Halo24013
2006
I finally played this game, and I have to say. I'm surprised at how unique it is as a spinoff to Killzone, in the sense that it attempts to keep the game consistent with the original Killzone, but if anything it does do a better job at having a more satisfying story in comparison to the first game, though it's a shame since they decided that the storyline for 1 needed to end in a spinoff for PSP instead of properly ending the Attack on Planet Vekta Storyline in the first game, and have liberation be something else, though I guess this game somewhat connects to Killzone 2 so there's that. To put it best, if we're talking general story Killzone 1 is 75% of the Attack on Vekta storyline, Liberation is the other 20%, and Mercanary contains 2 levels that place during Killzone 1 so it would be the remaining 5% of the Attack on Vekta.
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The story takes place after the events of Killzone 1, which again... I have to question why they would end the story arcs of the first Killzone in a portable spinoff. Especially because the characters who appear, appear in future games, however 2 characters from Killzone 1 are pretty but M.I.A. after the events of Liberation. Hakha from Killzone 1 doesn't even appear story wise, he's in the multiplayer mode but doesn't do anything cause he's not actually apart of the story. Lugher appears too however now she sports a ponytail. This is her last appearance though as she's not mentioned after this game, there's lore as to what happened to her and Hakha but they never reappear.
Templar and Rico reappear with Templar being the only protagonist you control, however the co-op partner takes control of any characters unlocked.
The story is split into 5 chapters, though I played the PS5 version, so it contains 5 chapters, from what I see based on the trophies, Chapters 1-4 were originally part of the base game for PSP, however 5 was a DLC from the looks of it.
The story is General Armin Metrac under orders of Visari, continues the attack on Vekta after the events of Killzone 1, and essentially Templar is tasked with finding out the secrets of the Helghast as well as taking out General Armin Metrac. You go through the game as templar visiting different locations that look somewhat like locations from the first game, however because this game is a top down perspective, the quality of the graphics isn't as good.
Templar goes through different locations reuniting with Lugher, as well Rico later being captured by General Metrac and the Helghast. This is after an important character named Evelyn (who would reappear in Killzone 2) is captured and tortured by the Helghast along with Rico, however she is rescue by Templar, while Rico is taken to a different location.
Towards the end of Chapter 4, in a artic base, Templar confronts and kills General Armin Metrac in a final fight. In the original PSP version the game ends here, and the 5th chapter was DLC which answers the question of what happened to Rico.
In Chapter 5, Templar and Lugher discover where Rico is, and Templar at first assumes Rico has betrayed Vekta and is working with the Helghast when in reality Rico was looking into the true traitor of the game, that being Dwight Stratson who is a Vektan General that Templar rescues in an earlier part of the story.
Rico and Templar reunite and team up to go an confront Stratson, though the final level has Templar confront Stratson alone.
Stratson uses a giant Exo-Skeleton Mech to fight Templar, but Templar successfully stops him.
Stratson Explains that Vekta needs a strong leader is and that the nukes that the Helghast stole need to be recovered and used against the Helghast, Templar orders the ISA to take him away for court marshalling. The game ends with the ISA successfully repelling the Helghast forces off Vekta, and now plan on taking the fight directly to the Helghast on their own planet. Which sets up the direct connection to Killzone 2.
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Gameplay wise, it's simple and fine overall, nothing spectcular, aiming is god awful as the game needs to you remain still to actually aim. You use a variety of weapons that appeared throughout Killzone 1, in terms of regular machine guns, sub guns, shotguns, sniper, minigun that heats up if you use it too long, Rocket launcher. What's cool is they added a weapon that makes it's first appearance in this game, but would again reappear in Killzone 3, that being the jet back. Except here in Killzone Liberation, the jetback flies for longer, in comparison to the Jetpack in 3, that at best floats.
Because I was playing the PS5 version, the controls were just weird, but just the amount of times you'll accidently throw a grenade is ridiculous cause of the button placment.
Also I find it stupid they made SQUARE the shoot button, I get in context for PSP they made it so L and R could do different things and it didn't have joysticks and instead the analog slider so they had to limit aiming to a certain way. This part mostly goes to Sony's laziness of not updating controls for the PS5 version. 1 Big thing the game barely uses even though it SEEMS important, is the order commands. Pretty much you're able to order soldiers and main characters in terms of Rico or Lugher to attack enemies you can't necessarily hit or destroy objects to progress. The game developers either forgot to implement reasons to actually use said commands, or just didn't care to actually flesh it out and make it important cause legit you can go through most of the game, and forget about user commands up until say the second last chapter in chapter 5, that's how little you'll use it.
Going back to the issue with aiming, the fact they made enemies attack from high areas is really annoying. Because you can still hit them but it's really difficult to because the developers made it to where you gun sometimes hits the platform they're on instead of the actual enemy unless you a sniper which occassionally works.
The game also features vehicles to drive including a Tank, a Humvee/Machine Gun Car, and a Airboat with Missles, they all control somewhat fine, turnings a bit weird, but for the most part it's doible. Again the problem with this game is the limited control, I get that for PSP it had a limited amount of buttons, but there's no reason they couldn't updated the PS5 version.
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Criticquing then story I think in general the story here is a lot more interesting than the first game, however it's stupid they decided that the true conclusion for the KILLZONE 1 events, end here, instead of in a more proper game. Not to say a spinoff can't end a storyline, just the fact they decided to save a villian for this PSP spinoff that takes place after the events of the first game, as well being the last game for the character Lugher, it's disappointing to say the least. Though at the same time the main villian of chapters 1-4 is pretty much overshadowed by the second in command Cobar who's alot more interesting than Metrac.
I'll be fair, I do think storywise I think it's more satisfying than say Killzone 1 since in Liberation does contain a double villian twist. However it suffers from the same problem as 1, where the villian they highlight on the cover, barely appears up until the end, and even then his other appearances are in cutscenes where he barely says anything, he just happens to be an evil helghast commander. The Dwight Stratson twist was a good one, I like how the developers were trying to show that it's not like 1 side is truly evil and the otherside isn't the Helghast are retaliating against their treatment in the past, but their modern means of revenge are horrible to innocent people. The ISA though is no better, since people like Stratson and Grey (Killzone Mercenary) are just as evil because they want to commit mass genocide to the Helghast instead of finding a different way.
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I will say on PS5 it's an easy platnium, I will also say even if the game is short, it does drag on a couple of parts. I especially don't like how the game has collectibles scattered throughout the levels, just for the sake of you collecting them, for the sake of unlocking all weapons for load outs and abilities like faster hacking, or being able to hold more grenades, or Infinite Ammo, but it's pointless because by the time everythings unlocked you already 100% the game, it's not like you're going to replay it, unless you plan on doing so in the future.
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To summaries: Story - it's fine better than 1, disappointing since it ends the events of 1 in a portable spinoff.
Gameplay - The fact they kept some of the controls the same is astounding because of how bad they are, it's passable for the PSP version probably, but for the PS5 it's ridiculous they didn't bother updating them a bit.
Characters - Just as bland as in 1 except Templar and Rico are fleshed out though Lugher stays generic;
Villians - Cobar the Second in Command is more interesting as a villian / General Armin Metrac is an animated cardboard moustache twirling villian that's as interesting as watching paint dry / Stratson in terms of story is a good idea as a villian but context to the story it comes out of no where, not saying they couldn't do this twist just it feels like they wanted a twist villian but didn't know who to choose so just went "eh Stratson just for the sake of showing the ISA isn't all good," doesn't mean it was a bad idea just wish it had hints towards it and set ups.
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Overall I think you play this if you want to have a more satifying end to the Killzone 1 Attack on Planet Vekta storyline done and also for an easy platnium. I'd still put it below Killzone 1 on the fun factor. I think it's fine for a 1-&-Done.
Do I recommend it? If you care about Killzone's story then yeah, if you don't, I don't think there's an issue with you skipping if you don't care.
Thanks for reading.
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The story takes place after the events of Killzone 1, which again... I have to question why they would end the story arcs of the first Killzone in a portable spinoff. Especially because the characters who appear, appear in future games, however 2 characters from Killzone 1 are pretty but M.I.A. after the events of Liberation. Hakha from Killzone 1 doesn't even appear story wise, he's in the multiplayer mode but doesn't do anything cause he's not actually apart of the story. Lugher appears too however now she sports a ponytail. This is her last appearance though as she's not mentioned after this game, there's lore as to what happened to her and Hakha but they never reappear.
Templar and Rico reappear with Templar being the only protagonist you control, however the co-op partner takes control of any characters unlocked.
The story is split into 5 chapters, though I played the PS5 version, so it contains 5 chapters, from what I see based on the trophies, Chapters 1-4 were originally part of the base game for PSP, however 5 was a DLC from the looks of it.
The story is General Armin Metrac under orders of Visari, continues the attack on Vekta after the events of Killzone 1, and essentially Templar is tasked with finding out the secrets of the Helghast as well as taking out General Armin Metrac. You go through the game as templar visiting different locations that look somewhat like locations from the first game, however because this game is a top down perspective, the quality of the graphics isn't as good.
Templar goes through different locations reuniting with Lugher, as well Rico later being captured by General Metrac and the Helghast. This is after an important character named Evelyn (who would reappear in Killzone 2) is captured and tortured by the Helghast along with Rico, however she is rescue by Templar, while Rico is taken to a different location.
Towards the end of Chapter 4, in a artic base, Templar confronts and kills General Armin Metrac in a final fight. In the original PSP version the game ends here, and the 5th chapter was DLC which answers the question of what happened to Rico.
In Chapter 5, Templar and Lugher discover where Rico is, and Templar at first assumes Rico has betrayed Vekta and is working with the Helghast when in reality Rico was looking into the true traitor of the game, that being Dwight Stratson who is a Vektan General that Templar rescues in an earlier part of the story.
Rico and Templar reunite and team up to go an confront Stratson, though the final level has Templar confront Stratson alone.
Stratson uses a giant Exo-Skeleton Mech to fight Templar, but Templar successfully stops him.
Stratson Explains that Vekta needs a strong leader is and that the nukes that the Helghast stole need to be recovered and used against the Helghast, Templar orders the ISA to take him away for court marshalling. The game ends with the ISA successfully repelling the Helghast forces off Vekta, and now plan on taking the fight directly to the Helghast on their own planet. Which sets up the direct connection to Killzone 2.
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Gameplay wise, it's simple and fine overall, nothing spectcular, aiming is god awful as the game needs to you remain still to actually aim. You use a variety of weapons that appeared throughout Killzone 1, in terms of regular machine guns, sub guns, shotguns, sniper, minigun that heats up if you use it too long, Rocket launcher. What's cool is they added a weapon that makes it's first appearance in this game, but would again reappear in Killzone 3, that being the jet back. Except here in Killzone Liberation, the jetback flies for longer, in comparison to the Jetpack in 3, that at best floats.
Because I was playing the PS5 version, the controls were just weird, but just the amount of times you'll accidently throw a grenade is ridiculous cause of the button placment.
Also I find it stupid they made SQUARE the shoot button, I get in context for PSP they made it so L and R could do different things and it didn't have joysticks and instead the analog slider so they had to limit aiming to a certain way. This part mostly goes to Sony's laziness of not updating controls for the PS5 version. 1 Big thing the game barely uses even though it SEEMS important, is the order commands. Pretty much you're able to order soldiers and main characters in terms of Rico or Lugher to attack enemies you can't necessarily hit or destroy objects to progress. The game developers either forgot to implement reasons to actually use said commands, or just didn't care to actually flesh it out and make it important cause legit you can go through most of the game, and forget about user commands up until say the second last chapter in chapter 5, that's how little you'll use it.
Going back to the issue with aiming, the fact they made enemies attack from high areas is really annoying. Because you can still hit them but it's really difficult to because the developers made it to where you gun sometimes hits the platform they're on instead of the actual enemy unless you a sniper which occassionally works.
The game also features vehicles to drive including a Tank, a Humvee/Machine Gun Car, and a Airboat with Missles, they all control somewhat fine, turnings a bit weird, but for the most part it's doible. Again the problem with this game is the limited control, I get that for PSP it had a limited amount of buttons, but there's no reason they couldn't updated the PS5 version.
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Criticquing then story I think in general the story here is a lot more interesting than the first game, however it's stupid they decided that the true conclusion for the KILLZONE 1 events, end here, instead of in a more proper game. Not to say a spinoff can't end a storyline, just the fact they decided to save a villian for this PSP spinoff that takes place after the events of the first game, as well being the last game for the character Lugher, it's disappointing to say the least. Though at the same time the main villian of chapters 1-4 is pretty much overshadowed by the second in command Cobar who's alot more interesting than Metrac.
I'll be fair, I do think storywise I think it's more satisfying than say Killzone 1 since in Liberation does contain a double villian twist. However it suffers from the same problem as 1, where the villian they highlight on the cover, barely appears up until the end, and even then his other appearances are in cutscenes where he barely says anything, he just happens to be an evil helghast commander. The Dwight Stratson twist was a good one, I like how the developers were trying to show that it's not like 1 side is truly evil and the otherside isn't the Helghast are retaliating against their treatment in the past, but their modern means of revenge are horrible to innocent people. The ISA though is no better, since people like Stratson and Grey (Killzone Mercenary) are just as evil because they want to commit mass genocide to the Helghast instead of finding a different way.
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I will say on PS5 it's an easy platnium, I will also say even if the game is short, it does drag on a couple of parts. I especially don't like how the game has collectibles scattered throughout the levels, just for the sake of you collecting them, for the sake of unlocking all weapons for load outs and abilities like faster hacking, or being able to hold more grenades, or Infinite Ammo, but it's pointless because by the time everythings unlocked you already 100% the game, it's not like you're going to replay it, unless you plan on doing so in the future.
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To summaries: Story - it's fine better than 1, disappointing since it ends the events of 1 in a portable spinoff.
Gameplay - The fact they kept some of the controls the same is astounding because of how bad they are, it's passable for the PSP version probably, but for the PS5 it's ridiculous they didn't bother updating them a bit.
Characters - Just as bland as in 1 except Templar and Rico are fleshed out though Lugher stays generic;
Villians - Cobar the Second in Command is more interesting as a villian / General Armin Metrac is an animated cardboard moustache twirling villian that's as interesting as watching paint dry / Stratson in terms of story is a good idea as a villian but context to the story it comes out of no where, not saying they couldn't do this twist just it feels like they wanted a twist villian but didn't know who to choose so just went "eh Stratson just for the sake of showing the ISA isn't all good," doesn't mean it was a bad idea just wish it had hints towards it and set ups.
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Overall I think you play this if you want to have a more satifying end to the Killzone 1 Attack on Planet Vekta storyline done and also for an easy platnium. I'd still put it below Killzone 1 on the fun factor. I think it's fine for a 1-&-Done.
Do I recommend it? If you care about Killzone's story then yeah, if you don't, I don't think there's an issue with you skipping if you don't care.
Thanks for reading.
Princess Peach Showtime is the long awaited second game for the beloved Nintendo Princess.
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The game is a simple story about Princess Peach visiting the Sparkle Theater to take part in the amazing plays only for the evil Madam Grape to take over the entire theater. Peach with her new friend Stella must work together to restore all the plays to how they rightfully should be.
The game plays in a 2D perspective, in the sense that you never really go 3D at all except say for the lobby of the Theater when going through different stages.
There are a total of 6 Floors in the entire game with the primary 5 floors having 4 stages on each floor, and the basement containing 10 Sparklas Stages.
The Theets are these big nosed characters that help Peach on her way throughout the different stages that focus on different transformations for Peach. Within Each Stage there are these Sparkle Gem hidden throughout the levels that you must collect for the sake of being able to fight the bosses later, and for the finale. Also located in each stage (apart from boss stages) is a hidden Ribbon Theet you must find and rescue for a reward with a new Ribbon pattern.
Ribbon patterns are what allow you to customize both Peach's dress and Stella's ribbo colors and pattern.
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Peach has a total of 12 transformations in the entire game, though the final 2 are saved for the finale.
These transformations being:
1. Swordfighter Peach 🗡️ - Princess Peach becomes a musketeer and uses simple stabs and upward slashes to defeat enemies.
2. Detective Peach 🕵🏼♀️ - Princess Peach becomes a detective similar to Sherlock Holmes who can interrogiate and detect hidden out of place objects.
3. Patissiere Peach 🍰 - Princess Peach becomes a Pastry Chef without any unique moves except mostly partaking in cooking mini games that include adding frosting and decorations to giant cakes and creating amazing amounts of cookies.
4. Kung Fu Peach 🥋 - Peach becomes a beautiful Kung fu Shifu that uses kicks and blocks to face against evil Kung Fu Sour Bunch Kung fu Master.
5. Ninja Peach 🥷 - Peach becomes a Kunoichi where she uses secrecy and being hidden and moving quickly to quickly asssinate enemies along with being able to wall run and wall jump fast.
6. Cowgirl Peach 🤠 - Peach becomes a beautiful ruff rider that is able to use her Lasso to take grab and throw enemies.
7. Figure Skater Peach ⛸️ - Princess Peach Becomes a figure skater who's able to do dazzling twirls as an iceskater as well as amazing leaps in the air.
8. Dashing Thief Peach 🦸🏼♀️ - Peach becomes a Phantom Thief like Arsène Lupin and is able to use a grappling hack along with hacking different devices and stunning enemies to make a quick escape. She also during some segments uses a glider to make her escape.
9. Mermaid Peach 🧜🏼♀️ - Peach Becomes a beautiful singing Mermaid and uses her powerful voice to control fish of varying sizes.
10. Mighty Peach 🤖 - Peach becomes a Robot Master from Megaman and is able to punch electrical blasts and lift heavy objects with ease. During some segments she even has a jetpack.
11. RADIANT PEACH 💫 - During the final battle Peach obtains a beautiful aqua colored Shiny Dress that is a fusion of all transformations and makes Peach fly around the arena shooting barriages of Sparkle Gem Energy at Madam Grape until she is defeated.
12. SUPER RADIANT PEACH 🌌 - During the true final boss after having collected all SPARKLE GEMS, Peach faces off against Madam Grape 1 final time after Grape destroys the Sparkle Theater. Peach uses all the energy from all the Theets, Sparklas, Sparkle Gems, and Stella to obtain an even more powerful and beautiful super form. This new form does the same in terms of allowing Peach to fly around in the sky but stead of firing mini shots of energy at Madam Grape, here Peach fires full on Ki Blast Cannons/Lasers at Madam Grape. Until Peach decides to fly directly into Grape dealing the killing blow by charging into Madam Grape with all her power similar to Super Sonic.
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The game has 3 stages per transformation, with the first stage for each being an introduction to the transformation, the second stage now having you be familarized with the transformation, and the final Stella stage having you master it. I personally thing the game should have made the transformations switchable and have the stages be bigger and more unique instead of relying on themes, especially since some transformations are certainly better that others and actually do things.
There's and ingame shop where you can buy new dress and ribbon patterns for Peach and Stella, that go along with the ones you have collected in the game via the Theets.
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Honestly as amazing as the finale is with RADIANT & SUPER RADIANT PEACH, a big issue Princess Peach Showtime Suffers from is scriptedness, I think levels are to scripted to where it's almost hand holding you 90% of the time, and unlike say games like Super Mario 3D World or Kirby and the Forgotten land, the game is very linear and tight in it's approach that every level is just scripted and there's never a up.
The bosses for the most part are fine however a bit too easy. The game in general can be classified as "easy and handholding" which is weird how the ideas here are way more expanded than say Super Princess Peach with the Vibe/Emotional Spectrum, but are shallow in terms of full use.
I would venture to say the original Super Princess Peach is a better game since it cares to continue that openess that normal Mario games had, while Showtime seems to want you to do things 1-to-1 with how the devs want you to play and that just isn't fun after a while. Especially if you need to go back and collect hidden gems you forgot to collect, you can't speed on buy the levels, you're forced to play them in a linear progression and hope you obtain the missing gem, or else you have to restart and try again.
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I think this should be a learning experience for Nintendo to do another game in the future for Peach, I really love the overall ideas and I think Nintendo should feel more confident of giving the Princess openiness and freedom for her next game instead of constant hand holding.
I am happy Nintendo gave her a second game, and it ends up giving them the confidence to allow more characters to start receiving spinoffs again. Maybe finally making Nintendo bring back the WARIO LAND Series, or giving Daisy her own game, or Pauline, or Rosalina, or Bowser! I really hope Nintendo don't treat this as a 1-&-done interms of spinoffs for Peach (though I guess 2-&-done since this is her second game)
I really hope Nintendo makes more spinoffs for characters, and I really hope that if they do another Princess Peach game, that they let it be more open like the Mario game. I also hope that the transformations in this game appear as abilities for Peach in the next Smash Bros.
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Overall I'll say as a game... it's more so a handholding simulator with occassional gameplay segments. First playthroughs of stand stages are a treat to experience but can be annoying if you missed any gems. Boss fights are fun for the most part and had a lot of effort put into them even if they are easy. The dresses and ribbon colors are cute though you'll barely see the actual designs except in the lobby or the beginning of the first transformation stages. I think the finale is spectcular and really is awesome to play through and makes it sort of worth it for the end. I think the game in general is a great 1-&-Done which is a shame since it doesn't have replayability factor like SUPER PRINCESS PEACH except say for finding the 3 hidden Theets in all levels during the post game, Boss Rush, and 100% the game to obtain the radiant dress pattern that IS NOT WORTH IT.
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Overall Esthetically, Presentation, and idea wise the game is beautiful, gameplay wise it's quiet shallow. I think overall if you're a fan of Princess Peach and Mario I'd say Super Princess Peach is the better game because it has replayablility value, but I do think Princess Peach Showtime is a nice 1-&-Done experience. Thanks for reading, and take a bow! :D
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The game is a simple story about Princess Peach visiting the Sparkle Theater to take part in the amazing plays only for the evil Madam Grape to take over the entire theater. Peach with her new friend Stella must work together to restore all the plays to how they rightfully should be.
The game plays in a 2D perspective, in the sense that you never really go 3D at all except say for the lobby of the Theater when going through different stages.
There are a total of 6 Floors in the entire game with the primary 5 floors having 4 stages on each floor, and the basement containing 10 Sparklas Stages.
The Theets are these big nosed characters that help Peach on her way throughout the different stages that focus on different transformations for Peach. Within Each Stage there are these Sparkle Gem hidden throughout the levels that you must collect for the sake of being able to fight the bosses later, and for the finale. Also located in each stage (apart from boss stages) is a hidden Ribbon Theet you must find and rescue for a reward with a new Ribbon pattern.
Ribbon patterns are what allow you to customize both Peach's dress and Stella's ribbo colors and pattern.
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Peach has a total of 12 transformations in the entire game, though the final 2 are saved for the finale.
These transformations being:
1. Swordfighter Peach 🗡️ - Princess Peach becomes a musketeer and uses simple stabs and upward slashes to defeat enemies.
2. Detective Peach 🕵🏼♀️ - Princess Peach becomes a detective similar to Sherlock Holmes who can interrogiate and detect hidden out of place objects.
3. Patissiere Peach 🍰 - Princess Peach becomes a Pastry Chef without any unique moves except mostly partaking in cooking mini games that include adding frosting and decorations to giant cakes and creating amazing amounts of cookies.
4. Kung Fu Peach 🥋 - Peach becomes a beautiful Kung fu Shifu that uses kicks and blocks to face against evil Kung Fu Sour Bunch Kung fu Master.
5. Ninja Peach 🥷 - Peach becomes a Kunoichi where she uses secrecy and being hidden and moving quickly to quickly asssinate enemies along with being able to wall run and wall jump fast.
6. Cowgirl Peach 🤠 - Peach becomes a beautiful ruff rider that is able to use her Lasso to take grab and throw enemies.
7. Figure Skater Peach ⛸️ - Princess Peach Becomes a figure skater who's able to do dazzling twirls as an iceskater as well as amazing leaps in the air.
8. Dashing Thief Peach 🦸🏼♀️ - Peach becomes a Phantom Thief like Arsène Lupin and is able to use a grappling hack along with hacking different devices and stunning enemies to make a quick escape. She also during some segments uses a glider to make her escape.
9. Mermaid Peach 🧜🏼♀️ - Peach Becomes a beautiful singing Mermaid and uses her powerful voice to control fish of varying sizes.
10. Mighty Peach 🤖 - Peach becomes a Robot Master from Megaman and is able to punch electrical blasts and lift heavy objects with ease. During some segments she even has a jetpack.
11. RADIANT PEACH 💫 - During the final battle Peach obtains a beautiful aqua colored Shiny Dress that is a fusion of all transformations and makes Peach fly around the arena shooting barriages of Sparkle Gem Energy at Madam Grape until she is defeated.
12. SUPER RADIANT PEACH 🌌 - During the true final boss after having collected all SPARKLE GEMS, Peach faces off against Madam Grape 1 final time after Grape destroys the Sparkle Theater. Peach uses all the energy from all the Theets, Sparklas, Sparkle Gems, and Stella to obtain an even more powerful and beautiful super form. This new form does the same in terms of allowing Peach to fly around in the sky but stead of firing mini shots of energy at Madam Grape, here Peach fires full on Ki Blast Cannons/Lasers at Madam Grape. Until Peach decides to fly directly into Grape dealing the killing blow by charging into Madam Grape with all her power similar to Super Sonic.
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The game has 3 stages per transformation, with the first stage for each being an introduction to the transformation, the second stage now having you be familarized with the transformation, and the final Stella stage having you master it. I personally thing the game should have made the transformations switchable and have the stages be bigger and more unique instead of relying on themes, especially since some transformations are certainly better that others and actually do things.
There's and ingame shop where you can buy new dress and ribbon patterns for Peach and Stella, that go along with the ones you have collected in the game via the Theets.
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Honestly as amazing as the finale is with RADIANT & SUPER RADIANT PEACH, a big issue Princess Peach Showtime Suffers from is scriptedness, I think levels are to scripted to where it's almost hand holding you 90% of the time, and unlike say games like Super Mario 3D World or Kirby and the Forgotten land, the game is very linear and tight in it's approach that every level is just scripted and there's never a up.
The bosses for the most part are fine however a bit too easy. The game in general can be classified as "easy and handholding" which is weird how the ideas here are way more expanded than say Super Princess Peach with the Vibe/Emotional Spectrum, but are shallow in terms of full use.
I would venture to say the original Super Princess Peach is a better game since it cares to continue that openess that normal Mario games had, while Showtime seems to want you to do things 1-to-1 with how the devs want you to play and that just isn't fun after a while. Especially if you need to go back and collect hidden gems you forgot to collect, you can't speed on buy the levels, you're forced to play them in a linear progression and hope you obtain the missing gem, or else you have to restart and try again.
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I think this should be a learning experience for Nintendo to do another game in the future for Peach, I really love the overall ideas and I think Nintendo should feel more confident of giving the Princess openiness and freedom for her next game instead of constant hand holding.
I am happy Nintendo gave her a second game, and it ends up giving them the confidence to allow more characters to start receiving spinoffs again. Maybe finally making Nintendo bring back the WARIO LAND Series, or giving Daisy her own game, or Pauline, or Rosalina, or Bowser! I really hope Nintendo don't treat this as a 1-&-done interms of spinoffs for Peach (though I guess 2-&-done since this is her second game)
I really hope Nintendo makes more spinoffs for characters, and I really hope that if they do another Princess Peach game, that they let it be more open like the Mario game. I also hope that the transformations in this game appear as abilities for Peach in the next Smash Bros.
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Overall I'll say as a game... it's more so a handholding simulator with occassional gameplay segments. First playthroughs of stand stages are a treat to experience but can be annoying if you missed any gems. Boss fights are fun for the most part and had a lot of effort put into them even if they are easy. The dresses and ribbon colors are cute though you'll barely see the actual designs except in the lobby or the beginning of the first transformation stages. I think the finale is spectcular and really is awesome to play through and makes it sort of worth it for the end. I think the game in general is a great 1-&-Done which is a shame since it doesn't have replayability factor like SUPER PRINCESS PEACH except say for finding the 3 hidden Theets in all levels during the post game, Boss Rush, and 100% the game to obtain the radiant dress pattern that IS NOT WORTH IT.
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Overall Esthetically, Presentation, and idea wise the game is beautiful, gameplay wise it's quiet shallow. I think overall if you're a fan of Princess Peach and Mario I'd say Super Princess Peach is the better game because it has replayablility value, but I do think Princess Peach Showtime is a nice 1-&-Done experience. Thanks for reading, and take a bow! :D
2005
Super Princess Peach is the first spinoff that Princess Peach ever received, and all-in-all it's a fantastic fun experience.
Even if the the story can be simplified down to:
"Bowser tries to get Peaches Vibrator, and Peach must defeat him because he kidnapped a bunch of Toads, Luigi, and Mario. Peach aquires a magical talking umbrella who turns out to be a person who was turned into one by an evil wizard. With the help of Perry the Umberella, Peach goes on her way to kick Bowsers ass herself! She has to use her emotions/vibes of Joy, Anger, Sadness, and Calmness to go through the worlds to defeat him and him minions for stealing her friends and her vibrator."
But really Nintendo did a great job making all the levels fun and essentially forcing you to deal with level by using the different emotions which I really appreciate them doing, because it means they took the time to think about how to use Peach's emotion in a way that is effective and constant for gameplay sake. I appreciate the Toad Stores within this game, as it gives reason for you to collect coins in order to unlock extra content and Moves for Peach to use, along with extra minigames for more fun.
The game has standard 8 worlds, with 6 levels per world, with the 5 consisting of getting from point A to Point B, while trying to find 3 hidden Toads per level, which really is a fun incentive to look around the level to find them, along with using Peach's emotions to help survey the areas faster incase they're hidden. And the final 6th stage per World essentially has you fight a boss of every specific world, utilizing Peach's emotions while being careful of correct timing when fighting these bosses!
Peach has 4 forms she can take when the player uses the touch screen of their DS/3DS, these being:
- ANGER: Peach is engulf in an firey aura burning enemies all around her, along with burnable bridges to access hidden areas, as well as ground pounding hard objects, and being able to move tough objects as well.
- SADNESS: Peach Crying water falls arcs that allow her to run quickly on fast falling objects. She can use her waterfall tears to grow flowers to create platforms and power watermills to access areas among the level.
- Joy: Peach becomes a Cyclone of happiness that allows her to spin quickly in place allowing you to take out enemies but also spin wind turbines to access hidden areas among levels that feature them. Another positive of this it allows you to float throughout stages to access more hidden areas or escape a fight.
- Calmness: If Peach has take too much damage this vibe/emotion will create a green healing aura around Peach allowing her to regain health until fully healed or until you have run out of energy in your energy bar.
The Vibes/emotions are only able to be used when your vibe meter has energy in it, if you've run out, you pick up enemies and have Perry the Umbrella eat them to regain energy allowing you to use the vibes again.
Honestly I really appreciate how much they tried to make the gameplay fun. I also appreciate how Nintendo didn't just reuse sprites from the Mario & Luigi series to make Super Princess Peach, they certainly could have, but instead Super Princess Peach has it's own unique sprite art that is a really a nice unique style for it and it alone.
Overall the experience for Super Princess Peach is a really fantastic one, one I highly recommend, I really love it when popular characters get well put together spinoffs that allow us to appreciate the characters more.
Even if this game was made for the entire sense of making a vibrator joke (no really how did Nintendo get away with that lol).
This game is still a treat to play and I absolutely recommend it.
It makes me hope Nintendo decides to allow more characters to get spinoffs. Peach now officially has 2, and they're both great in their own unique way.
Super Princess Peach is a great time that I highly recommend! And if you're a Peach fan, you have both this game and Princess Peach Showtime to enjoy!
Thanks for reading, vibe on!
Even if the the story can be simplified down to:
"Bowser tries to get Peaches Vibrator, and Peach must defeat him because he kidnapped a bunch of Toads, Luigi, and Mario. Peach aquires a magical talking umbrella who turns out to be a person who was turned into one by an evil wizard. With the help of Perry the Umberella, Peach goes on her way to kick Bowsers ass herself! She has to use her emotions/vibes of Joy, Anger, Sadness, and Calmness to go through the worlds to defeat him and him minions for stealing her friends and her vibrator."
But really Nintendo did a great job making all the levels fun and essentially forcing you to deal with level by using the different emotions which I really appreciate them doing, because it means they took the time to think about how to use Peach's emotion in a way that is effective and constant for gameplay sake. I appreciate the Toad Stores within this game, as it gives reason for you to collect coins in order to unlock extra content and Moves for Peach to use, along with extra minigames for more fun.
The game has standard 8 worlds, with 6 levels per world, with the 5 consisting of getting from point A to Point B, while trying to find 3 hidden Toads per level, which really is a fun incentive to look around the level to find them, along with using Peach's emotions to help survey the areas faster incase they're hidden. And the final 6th stage per World essentially has you fight a boss of every specific world, utilizing Peach's emotions while being careful of correct timing when fighting these bosses!
Peach has 4 forms she can take when the player uses the touch screen of their DS/3DS, these being:
- ANGER: Peach is engulf in an firey aura burning enemies all around her, along with burnable bridges to access hidden areas, as well as ground pounding hard objects, and being able to move tough objects as well.
- SADNESS: Peach Crying water falls arcs that allow her to run quickly on fast falling objects. She can use her waterfall tears to grow flowers to create platforms and power watermills to access areas among the level.
- Joy: Peach becomes a Cyclone of happiness that allows her to spin quickly in place allowing you to take out enemies but also spin wind turbines to access hidden areas among levels that feature them. Another positive of this it allows you to float throughout stages to access more hidden areas or escape a fight.
- Calmness: If Peach has take too much damage this vibe/emotion will create a green healing aura around Peach allowing her to regain health until fully healed or until you have run out of energy in your energy bar.
The Vibes/emotions are only able to be used when your vibe meter has energy in it, if you've run out, you pick up enemies and have Perry the Umbrella eat them to regain energy allowing you to use the vibes again.
Honestly I really appreciate how much they tried to make the gameplay fun. I also appreciate how Nintendo didn't just reuse sprites from the Mario & Luigi series to make Super Princess Peach, they certainly could have, but instead Super Princess Peach has it's own unique sprite art that is a really a nice unique style for it and it alone.
Overall the experience for Super Princess Peach is a really fantastic one, one I highly recommend, I really love it when popular characters get well put together spinoffs that allow us to appreciate the characters more.
Even if this game was made for the entire sense of making a vibrator joke (no really how did Nintendo get away with that lol).
This game is still a treat to play and I absolutely recommend it.
It makes me hope Nintendo decides to allow more characters to get spinoffs. Peach now officially has 2, and they're both great in their own unique way.
Super Princess Peach is a great time that I highly recommend! And if you're a Peach fan, you have both this game and Princess Peach Showtime to enjoy!
Thanks for reading, vibe on!
Penny's Big Breakaway is made by the same devs that made SONIC MANIA, which as you all know is a fantastic 4th classic Sonic installment that celebrates the Blue Blur's classic era.
Penny's Big Breakaway brings back Te Lopez's amazing music direction allowing him to go all out here, the new tracks he made are such a treat to enjoy.
The game focuses on Penny esentially messing up perfomance causing the King's undies to be shown to the people, and essentially is targeted by the King's penguins to hunt her down and jail her for embarassing him.
Penny uses her magic sentient yoyo to escape and go to different lands with varying levels, all focusing on platforming and skill moves.
If you go into this expecting the game to be fast paced like say Sonic, you're in for a rude awakening, the game is somewhat fast but there are parts where you're going standard pace, and mostly focusing on the traversal with the Yoyo. Your speed, Movement, combat is all based on how you use your skill moves with your yoyo.
The levels consist as follows, get from POINT A TO POINT B, with 3 different side object from npcs telling you to destroy certain objects, give an item to another npc in a certain amount of time, or maintain a combo for max amount of points. Another thing is collecting these 3 Tokens spread throughout the levels that allow you to unlock bonus challenge levels of varying difficulty. So pretty much 3 Submissions, and 3 Tokens among all levels except Boss Levels.
The game's artstyle and music are all spectacular, this game really does put a smile on your face if you play it right, it is tricky to handle at first but over time you'll get the hang of it and you'll master it soon enough.
The game worlds have a weird mix of levels, with some containing up to 6 levels, and others containing barely 2 or 3 which is odd to say the least, feel like on that portion there should've been consistency with how many levels each world should have.
The boss fights are all really easy however very fun to play through, except maybe the final part during a certain portion where the game introduces a gameplay style only used in the final boss, which can cause you to die because of how the perspective is weirdly positioned.
Still the character design, music, environment, gameplay, and passion this game has really is a treat to enjoy, it might not be for everyone if you're going in expecting a Sonic clone, please don't.
Still if I had to critique 1 thing, i would say, I want the game to be a tad bit fast, even while using the yoyo rush with his barreling fast, for the most part the game does move very slow. If Penny's Speed was a bit fast I think the game would be perfect. Also the lack of consistency with how many levels are featured per world is weird, I don't understand why some have more levels than others, did they run out of development time or ideas for some worlds? Another thing like I said is the bosses were a bit too easy, while I understand that this for EVERYONE, I'm not asking for a Dark Souls level boss, just a bit more difficulty with boss fights would go a long way, especially with the final boss. The final boss feels grandiose visually but fight wise is a bit lacking, the only parts that will actually cause you damage is the perspective shift I mention, but again if you know your way around it, it'll probably still be a bit underwhelming gameplay wise.
That's why I have to give this game a 4 out 5. I still think the game is great, just those things I mention play a part in my score.
I recommend Penny's Big Breakway regardless, it's a treat to experience and I highly recommend it! :D
Penny's Big Breakaway brings back Te Lopez's amazing music direction allowing him to go all out here, the new tracks he made are such a treat to enjoy.
The game focuses on Penny esentially messing up perfomance causing the King's undies to be shown to the people, and essentially is targeted by the King's penguins to hunt her down and jail her for embarassing him.
Penny uses her magic sentient yoyo to escape and go to different lands with varying levels, all focusing on platforming and skill moves.
If you go into this expecting the game to be fast paced like say Sonic, you're in for a rude awakening, the game is somewhat fast but there are parts where you're going standard pace, and mostly focusing on the traversal with the Yoyo. Your speed, Movement, combat is all based on how you use your skill moves with your yoyo.
The levels consist as follows, get from POINT A TO POINT B, with 3 different side object from npcs telling you to destroy certain objects, give an item to another npc in a certain amount of time, or maintain a combo for max amount of points. Another thing is collecting these 3 Tokens spread throughout the levels that allow you to unlock bonus challenge levels of varying difficulty. So pretty much 3 Submissions, and 3 Tokens among all levels except Boss Levels.
The game's artstyle and music are all spectacular, this game really does put a smile on your face if you play it right, it is tricky to handle at first but over time you'll get the hang of it and you'll master it soon enough.
The game worlds have a weird mix of levels, with some containing up to 6 levels, and others containing barely 2 or 3 which is odd to say the least, feel like on that portion there should've been consistency with how many levels each world should have.
The boss fights are all really easy however very fun to play through, except maybe the final part during a certain portion where the game introduces a gameplay style only used in the final boss, which can cause you to die because of how the perspective is weirdly positioned.
Still the character design, music, environment, gameplay, and passion this game has really is a treat to enjoy, it might not be for everyone if you're going in expecting a Sonic clone, please don't.
Still if I had to critique 1 thing, i would say, I want the game to be a tad bit fast, even while using the yoyo rush with his barreling fast, for the most part the game does move very slow. If Penny's Speed was a bit fast I think the game would be perfect. Also the lack of consistency with how many levels are featured per world is weird, I don't understand why some have more levels than others, did they run out of development time or ideas for some worlds? Another thing like I said is the bosses were a bit too easy, while I understand that this for EVERYONE, I'm not asking for a Dark Souls level boss, just a bit more difficulty with boss fights would go a long way, especially with the final boss. The final boss feels grandiose visually but fight wise is a bit lacking, the only parts that will actually cause you damage is the perspective shift I mention, but again if you know your way around it, it'll probably still be a bit underwhelming gameplay wise.
That's why I have to give this game a 4 out 5. I still think the game is great, just those things I mention play a part in my score.
I recommend Penny's Big Breakway regardless, it's a treat to experience and I highly recommend it! :D
Gameplay wise this game is a buggy mess. Story and esthetic wise, this game is fantastic.
The way Shanghai looks in general is very digusting and delipated, with Kane visiting Lynch in China.
And essentially getting into "1 Final Heist" for the sake of his daughter, and Lynch reaffirming Kane that it'll all work out.
And this is essentially Murphy's Law, "anything that can go wrong will go wrong, and will get even worse"
The game is from the perspective of a Camera Man following Kane & Lynch around with an amazing esthetic and design with the recording camera acting as the ingame camera for cutscenes and gameplay.
It's starts off with Kane and Lynch getting into trouble with a guy who was having relations with a girl and Lynch needing to interrogate the guy except when they finally reach him, Kane and Lynch accidently kill the girl who is actually the daughter of a powerful politician named Shangsi. Throughout the game Kane & Lynch are running from the 14K Triad ran by Hsing, and from the Police and SWAT from orders from Shangsi. They later have to deal with a Australian dude named Glazer who originally was working with Kane & Lynch to make a weapons deal to get Kane his money, however because the 14K Triad and Shangsi are after Kane and Lynch Glazer and his crew turn on Kane & Lynch and try to have them killed only for his entire group to be killed by the duo.
Kane & Lynch are later captured by Shangsi's personal government and are imprisoned in a helicopter, only for them to hijack it and shooting buildings and other helicopters, in order to get to Shangsi's building.
They finally get to his building which the top areas area completely destroyed from the impact of the helicopter, and Kane & Lynch take out Shangsi's remaining guards, only for Kane & Lynch to finally confront Shangsi and Lynch kills him then and there for the murder of his girlfriend Xiu and also for all the things Shangsi put them through.
The final part has Kane & Lynch going to the airport to escape, they try to find Glazer's plane but also find out the deal is still going through, so Kane again is screwed out of Money, but that's the least of the their worries since they're focused on just getting out of China. Kane and Lynch fight their way through the airport killing the final reminents of Shangsi and Glazer's men, and later fighting against the actual government of China's police force attempting to kill Kane & Lynch once and for all. The game ends with both of them hoping on a plane and getting the hell out of China. With the cameraman getting shot and the footage being taken.
The story is simple following Murphy's Law but damn is it good, I especially love the esthetic with the camera censoring certain parts when too graphic for the sake of artistic estethetic. The gameplay is buy no means perfect, there are somethings I question button placement wise, but I have to say, this game is amazing in terms of it's story. I recommend playing on the hardest difficulty as it really does make you feel the urgency of the situation of the game, but also might make you rage, so tread carefully. It's short 2-4 hour experience depending on the difficulty, but I think it's worth it.
I played this on PS3, maybe the PC version is a bit better, though I have seen how Co-op Multiplayer in terms of Story and Multiplayer verses is, and it's hilarious.
Overall while gameplay is a buggy mess, i have to say this game deserves 4 stars. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think the story and esthetic is great for a 1-time playthrough.
Thanks for reading.
The way Shanghai looks in general is very digusting and delipated, with Kane visiting Lynch in China.
And essentially getting into "1 Final Heist" for the sake of his daughter, and Lynch reaffirming Kane that it'll all work out.
And this is essentially Murphy's Law, "anything that can go wrong will go wrong, and will get even worse"
The game is from the perspective of a Camera Man following Kane & Lynch around with an amazing esthetic and design with the recording camera acting as the ingame camera for cutscenes and gameplay.
It's starts off with Kane and Lynch getting into trouble with a guy who was having relations with a girl and Lynch needing to interrogate the guy except when they finally reach him, Kane and Lynch accidently kill the girl who is actually the daughter of a powerful politician named Shangsi. Throughout the game Kane & Lynch are running from the 14K Triad ran by Hsing, and from the Police and SWAT from orders from Shangsi. They later have to deal with a Australian dude named Glazer who originally was working with Kane & Lynch to make a weapons deal to get Kane his money, however because the 14K Triad and Shangsi are after Kane and Lynch Glazer and his crew turn on Kane & Lynch and try to have them killed only for his entire group to be killed by the duo.
Kane & Lynch are later captured by Shangsi's personal government and are imprisoned in a helicopter, only for them to hijack it and shooting buildings and other helicopters, in order to get to Shangsi's building.
They finally get to his building which the top areas area completely destroyed from the impact of the helicopter, and Kane & Lynch take out Shangsi's remaining guards, only for Kane & Lynch to finally confront Shangsi and Lynch kills him then and there for the murder of his girlfriend Xiu and also for all the things Shangsi put them through.
The final part has Kane & Lynch going to the airport to escape, they try to find Glazer's plane but also find out the deal is still going through, so Kane again is screwed out of Money, but that's the least of the their worries since they're focused on just getting out of China. Kane and Lynch fight their way through the airport killing the final reminents of Shangsi and Glazer's men, and later fighting against the actual government of China's police force attempting to kill Kane & Lynch once and for all. The game ends with both of them hoping on a plane and getting the hell out of China. With the cameraman getting shot and the footage being taken.
The story is simple following Murphy's Law but damn is it good, I especially love the esthetic with the camera censoring certain parts when too graphic for the sake of artistic estethetic. The gameplay is buy no means perfect, there are somethings I question button placement wise, but I have to say, this game is amazing in terms of it's story. I recommend playing on the hardest difficulty as it really does make you feel the urgency of the situation of the game, but also might make you rage, so tread carefully. It's short 2-4 hour experience depending on the difficulty, but I think it's worth it.
I played this on PS3, maybe the PC version is a bit better, though I have seen how Co-op Multiplayer in terms of Story and Multiplayer verses is, and it's hilarious.
Overall while gameplay is a buggy mess, i have to say this game deserves 4 stars. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think the story and esthetic is great for a 1-time playthrough.
Thanks for reading.
To be honest, Kane and Lynch Dead Men didn't make a lasting impact on me. It was an alright game, but nothing that really stood out. However, I had heard so many great things about the sequel, Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days, especially in terms of its aesthetics and storytelling. While I wouldn't call it a flawless masterpiece, it definitely had its own unique appeal. So, despite finding the original forgettable, I still decided to give it a shot. I played Kane and Lynch Dead Men simply because I wanted to fully play the first game for the sake of being able to move on to Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days. It was all about setting the stage and understanding the context for the sequel that had captured my interest.
The story is Kane being broken out of a prison bus by the The7 and how they want Kane to commit 1 last heist or they'll kill his wife and daughter, and they have Lynch monitor and help Kane but reporting back to them if he tries anything.
Kane does the heist however the item had been stolen from the bank vault putting Kane in a bad position. Kane & Lynch are taken to a construction site to an unmarked dug grave, where Kane's daughter and Wife are also brought to the construction site, and Kane's wife is killed while his daughter is scarred for life seeing her Mother killed in front of her.
As the game progressed Kane and Lynch plan on killing all members of The7 for killing Kane's wife, and travel to Venezuela to kill The7 there, and this is where the game feel weird as it abruptly shifts to war setting with Kane and Lynch fighting in the war against the Venezuelan government. Which leads to Kane & Lynch finding one of the members of The7 who agrees to help Kane find the rest of The7 on a remote island since they now have Kane's Daughter kidnapped.
The game has Kane & Lynch go to the Island and kill the remaining members of the Seven however at the end Kane has to make a decision to leave via the Helicopter or to help Lynch rescue their men who helped them fight and get this far.
The sequel Dog Days treats both endings as canon, as if there was 3rd possibility of doing both, but mainly it's agreed the Helicopter ending where Kane leaves with his daughter is canon.
Gameplay wise it's fine, it uses the combat 3rd person shooter from HITMAN, and in general is fine enough and perfectly paced. The game is a bit forgettable, unlike it's sequel which barely acknowledges this game say for a mere mention confirming the Helicopter ending being canon.
I think the only part that's really annoying is with the giant Truck boss during the construction site level, but in general it's the only real annoying part. LEGIT THIS PART TAKES TOO LONG BECAUSE OF THE AIMING BEING TOO SLOW TO LOCK ON THE DAMN DRIVER. LEGIT YOU WILL PROBABLY RAGE AT THIS PART.
The game is fine enough, I don't think it's anything amazing, and it certainly isn't needed in playing the more well regarded sequel. On Xbox 360 you might have the incentive to play on tougher difficulties, and replaying for Achievements, but on PS3 you can just one-and-done it since it was apart of the era before Trophies were added to PS3.
Would I recommend it? If you care to play the first game for the sake of playing 2 DOG DAYS, then yeah sure. But if you're someone who wants a compelling story and Esthetic, I say skip this and play 2 only, 2 is really good.
thanks for reading.
The story is Kane being broken out of a prison bus by the The7 and how they want Kane to commit 1 last heist or they'll kill his wife and daughter, and they have Lynch monitor and help Kane but reporting back to them if he tries anything.
Kane does the heist however the item had been stolen from the bank vault putting Kane in a bad position. Kane & Lynch are taken to a construction site to an unmarked dug grave, where Kane's daughter and Wife are also brought to the construction site, and Kane's wife is killed while his daughter is scarred for life seeing her Mother killed in front of her.
As the game progressed Kane and Lynch plan on killing all members of The7 for killing Kane's wife, and travel to Venezuela to kill The7 there, and this is where the game feel weird as it abruptly shifts to war setting with Kane and Lynch fighting in the war against the Venezuelan government. Which leads to Kane & Lynch finding one of the members of The7 who agrees to help Kane find the rest of The7 on a remote island since they now have Kane's Daughter kidnapped.
The game has Kane & Lynch go to the Island and kill the remaining members of the Seven however at the end Kane has to make a decision to leave via the Helicopter or to help Lynch rescue their men who helped them fight and get this far.
The sequel Dog Days treats both endings as canon, as if there was 3rd possibility of doing both, but mainly it's agreed the Helicopter ending where Kane leaves with his daughter is canon.
Gameplay wise it's fine, it uses the combat 3rd person shooter from HITMAN, and in general is fine enough and perfectly paced. The game is a bit forgettable, unlike it's sequel which barely acknowledges this game say for a mere mention confirming the Helicopter ending being canon.
I think the only part that's really annoying is with the giant Truck boss during the construction site level, but in general it's the only real annoying part. LEGIT THIS PART TAKES TOO LONG BECAUSE OF THE AIMING BEING TOO SLOW TO LOCK ON THE DAMN DRIVER. LEGIT YOU WILL PROBABLY RAGE AT THIS PART.
The game is fine enough, I don't think it's anything amazing, and it certainly isn't needed in playing the more well regarded sequel. On Xbox 360 you might have the incentive to play on tougher difficulties, and replaying for Achievements, but on PS3 you can just one-and-done it since it was apart of the era before Trophies were added to PS3.
Would I recommend it? If you care to play the first game for the sake of playing 2 DOG DAYS, then yeah sure. But if you're someone who wants a compelling story and Esthetic, I say skip this and play 2 only, 2 is really good.
thanks for reading.
2011
Homefront is a fine enough FPS. It was made during the over the top era where people were actually scared of North Korea made during 2011, which sort of followed until 2016, until people realized that North Korea can't be take seriously as a threat since their armies use outdated weaponry, their soldiers are barely fed, their people live in terrible conditions, and their over all technology is so outdated they essentially chat shit but can't bang.
Homefront was made by THQ and in general it's a fine enough FPS, it's a interesting what if over the top scenerio that in general is fine enough in terms of what it's trying to deliver as an FPS.
The story is a bit quick as it makes you think it's bigger than it really is, the segments within the game are fun to play through, though I always recommend playing FPS games on the hardest difficulty for actual challenge.
For the most part the campaign is fine though I do think the ending is sort of abrupt in how it ends, it feels really disatisfying that you don't fight a boss or a last stand against waves of enemies that then leads into the ending we get.
I'm not saying the game shouldn't have ended the way it did, just I think the game ended in a way that's like... "AND WE'RE DONE THANKS FOR PLAYING GOOD BYE, GET OUT!"
I'm not saying the game needs a boss fight, and while you do fight tanks in a giant fast driving turrent tank. I just wish the game had a last stand similar to say HALO REACH or RYSE SON OF ROME or CRISIS CORE FINAL FANTASY, where you have to fight endless amounts of enemies until the very end. If a last stand part was added to the final mission, and then leads into said ending presented the game would be more satisfying ending wise. I do know this leads into Homefront the Revolution, so that's why the game's doesn't have a happy ending, because the idea here is that at the end the WAR has officially commendence with the US now pushing North Korea out of the US and defeating them once and for all.
I haven't played HOMEFRONT THE REVOLUTION yet, so I have no clue whether this mini-franchise ends in a satisfying manner or sets up a never to be resolved cliffhanger like say... AHEM XENOBLADE CHRONICLES X.
The weapons, the shooting all feel fine enough, I think the biggest reason why people hated this game in the past was because it was released during a time in which Call of Duty, Battlefield, and Halo remained as the supreme 3 of FPS that anything new that came along that didn't have unique things about them fell wayside. Not saying this game is underrated, I think it's a generic FPS, I never got to play the online since I played this this year in 2024, but I will say Campaign wise it's fine enough.
I do think the gameplay is solid, but I also felt like some parts dragged a bit in the story, even if the story is short, I also think the introduction of unneccesary parts was dumb like the intro camp that sets up the game as if every new mission you'd go back to camp until eventually the climax. But instead the game introduces the camp and a mission later 1 the main characters is killed, and the camp is destroyed along with every residence. I like the part where you go to a Internment Camps in Colorado, though you only get to see a portion of it and never actually enter.
I think 1 thing I might understand people having an issue with the story is that you never really get to see anything apart from bland delipated cities, military facilities, and occassionally see interesting locations like the baseball fields full of bodies, or areas where there are raiders with essentially crazy American Rednecks.
I have to say it's fine, nothing special, I do like that the game lets you control the giant tank via arm remote control.
I do find it weird I played this this year in 2024, since that's when the game takes place, weird coinsidence in general.
Do I think the hate given to it is warrented? Probably, I think 1 big thing I heard when multiplayer was active was that there were a lot of bugs, and even if some deathmatch games were fun, if the game makes you question it's existence by making you say "why don't I just play Call of Duty since this is just a clone of it" then maybe the game should've done more unique things instead of trying to ride the coattails of COD.
I'll be honest with you—I couldn't care less about Homefront or its sequel, Homefront: The Revolution. The only reason I snagged a copy of Homefront 1 was because I bought Homefront: The Revolution solely for the sake of playing TimeSplitters 2, even though I don't have a personal connection to the TimeSplitters series, they're a great franchise and Homefront: The Revolution features a 60FPS version of TimeSplitters 2. I just have this thing where I don't like buying a sequel without having the other entries, you know? So, despite not caring about Homefront at all, I ended up buying it because I happened to buy HOMEFRONT THE REVOLUTION. Really it's just for the sake of wanting to have experience the complete trilogy of TimeSplitters games. I bought PS2 copies 1 and 3: Future Perfect, and Homefront the Revolution happens to come with a version of TIMESPLITTERS 2 that runs at 60fps. I will buy a physcial PS2 copy of 2 in the future, but the HOMEFRONT THE REVOLUTION version is enough, only thing that sucks is that I'll have to input a code anytime I want to play it, but eh you win some you lose some.
Overall... eh I wouldn't say I wouldn't recommend Homefront, just if you're interested play it, if not, don't.
Thanks for reading.
Homefront was made by THQ and in general it's a fine enough FPS, it's a interesting what if over the top scenerio that in general is fine enough in terms of what it's trying to deliver as an FPS.
The story is a bit quick as it makes you think it's bigger than it really is, the segments within the game are fun to play through, though I always recommend playing FPS games on the hardest difficulty for actual challenge.
For the most part the campaign is fine though I do think the ending is sort of abrupt in how it ends, it feels really disatisfying that you don't fight a boss or a last stand against waves of enemies that then leads into the ending we get.
I'm not saying the game shouldn't have ended the way it did, just I think the game ended in a way that's like... "AND WE'RE DONE THANKS FOR PLAYING GOOD BYE, GET OUT!"
I'm not saying the game needs a boss fight, and while you do fight tanks in a giant fast driving turrent tank. I just wish the game had a last stand similar to say HALO REACH or RYSE SON OF ROME or CRISIS CORE FINAL FANTASY, where you have to fight endless amounts of enemies until the very end. If a last stand part was added to the final mission, and then leads into said ending presented the game would be more satisfying ending wise. I do know this leads into Homefront the Revolution, so that's why the game's doesn't have a happy ending, because the idea here is that at the end the WAR has officially commendence with the US now pushing North Korea out of the US and defeating them once and for all.
I haven't played HOMEFRONT THE REVOLUTION yet, so I have no clue whether this mini-franchise ends in a satisfying manner or sets up a never to be resolved cliffhanger like say... AHEM XENOBLADE CHRONICLES X.
The weapons, the shooting all feel fine enough, I think the biggest reason why people hated this game in the past was because it was released during a time in which Call of Duty, Battlefield, and Halo remained as the supreme 3 of FPS that anything new that came along that didn't have unique things about them fell wayside. Not saying this game is underrated, I think it's a generic FPS, I never got to play the online since I played this this year in 2024, but I will say Campaign wise it's fine enough.
I do think the gameplay is solid, but I also felt like some parts dragged a bit in the story, even if the story is short, I also think the introduction of unneccesary parts was dumb like the intro camp that sets up the game as if every new mission you'd go back to camp until eventually the climax. But instead the game introduces the camp and a mission later 1 the main characters is killed, and the camp is destroyed along with every residence. I like the part where you go to a Internment Camps in Colorado, though you only get to see a portion of it and never actually enter.
I think 1 thing I might understand people having an issue with the story is that you never really get to see anything apart from bland delipated cities, military facilities, and occassionally see interesting locations like the baseball fields full of bodies, or areas where there are raiders with essentially crazy American Rednecks.
I have to say it's fine, nothing special, I do like that the game lets you control the giant tank via arm remote control.
I do find it weird I played this this year in 2024, since that's when the game takes place, weird coinsidence in general.
Do I think the hate given to it is warrented? Probably, I think 1 big thing I heard when multiplayer was active was that there were a lot of bugs, and even if some deathmatch games were fun, if the game makes you question it's existence by making you say "why don't I just play Call of Duty since this is just a clone of it" then maybe the game should've done more unique things instead of trying to ride the coattails of COD.
I'll be honest with you—I couldn't care less about Homefront or its sequel, Homefront: The Revolution. The only reason I snagged a copy of Homefront 1 was because I bought Homefront: The Revolution solely for the sake of playing TimeSplitters 2, even though I don't have a personal connection to the TimeSplitters series, they're a great franchise and Homefront: The Revolution features a 60FPS version of TimeSplitters 2. I just have this thing where I don't like buying a sequel without having the other entries, you know? So, despite not caring about Homefront at all, I ended up buying it because I happened to buy HOMEFRONT THE REVOLUTION. Really it's just for the sake of wanting to have experience the complete trilogy of TimeSplitters games. I bought PS2 copies 1 and 3: Future Perfect, and Homefront the Revolution happens to come with a version of TIMESPLITTERS 2 that runs at 60fps. I will buy a physcial PS2 copy of 2 in the future, but the HOMEFRONT THE REVOLUTION version is enough, only thing that sucks is that I'll have to input a code anytime I want to play it, but eh you win some you lose some.
Overall... eh I wouldn't say I wouldn't recommend Homefront, just if you're interested play it, if not, don't.
Thanks for reading.
Black Mesa is... a masterpiece in dedication from long time Half Life fans. The fact Valve allowed a game like this to be created is both really heartwarming and really annoying when you think about it.
Heartwarming in the sense that Atlus had enough trust in CROWBAR COLLECTIVE (the studio that made this remake) to allow them to make this amazing remake. Annoying in the sense that Valve themselves didn't want to do a remake for Half Life 1.
The game is a master piece in terms of visuals in Source Engine 1, it's almost impressive how they were able to translate the original game and build it from the ground up in Source.
The game does a great job replicating the lengths of all the levels in the original game, while adding a couple of new segments in this remake to make the experience both longer and better, which can be seen as both a positive and a negative.
Positive in the sense that Crowbar Collective took the weakest aspect of the Original Half Life, being Xen, and made fleshed it out making it so fun to play through, especially with the fight with the Gonarch, even if the fight is a bit long. Xen in general got such an amazing update, it really is a fantastic upgrade to a weak part, making it the definitive way to play it. Though on the negative side, Crowbar Collective decided that some levels that were already perfect needed to be longer... which is where Surface Tension comes in. The length of the original level in the original game takes about an hour to complete if you're going at your own pace instead of speeding through, which even then might take you a rough 25-27 minutes if you're running through everything somehow, but takes roughly an hour and a half if you're going at a regular pace without taking deaths into account.
Crowbar Collective for some reason felt out of all levels to need longer lengths, they chose Surface Tension needed to be an hour longer, turning an already long level into an EVEN LONGER ONE.
This is to where the level starts off enjoyable... then you a get a bit confused but calmed when the level continues... then being more confused making you wonder how long this level is... then to annoyed that the levels somehow still continuing on in length... getting even more annoyed at how this levels STILL NOT OVER.... reaching a segment that makes you think you're at the end and finding out that's just the half way mark... continuing to grow more annoyed and bored at how long this damn level is... until finally reaching the end and feeling that a level that would've been considered great, has now become a level you will 100% never play again because of how damn long it is.
The weapons and animations are brought in from Half Life 2, with weapons not scene in Half Life 2, but in Half Life 1, brought back and updated into the Source 1 Engine to give us an amazing updates of said weapons.
The music is still just as good as the original with new tracks getting you pumped for every fights.
The enemies who appear in Half Life 1 have these beautiful updated designs to fit the Source 1 engine and look absolutely spectucular.
The scientists for the most part are just updated standard models from Source 1 engine, with some wearing outfits from Half Life 1 like guard uniforms or scientists outfits.
The headcrab zombies are still just as terrifying with them using the original sounds but updated that still makes them horrifying to encounter, and I appreciate the detail that on Xen, some scientists were wearing "HEV Suits", but are still controlled by the head crabs. The HEV Suit being the suit Gordon is wearing, almost like the game is saying "this could be Gordon if he failed to survive a headcrab attack," almost like it's taunting the player.
Crowbar Collective did an amazing job maintaining the creepfactor of the original, but putting it in Source Engine.
Apart from me criticizing how damn long Surface Tension is, there is 1 thing I would've wanted Crowbar Collective to reduce and that's how many damn barnicles there are, while yes barnicles are stationary and the only way they can hurt you is by you accidently walking into their extended tenticle, the amount of them in the game is a bit ridiculous, I know they wanted to keep the remake accurate, but reducing the amount of barnicles in the game wouldn't have been an issue, since for the most part they were put in to pad out the segments a bit, by making you worry about killing them when progressing through a certain location.
The unique enemies from Half life one like the HECU Soldiers, the Vortigaunts, Alien Grunts, and Alien Controllers are all updated to look so good in the Source 1 Engine, it's just amazing what Crowbar did with them here. And the 2 bosses in this game are just sooo amazing how updated they look with the Gonarch and Nihilanth being updated to look so spectcular in the Source engine.
I do think Crowbar could've updated some of the voice acting lines, but in general they just reused voice clips from the original game and dropped them into BLACK MESA, but updating the audio of the original recordings to sound smoother.
Still I think they could've added more voice actors for background roles instead of just reusing the original recordings for background characters, but then again I understand perhaps the budget went into development, and they didn't need nor want to spend resources on an aspect that was already completed.
I think this is a fantastic remake that Crowbar Collective made, I think if you want to experience the original Half Life in an updated way, I 100% recommend playing Black Mesa as the definitive way to play Half Life 1. Legit what Crowbar was able to pull off is absolutely astounding.
Only thing is they never made BLACK MESA BLUE SHIFT Nor BLACK MESA OPPOSING FORCES were made. They are in development by 2 different mod groups with Blue Shift Remake being called: "BLACK MESA: BLUE SHIFT" having completed 4 out of 8 chapters so far. With Opposing Forces, it's remake is called: "OPERATION: BLACK MESA" though we have no clue how long the spinoff chapters have been in development for, however it does has an official Steam Workshop page.
BLACK MESA BLUE SHIFT Link to Chapters 1-4: https://www.moddb.com/mods/black-mesa-blue-shift-remake
OPERATION: BLACK MESA Steam Workshop Page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/311810/Operation_Black_Mesa/
This remake is absolutely amazing, if you love Half Life, or never experienced HALF LIFE 1 at all, I absolutely recommend BLACK MESA, this is a fan remake that is such a love letter to the franchise and is a fantastic addition to the franchise. I really hope whatever CROWBAR COLLECTIVE is cooking up next, is just as fantastic as what they recreated here. Whether its an original product or a remake of another Valve property, I'll be right there waiting and supporting them!
I absolutely recommend BLACK MESA -DEFINITIVE EDITION- it is an absolute masterpiece in fan dedication and remaking of an already amazing game.
Thank you so much for reading.
Heartwarming in the sense that Atlus had enough trust in CROWBAR COLLECTIVE (the studio that made this remake) to allow them to make this amazing remake. Annoying in the sense that Valve themselves didn't want to do a remake for Half Life 1.
The game is a master piece in terms of visuals in Source Engine 1, it's almost impressive how they were able to translate the original game and build it from the ground up in Source.
The game does a great job replicating the lengths of all the levels in the original game, while adding a couple of new segments in this remake to make the experience both longer and better, which can be seen as both a positive and a negative.
Positive in the sense that Crowbar Collective took the weakest aspect of the Original Half Life, being Xen, and made fleshed it out making it so fun to play through, especially with the fight with the Gonarch, even if the fight is a bit long. Xen in general got such an amazing update, it really is a fantastic upgrade to a weak part, making it the definitive way to play it. Though on the negative side, Crowbar Collective decided that some levels that were already perfect needed to be longer... which is where Surface Tension comes in. The length of the original level in the original game takes about an hour to complete if you're going at your own pace instead of speeding through, which even then might take you a rough 25-27 minutes if you're running through everything somehow, but takes roughly an hour and a half if you're going at a regular pace without taking deaths into account.
Crowbar Collective for some reason felt out of all levels to need longer lengths, they chose Surface Tension needed to be an hour longer, turning an already long level into an EVEN LONGER ONE.
This is to where the level starts off enjoyable... then you a get a bit confused but calmed when the level continues... then being more confused making you wonder how long this level is... then to annoyed that the levels somehow still continuing on in length... getting even more annoyed at how this levels STILL NOT OVER.... reaching a segment that makes you think you're at the end and finding out that's just the half way mark... continuing to grow more annoyed and bored at how long this damn level is... until finally reaching the end and feeling that a level that would've been considered great, has now become a level you will 100% never play again because of how damn long it is.
The weapons and animations are brought in from Half Life 2, with weapons not scene in Half Life 2, but in Half Life 1, brought back and updated into the Source 1 Engine to give us an amazing updates of said weapons.
The music is still just as good as the original with new tracks getting you pumped for every fights.
The enemies who appear in Half Life 1 have these beautiful updated designs to fit the Source 1 engine and look absolutely spectucular.
The scientists for the most part are just updated standard models from Source 1 engine, with some wearing outfits from Half Life 1 like guard uniforms or scientists outfits.
The headcrab zombies are still just as terrifying with them using the original sounds but updated that still makes them horrifying to encounter, and I appreciate the detail that on Xen, some scientists were wearing "HEV Suits", but are still controlled by the head crabs. The HEV Suit being the suit Gordon is wearing, almost like the game is saying "this could be Gordon if he failed to survive a headcrab attack," almost like it's taunting the player.
Crowbar Collective did an amazing job maintaining the creepfactor of the original, but putting it in Source Engine.
Apart from me criticizing how damn long Surface Tension is, there is 1 thing I would've wanted Crowbar Collective to reduce and that's how many damn barnicles there are, while yes barnicles are stationary and the only way they can hurt you is by you accidently walking into their extended tenticle, the amount of them in the game is a bit ridiculous, I know they wanted to keep the remake accurate, but reducing the amount of barnicles in the game wouldn't have been an issue, since for the most part they were put in to pad out the segments a bit, by making you worry about killing them when progressing through a certain location.
The unique enemies from Half life one like the HECU Soldiers, the Vortigaunts, Alien Grunts, and Alien Controllers are all updated to look so good in the Source 1 Engine, it's just amazing what Crowbar did with them here. And the 2 bosses in this game are just sooo amazing how updated they look with the Gonarch and Nihilanth being updated to look so spectcular in the Source engine.
I do think Crowbar could've updated some of the voice acting lines, but in general they just reused voice clips from the original game and dropped them into BLACK MESA, but updating the audio of the original recordings to sound smoother.
Still I think they could've added more voice actors for background roles instead of just reusing the original recordings for background characters, but then again I understand perhaps the budget went into development, and they didn't need nor want to spend resources on an aspect that was already completed.
I think this is a fantastic remake that Crowbar Collective made, I think if you want to experience the original Half Life in an updated way, I 100% recommend playing Black Mesa as the definitive way to play Half Life 1. Legit what Crowbar was able to pull off is absolutely astounding.
Only thing is they never made BLACK MESA BLUE SHIFT Nor BLACK MESA OPPOSING FORCES were made. They are in development by 2 different mod groups with Blue Shift Remake being called: "BLACK MESA: BLUE SHIFT" having completed 4 out of 8 chapters so far. With Opposing Forces, it's remake is called: "OPERATION: BLACK MESA" though we have no clue how long the spinoff chapters have been in development for, however it does has an official Steam Workshop page.
BLACK MESA BLUE SHIFT Link to Chapters 1-4: https://www.moddb.com/mods/black-mesa-blue-shift-remake
OPERATION: BLACK MESA Steam Workshop Page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/311810/Operation_Black_Mesa/
This remake is absolutely amazing, if you love Half Life, or never experienced HALF LIFE 1 at all, I absolutely recommend BLACK MESA, this is a fan remake that is such a love letter to the franchise and is a fantastic addition to the franchise. I really hope whatever CROWBAR COLLECTIVE is cooking up next, is just as fantastic as what they recreated here. Whether its an original product or a remake of another Valve property, I'll be right there waiting and supporting them!
I absolutely recommend BLACK MESA -DEFINITIVE EDITION- it is an absolute masterpiece in fan dedication and remaking of an already amazing game.
Thank you so much for reading.
2024
Persona 3 Reload is a fantastic Remake of Persona 3.
I don't really need to go over the basics if you know Persona 3 but I will say Reload does a lot of great things by improving characters in terms of their depth, even making characters like Ken likable.
I think the game keeps the amazing story intact but it does lose the melancholic feel though I think that's do to ATLUS not wanting to animate all scenes in 2D again but in the new style and instead went for 3D animated scenes.
The music is hit and miss, the new tracts are all fantastic and great additions to Persona 3 and the franchise like "FULL MOON, FULL LIFE", "IT'S GOING DOWN," & "COLOR YOUR NIGHT." Some of the new remixed Tracks are also fantastic... all except 1, and I don't care the compium some Persona 3 fans want to have, MASS DESTRUCTION RELOAD is ASS Destruction. People who say this new version is better than the original are smoking heavy amounts of copium, that's not to say you can't enjoy the song, I don't I think it's a violation of the ears, but anyone who says it's better than the original MASS DESTRUCTION are high.
I think the new Uniforms for S.E.E.S are a great addition along with the Thuergy abilities added to gave the game uniqueness and differentiate it from say Persona 5 and the Original Persona 3 along with FES & Portable.
I do appreciate ATLUS featuring the original costumes from Persona 3 as many were worried ATLUS removed them over the original Armbands being Armbands do to... conspiracy morons (IE some people have messed up minds and think ARMBANDS = connection to evil moustache failed painter and his army of people angry at other people for their problems).
The game looks beautiful in the new engine, and its just so awesome seeing the these beloved characters and personas in a new remade style. It's exciting since remakes for 1, 2 Duology (My favorite), and 4 Remakes are in the works. I do hope ATLUS does these remakes with the same time and care as they did for Persona 3 Reload, while respecting the esthetics of said games as well.
Meaning respecting that Persona 1 and Persona 2 Duology can be updated in terms of dungeons and combat design, while not implementing the modern calendar system and maybe social links (Persona 1 can have it, but 2 Duology's story is so tightnit you literally can't).
Persona 4 Rerun (Remake) will just be a visual overhaul since Golden is the perfect version of Persona 4, so legit remake will just look nicer. Still regardless the level of effort they put in Reload gets me excited for Persona 1, 2 Duology, and 4 Remakes.
1 Thing i don't like is how ATLUS knew people were going to ask about FEMC/Kotone Shiomi and sort of gave a halfassed "budgetary reason" as to why they didn't add her.
Fans wanted a definitive version of Persona 3, and yet now we still only have 2 versions to choose from. What I mean is ATLUS announced that in SEPTEMBER of 2024 (as of writing), they're releasing EPISODE AIGIS which is a remake of the divisive epilogue story "THE ANSWER" from FES where you play as AIGIS. Well, most fans agree it's strange how ATLUS were able to do "EPISODE AIGIS" DLC but not KOTONE/FEMC DLC. Though call the PERSONA fanbase many things, they are dedicated since now there's a nearly completed mod for PC that let's you play as Kotone, talk about dedication!
Still going back to the main point, this game, is an amazing remake of Persona 3, it does have a couple of hiccups but if you've been asking for a remake... this is an amazing one to have received. Thanks for reading and remember!
THE ARCANA IS THE MEANS BY WHICH ALL IS REVEALED...
I don't really need to go over the basics if you know Persona 3 but I will say Reload does a lot of great things by improving characters in terms of their depth, even making characters like Ken likable.
I think the game keeps the amazing story intact but it does lose the melancholic feel though I think that's do to ATLUS not wanting to animate all scenes in 2D again but in the new style and instead went for 3D animated scenes.
The music is hit and miss, the new tracts are all fantastic and great additions to Persona 3 and the franchise like "FULL MOON, FULL LIFE", "IT'S GOING DOWN," & "COLOR YOUR NIGHT." Some of the new remixed Tracks are also fantastic... all except 1, and I don't care the compium some Persona 3 fans want to have, MASS DESTRUCTION RELOAD is ASS Destruction. People who say this new version is better than the original are smoking heavy amounts of copium, that's not to say you can't enjoy the song, I don't I think it's a violation of the ears, but anyone who says it's better than the original MASS DESTRUCTION are high.
I think the new Uniforms for S.E.E.S are a great addition along with the Thuergy abilities added to gave the game uniqueness and differentiate it from say Persona 5 and the Original Persona 3 along with FES & Portable.
I do appreciate ATLUS featuring the original costumes from Persona 3 as many were worried ATLUS removed them over the original Armbands being Armbands do to... conspiracy morons (IE some people have messed up minds and think ARMBANDS = connection to evil moustache failed painter and his army of people angry at other people for their problems).
The game looks beautiful in the new engine, and its just so awesome seeing the these beloved characters and personas in a new remade style. It's exciting since remakes for 1, 2 Duology (My favorite), and 4 Remakes are in the works. I do hope ATLUS does these remakes with the same time and care as they did for Persona 3 Reload, while respecting the esthetics of said games as well.
Meaning respecting that Persona 1 and Persona 2 Duology can be updated in terms of dungeons and combat design, while not implementing the modern calendar system and maybe social links (Persona 1 can have it, but 2 Duology's story is so tightnit you literally can't).
Persona 4 Rerun (Remake) will just be a visual overhaul since Golden is the perfect version of Persona 4, so legit remake will just look nicer. Still regardless the level of effort they put in Reload gets me excited for Persona 1, 2 Duology, and 4 Remakes.
1 Thing i don't like is how ATLUS knew people were going to ask about FEMC/Kotone Shiomi and sort of gave a halfassed "budgetary reason" as to why they didn't add her.
Fans wanted a definitive version of Persona 3, and yet now we still only have 2 versions to choose from. What I mean is ATLUS announced that in SEPTEMBER of 2024 (as of writing), they're releasing EPISODE AIGIS which is a remake of the divisive epilogue story "THE ANSWER" from FES where you play as AIGIS. Well, most fans agree it's strange how ATLUS were able to do "EPISODE AIGIS" DLC but not KOTONE/FEMC DLC. Though call the PERSONA fanbase many things, they are dedicated since now there's a nearly completed mod for PC that let's you play as Kotone, talk about dedication!
Still going back to the main point, this game, is an amazing remake of Persona 3, it does have a couple of hiccups but if you've been asking for a remake... this is an amazing one to have received. Thanks for reading and remember!
THE ARCANA IS THE MEANS BY WHICH ALL IS REVEALED...
2017
Love the Noir style of this game, especially with the detective aspect when playing as Cole.
I do admit the game does get a bit repetitive when it comes to:
- Go to a location with your partner and hear witty or funny or normal dialogue between Cole and his assigned partner.
- Find evidence
- Interrogiate Witness or Suspect and make sure to respond correctly depending on how bad the motion capture actors face is acting (since they needed to make the game somewhat easy for people to tell when someone is lying)
- Go to different Points of Interest for the case finding more evidence and interrogating more people.
- Get into a shoot out at the end or go to the station and interrogate the main suspect and determine whether to pin the murders, arson, etc on them.
Overall the gameplays repetitive but does a fantastic job at nailing the overall NOIR estethic, but that's also do to the amazing writing Rockstar incorporated here.
The game doesn't treat the character of Cole Phleps like a hero, in fact Cole does things that are outside the players control that makes you question Cole's ethics, along with the LAPD.
The City of LA is full of life in terms of how if Rockstar really wanted to, it could create actual United States location for modern GTA instead of making caricatures of the states they present. (I know GTA is about making fun of how Americans and the States act in an over the top way, just saying that Rockstar can do that while also making the states accurate looking like they did here in LA NOIRE). The city itself visually is amazing, though lacking since you barely do anything for the most part, I mean if it's not going from point A to Point B during story missions, occassionally you'll do side missions that are usually either: shooting a bunch of dudes after a cutscene plays, or chasing after people in a car until you crash into them, or some timed event crashes into them prompting Cole to arrest them.
I do wish the game expanded on some characters more than others. I think a big thing that's missing is Cole's family not being present or important enough to actually show is just weird, considering what happens towards the climax of the game, I feel like they should've played a bigger part in terms of forming who Cole is.
I think the game did an awesome job when it makes you play as Kelso for a couple of segments during the final part of the game, just wish the game would've done it early, I understand it's Cole's story, just would've been nicer if it was an idea introduced earlier on in the game of switching between Cole and Kelso.
I think the biggest thing that Rockstar got right... and wrong is the ending. I think most people will say "for anything, an ending is really hard to make everyone happy," and while this statement is true, a way to midigate that is by having multiple endings so that it has avenues of satisfaction among all aspects, even if 1 might be the CANONICAL ending.
The ending in terms of the case is amazing and is based off a real life case that never got resolved. Rockstar esthetically got the ending write in terms of it being a somber and melancholic ending of... the Bad Guys winning.
And while the game is attempting to respect the painfulness of reality, I do wish in some way Rockstar had added a second ending if certain conditions were met that somehow led to a happy ending. While many would say "but it would ruin the point of the game being Noire and there are no happy endings in Noire," I feel like 1 big thing many agree on is that the game leaves the player disatisfied, especially with all the work you as the player put in....
But there is a genius of the ending sort of being a punishment to Cole and the player for just locking whoever up. As in the game there is a constant murder going on that takes a couple of cases to find out who really is the culprit... and you see how the L.A.P.D. even with Cole finding at best circumstancial evidence, but still resulting in innocent people (though some of them still awful monsters) being locked up because the L.A.P.D. can't be asked to actually do their job.
And when the real murder is found, because he's the son of a high ranking politician they decide to cover it all out, and let out the imprisoned innocents as if it's all water under the bridge.
In a way I see the genius of the ending, as Cole, while spouting things like "Justice and Honor" really just looked a things at face value and just did things as a puppet to the L.A.P.D. instead of seeking true justice, which in a way is sort of a self reflection.
I don't know maybe I'm thinking too much into it.
Still for what it's worth, it's a game I recommend you all experience once, since In my opinion it's a great 1-Time experience.
I do admit the game does get a bit repetitive when it comes to:
- Go to a location with your partner and hear witty or funny or normal dialogue between Cole and his assigned partner.
- Find evidence
- Interrogiate Witness or Suspect and make sure to respond correctly depending on how bad the motion capture actors face is acting (since they needed to make the game somewhat easy for people to tell when someone is lying)
- Go to different Points of Interest for the case finding more evidence and interrogating more people.
- Get into a shoot out at the end or go to the station and interrogate the main suspect and determine whether to pin the murders, arson, etc on them.
Overall the gameplays repetitive but does a fantastic job at nailing the overall NOIR estethic, but that's also do to the amazing writing Rockstar incorporated here.
The game doesn't treat the character of Cole Phleps like a hero, in fact Cole does things that are outside the players control that makes you question Cole's ethics, along with the LAPD.
The City of LA is full of life in terms of how if Rockstar really wanted to, it could create actual United States location for modern GTA instead of making caricatures of the states they present. (I know GTA is about making fun of how Americans and the States act in an over the top way, just saying that Rockstar can do that while also making the states accurate looking like they did here in LA NOIRE). The city itself visually is amazing, though lacking since you barely do anything for the most part, I mean if it's not going from point A to Point B during story missions, occassionally you'll do side missions that are usually either: shooting a bunch of dudes after a cutscene plays, or chasing after people in a car until you crash into them, or some timed event crashes into them prompting Cole to arrest them.
I do wish the game expanded on some characters more than others. I think a big thing that's missing is Cole's family not being present or important enough to actually show is just weird, considering what happens towards the climax of the game, I feel like they should've played a bigger part in terms of forming who Cole is.
I think the game did an awesome job when it makes you play as Kelso for a couple of segments during the final part of the game, just wish the game would've done it early, I understand it's Cole's story, just would've been nicer if it was an idea introduced earlier on in the game of switching between Cole and Kelso.
I think the biggest thing that Rockstar got right... and wrong is the ending. I think most people will say "for anything, an ending is really hard to make everyone happy," and while this statement is true, a way to midigate that is by having multiple endings so that it has avenues of satisfaction among all aspects, even if 1 might be the CANONICAL ending.
The ending in terms of the case is amazing and is based off a real life case that never got resolved. Rockstar esthetically got the ending write in terms of it being a somber and melancholic ending of... the Bad Guys winning.
And while the game is attempting to respect the painfulness of reality, I do wish in some way Rockstar had added a second ending if certain conditions were met that somehow led to a happy ending. While many would say "but it would ruin the point of the game being Noire and there are no happy endings in Noire," I feel like 1 big thing many agree on is that the game leaves the player disatisfied, especially with all the work you as the player put in....
But there is a genius of the ending sort of being a punishment to Cole and the player for just locking whoever up. As in the game there is a constant murder going on that takes a couple of cases to find out who really is the culprit... and you see how the L.A.P.D. even with Cole finding at best circumstancial evidence, but still resulting in innocent people (though some of them still awful monsters) being locked up because the L.A.P.D. can't be asked to actually do their job.
And when the real murder is found, because he's the son of a high ranking politician they decide to cover it all out, and let out the imprisoned innocents as if it's all water under the bridge.
In a way I see the genius of the ending, as Cole, while spouting things like "Justice and Honor" really just looked a things at face value and just did things as a puppet to the L.A.P.D. instead of seeking true justice, which in a way is sort of a self reflection.
I don't know maybe I'm thinking too much into it.
Still for what it's worth, it's a game I recommend you all experience once, since In my opinion it's a great 1-Time experience.
2020
This is the response to the question:
"What if you did DOOM 2016 & DOOM ETERNAL with the modern combat, except kept the digitize style in terms of enemies and weapons being retro/pixelized?"
This is what Prodeus, and jesus I love it. Anyone who complains "this is a DOOM clone" legit, I have no clue what you're complaining about it's more of what you want and you're mad? Like what?
The game features a plethora of levels, and even a shop levels that seperate you from the combat and has many collectibles that make you want to strive to find them all and obtain all weapons and upgrades.
The game's story is a bit barebones, and I must admit the Backers level felt a bit forced as it's a level that is dedicated to the people who helped fund the game to exist in the first place, Just imo I think it should've been a seperate viewable thing within the Menu, sort of like Bioshock's museum mode, instead of a level that you'll go into to obtain a collectible, and technically spoil you on the final boss.
I find it awesome the devs of this game made a campaign creator that would allow creativity and creation of peoples own personal campaigns. Though I will admit, I see very little interaction with this unique idea, I feel like Playstation Users aren't as interested in this, maybe STEAM users actually use the campaign creator to create unique new campaigns for people to play through.
The game features a bunch of enemies that are similar to that of enemies from classic and modern doom, though I will say I do wish the protagonist you play as had more uniqueness to them instead of just being a weird humanoid organic robotized thing. Though I appreciate the unique detail of the characters face deteriorating into a skull the more hurt you get until death.
Overall if you love classic and modern DOOM and want more of it, I highly recommend Prodeus!
"What if you did DOOM 2016 & DOOM ETERNAL with the modern combat, except kept the digitize style in terms of enemies and weapons being retro/pixelized?"
This is what Prodeus, and jesus I love it. Anyone who complains "this is a DOOM clone" legit, I have no clue what you're complaining about it's more of what you want and you're mad? Like what?
The game features a plethora of levels, and even a shop levels that seperate you from the combat and has many collectibles that make you want to strive to find them all and obtain all weapons and upgrades.
The game's story is a bit barebones, and I must admit the Backers level felt a bit forced as it's a level that is dedicated to the people who helped fund the game to exist in the first place, Just imo I think it should've been a seperate viewable thing within the Menu, sort of like Bioshock's museum mode, instead of a level that you'll go into to obtain a collectible, and technically spoil you on the final boss.
I find it awesome the devs of this game made a campaign creator that would allow creativity and creation of peoples own personal campaigns. Though I will admit, I see very little interaction with this unique idea, I feel like Playstation Users aren't as interested in this, maybe STEAM users actually use the campaign creator to create unique new campaigns for people to play through.
The game features a bunch of enemies that are similar to that of enemies from classic and modern doom, though I will say I do wish the protagonist you play as had more uniqueness to them instead of just being a weird humanoid organic robotized thing. Though I appreciate the unique detail of the characters face deteriorating into a skull the more hurt you get until death.
Overall if you love classic and modern DOOM and want more of it, I highly recommend Prodeus!
2021
This game is a hidden gem that has fast paced FPS gameplay mixed with first person Parkcore, mixed with a Megaman Blaster or Samus Arm Canon.
The game is a very face paced with most objectives being from getting from point A to B in a level, occassionally destroying some machine or enemies, and using parkour and 360 flip with slow motion shooting with face pace action.
The game feels like a mix of Mirrors Edge with fast pace fps action like DOOM (Not saying this is 1 to 1 like DOOM 2016 or Eternal just the face combat of it).
The games story is vague... almost like it was an after thought, which is fine considering the people who made this probably were focused more on giving a unique fun fps combat game. Though if you're intrigued by the story, you could assume certain things about what the general meaning of it is.
After a while it does get a bit reptitive up until say the final fight, but in general the game is super fun, and the perfect length, even if perferably I would've liked more variety in it's enviroment.
The games a perfect short experience, and I wouldn't mind seeing this type of combat/fps style with 360 Flips in slow motion intergrated in other games. IT'S SUPER AWESOME doing a flip and being able to shut someone upside down, absolutely magnificent.
This game is great, regardless if you buy it on Steam or PS4/PS5, highly recommend it, especially for such a reasonable price.
Thanks for reading.
The game is a very face paced with most objectives being from getting from point A to B in a level, occassionally destroying some machine or enemies, and using parkour and 360 flip with slow motion shooting with face pace action.
The game feels like a mix of Mirrors Edge with fast pace fps action like DOOM (Not saying this is 1 to 1 like DOOM 2016 or Eternal just the face combat of it).
The games story is vague... almost like it was an after thought, which is fine considering the people who made this probably were focused more on giving a unique fun fps combat game. Though if you're intrigued by the story, you could assume certain things about what the general meaning of it is.
After a while it does get a bit reptitive up until say the final fight, but in general the game is super fun, and the perfect length, even if perferably I would've liked more variety in it's enviroment.
The games a perfect short experience, and I wouldn't mind seeing this type of combat/fps style with 360 Flips in slow motion intergrated in other games. IT'S SUPER AWESOME doing a flip and being able to shut someone upside down, absolutely magnificent.
This game is great, regardless if you buy it on Steam or PS4/PS5, highly recommend it, especially for such a reasonable price.
Thanks for reading.
Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth is the 16th Installment in the Yakuza/Like a Dragon/Ryu Ga Gotoku Franchise and is a fantastic experience.
I won't go too long in my review but I can absolutely say this game does an amazing job with having so much too do, along with exploring all of what Hawaii has to offer.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Story wise, it's a fine enough story with call backs to previous games. Ichiban's mother being the central focus for the first half was very interesting and really heartwarming when he eventually does meet her. I do think the storyline is a bit convoluted, and if anything I just couldn't take Bryce seriously, especially since in the regular japanese voices, they forced the voice actor to speak English when the guy doesn't know it. If anything they should've done what they did with every other bilingual character and have a japanese and english va whenever they had to switch speaking languages in the regular japanese voices.
Kiryu's story is about his cancer and how he tries to push his way through til the very end, along with cleaning up the remaining remenants and after effects of the Tojo Clan and Omi Alliance's past sins.
The final boss for Ichiban, I couldn't take seriously because of how out of place he was, Kiryu's final boss was fantastic as being the embodiment of the Yakuza's Victims.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The new party members introduced are all lovable and you take time to appreciate them as you journey throughout the game with them. I especially love Chitose, with her being this new and really REALLY likable female party member, who outshines Saeko and really makes you question whether Ichiban really should be going after Saeko.
Tomizawa is a great addition as well, being an Japanese-American guy who just got into a bad group, and his sarcastic self always makes scenes with him having to be apart of Ichiban's antics hilarious.
The game does a great job with the Anti-hero Yamai who is voiced by Takehito Koyasu and his amazing voice. The character in general is not 100% good or evil, but he does his own things, that make you question how he is.
Some of the other characters who are either minor antagonists are your run of the mill "evil mustache twirling villians" like Police Chief Roman, or Baraccuda Mafia Leader Dwight (played by Danny Trejo).
I think the way Daigo, Saejima, and Majima were depicted is fine because they're feeling the after effects of the dissolution, I just wish they were playable, if anything there are characters who should've been replaced with Daigo, Saejima, and Majima.
Those characters being: Zhao, Seonhee or Saeko, and Joonji-Han, reason being is because YES JOONJI AND ZHAO WERE IN 7 but they barely do things of value in LAD8, they're there for support but don't really do anything worth while. The only party member who probably wouldn't be worth replacing is Seonhee because her interactions with Kiryu are generally heartwarming and cute when she simps and flirts and fangirls over Kiryu. Saeko had a major downgrade as a character, and is essentially the reason for Ichiban leaving for Hawaii, and not speaking to her for a year over his embarassment of a confession. Saeko really is unlikable in 8, and it's not because she rejected Ichiban, but because she never told him what he messed up on and throughout the game Ichiban has to learn what she wanted, which is just stupid.
Saeko really does become the most unlikable character in the game for no reason, I think the biggest problem as well is she never apologizes either, it's ALWAYS ICHIBAN who has to, except her actions and her overall way of acting in 8 is awful. While the game tries to bring you back to liking her with her interactions with Kiryu, she completely destroys what she tries to rebuild when you play and finish her Substory.
I think the game should've had her not be a party member and save her for the end sort of as a last scene with her and Ichiban, I think if you cut: Saeko, Zhao, and Joonji as party members, and replace them with Saejima, Daigo, and Majima, it would've been more satisfying. Not saying they should be cut from the game, they should be in there as npcs or as secondary characters, with Saeko still being the crux as to Ichiban leaving, but also having Ichiban and her grow seperately and having Saeko seeing she was in the wrong too.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The gameplay retains it's TURN-BASED RPG Style from 7, but has improved it way more in this game, along with introducing new jobs for both the male and female party members, only thing is that we lost 2 jobs, those being:
- Officer Worker (makes sense since this one was connected to the extra character Eri, who is based on Eri Kamataki, a japanese woman who won a contest to be in the game along with 4 other women who appear in 7)
- Dealer (this one is weird because there's no reason why the Dealer should've been removed, my only guess is because of the "ESSENCE OF RUSSIAN ROULETTE" but that's just an assumption, if anything I always joke and say it's a PERSONA 3 reference.
However with Kiryu being a party member, it's so amazing that his own unique Job "DRAGON OF DOJIMA" brings back the style switching from Yakuza 0 and Kiwami 1, allowing you to switch between Brawler, Rush, and Beast Style with each having their own advantages and disadvantages. 1 thing that's disappointing is that they didn't bring back the 4th style of the "DRAGON", imo they should've included it in the final boss fight.
Kiryu also has his "DRAGON RESURGENCE" mode which allows you to break the turn base system temporarily and allows you to annihilate enemies in the classic beat em up style we know and love from Yakuza 0-6, Gaiden, Kenzan, Ishin, Judgment, and Lost Judgment. It is a bit dumbed down as the developers needed to implement a timer for how long you can use it.
It's best used in the Majima, Saejima, & Daigo fight by it having 2 phases, with phase 1 being the standard turn-based style from 7 & 8, and phase 2 having you fight Majima, Saejima, and Daigo in a beat em up part individually as Kiryu, it's fantastic.
I will say, they should've done the same thing with the final boss for Kiryu with the 2 phase system, though for the final boss he does has 2 phases, I would've included a 3rd beat em up phase as a send off to the beat em up style for Kiryu.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Minigames are back and they're fantastic absolutely love the new additions as well as returning favorites, along with Karaoke including new amazing songs and fanfavorites. We even got a "BAKA MITAI" 2 in "BAKA DAROU"
The dondoko island mode is essentially like a beat em up Animal Crossing mixed with Yakuza, having you rebuild and refine the once withered and trashy island into a beautiful paradise that allows you to create your own island along with inviting tourism to increase revenue to make more stuff on it. I will say it's a bit of a time waster, but it's SOOO FUN, you'll have a great time with it if you love games like Animal Crossing.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
1 disappointing part that should've been expanded on was Kiryu's bucket list should've feature cutscenes rather than inengine dialogue scenes, and also have Kiryu interact with some of those old characters he met along the journey, especially with Kaoru Sayama.
His moments with Date and AKIYAMA ESPECIALLY were so heartwarming, it just makes you want to cry when you see Kiryu speak with them, especially at the end. But like I said I wish they were actual cutscenes in some of those parts.
Another pet peeve is how they could've featured the cabaret club minigame from 0 and Kiwami 2 again here, along with Pocket Circuit again, I know we got Pocket Circuit in Gaiden but still. The trailers made it seem like 8 was going to reintroduce them again as playable modes, but they were just minievents in Kiryu's bucket list.
Still for what it's worth the substories and memories throughout the cities with Kiryu's bucket list are heartwarming since it makes you remember the journey we as fans have been through.
And this game canonized Kenzan and Ishin which is lit, though they're canon to Japan's history in the Yakuzaverse, Kiryu overexaggerated them because the game makes it so the historical events in the universe really happened but they're also Kiryu's overexaggerated dream. Which is even more funny since it explains that Kiryu also dreamed up Dead Souls.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
1 Final this, the ending is beautiful but I won't go to into it. Only criiticism I have is that it should've been longer and we should've seen what happened to Majima, Saejima, and Daigo after the finale.
I hope for the sake of that little criticism I have they resolve this issue with LIKE A DRAGON 9, doesn't mean Kiryu has to be playable in 9, just a cutscene with him in Okinawa retired. Along with cutscenes showing retired Majima, Saejima, and Daigo living a peaceful life.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall this game is fantastic, it has a bit of hiccups but it's another amazing addition to this franchise that I hold so dear.
The DLC problem is something SEGA messes up alot with in their games especially with YAKUZA and PERSONA, but regardless those aspects didn't influence my score.
I won't give it 5 stars, but my enjoyment with it lasted so long that it makes me happy I put my time into it, really amazing!
Overall I'm giving it a 4.5 out of 5 stars, it's really fantastic. I can't wait for whatever RGG STUDIOS is working on next.
We know so far they're making:
- Judgement 3
- NEW IP GAME
- Potentially Kenzan Kiwami
- Potentially 3 Kiwami
We'll see, regardless this game really makes you feel LIKE A DRAGON, and it endless amounts of fun, it brings you INFINITE WEALTH.
Thanks for reading! :D
I won't go too long in my review but I can absolutely say this game does an amazing job with having so much too do, along with exploring all of what Hawaii has to offer.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Story wise, it's a fine enough story with call backs to previous games. Ichiban's mother being the central focus for the first half was very interesting and really heartwarming when he eventually does meet her. I do think the storyline is a bit convoluted, and if anything I just couldn't take Bryce seriously, especially since in the regular japanese voices, they forced the voice actor to speak English when the guy doesn't know it. If anything they should've done what they did with every other bilingual character and have a japanese and english va whenever they had to switch speaking languages in the regular japanese voices.
Kiryu's story is about his cancer and how he tries to push his way through til the very end, along with cleaning up the remaining remenants and after effects of the Tojo Clan and Omi Alliance's past sins.
The final boss for Ichiban, I couldn't take seriously because of how out of place he was, Kiryu's final boss was fantastic as being the embodiment of the Yakuza's Victims.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The new party members introduced are all lovable and you take time to appreciate them as you journey throughout the game with them. I especially love Chitose, with her being this new and really REALLY likable female party member, who outshines Saeko and really makes you question whether Ichiban really should be going after Saeko.
Tomizawa is a great addition as well, being an Japanese-American guy who just got into a bad group, and his sarcastic self always makes scenes with him having to be apart of Ichiban's antics hilarious.
The game does a great job with the Anti-hero Yamai who is voiced by Takehito Koyasu and his amazing voice. The character in general is not 100% good or evil, but he does his own things, that make you question how he is.
Some of the other characters who are either minor antagonists are your run of the mill "evil mustache twirling villians" like Police Chief Roman, or Baraccuda Mafia Leader Dwight (played by Danny Trejo).
I think the way Daigo, Saejima, and Majima were depicted is fine because they're feeling the after effects of the dissolution, I just wish they were playable, if anything there are characters who should've been replaced with Daigo, Saejima, and Majima.
Those characters being: Zhao, Seonhee or Saeko, and Joonji-Han, reason being is because YES JOONJI AND ZHAO WERE IN 7 but they barely do things of value in LAD8, they're there for support but don't really do anything worth while. The only party member who probably wouldn't be worth replacing is Seonhee because her interactions with Kiryu are generally heartwarming and cute when she simps and flirts and fangirls over Kiryu. Saeko had a major downgrade as a character, and is essentially the reason for Ichiban leaving for Hawaii, and not speaking to her for a year over his embarassment of a confession. Saeko really is unlikable in 8, and it's not because she rejected Ichiban, but because she never told him what he messed up on and throughout the game Ichiban has to learn what she wanted, which is just stupid.
Saeko really does become the most unlikable character in the game for no reason, I think the biggest problem as well is she never apologizes either, it's ALWAYS ICHIBAN who has to, except her actions and her overall way of acting in 8 is awful. While the game tries to bring you back to liking her with her interactions with Kiryu, she completely destroys what she tries to rebuild when you play and finish her Substory.
I think the game should've had her not be a party member and save her for the end sort of as a last scene with her and Ichiban, I think if you cut: Saeko, Zhao, and Joonji as party members, and replace them with Saejima, Daigo, and Majima, it would've been more satisfying. Not saying they should be cut from the game, they should be in there as npcs or as secondary characters, with Saeko still being the crux as to Ichiban leaving, but also having Ichiban and her grow seperately and having Saeko seeing she was in the wrong too.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The gameplay retains it's TURN-BASED RPG Style from 7, but has improved it way more in this game, along with introducing new jobs for both the male and female party members, only thing is that we lost 2 jobs, those being:
- Officer Worker (makes sense since this one was connected to the extra character Eri, who is based on Eri Kamataki, a japanese woman who won a contest to be in the game along with 4 other women who appear in 7)
- Dealer (this one is weird because there's no reason why the Dealer should've been removed, my only guess is because of the "ESSENCE OF RUSSIAN ROULETTE" but that's just an assumption, if anything I always joke and say it's a PERSONA 3 reference.
However with Kiryu being a party member, it's so amazing that his own unique Job "DRAGON OF DOJIMA" brings back the style switching from Yakuza 0 and Kiwami 1, allowing you to switch between Brawler, Rush, and Beast Style with each having their own advantages and disadvantages. 1 thing that's disappointing is that they didn't bring back the 4th style of the "DRAGON", imo they should've included it in the final boss fight.
Kiryu also has his "DRAGON RESURGENCE" mode which allows you to break the turn base system temporarily and allows you to annihilate enemies in the classic beat em up style we know and love from Yakuza 0-6, Gaiden, Kenzan, Ishin, Judgment, and Lost Judgment. It is a bit dumbed down as the developers needed to implement a timer for how long you can use it.
It's best used in the Majima, Saejima, & Daigo fight by it having 2 phases, with phase 1 being the standard turn-based style from 7 & 8, and phase 2 having you fight Majima, Saejima, and Daigo in a beat em up part individually as Kiryu, it's fantastic.
I will say, they should've done the same thing with the final boss for Kiryu with the 2 phase system, though for the final boss he does has 2 phases, I would've included a 3rd beat em up phase as a send off to the beat em up style for Kiryu.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Minigames are back and they're fantastic absolutely love the new additions as well as returning favorites, along with Karaoke including new amazing songs and fanfavorites. We even got a "BAKA MITAI" 2 in "BAKA DAROU"
The dondoko island mode is essentially like a beat em up Animal Crossing mixed with Yakuza, having you rebuild and refine the once withered and trashy island into a beautiful paradise that allows you to create your own island along with inviting tourism to increase revenue to make more stuff on it. I will say it's a bit of a time waster, but it's SOOO FUN, you'll have a great time with it if you love games like Animal Crossing.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
1 disappointing part that should've been expanded on was Kiryu's bucket list should've feature cutscenes rather than inengine dialogue scenes, and also have Kiryu interact with some of those old characters he met along the journey, especially with Kaoru Sayama.
His moments with Date and AKIYAMA ESPECIALLY were so heartwarming, it just makes you want to cry when you see Kiryu speak with them, especially at the end. But like I said I wish they were actual cutscenes in some of those parts.
Another pet peeve is how they could've featured the cabaret club minigame from 0 and Kiwami 2 again here, along with Pocket Circuit again, I know we got Pocket Circuit in Gaiden but still. The trailers made it seem like 8 was going to reintroduce them again as playable modes, but they were just minievents in Kiryu's bucket list.
Still for what it's worth the substories and memories throughout the cities with Kiryu's bucket list are heartwarming since it makes you remember the journey we as fans have been through.
And this game canonized Kenzan and Ishin which is lit, though they're canon to Japan's history in the Yakuzaverse, Kiryu overexaggerated them because the game makes it so the historical events in the universe really happened but they're also Kiryu's overexaggerated dream. Which is even more funny since it explains that Kiryu also dreamed up Dead Souls.
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1 Final this, the ending is beautiful but I won't go to into it. Only criiticism I have is that it should've been longer and we should've seen what happened to Majima, Saejima, and Daigo after the finale.
I hope for the sake of that little criticism I have they resolve this issue with LIKE A DRAGON 9, doesn't mean Kiryu has to be playable in 9, just a cutscene with him in Okinawa retired. Along with cutscenes showing retired Majima, Saejima, and Daigo living a peaceful life.
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Overall this game is fantastic, it has a bit of hiccups but it's another amazing addition to this franchise that I hold so dear.
The DLC problem is something SEGA messes up alot with in their games especially with YAKUZA and PERSONA, but regardless those aspects didn't influence my score.
I won't give it 5 stars, but my enjoyment with it lasted so long that it makes me happy I put my time into it, really amazing!
Overall I'm giving it a 4.5 out of 5 stars, it's really fantastic. I can't wait for whatever RGG STUDIOS is working on next.
We know so far they're making:
- Judgement 3
- NEW IP GAME
- Potentially Kenzan Kiwami
- Potentially 3 Kiwami
We'll see, regardless this game really makes you feel LIKE A DRAGON, and it endless amounts of fun, it brings you INFINITE WEALTH.
Thanks for reading! :D
2022
Live Alive is a unique RPG that essentially feels like 8 different short RPGS, all intertwined by an outside force of evil.
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I think for the most part the game works well because some of these chapters/mini rpgs felt like they couldn't been their own fully fledge games instead of chapters.
I will say some are better than others. If i had to rank all the chapters I would say without including the final chapter(from worst to best [8 to 1]):
8. Far Future - You play as a emotionless robot called Cube. This chapter is boring as hell, the whole premise is essentially sort of parody/copy of Alien except the twist it's a rogue A.I. The character of Cube doesn't do anything until the end, the threat is a creature that you can easily outrun and also, isn't even the main threat, as the main threat is the A.I. operating the ship. There's only 1 battle and it's at the end, it's very boring essentially making you go from POINT A TO POINT B and so on. If anything the General is the most interesting character. Literally the entire cast is great, but they chose to focus on Cube for some reason.
7. Present Day - Masaru is just a bit too generic, I mean it's fine because this game came out in the era of the 90s, so essentially it's one of pioneers kind of/ it takes inspiration from the first fighting games to release. The issue is that, the story for present day is kind generic, essentially boiling down to a weird Turnbased fighter, where in order for Masaru to improve he has to get attacked by the opponents special attacks. You fight 8 dudes and then fight the final boss, and the moral of the story is that, if you get to the top achieving greatness after overcoming many opponents, someone will be there to try to take it as soon as you achieve it.
6. Twilight of Edo Japan - Here you play as a Shinobi in training becoming a master named, Oboromaru.
You're tasked with assassinating a imperial evil leader in his castle. The issue with this part is this part is a bit vague as to what to do, like there 3 approaches to it: Pacifist, Neutral, or Mass killer. If you're a Pacifist there a lot of thing you need to do in order to finish the game without killing anyone as well as avoiding specific things in order to not be forced to kill 8 guards later, along with having to grind inside 1 specific storage room killing lost souls in order to level up. Neutral means you tend to mix it up as to who you kill and who you don't, makes it a bit easier, just following pathways and overall traversal can get annoying. Mass Killer, just kill everyone and everything in sight, there's not punishment but you have to go out of your way to slaughter everyone by finding them, really a waste of time, you're not punished but it feels like one by just finding everyone. The story plays out with you meeting SAKAMOTO RYOMA, and essentially helping him defeat the evil leader, and later deciding to help Ryoma change Japan or go back to being a Shinobi in training.
The gameplay here is fantastic when it comes to Oboromaru learning moves cause they pack a punch, just the 3 different ways to play can make you hate, love, or feel neutral when it comes to the overall experience.
5. The Wild West - Here you play as "THE SUNDOWN KID". In this chapter you play as a rogue vigilante cowboy who's being hunted down by another cowboy/hitman named "Mad Dog".
They have a standoff however Sundown scares Mad Dog's horse and runs away into the town of Success. Here a typical cowboy thing happens with the quiet stranger, and pretty much he gets into a brawl with this annoying patron. After that, Mad Dog arrives angry and wants another standoff to the death, but are interrupted by scouts of a crazy mercenary named "O. DIO", Sundown and Mad Dog agree to take out the posse of O.DIO and O.DIO himself, but agree to have a battle to the death at the end when it's all said and done.
With the help of the town and searching through the town of Success within 8 or 9 minutes, you can tell all of them to set up traps with different items you've collected in order to take out O.DIO. If you gave everyone the right item you can go into the battle with O.DIO with him having Zero posse members to attack you, however if you mess up, you'll go into battle against him with a couple of his minions.
After O.DIO is defeated, Sundown and Mad Dog have a final showdown, with Sundown winning, the town thanks him and he runs off into the wind. That's when we learn that Sundown was an ex-sheriff from a town that was successful until it was all destroyed, he rides off like the wind, bringing peace and joy to the land.
Overall this chapter is great, and feels like it could've been expanded upon in a full game, but you could also say the mysterious angle is what makes this chapter great. Only thing is, I think I enjoyed the other chapters more, especially since this one leaves a lot to be desired.
4. Prehistory - Here you play as a Caveman named Pogo with his Gorilla friend Bori. The story is essentially a female cavegirl named Beru is going to be sacrificed by a rival tribe, however Beru escapes to Pogo's tribes cave and hides inside of the food area. Pogo notices Beru and falls in love while giving her food. Beru gives Pogo a kiss and a romance blossoms. Afterwords the rival tribe with their commander named Zaki arrives and essentially hurts many of Pogos tribe including the Cave Elder. Pogo and Zaki get into a fight, with Pogo as the victor, Zaki and his troops drive away in their rock karts. The Cave Elder is angry and throws out Pogo, Beru, and Bori. Afterwords, Zaki and his troops come back and steal Beru, with Pogo and Bori going to go find her. When they sneak to the other tribes camp Bori notices they've captured 6 Female Pink Apes, and goes crazy with Lust and demolishes the tribe. At the ceremonial sacrifice, Pogo fights Zaki 1 final time, defeating him, and saving Beru, however Pogo, Beru, Bori, Zaki, and the CaveKing are plunged into the pit, with the king being killed by the T-REX ODO. Pogo, Beru, Bori, and Zaki defeat the T-REX, with Pogo going back with his new wife Beru, Bori with his 6 wives, and Zaki becoming new king and making a truce with Pogo's Cave Elder.
Overall this chapter is very cute, it's very unique in terms of placement and lack of dialogue, but the creators did a fantastic job of telling the story with visuals instead of through text or voice acting, really amazing. It's sweet and cute, it just doesn't crack top 3 in my opinion. Still Pogo and Beru are really adorable together.
3. Near Future - Here you play as Akira, a young man with psychokinesis. Pretty much this plays out as a Super Sentai/Anime with a nice style reminding me strangely of Earthbound with the city, and also having wacky characters with both robots and regular flamboyant humans.
The story essentially is how there is this gang with skull masks causing a ruckus and stealing people for an evil group making robot/monster hybrids for war, but also to unleash an evil Bird God. Throughout the game Akira visits the orphanage hes raised in. He has a sick sister who he tries to take care of and he helps save her dying turtle by putting him a robot thanks to the help of the doctor. Akira has a friend/mentor "Lawless" Matsu, who helps him on his journey however dies towards the end using all his mental power to activate the giant mech. Akira, founds out that Matsu was the one who killed his father at the docs when Akira was little, and was trying to make amends with the guilt in his heart. Akira forgives Matsu with Akira using all of his power to defeat the false bird god, and destroying the evil doctor, priest, and general.
The game ends with Akira driving in Lawless motorcycle and looking over the docks remembering his father and mentor.
Fantastic Chapter, just this feels like a game that went on too quick, it feels like something that could've been it's own fully-fledge game instead of this chopped up quick sequence of events. really great just wish it was longer, and had a lot more story moments, I think 3 is a good position, since the last 2 are just that amazing.
2. Middle Ages - The culmination of where all the evil in the game spreads starts here. And you will believe how amazing it is that this chapter starts off as a generic Fantasy RPG, only to completely turn 180 on the player. The character of Oersted legit is tragic in the sense he did everything right except the universe told him that he's wrong. Streibough who is a "friend" helps him on his quest to defeat the "Dark Lord" however slowly poisons the well, tricking Oersted into doing several things, which leads to the deaths of Hasshe, the previous hero who defeated the dark lord, and Uranus giving his final energy to save Oersted from being trapped in the castle. Oersted is sent on a quest, only to be tricked by Streibough in 2 ways: 1. making Oersted think Streighbough died in the Dark Lord's chamber, when really Streighbough went to find Princess Alethea, and told her a bunch of lies, which he made true by mindcontroling Oersted. 2. He made Oersted Kill the king and spread a lie that Oersted was the new dark lord because Steighbough was salty he lost the match against Oersted.
After losing literally everything, Oersted confronts Streighbough, and kills him, only for Alethea to show up and act like Oersted is a monster, causing her to commit die, over her stupidity, and instead of hearing out Oersted, she instead took all of Streighboughs words as if they were truth.
Oersted stands at the peak, angry... alone... betrayed... ruined. All he worked for, the reason for his quest, the things he did for the sake of people and not himself. No one there to help him at his worst... the dark lord was dead for a long time... people acted like he was one... so the people who raised the hero... beat him down to the very last of his humanity... they want a dark lord... he'll be the very thing they were fearful of then. The Tragic hero.... becomes the new lord of dark. He becomes ODIO the very evil presence lurking over the different timelines.
This chapter is fantastic, taking a generic rpg and having everything go wrong this is chapter is fantastic, and I understand why the left it second to last in terms of unlocking it.
It does so many things right, and makes you actually stand with Oersted, realizing he's you, and all you've done was out of your control, and the mindless blaming from the Princess and the people would piss anyone off, especially knowing there were 3 people who would've always trusted you: Hasshe, Uranus, and the King of Lucrece.
To be thrown away over misinformation... anyone would turn bad. Which makes this chapter so great.
Thing is I want to be a bit fair, and putting this at number 1 seemed like too much, cause the game saves it towards the end. If it was in the base chapter select and not unlockable after you complete the other 7, this would be number 1.
1. Imperial China - This chapter is absolutely fantastic, you essentially play as the Earthen Heart Shifu who has grown old and knows he will die any day when he fails to break a boulder in 2, so he wishes to train a apprentice in order for his techniques and philosphy not to disappear along with him. He meets 3 unique students each with their own personalities but also issue. Lei Kugo is an assassin/orphan who is skilled in speed but also hard headed not being able to trust anyone. There's Hong Hakka, who's a fat dunce who can't afford to eat, but he's very strong but kind hearted. And finally there's Yun Jou, he's a youngster who is weak yet full of determination, he's self-conscious but motivated to be strong and wise.
The Shifu takes the 3 of them as students, training them to be strong, fast, and know to how to defend. What's really cool here is, depending on who you want to focus on, becomes the primary protagonist of the game at the end. While the game says you can focus on different aspects of training per disciple, it's better to just keep fighting the same one you personally prefer. Either way the story plays out the same, except which disciple you like the most, but what makes it so great is that the story makes you so sad when 2 of the 3 disciples are killed in an ambush. Personally I went with Lei, and her emotions are amazing, especially the actress who voices her, saying that she wants to avenge her friend, because she felt like she let them die.
The Shifu teaches Lei his ultimate technique, and they set off for Ou Di Wan Lee's temple to confront the killer. The Shifu with Lei/Yun/Hong take on a bunch of martial arts masters with Lei/Yun/Hong fighting Ou Di Wan Lee 1 on 1. After Lei/Yun/Hong defeat Ou Di Wan Lee, the Shifu is on his last breaths, giving them words of encouragement, for me since I chose Lei, you could hear the actress for lay really giving her all in emotions, especially when the Shifu... finally dies in peace knowing that Lei will be ok, and become the new master... with Lei screaming and crying at her Shifu's lost.
At the end of the game, we see Lei break the boulder the Shifu failed to at the beginning of the game, with her praying to her 3 lost friends, and her continuing her training to become the Shifu next.
Absolutely fantastic story, amazing emotional moments, and overall a nice experience, that honestly should be a game on it's own. The characters are all unique and have depth. Personally I think Lei is the best disciple and protagonist since she's the only female one, even though the game tries to do the typical, weak hero who will grow into a strong one with Yun, and comedic relief with Hong.
Overall this chapter is the best when it comes to story, and the gameplay as well, it's short, sweet, and spectacular and is my favorite from the game.
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Final Chapter - For the final chapter regardless of which ending you're going for in terms of heroes, i recommend you being level 25 or a bove for all characters, except CUBE who is capped and locked at Level 7, only because the first boss against ODIO/OERSTED is pretty difficult.
Essentially the characters are brought to the Kingdom of Lucrece, that's been completely emptied of all life... Barren.
The game here allows you to choose who to play as, and as you go through the Kingdom of Lucrece, you can find the characters from the other chapters, and battle them and letting them join your party.
Depending on whether you find all the characters, will effect your chances of getting the true ending.
If you decide to find 3 other characters, along with the one you chose, you can feel free to confront Oersted/ODIO for 1 final stand. Oersted being killed but the heroes being trapped forever in the lost land of the Kingdom of Lucrece.
If you choose to find all the heroes and recruit them, recruiting which involves just saying yes and inviting them into your part, which will make you have to swap characters incase you have a full party, but after you've successfully swapped between all 7 in your party, finally you can finalize what your final party will consist of in order to face ODIO/OERSTED. After you defeat his corrupted Odio form, Oersted asks you to kill him, if you choose to do so, the same ending as previous happens, however to walk away down towards the chamber of statues of previous final bosses from the previous chapters, the other characters who aren't in your party appear. When then here an angry Oersted who states the battle is not over, with the characters being forced to face all of their final bosses one last time with their determination.
After you go through the boss rush of all previous final bosses, Oersted is corrupted and we finally face the true final boss.
TRUE ODIO, who has captured Oersted in his heart. The party you play as fight TRUE ODIO until half way to where he uses a move to trap the part in a force field, this is where the 3 characters you didn't choose for the party show up to help take out the final bit of health, however before the final attack, the 3 are also trapped. Only for Oersted to break free of his mental anguish prison, and do the final blow to true ODIO.
The ending of the game has one of the characters talking to Oersted giving him words of advice about hope, and where he went wrong, and why the world isn't as bad as he thinks it is, even with evil people and evil things within it.
Oersted understands and dies with his mind at peace, with the Kingdom of Lucrece having it's color and beauty restored. The characters returning to their worlds with their lives with new beautiful moments like:
- Lei/Hong/Yun teaching new students the techniques of the shifu so his legacy lives on
- Pogo and Beru having a kid, with Bori having 6 gorilla kids with his 6 wives.
- Akira helping his Takoyaki stand as well as reminiscing about Matsu and his father
- CUBE reuniting with the General and his creator Yoshiyuki Kato
- Oboromaru protecting Sakamoto Ryoma from an assassination attempt
- Sundown Kid looking up towards the beautiful sky without his hat, hoping for better more calm days
- Matsu finishing up his training preparing to move on to new ventures, waiting for the next battle.
With the final shot showing all 7 characters (not including Oersted running towards the screen in heroic fashion).
Beautiful ending tying in everything together allowing someone to learn how to forgive, as well as looking at the positive things in live.
Bad endings:
If the player were to fail during the Boss rush the entire universe is destroyed.
If you chose to play as Oersted, you go to all dimensions/chapters and kill all the heroes and universe with Oersted's hatred consuming all.
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Gameplay works like a turnbased rpg however in a grid like format, with different attacks or status abilities that can affect singular and multiple enemies, along with you and your party in both positive and negative ways. The grid style makes the game very fun and unique and overall a unique style that games like SOUTH PARK FRACTURED BUT WHOLE would take inspiration from.
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What can I say, this remake is absolutely fantastic using the digital styled characters in the beautiful 3d world with beautiful music and esthetics is astounding. Really this version ups the value in terms of it's presentation with it's environments, music, and voice acting. This is not to say you shouldn't play the SNES version, but I think because this version is more accessible and has quality changes, I think this is the definitive way to play LIVE ALIVE. This game is absolutely fantastic and I highly recommend all of you play it. I did have some issues especially with FAR FUTURE, and the game can be a bit of a chore with the grinding, the moments I really love outweighed the issues, this game is fantastic, it deserves a 4.5 out of 5 Stars. The issues keep it from 5, but it's still fantastic none the less.
Live your life to the fullest, absolutely play LIVE ALIVE.
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I think for the most part the game works well because some of these chapters/mini rpgs felt like they couldn't been their own fully fledge games instead of chapters.
I will say some are better than others. If i had to rank all the chapters I would say without including the final chapter(from worst to best [8 to 1]):
8. Far Future - You play as a emotionless robot called Cube. This chapter is boring as hell, the whole premise is essentially sort of parody/copy of Alien except the twist it's a rogue A.I. The character of Cube doesn't do anything until the end, the threat is a creature that you can easily outrun and also, isn't even the main threat, as the main threat is the A.I. operating the ship. There's only 1 battle and it's at the end, it's very boring essentially making you go from POINT A TO POINT B and so on. If anything the General is the most interesting character. Literally the entire cast is great, but they chose to focus on Cube for some reason.
7. Present Day - Masaru is just a bit too generic, I mean it's fine because this game came out in the era of the 90s, so essentially it's one of pioneers kind of/ it takes inspiration from the first fighting games to release. The issue is that, the story for present day is kind generic, essentially boiling down to a weird Turnbased fighter, where in order for Masaru to improve he has to get attacked by the opponents special attacks. You fight 8 dudes and then fight the final boss, and the moral of the story is that, if you get to the top achieving greatness after overcoming many opponents, someone will be there to try to take it as soon as you achieve it.
6. Twilight of Edo Japan - Here you play as a Shinobi in training becoming a master named, Oboromaru.
You're tasked with assassinating a imperial evil leader in his castle. The issue with this part is this part is a bit vague as to what to do, like there 3 approaches to it: Pacifist, Neutral, or Mass killer. If you're a Pacifist there a lot of thing you need to do in order to finish the game without killing anyone as well as avoiding specific things in order to not be forced to kill 8 guards later, along with having to grind inside 1 specific storage room killing lost souls in order to level up. Neutral means you tend to mix it up as to who you kill and who you don't, makes it a bit easier, just following pathways and overall traversal can get annoying. Mass Killer, just kill everyone and everything in sight, there's not punishment but you have to go out of your way to slaughter everyone by finding them, really a waste of time, you're not punished but it feels like one by just finding everyone. The story plays out with you meeting SAKAMOTO RYOMA, and essentially helping him defeat the evil leader, and later deciding to help Ryoma change Japan or go back to being a Shinobi in training.
The gameplay here is fantastic when it comes to Oboromaru learning moves cause they pack a punch, just the 3 different ways to play can make you hate, love, or feel neutral when it comes to the overall experience.
5. The Wild West - Here you play as "THE SUNDOWN KID". In this chapter you play as a rogue vigilante cowboy who's being hunted down by another cowboy/hitman named "Mad Dog".
They have a standoff however Sundown scares Mad Dog's horse and runs away into the town of Success. Here a typical cowboy thing happens with the quiet stranger, and pretty much he gets into a brawl with this annoying patron. After that, Mad Dog arrives angry and wants another standoff to the death, but are interrupted by scouts of a crazy mercenary named "O. DIO", Sundown and Mad Dog agree to take out the posse of O.DIO and O.DIO himself, but agree to have a battle to the death at the end when it's all said and done.
With the help of the town and searching through the town of Success within 8 or 9 minutes, you can tell all of them to set up traps with different items you've collected in order to take out O.DIO. If you gave everyone the right item you can go into the battle with O.DIO with him having Zero posse members to attack you, however if you mess up, you'll go into battle against him with a couple of his minions.
After O.DIO is defeated, Sundown and Mad Dog have a final showdown, with Sundown winning, the town thanks him and he runs off into the wind. That's when we learn that Sundown was an ex-sheriff from a town that was successful until it was all destroyed, he rides off like the wind, bringing peace and joy to the land.
Overall this chapter is great, and feels like it could've been expanded upon in a full game, but you could also say the mysterious angle is what makes this chapter great. Only thing is, I think I enjoyed the other chapters more, especially since this one leaves a lot to be desired.
4. Prehistory - Here you play as a Caveman named Pogo with his Gorilla friend Bori. The story is essentially a female cavegirl named Beru is going to be sacrificed by a rival tribe, however Beru escapes to Pogo's tribes cave and hides inside of the food area. Pogo notices Beru and falls in love while giving her food. Beru gives Pogo a kiss and a romance blossoms. Afterwords the rival tribe with their commander named Zaki arrives and essentially hurts many of Pogos tribe including the Cave Elder. Pogo and Zaki get into a fight, with Pogo as the victor, Zaki and his troops drive away in their rock karts. The Cave Elder is angry and throws out Pogo, Beru, and Bori. Afterwords, Zaki and his troops come back and steal Beru, with Pogo and Bori going to go find her. When they sneak to the other tribes camp Bori notices they've captured 6 Female Pink Apes, and goes crazy with Lust and demolishes the tribe. At the ceremonial sacrifice, Pogo fights Zaki 1 final time, defeating him, and saving Beru, however Pogo, Beru, Bori, Zaki, and the CaveKing are plunged into the pit, with the king being killed by the T-REX ODO. Pogo, Beru, Bori, and Zaki defeat the T-REX, with Pogo going back with his new wife Beru, Bori with his 6 wives, and Zaki becoming new king and making a truce with Pogo's Cave Elder.
Overall this chapter is very cute, it's very unique in terms of placement and lack of dialogue, but the creators did a fantastic job of telling the story with visuals instead of through text or voice acting, really amazing. It's sweet and cute, it just doesn't crack top 3 in my opinion. Still Pogo and Beru are really adorable together.
3. Near Future - Here you play as Akira, a young man with psychokinesis. Pretty much this plays out as a Super Sentai/Anime with a nice style reminding me strangely of Earthbound with the city, and also having wacky characters with both robots and regular flamboyant humans.
The story essentially is how there is this gang with skull masks causing a ruckus and stealing people for an evil group making robot/monster hybrids for war, but also to unleash an evil Bird God. Throughout the game Akira visits the orphanage hes raised in. He has a sick sister who he tries to take care of and he helps save her dying turtle by putting him a robot thanks to the help of the doctor. Akira has a friend/mentor "Lawless" Matsu, who helps him on his journey however dies towards the end using all his mental power to activate the giant mech. Akira, founds out that Matsu was the one who killed his father at the docs when Akira was little, and was trying to make amends with the guilt in his heart. Akira forgives Matsu with Akira using all of his power to defeat the false bird god, and destroying the evil doctor, priest, and general.
The game ends with Akira driving in Lawless motorcycle and looking over the docks remembering his father and mentor.
Fantastic Chapter, just this feels like a game that went on too quick, it feels like something that could've been it's own fully-fledge game instead of this chopped up quick sequence of events. really great just wish it was longer, and had a lot more story moments, I think 3 is a good position, since the last 2 are just that amazing.
2. Middle Ages - The culmination of where all the evil in the game spreads starts here. And you will believe how amazing it is that this chapter starts off as a generic Fantasy RPG, only to completely turn 180 on the player. The character of Oersted legit is tragic in the sense he did everything right except the universe told him that he's wrong. Streibough who is a "friend" helps him on his quest to defeat the "Dark Lord" however slowly poisons the well, tricking Oersted into doing several things, which leads to the deaths of Hasshe, the previous hero who defeated the dark lord, and Uranus giving his final energy to save Oersted from being trapped in the castle. Oersted is sent on a quest, only to be tricked by Streibough in 2 ways: 1. making Oersted think Streighbough died in the Dark Lord's chamber, when really Streighbough went to find Princess Alethea, and told her a bunch of lies, which he made true by mindcontroling Oersted. 2. He made Oersted Kill the king and spread a lie that Oersted was the new dark lord because Steighbough was salty he lost the match against Oersted.
After losing literally everything, Oersted confronts Streighbough, and kills him, only for Alethea to show up and act like Oersted is a monster, causing her to commit die, over her stupidity, and instead of hearing out Oersted, she instead took all of Streighboughs words as if they were truth.
Oersted stands at the peak, angry... alone... betrayed... ruined. All he worked for, the reason for his quest, the things he did for the sake of people and not himself. No one there to help him at his worst... the dark lord was dead for a long time... people acted like he was one... so the people who raised the hero... beat him down to the very last of his humanity... they want a dark lord... he'll be the very thing they were fearful of then. The Tragic hero.... becomes the new lord of dark. He becomes ODIO the very evil presence lurking over the different timelines.
This chapter is fantastic, taking a generic rpg and having everything go wrong this is chapter is fantastic, and I understand why the left it second to last in terms of unlocking it.
It does so many things right, and makes you actually stand with Oersted, realizing he's you, and all you've done was out of your control, and the mindless blaming from the Princess and the people would piss anyone off, especially knowing there were 3 people who would've always trusted you: Hasshe, Uranus, and the King of Lucrece.
To be thrown away over misinformation... anyone would turn bad. Which makes this chapter so great.
Thing is I want to be a bit fair, and putting this at number 1 seemed like too much, cause the game saves it towards the end. If it was in the base chapter select and not unlockable after you complete the other 7, this would be number 1.
1. Imperial China - This chapter is absolutely fantastic, you essentially play as the Earthen Heart Shifu who has grown old and knows he will die any day when he fails to break a boulder in 2, so he wishes to train a apprentice in order for his techniques and philosphy not to disappear along with him. He meets 3 unique students each with their own personalities but also issue. Lei Kugo is an assassin/orphan who is skilled in speed but also hard headed not being able to trust anyone. There's Hong Hakka, who's a fat dunce who can't afford to eat, but he's very strong but kind hearted. And finally there's Yun Jou, he's a youngster who is weak yet full of determination, he's self-conscious but motivated to be strong and wise.
The Shifu takes the 3 of them as students, training them to be strong, fast, and know to how to defend. What's really cool here is, depending on who you want to focus on, becomes the primary protagonist of the game at the end. While the game says you can focus on different aspects of training per disciple, it's better to just keep fighting the same one you personally prefer. Either way the story plays out the same, except which disciple you like the most, but what makes it so great is that the story makes you so sad when 2 of the 3 disciples are killed in an ambush. Personally I went with Lei, and her emotions are amazing, especially the actress who voices her, saying that she wants to avenge her friend, because she felt like she let them die.
The Shifu teaches Lei his ultimate technique, and they set off for Ou Di Wan Lee's temple to confront the killer. The Shifu with Lei/Yun/Hong take on a bunch of martial arts masters with Lei/Yun/Hong fighting Ou Di Wan Lee 1 on 1. After Lei/Yun/Hong defeat Ou Di Wan Lee, the Shifu is on his last breaths, giving them words of encouragement, for me since I chose Lei, you could hear the actress for lay really giving her all in emotions, especially when the Shifu... finally dies in peace knowing that Lei will be ok, and become the new master... with Lei screaming and crying at her Shifu's lost.
At the end of the game, we see Lei break the boulder the Shifu failed to at the beginning of the game, with her praying to her 3 lost friends, and her continuing her training to become the Shifu next.
Absolutely fantastic story, amazing emotional moments, and overall a nice experience, that honestly should be a game on it's own. The characters are all unique and have depth. Personally I think Lei is the best disciple and protagonist since she's the only female one, even though the game tries to do the typical, weak hero who will grow into a strong one with Yun, and comedic relief with Hong.
Overall this chapter is the best when it comes to story, and the gameplay as well, it's short, sweet, and spectacular and is my favorite from the game.
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Final Chapter - For the final chapter regardless of which ending you're going for in terms of heroes, i recommend you being level 25 or a bove for all characters, except CUBE who is capped and locked at Level 7, only because the first boss against ODIO/OERSTED is pretty difficult.
Essentially the characters are brought to the Kingdom of Lucrece, that's been completely emptied of all life... Barren.
The game here allows you to choose who to play as, and as you go through the Kingdom of Lucrece, you can find the characters from the other chapters, and battle them and letting them join your party.
Depending on whether you find all the characters, will effect your chances of getting the true ending.
If you decide to find 3 other characters, along with the one you chose, you can feel free to confront Oersted/ODIO for 1 final stand. Oersted being killed but the heroes being trapped forever in the lost land of the Kingdom of Lucrece.
If you choose to find all the heroes and recruit them, recruiting which involves just saying yes and inviting them into your part, which will make you have to swap characters incase you have a full party, but after you've successfully swapped between all 7 in your party, finally you can finalize what your final party will consist of in order to face ODIO/OERSTED. After you defeat his corrupted Odio form, Oersted asks you to kill him, if you choose to do so, the same ending as previous happens, however to walk away down towards the chamber of statues of previous final bosses from the previous chapters, the other characters who aren't in your party appear. When then here an angry Oersted who states the battle is not over, with the characters being forced to face all of their final bosses one last time with their determination.
After you go through the boss rush of all previous final bosses, Oersted is corrupted and we finally face the true final boss.
TRUE ODIO, who has captured Oersted in his heart. The party you play as fight TRUE ODIO until half way to where he uses a move to trap the part in a force field, this is where the 3 characters you didn't choose for the party show up to help take out the final bit of health, however before the final attack, the 3 are also trapped. Only for Oersted to break free of his mental anguish prison, and do the final blow to true ODIO.
The ending of the game has one of the characters talking to Oersted giving him words of advice about hope, and where he went wrong, and why the world isn't as bad as he thinks it is, even with evil people and evil things within it.
Oersted understands and dies with his mind at peace, with the Kingdom of Lucrece having it's color and beauty restored. The characters returning to their worlds with their lives with new beautiful moments like:
- Lei/Hong/Yun teaching new students the techniques of the shifu so his legacy lives on
- Pogo and Beru having a kid, with Bori having 6 gorilla kids with his 6 wives.
- Akira helping his Takoyaki stand as well as reminiscing about Matsu and his father
- CUBE reuniting with the General and his creator Yoshiyuki Kato
- Oboromaru protecting Sakamoto Ryoma from an assassination attempt
- Sundown Kid looking up towards the beautiful sky without his hat, hoping for better more calm days
- Matsu finishing up his training preparing to move on to new ventures, waiting for the next battle.
With the final shot showing all 7 characters (not including Oersted running towards the screen in heroic fashion).
Beautiful ending tying in everything together allowing someone to learn how to forgive, as well as looking at the positive things in live.
Bad endings:
If the player were to fail during the Boss rush the entire universe is destroyed.
If you chose to play as Oersted, you go to all dimensions/chapters and kill all the heroes and universe with Oersted's hatred consuming all.
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Gameplay works like a turnbased rpg however in a grid like format, with different attacks or status abilities that can affect singular and multiple enemies, along with you and your party in both positive and negative ways. The grid style makes the game very fun and unique and overall a unique style that games like SOUTH PARK FRACTURED BUT WHOLE would take inspiration from.
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What can I say, this remake is absolutely fantastic using the digital styled characters in the beautiful 3d world with beautiful music and esthetics is astounding. Really this version ups the value in terms of it's presentation with it's environments, music, and voice acting. This is not to say you shouldn't play the SNES version, but I think because this version is more accessible and has quality changes, I think this is the definitive way to play LIVE ALIVE. This game is absolutely fantastic and I highly recommend all of you play it. I did have some issues especially with FAR FUTURE, and the game can be a bit of a chore with the grinding, the moments I really love outweighed the issues, this game is fantastic, it deserves a 4.5 out of 5 Stars. The issues keep it from 5, but it's still fantastic none the less.
Live your life to the fullest, absolutely play LIVE ALIVE.
Shin Megami Tensei IV... is a great story-based game, with gameplay issues for me personally.
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I think fundamentally the story is wayyyy better than SMTV's Story, not to say V's is bad, just I finally understand why people love SMT 4 so much...however.
As cool as the characters of Walter, Isabeau, and Jonathan are, as well as the other supporting characters and antagonists, and as cool as it is to have a massive... MASSIVE COMPENDIUM in comparison to previous SMT Games and Persona games.
I don't care what anyone says, this game was a chore to play through, the biggest problem with this game isn't so much lack of an icon of where to go. More so the biggest issue is TOKYO's map, YOU WILL GET LOST.
And before SMT4 hardcore fans try to cope and say "JUST MEMORIZE OR USE A FANMADE MAP" I did do the latter, however it's ridiculous as hell to navigate Tokyo when it has a bunch barriers, poison areas, blocked paths.
Now it wouldn't be an issue if it had all of that, but why the hell didn't ATLUS label the locations. Now here's my logic with it, if you started the game, the map should be blank, thats fine, however after going to key locations like Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ikebukuro, Ginza etc, the minimap at the bottom screenshot tell you what locations are where after you discover them. I swear half the time you're wondering where the hell you have to go.
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I got the neutral ending, and I loved it. However I don't what anyone says, the way of getting the NEUTRAL ENDING is the most convoluted way of getting it. The way you obtain it is by getting neutral affinity/alliance by subscribing to both law and chaos answers, however you really need a guide to let you know which one is which. From there you essentially need to worry about maintaining a neutral stance, and not only that but complete required side missions in order to continue to the neutral route.
After you finally get to the neutral route, and you know you're in it, if you wake up and Isabeau is there with you, the game now doesn't really tell you where the heck you have to go.
After you figure it out via random chance/guess or look at a guide, you then have to go and do 4 more SIDE QUESTS, and then finally you can confront the final bosses.
And as awesome as it to see the ending be a somewhat peaceful ending (considering the neutral ending leads into SMT IV APOCOLYPSE) it's certainly a chore to get through.
I did really enjoy the story though as it's more philosophical about how the world should be ran.
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As for gameplay, I don't have much to talk about other than that it essentially plays like every other SMT game, however has that classic SMT BATTLE Design Style I really think is outdated as hell.
What I mean by "DESIGN STYLE" is this game could've been much cooler if they actually had 3D MODELS of all the demons instead of just still images that occasionally move at 4 fps. And before anyone says "It's probably because game couldn't handle that many models since it's a 3DS game", I understand, however if they ever do a remaster, I feel like they should do the switch from 2d art to 3d models personally.
Another weird thing was how Flynn was the only SAMURAI made in 3D, it would've been better/cooler if they made 3D models of Isabeau, Walter, and Jonathan, as well as the Black Samurai and a few others like Nozomi. Only because it's kind of weird to think your character is traversing on his own, even though the game shows you that Jonathan, Walter, and Isabeau are sometimes in your party, just a little critique.
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I think the story is fantastic and I would love to see a remaster someday for both SWITCH (or Switch 2), and PS4/PS5 and XBOX I really hope ATLUS one day just does a general collection of all games featuring:
- SOUL HACKERS 1
- STRANGE JOURNEY REDUX
- DIGITAL DEVIL SAGA DUOLOGY
- DEVIL SUMMONER RAIDOU DUOLOGY (VS SOULLESS ARMY & 2: VS KING ABADDON)
- DEVIL SURVIVOR DUOLOGY (OVERCLOCKED & 2: RECORD BREAK)
- SMT IF...
- SMT DEVIL SUMMONER 95
- SMT 1 & 2
- MAJIN TENSEI 1 & 2
- Megami Tensei 1 & 2
Kind of like the recent METAL GEAR SOLID COLLECTION VOL 1 except with actual effort (though considering ATLUS halfassed SMT III NOCTURNE when it first released) we'll see if they ever do any other SMT remasters, here's to hoping.
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Anyway I hope this game does get a remaster so more can experience it's great story, I also hope the remaster has quality of life changes, if adding a map with label is what they need to do, I'm all for it.
I would've given the game a 4.5 out of 5 however, the game being confusing with navigation making the game feel like a chore to play and the randomness that is achieving certain endings by doing convoluted things, made me drop it to a 4.
I think the story is fantastic. I would recommend SMT 4 just make sure to have a a lot... and I mean A LOT of patience with it.
Thanks for reading.
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I think fundamentally the story is wayyyy better than SMTV's Story, not to say V's is bad, just I finally understand why people love SMT 4 so much...however.
As cool as the characters of Walter, Isabeau, and Jonathan are, as well as the other supporting characters and antagonists, and as cool as it is to have a massive... MASSIVE COMPENDIUM in comparison to previous SMT Games and Persona games.
I don't care what anyone says, this game was a chore to play through, the biggest problem with this game isn't so much lack of an icon of where to go. More so the biggest issue is TOKYO's map, YOU WILL GET LOST.
And before SMT4 hardcore fans try to cope and say "JUST MEMORIZE OR USE A FANMADE MAP" I did do the latter, however it's ridiculous as hell to navigate Tokyo when it has a bunch barriers, poison areas, blocked paths.
Now it wouldn't be an issue if it had all of that, but why the hell didn't ATLUS label the locations. Now here's my logic with it, if you started the game, the map should be blank, thats fine, however after going to key locations like Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ikebukuro, Ginza etc, the minimap at the bottom screenshot tell you what locations are where after you discover them. I swear half the time you're wondering where the hell you have to go.
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I got the neutral ending, and I loved it. However I don't what anyone says, the way of getting the NEUTRAL ENDING is the most convoluted way of getting it. The way you obtain it is by getting neutral affinity/alliance by subscribing to both law and chaos answers, however you really need a guide to let you know which one is which. From there you essentially need to worry about maintaining a neutral stance, and not only that but complete required side missions in order to continue to the neutral route.
After you finally get to the neutral route, and you know you're in it, if you wake up and Isabeau is there with you, the game now doesn't really tell you where the heck you have to go.
After you figure it out via random chance/guess or look at a guide, you then have to go and do 4 more SIDE QUESTS, and then finally you can confront the final bosses.
And as awesome as it to see the ending be a somewhat peaceful ending (considering the neutral ending leads into SMT IV APOCOLYPSE) it's certainly a chore to get through.
I did really enjoy the story though as it's more philosophical about how the world should be ran.
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As for gameplay, I don't have much to talk about other than that it essentially plays like every other SMT game, however has that classic SMT BATTLE Design Style I really think is outdated as hell.
What I mean by "DESIGN STYLE" is this game could've been much cooler if they actually had 3D MODELS of all the demons instead of just still images that occasionally move at 4 fps. And before anyone says "It's probably because game couldn't handle that many models since it's a 3DS game", I understand, however if they ever do a remaster, I feel like they should do the switch from 2d art to 3d models personally.
Another weird thing was how Flynn was the only SAMURAI made in 3D, it would've been better/cooler if they made 3D models of Isabeau, Walter, and Jonathan, as well as the Black Samurai and a few others like Nozomi. Only because it's kind of weird to think your character is traversing on his own, even though the game shows you that Jonathan, Walter, and Isabeau are sometimes in your party, just a little critique.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I think the story is fantastic and I would love to see a remaster someday for both SWITCH (or Switch 2), and PS4/PS5 and XBOX I really hope ATLUS one day just does a general collection of all games featuring:
- SOUL HACKERS 1
- STRANGE JOURNEY REDUX
- DIGITAL DEVIL SAGA DUOLOGY
- DEVIL SUMMONER RAIDOU DUOLOGY (VS SOULLESS ARMY & 2: VS KING ABADDON)
- DEVIL SURVIVOR DUOLOGY (OVERCLOCKED & 2: RECORD BREAK)
- SMT IF...
- SMT DEVIL SUMMONER 95
- SMT 1 & 2
- MAJIN TENSEI 1 & 2
- Megami Tensei 1 & 2
Kind of like the recent METAL GEAR SOLID COLLECTION VOL 1 except with actual effort (though considering ATLUS halfassed SMT III NOCTURNE when it first released) we'll see if they ever do any other SMT remasters, here's to hoping.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Anyway I hope this game does get a remaster so more can experience it's great story, I also hope the remaster has quality of life changes, if adding a map with label is what they need to do, I'm all for it.
I would've given the game a 4.5 out of 5 however, the game being confusing with navigation making the game feel like a chore to play and the randomness that is achieving certain endings by doing convoluted things, made me drop it to a 4.
I think the story is fantastic. I would recommend SMT 4 just make sure to have a a lot... and I mean A LOT of patience with it.
Thanks for reading.