aren't brutally hard though, especially to a seasoned Sonic player. Interestingly when you collect a bubble shield from a TV though it does transfer between levels so you can head into a boss with one as a possibility, I liked that.
There are Special Zones accessed through non boss stages when finishing with more than fifty rings as the only other use for them. This gives you the chance to get extra lives or continues by bouncing on springs to the end of the level in a time limit. There are no chaos emeralds here though, for a bit of a change they are actually hidden in the main levels requiring good jump control, using invincibility boxes to reach in spikes etc.
The game handles really well, the jumps and animations feel like a Sonic game should. The visuals and art design are the level of coloured and varied as I would expect, though the tiny enemy models are hilariously cute. The backgrounds are pretty static but Sonic's character model and animations are really well done. Interestingly this is actually the first game made by Ancient, the company formed by legendary composer Yuzo Koshiro. It was initially created to make this game specifically and it's Game Gear counter part before going on to later fame making Streets of rage and Beyond Oasis.
Overall I had a good time with this and the thing is I didn't expect to. It looks really nice for an 8-bit game, has a banger OST and plays well with some neat little ideas. Not everything works but overall it's a good little game.
+ Nice visuals and music.
+ Zones are fun and varied.
+ No ring bosses and emeralds on stages are different.
- Jungle Zone instant death isn't very well designed.
- Losing rings all at once is kind of lame.
There are some similarities, the opening stage is a version of Green Hill Zone (Complete with a nifty version of the level music) as are two others leaving 50% completely original locations. The general gameplay and structure of the game is also the same with several levels per each of the 6 zones followed by a fight with Robotnik and freeing the animals he captured as was the original game's premise.
The rest of the zones contained are different for both better and worse:
Zone 1 - Green hill - I like this zone, it's an easy going classic, there are reasons it or variations of it are normally starting zones
Zone 2 - Bridge - this is weirdly for a sonic game an auto scrolling zone. It kind of works though as this is a much slower paced platformer like it's Mega Drive counter part
Zone 3 - Jungle Zone - I have issues with this one listed below
Zone 4 - Labyrinth Zone - Another similar level from it's big brother, I like the underwater Sonic levels though I know I'm a minority there
Zone 5 - Scrap Brain Zone - So much better than it's big brothers version again, easier and less frustrating
Zone 6 - Sky Base Zone - I liked this level, had a great atmosphere
Of all the zones the only one I wasn't keen on was the Jungle zone. there is a section that's a bit tricky where you climb up a waterfall jumping on ledges and rocks. once the screen goes past a platform though it locks meaning if you try to jump back to it you instantly die even if it's a millimetre which is just kind of stupid. Other minor gameplay annoyances including how the rings work as the amount only matters for gaining extra lives. If sonic takes a hit he loses them all with one visible ring dropping you can't collect so essentially you only have the one hit to take regardless. The boss levels you don't have any rings at all though I kind of liked that as you had to learn the pattern and play skilfully. The bosses themselves aren't brutally hard though, especially to a seasoned Sonic player. Interestingly when you collect a bubble shield from a TV though it does transfer between levels so you can head into a boss with one as a possibility, I liked that.
There are Special Zones accessed through non boss stages when finishing with more than fifty rings as the only other use for them. This gives you the chance to get extra lives or continues by bouncing on springs to the end of the level in a time limit. There are no chaos emeralds here though, for a bit of a change they are actually hidden in the main levels requiring good jump control, using invincibility boxes to reach in spikes etc.
The game handles really well, the jumps and animations feel like a Sonic game should. The visuals and art design are the level of coloured and varied as I would expect, though the tiny enemy models are hilariously cute. The backgrounds are pretty static but Sonic's character model and animations are really well done. Interestingly this is actually the first game made by Ancient, the company formed by legendary composer Yuzo Koshiro. It was initially created to make this game specifically and it's Game Gear counter part before going on to later fame making Streets of rage and Beyond Oasis.
Overall I had a good time with this and the thing is I didn't expect to. It looks really nice for an 8-bit game, has a banger OST and plays well with some neat little ideas. Not everything works but overall it's a good little game.
+ Nice visuals and music.
+ Zones are fun and varied.
+ No ring bosses and emeralds on stages are different.
- Jungle Zone instant death isn't very well designed.
- Losing rings all at once is kind of lame.
Not all heroes wear capes, some wear seriously outdated suits.
It's been a long road getting to this point for both myself and Yakuza's main star Kiryu Kazama. Like many people I got into this series with Yakuza 0 through word of mouth in 2017 and wondered what I had missed all that time. There simply isn't another game series like it. It's a Frankenstein's monster whose separate parts on paper don't feel like they should work but amalgamated together they create something magical. They are serious crime dramas, only they are off beat comedies. They are beat 'em ups yet also adventure games, RPGs and dating simulators. It's all of these things and yet none of them. Not all it's ideas work, when they throw so much at the wall some things don't always stick but without fail for me they are always emotional, hilarious and entertaining.
The series' big selling point to me though is actually it's world design. This series along with Deus Ex made me realise I don't dislike open worlds, I dislike vast areas for the sake of being vast with empty meaningless content, sometimes less is more. Yakuza games are open worlds done right, not gigantic bloated icon maps usually used for those descriptions but smaller denser hubs. Locations have meaning, they have personality, the cities feel like characters in the game as much as the cast. If the game tells me to go to a shop or street I normally know where it is without having to bring up a map. They are full of life, small compact and focused.
Yakuza 6's story follows this same thought, whether it was because this was the first game on the Dragon Engine at the time meaning they cut back I don't know but I appreciated the sharper focus on Kiryu rather than the overly large games before that were getting a bit too big for themselves. Kiryu was really the heart of this game, it's his personal story about his own values and dedication to family. Hard to discuss without spoilers but whilst the overall story wasn't quite my cup of tea generally resulting in some pacing issues it still has some fantastic characters, moments and voice acting. This is partially because Yakuza's cinematography for it's cutscenes are a step above most games to me. The camera angles, facial details and expressions have always been extremely impressive but I truly noticed it here.
Like every Yakuza game the side content is often as important as the linear main story. Yakuza 6 scales back on this too but there is still a wealth of content here I spent a lot of my 70 hours playing through on. Spear fishing in an underwater on rails shooter, building up a clan for street fights in a mini strategy game, helping a small baseball team beat their countryside rivals (I'm not into baseball but this is making me consider some other games for it) as well as the usual suspects like cabaret clubs, video chat dating, mahjong and arcade games. It even has the full arcade game of Virtua Fighter 5 as optional content which is pretty crazy as far as a throw away mini game is concerned.
Honestly except some story beats I just don't have anything negative to say about this game. The combat is a little simpler than some other titles though that doesn't concern me much as the moment to moment narrative beats and atmosphere are the core to the series to me. I started it because I needed to play it to play Gaiden as I skipped from 5 to 7 initially but then had a feeling of regret I hadn't played it sooner as the Yakuza magic took hold of me. I love the world, the characters, the side content, exploring and taking in the sights of the locations. Yakuza as I discussed is a lot of things but to someone who grew up as a Sega fan it really shows to me that they still have that spark that made me a fan of theirs in the first place and may it long continue.
+ Hiroshima is a great new location.
+ Cinematography and voice acting are superb.
+ Baseball, spear fishing and clan fighting are pretty fun side content.
+ It's Yakuza.
- Storyline is a little up and down.
It's been a long road getting to this point for both myself and Yakuza's main star Kiryu Kazama. Like many people I got into this series with Yakuza 0 through word of mouth in 2017 and wondered what I had missed all that time. There simply isn't another game series like it. It's a Frankenstein's monster whose separate parts on paper don't feel like they should work but amalgamated together they create something magical. They are serious crime dramas, only they are off beat comedies. They are beat 'em ups yet also adventure games, RPGs and dating simulators. It's all of these things and yet none of them. Not all it's ideas work, when they throw so much at the wall some things don't always stick but without fail for me they are always emotional, hilarious and entertaining.
The series' big selling point to me though is actually it's world design. This series along with Deus Ex made me realise I don't dislike open worlds, I dislike vast areas for the sake of being vast with empty meaningless content, sometimes less is more. Yakuza games are open worlds done right, not gigantic bloated icon maps usually used for those descriptions but smaller denser hubs. Locations have meaning, they have personality, the cities feel like characters in the game as much as the cast. If the game tells me to go to a shop or street I normally know where it is without having to bring up a map. They are full of life, small compact and focused.
Yakuza 6's story follows this same thought, whether it was because this was the first game on the Dragon Engine at the time meaning they cut back I don't know but I appreciated the sharper focus on Kiryu rather than the overly large games before that were getting a bit too big for themselves. Kiryu was really the heart of this game, it's his personal story about his own values and dedication to family. Hard to discuss without spoilers but whilst the overall story wasn't quite my cup of tea generally resulting in some pacing issues it still has some fantastic characters, moments and voice acting. This is partially because Yakuza's cinematography for it's cutscenes are a step above most games to me. The camera angles, facial details and expressions have always been extremely impressive but I truly noticed it here.
Like every Yakuza game the side content is often as important as the linear main story. Yakuza 6 scales back on this too but there is still a wealth of content here I spent a lot of my 70 hours playing through on. Spear fishing in an underwater on rails shooter, building up a clan for street fights in a mini strategy game, helping a small baseball team beat their countryside rivals (I'm not into baseball but this is making me consider some other games for it) as well as the usual suspects like cabaret clubs, video chat dating, mahjong and arcade games. It even has the full arcade game of Virtua Fighter 5 as optional content which is pretty crazy as far as a throw away mini game is concerned.
Honestly except some story beats I just don't have anything negative to say about this game. The combat is a little simpler than some other titles though that doesn't concern me much as the moment to moment narrative beats and atmosphere are the core to the series to me. I started it because I needed to play it to play Gaiden as I skipped from 5 to 7 initially but then had a feeling of regret I hadn't played it sooner as the Yakuza magic took hold of me. I love the world, the characters, the side content, exploring and taking in the sights of the locations. Yakuza as I discussed is a lot of things but to someone who grew up as a Sega fan it really shows to me that they still have that spark that made me a fan of theirs in the first place and may it long continue.
+ Hiroshima is a great new location.
+ Cinematography and voice acting are superb.
+ Baseball, spear fishing and clan fighting are pretty fun side content.
+ It's Yakuza.
- Storyline is a little up and down.
Two men approach a ledge. They are underground in an incredibly hostile environment that neither could foresee arriving in when they woke up that morning. They are tired, mentally frayed and have an uneasy trust in each other based entirely on circumstances. The first man reaches the ledge, after an awkwardly long second staring he finally drops down the 3ft drop to continue along the dimly lit path. The second man approaches the ledge but rather than drop down he freezes, staring at it whilst his comrade looks at him perplexed. The man walks away from the ledge before coming back to it freezing again. He refused to jump down to continue their trek. Was it fear preventing him? Had the ordeal and horrors he'd witnessed finally pushed his mind to far?
No, it's just that playing House of Ashes in online co-op was a miserable buggy experience.
You see I played this with a friend, we play together nearly every evening and are always looking for a new Playstation co-op experience. We had enjoyed Man of Medan despite some issues and heard this game was supposedly all around the better of the two. We ran into constant technical problems though. Characters getting stuck, locking up for no reason. The game taking forever to actually perform an action, even picking up an item to look at was a complete chore of waiting 10 seconds to see if they would actually move. We had to quit out and restart half a dozen times to get past various sections and by the end we were frustrated by it all. The thing is it wasn't just the technical problems but a variety of issues built up leaving a bitter taste in our mouths. We beat the game, kind of hated it and moved onto Wild Hearts. The thing is, I decided to go back to it to see if the game was better playing it on my own and my second experience has left me softer towards it overall though certain flaws continue regardless of player occupancy.
For those unaware The Dark Pictures Anthology is a series of horror games by developer Supermassive Games that are more like quick time event interactive movies. Your inputs decide the outcome and the wrong move at the wrong time can see characters permanently die and adjust the story outcome slightly. Our first issue with this game is the button prompts for these events. They are based on the PS5 controller with white buttons with the Cross, Triangle, Square and Circle symbols overlayed in grey. They aren't clear without colour to tell them apart and when you only have a second to work it out...well the design is awful. I went into the accessibility options to change them all to cross because it was implemented so badly when playing on my own. I will at least give them credit for those features.
A lot of the rest of the game has it's ups and downs as well. I really liked the setting going with a Mesopotamian historical influence which isn't something seen in games all too much. The modern plot setting there of the 2003 invasion of Iraq looking for chemical weapons however certainly is...a choice. It did allow a good relationship build up between two characters of Jason a lieutenant in the US marines and Salim a sergeant in the Iraqi army. Their characters and relationship are the two best parts of the whole game with some well written dialog and voice acting that bring them to life as being both professional and empathetic. If only the rest of the writing was as good or even competent because most of the other characters are just unrelatable buffoons. I didn't care for the forced interpersonal drama between 3 of them and was quite happy for them to die. They are needlessly confrontational, rude and in a lot of cases completely inconsistent. In one scene as an example:
Character 1: "What's there to think about? We go and save him"
Character 2: thinks about it for a second
Character 1: "He isn't one of us lets leave him"
It's like they are different people from line to line at times completely breaking immersion when they 180, never mind in the same conversation. Frankly except Jason and Salim they are all extremely unlikeable. I understand the developers want to build a varied cast that will leave difficult decisions for the player with conflict but they went overboard leaving a negative experience in a lot of scenes because I just didn't care about what happened to any of them.
The story also kind of lacks suspense and scares which I was surprised by. It has an interesting setting and atmosphere but it never really uses them to build up any tension or fear of the unknown. Except for a few scenes early on the game is more just a military shooter than a horror title. The magic is gone when the monster is revealed and the curtain gets drawn back. In this case it just happens all too early.
I will say my second playthrough was far more enjoyable overall regardless of the issues above. The only bugs playing solo was a trophy not unlocking (I had to disconnect from the internet and restart my PS5 replaying the scene to unlock it as a work around found by the community). I really like the visuals and general ideas presented here, they just needed more polish and to iron out the cast to a better degree. Still I am glad I went back to it as it has convinced me to play the second game in the series Little Hope which I had initially written off after my first playthrough of House of ashes, I just won't play it online...
+ Jason and Salim are great characters with an excellent comradery.
+ Visuals are gorgeous.
+ Mesopotamian setting is a nice choice.
- The other characters could all rot for all I care.
- Playstation quick time buttons are unclear.
- Online is a constant buggy mess and a semi bugged trophy.
- Not scary, no tension or build up.
- War setting is...a choice.
No, it's just that playing House of Ashes in online co-op was a miserable buggy experience.
You see I played this with a friend, we play together nearly every evening and are always looking for a new Playstation co-op experience. We had enjoyed Man of Medan despite some issues and heard this game was supposedly all around the better of the two. We ran into constant technical problems though. Characters getting stuck, locking up for no reason. The game taking forever to actually perform an action, even picking up an item to look at was a complete chore of waiting 10 seconds to see if they would actually move. We had to quit out and restart half a dozen times to get past various sections and by the end we were frustrated by it all. The thing is it wasn't just the technical problems but a variety of issues built up leaving a bitter taste in our mouths. We beat the game, kind of hated it and moved onto Wild Hearts. The thing is, I decided to go back to it to see if the game was better playing it on my own and my second experience has left me softer towards it overall though certain flaws continue regardless of player occupancy.
For those unaware The Dark Pictures Anthology is a series of horror games by developer Supermassive Games that are more like quick time event interactive movies. Your inputs decide the outcome and the wrong move at the wrong time can see characters permanently die and adjust the story outcome slightly. Our first issue with this game is the button prompts for these events. They are based on the PS5 controller with white buttons with the Cross, Triangle, Square and Circle symbols overlayed in grey. They aren't clear without colour to tell them apart and when you only have a second to work it out...well the design is awful. I went into the accessibility options to change them all to cross because it was implemented so badly when playing on my own. I will at least give them credit for those features.
A lot of the rest of the game has it's ups and downs as well. I really liked the setting going with a Mesopotamian historical influence which isn't something seen in games all too much. The modern plot setting there of the 2003 invasion of Iraq looking for chemical weapons however certainly is...a choice. It did allow a good relationship build up between two characters of Jason a lieutenant in the US marines and Salim a sergeant in the Iraqi army. Their characters and relationship are the two best parts of the whole game with some well written dialog and voice acting that bring them to life as being both professional and empathetic. If only the rest of the writing was as good or even competent because most of the other characters are just unrelatable buffoons. I didn't care for the forced interpersonal drama between 3 of them and was quite happy for them to die. They are needlessly confrontational, rude and in a lot of cases completely inconsistent. In one scene as an example:
Character 1: "What's there to think about? We go and save him"
Character 2: thinks about it for a second
Character 1: "He isn't one of us lets leave him"
It's like they are different people from line to line at times completely breaking immersion when they 180, never mind in the same conversation. Frankly except Jason and Salim they are all extremely unlikeable. I understand the developers want to build a varied cast that will leave difficult decisions for the player with conflict but they went overboard leaving a negative experience in a lot of scenes because I just didn't care about what happened to any of them.
The story also kind of lacks suspense and scares which I was surprised by. It has an interesting setting and atmosphere but it never really uses them to build up any tension or fear of the unknown. Except for a few scenes early on the game is more just a military shooter than a horror title. The magic is gone when the monster is revealed and the curtain gets drawn back. In this case it just happens all too early.
I will say my second playthrough was far more enjoyable overall regardless of the issues above. The only bugs playing solo was a trophy not unlocking (I had to disconnect from the internet and restart my PS5 replaying the scene to unlock it as a work around found by the community). I really like the visuals and general ideas presented here, they just needed more polish and to iron out the cast to a better degree. Still I am glad I went back to it as it has convinced me to play the second game in the series Little Hope which I had initially written off after my first playthrough of House of ashes, I just won't play it online...
+ Jason and Salim are great characters with an excellent comradery.
+ Visuals are gorgeous.
+ Mesopotamian setting is a nice choice.
- The other characters could all rot for all I care.
- Playstation quick time buttons are unclear.
- Online is a constant buggy mess and a semi bugged trophy.
- Not scary, no tension or build up.
- War setting is...a choice.
1995
This is the second 32X game I've played as the system had such a limited library in it's short life span. I may decide to try some of the many ports on it to see the difference at some point but otherwise there isn't really much else to try. It's a shame really because though pretty rough in a lot of areas Metal Head does show glimmers of promise for what the 32X could do.
Released in February 1995 this game is at the time of writing 29 years old. I played this on original hardware with a third party 6 button controller. The controller is kind of needed for the variety of options this has to my surprise in controlling your mech (You can play it on a 3 button as well). The mech you pilot is referred to as a 'Metal Head' though the role you play is part of the World Federation Police taking down terrorists. There is more of a plot but it's utterly drab in how it comes across. There is an intro sequence with the background story and in between missions you have a digitised head of your commander talking to you about your objectives to push the plot along. The audio quality for the dialog is just awful, like they have the microphone in their mouth when speaking but the worst aspect of this is the digitised head animations. Look at this (0.41 seconds in). It's like trying to make a real life Terrance & Phillip from South Park. I'll be honest I found it hilarious but for a game that mostly takes it's terrorist, war, military police themes so seriously it's kind of laughable.
More positively though the visuals are actually pretty solid. Very early 3D and feels almost like it could be a launch PS1 game. You move your Metal Head through city environments and sometimes industrial warehouse / underground bases. You fight a variety of drones, tanks and mechs on these 3D battlefields. The buildings are all 3D models with a flat image in the horizon to hide the draw distance but with the slightly muddy rough visual style it all blends together surprisingly well. Much like the digitised talking heads though when the mechs are destroyed falling into their base polygons onto the floor shatters the illusion and the frame rate does tend to chug along a bit at times. These small caveats asides though I was pretty impressed overall with it's visuals.
Gameplay wise as mentioned above it's recommended for the 6 button controller. It uses a couple of buttons to look 90 degrees left or right, change weapons, strafe, fire, run as well as change perspective. It's got a pretty robust set of options for the time and a variety of views including two first person variations and two third person variations. Actually firing weapons at anything though just feels awful. Weapons lack punch regardless of which one you use from chain guns to rocket launchers. They may as well be spud guns. Aiming is equally poor due to the juddering frame rate and sometimes it's uncertain if you are even hitting the enemies in question lacking impact or having pitiful explosions. For each mission you beat you earn points that you can use in between to either upgrade or buy new weapons however this resets each time and isn't permanent. You can tell this is a grift as the merchant calls you a 'chump' each time. He can see us coming a mile away apparently.
So did I have fun playing this? In small bursts kinda? Would I recommend this? No, unless you want to experience a retro piece of gaming history on a failed console experiment. The 32X had a ton of potential that people are still showing to this day and Metal Head does show this but realistically, it's not a very good game.
Also standard for me, I need to comment that I love the cover art. I wish the game looked like that actually playing it.
+ Visuals show the 32X's potential.
+ Robust control and views.
+ Digitised heads are hilarious...
- ...but also the spoken audio and digitised heads are awful.
- Story is boring.
- Missions are stale.
- Weapons lack impact or punch.
Released in February 1995 this game is at the time of writing 29 years old. I played this on original hardware with a third party 6 button controller. The controller is kind of needed for the variety of options this has to my surprise in controlling your mech (You can play it on a 3 button as well). The mech you pilot is referred to as a 'Metal Head' though the role you play is part of the World Federation Police taking down terrorists. There is more of a plot but it's utterly drab in how it comes across. There is an intro sequence with the background story and in between missions you have a digitised head of your commander talking to you about your objectives to push the plot along. The audio quality for the dialog is just awful, like they have the microphone in their mouth when speaking but the worst aspect of this is the digitised head animations. Look at this (0.41 seconds in). It's like trying to make a real life Terrance & Phillip from South Park. I'll be honest I found it hilarious but for a game that mostly takes it's terrorist, war, military police themes so seriously it's kind of laughable.
More positively though the visuals are actually pretty solid. Very early 3D and feels almost like it could be a launch PS1 game. You move your Metal Head through city environments and sometimes industrial warehouse / underground bases. You fight a variety of drones, tanks and mechs on these 3D battlefields. The buildings are all 3D models with a flat image in the horizon to hide the draw distance but with the slightly muddy rough visual style it all blends together surprisingly well. Much like the digitised talking heads though when the mechs are destroyed falling into their base polygons onto the floor shatters the illusion and the frame rate does tend to chug along a bit at times. These small caveats asides though I was pretty impressed overall with it's visuals.
Gameplay wise as mentioned above it's recommended for the 6 button controller. It uses a couple of buttons to look 90 degrees left or right, change weapons, strafe, fire, run as well as change perspective. It's got a pretty robust set of options for the time and a variety of views including two first person variations and two third person variations. Actually firing weapons at anything though just feels awful. Weapons lack punch regardless of which one you use from chain guns to rocket launchers. They may as well be spud guns. Aiming is equally poor due to the juddering frame rate and sometimes it's uncertain if you are even hitting the enemies in question lacking impact or having pitiful explosions. For each mission you beat you earn points that you can use in between to either upgrade or buy new weapons however this resets each time and isn't permanent. You can tell this is a grift as the merchant calls you a 'chump' each time. He can see us coming a mile away apparently.
So did I have fun playing this? In small bursts kinda? Would I recommend this? No, unless you want to experience a retro piece of gaming history on a failed console experiment. The 32X had a ton of potential that people are still showing to this day and Metal Head does show this but realistically, it's not a very good game.
Also standard for me, I need to comment that I love the cover art. I wish the game looked like that actually playing it.
+ Visuals show the 32X's potential.
+ Robust control and views.
+ Digitised heads are hilarious...
- ...but also the spoken audio and digitised heads are awful.
- Story is boring.
- Missions are stale.
- Weapons lack impact or punch.
1993
As a gaming new years resolution I set myself three goals this year; to try and beat over 100 games, buy less than I beat and to try and play at least one game from every system I have access to. So, here is the Super Nintendo Entertainment System entry for the year, Final Fight 2!
I chose this as I beat the original Final Fight on both arcade and Sega CD last year for the first time. To be honest I didn't actually like it that much which was kind of a surprise as both a beat 'em up and Capcom fan. It was a pretty early game in the genre though coming out in 1989 and helped pioneer a lot of later games so I could forgive it a bit for it's rough edges. Final Fight 2 a little less so though overall I do actually like it more.
So firstly the game feels a lot less swarm heavy, perhaps because it's a SNES exclusive (I still haven't played the Final Fight SNES port). Enemies come in smaller groups and don't feel quite as insanely aggressive though they will still try and circle around you which I like. There are three playable characters. Hagar returning from Final Fight, he's a wrestler (you can see him drop kicking a goon flexing his huge muscles on the cover art here), his South American friend Carlos who fights with a sword, (and by that I mean he has it on his back but uses it for 1 move), and Maki, who dresses a bit like a Kunoichi, a student of ninjitsu. They are after Maki's sister and father who have been kidnapped by the sudden re-emergence of the Mad Gear Gang from the first game who have suddenly gained a worldwide presence. This is evidently an excuse for visiting more locations than anything truly plot related.
The characters all play pretty much the same regardless of who you choose. A basic attack combo, a jump and a special move used for crowd control. They can grab enemies in holds when close enough and do throws is about it, it's pretty basic for a beat 'em up. My only real input on the characters is I appreciate them adding a female playable character instead of the three men from the original. My issues really stem that this game feels pretty run of the mill generally. Similar to Final Fight 1 you have seen the few enemy types by the start of the second stage and just beat the same 4 enemies over and over from there onwards with no surprises. Andore is the only memorable enemy and that's mostly because he was in the original Final Fight, is clearly andre the Giant, has a large health bar, and is everywhere. Nothing new appears over the course of the game to make it feel fresh from level to level. The level design itself feels pretty similar in that you go to multiple world locations but the set pieces are all pretty uninteresting and you fight the same 4 guys in each part of the world.
Compounding that is the bosses which all feel like a non event. They feel almost like regular enemies just with slightly higher health bars. a lot of them have really dodgy grab animations and range where you teleport into their hands a few feet away and the worst of these is Rolent, a boss from Final Fight brought back with the same grenades and running around. He can outmanoeuvre and outreach your limited move set and is just awful to fight. He's the only boss I really remember, mostly because he is frustrating. Weirdly the music doesn't change during a boss fight either to the point it's just tracks like this which is ok for a stage but not a boss. The first boss I fought I didn't even realise was the end level boss due to this uneventful feel.
Speaking of music, it's fine but I don't think a single track stood out from the whole game and I guess that sums up Final Fight 2. Nothing about it really excels and when it's been 4 years since the first game and it feels exactly the same is a bit disappointing. All that said though I had fun playing through it and don't want to sound too negative as I don't think it's a bad game, it plays well, sounds decent and looks nice, it's just forgettable.
Also, I always thought Maki was an SNK character when playing Capcom vs SNK 2 back in the day. Gaming knowledge increase. (+1exp!)
+ Maki as a playable female character.
+ It's fun enough and well made.
- Feels uninspired. Seen all enemies by the start of level 2.
- Bosses feel like a non event with huge hit pools.
- Some questionable grab detection.
I chose this as I beat the original Final Fight on both arcade and Sega CD last year for the first time. To be honest I didn't actually like it that much which was kind of a surprise as both a beat 'em up and Capcom fan. It was a pretty early game in the genre though coming out in 1989 and helped pioneer a lot of later games so I could forgive it a bit for it's rough edges. Final Fight 2 a little less so though overall I do actually like it more.
So firstly the game feels a lot less swarm heavy, perhaps because it's a SNES exclusive (I still haven't played the Final Fight SNES port). Enemies come in smaller groups and don't feel quite as insanely aggressive though they will still try and circle around you which I like. There are three playable characters. Hagar returning from Final Fight, he's a wrestler (you can see him drop kicking a goon flexing his huge muscles on the cover art here), his South American friend Carlos who fights with a sword, (and by that I mean he has it on his back but uses it for 1 move), and Maki, who dresses a bit like a Kunoichi, a student of ninjitsu. They are after Maki's sister and father who have been kidnapped by the sudden re-emergence of the Mad Gear Gang from the first game who have suddenly gained a worldwide presence. This is evidently an excuse for visiting more locations than anything truly plot related.
The characters all play pretty much the same regardless of who you choose. A basic attack combo, a jump and a special move used for crowd control. They can grab enemies in holds when close enough and do throws is about it, it's pretty basic for a beat 'em up. My only real input on the characters is I appreciate them adding a female playable character instead of the three men from the original. My issues really stem that this game feels pretty run of the mill generally. Similar to Final Fight 1 you have seen the few enemy types by the start of the second stage and just beat the same 4 enemies over and over from there onwards with no surprises. Andore is the only memorable enemy and that's mostly because he was in the original Final Fight, is clearly andre the Giant, has a large health bar, and is everywhere. Nothing new appears over the course of the game to make it feel fresh from level to level. The level design itself feels pretty similar in that you go to multiple world locations but the set pieces are all pretty uninteresting and you fight the same 4 guys in each part of the world.
Compounding that is the bosses which all feel like a non event. They feel almost like regular enemies just with slightly higher health bars. a lot of them have really dodgy grab animations and range where you teleport into their hands a few feet away and the worst of these is Rolent, a boss from Final Fight brought back with the same grenades and running around. He can outmanoeuvre and outreach your limited move set and is just awful to fight. He's the only boss I really remember, mostly because he is frustrating. Weirdly the music doesn't change during a boss fight either to the point it's just tracks like this which is ok for a stage but not a boss. The first boss I fought I didn't even realise was the end level boss due to this uneventful feel.
Speaking of music, it's fine but I don't think a single track stood out from the whole game and I guess that sums up Final Fight 2. Nothing about it really excels and when it's been 4 years since the first game and it feels exactly the same is a bit disappointing. All that said though I had fun playing through it and don't want to sound too negative as I don't think it's a bad game, it plays well, sounds decent and looks nice, it's just forgettable.
Also, I always thought Maki was an SNK character when playing Capcom vs SNK 2 back in the day. Gaming knowledge increase. (+1exp!)
+ Maki as a playable female character.
+ It's fun enough and well made.
- Feels uninspired. Seen all enemies by the start of level 2.
- Bosses feel like a non event with huge hit pools.
- Some questionable grab detection.