HumorousUsername
If I was going to give this the shortest, most concise possible review to get across to people what the experience of playing this game is like, I think I might go with this: think about being able to play through one of the Guardians movies with slightly (slightly!) lesser writing quality pushed through a sieve of modern AAA action gaming tropes.
I think that would broadly cover a lot of my thoughts on the game, without getting into qualitative analysis. That description really does cover both the good & the bad of this game, which is why even though parts of this game are really expertly executed I settled on a more middling score. In terms of visual & audio presentation, writing, acting, etc; this really is pretty much a B-Team approach to one of the James Gunn Guardians films. Maybe the comedy isn't quite as sharp, maybe the performances aren't quite as good, maybe the visuals aren't quite as weird or fantastical, but the fact this is able to get pretty much right on the line should still be seen as pretty impressive. I would say that I found the majority of this charming & easy to get through, with a few caveats: the nature of the game scenario format makes it feel like we spend way too much time with the Guardians bickering & arguing, certain humor elements feel horribly out of place & needed to be excised (i.e. awful outdated Reddit humor like the space llama, space cursing or Adam Warlock's alliteration), and I think some of the dialogue decisions felt arbitrary or unclear what is meant to be important (maybe that was the intention I know, but it just annoyed me). The main cast performances are all really good & I think most importantly the story is pretty good & structured well for a video game. Since a lot of this game tries to be closer to the comics than the MCU, the plot here also feels more comic book & I think that helps it be broader in scope in a more natural way.
When it comes to gameplay I also start to have more reservations, as all the things done well here are balanced against tropes that I get sick of seeing in modern AAA games. Shimmy through wall cracks, scripted in-game sequences where the game expects you to react a certain way (I both liked but was constantly annoyed by the fact the team yells at you when you go off to look for secrets, great for writing purposes but irritating as a player) & a combat system that feels all to familiar. Sure, I think the combat system is set up really well in making it a rotation of special skills & which to use when; a system that rewards movement & energy, but the handwaving of Quill's "elemental guns" feels very trope-heavy & the combat engagements can get repetitive (though I think once everything is unlocked near the end game fights get a little more complex, and most of the boss encounters are good). Secret-hunting is fairly easy to pull off, though I feel embarrassed for how easy most of it is but still having missed a lot of the costumes. They also don't entice you much to do a NG+, I doubt I'll ever revisit this ever again even though I liked it a decent amount. I did hate hate all the young Peter sections though, as I had no desire in that setting to read all the flavor text & engage with it all. Most of the "forced walking" segments in the game were a little annoying.
Overall, for a game I got for free from Epic, I would have paid a decent amount to play it fully after trying it out. One of the few action games to flow fairly well as a movie, and kind of the positive middle ground that I'd want AAA games to ride in if they aren't making out-and-out masterpieces, which happens very rarely.
I think that would broadly cover a lot of my thoughts on the game, without getting into qualitative analysis. That description really does cover both the good & the bad of this game, which is why even though parts of this game are really expertly executed I settled on a more middling score. In terms of visual & audio presentation, writing, acting, etc; this really is pretty much a B-Team approach to one of the James Gunn Guardians films. Maybe the comedy isn't quite as sharp, maybe the performances aren't quite as good, maybe the visuals aren't quite as weird or fantastical, but the fact this is able to get pretty much right on the line should still be seen as pretty impressive. I would say that I found the majority of this charming & easy to get through, with a few caveats: the nature of the game scenario format makes it feel like we spend way too much time with the Guardians bickering & arguing, certain humor elements feel horribly out of place & needed to be excised (i.e. awful outdated Reddit humor like the space llama, space cursing or Adam Warlock's alliteration), and I think some of the dialogue decisions felt arbitrary or unclear what is meant to be important (maybe that was the intention I know, but it just annoyed me). The main cast performances are all really good & I think most importantly the story is pretty good & structured well for a video game. Since a lot of this game tries to be closer to the comics than the MCU, the plot here also feels more comic book & I think that helps it be broader in scope in a more natural way.
When it comes to gameplay I also start to have more reservations, as all the things done well here are balanced against tropes that I get sick of seeing in modern AAA games. Shimmy through wall cracks, scripted in-game sequences where the game expects you to react a certain way (I both liked but was constantly annoyed by the fact the team yells at you when you go off to look for secrets, great for writing purposes but irritating as a player) & a combat system that feels all to familiar. Sure, I think the combat system is set up really well in making it a rotation of special skills & which to use when; a system that rewards movement & energy, but the handwaving of Quill's "elemental guns" feels very trope-heavy & the combat engagements can get repetitive (though I think once everything is unlocked near the end game fights get a little more complex, and most of the boss encounters are good). Secret-hunting is fairly easy to pull off, though I feel embarrassed for how easy most of it is but still having missed a lot of the costumes. They also don't entice you much to do a NG+, I doubt I'll ever revisit this ever again even though I liked it a decent amount. I did hate hate all the young Peter sections though, as I had no desire in that setting to read all the flavor text & engage with it all. Most of the "forced walking" segments in the game were a little annoying.
Overall, for a game I got for free from Epic, I would have paid a decent amount to play it fully after trying it out. One of the few action games to flow fairly well as a movie, and kind of the positive middle ground that I'd want AAA games to ride in if they aren't making out-and-out masterpieces, which happens very rarely.
It's weird, but... I'm not really sure why I started playing this.
I got the whole series as a bundle maybe 2-3 years ago super cheap, I just decided to buy them since I'd heard so much praise for this one in particular & I am a decent fan of Cyberpunk. However, I start this and just... nothing grips me. Sure, you get feet & ass RIGHT AWAY to try to lure you in, but nothing inherently about the world really entices me to delve deeper into the game. Some of the Witcher abilities & designs of things in the world are interesting, but at least from a surface level view this does not distinguish itself enough from broad fantasy tropes for me to care even in the slightest.
I think also innovations CDPR used in Cyberpunk have spoiled me a little in their formula, because right from the get-go there's a lot of the design in this I find to be odd & clunky. The movement feels kind of spastic & too quick, especially for tighter quarter areas, and something about the combat feels like there's gaps in it or it doesn't flow as smoothly as it should.
I don't want to totally abandon this game, partially because I really did not get that far in it & something this universally lauded & praised should be given a better effort (same with all forms of media, to a certain extent). At this point though, I just innately have no interest in this or drive to keep playing. We'll come back later to see if I feel any different.
I got the whole series as a bundle maybe 2-3 years ago super cheap, I just decided to buy them since I'd heard so much praise for this one in particular & I am a decent fan of Cyberpunk. However, I start this and just... nothing grips me. Sure, you get feet & ass RIGHT AWAY to try to lure you in, but nothing inherently about the world really entices me to delve deeper into the game. Some of the Witcher abilities & designs of things in the world are interesting, but at least from a surface level view this does not distinguish itself enough from broad fantasy tropes for me to care even in the slightest.
I think also innovations CDPR used in Cyberpunk have spoiled me a little in their formula, because right from the get-go there's a lot of the design in this I find to be odd & clunky. The movement feels kind of spastic & too quick, especially for tighter quarter areas, and something about the combat feels like there's gaps in it or it doesn't flow as smoothly as it should.
I don't want to totally abandon this game, partially because I really did not get that far in it & something this universally lauded & praised should be given a better effort (same with all forms of media, to a certain extent). At this point though, I just innately have no interest in this or drive to keep playing. We'll come back later to see if I feel any different.
2024
A game that seems to be plagued by a curse of AA & some key choices that don't work in their favor. To start, I think the artstyle chosen for this (while it makes sense to fit in with the themes) does not complement the budget or online aspect very well. I think the landscapes look excellent, and it's a neat trick that they seem to all be fully rendered at all points in the game, but the character models are pretty busted & clash with the overall look of the thing. Had they gone for a more minimalist or cartoonish style I think it might have worked better, but the Talos Principle influence rings too strong.
The online aspect leaves me with very mixed feelings. On one hand, for some of the puzzles I was able to learn through natural observation of other players how to get through some of them (the glass maze & some of the ring puzzles) which is a really cool way to do collaborative multiplayer. However, I think the budget of this game again constricts it so that load times are pretty busted, and there's just the slight whiff of jank that stops me from investing a lot of time into it. I wish there was also more accessibility options, as I was able to jerry-rig controller support but this game was obviously not designed for it. I fully intend on coming back to this if it stays up for a decent amount of time, but in some ways it feels like the first attempt at something that could be really well-refined over time.
The online aspect leaves me with very mixed feelings. On one hand, for some of the puzzles I was able to learn through natural observation of other players how to get through some of them (the glass maze & some of the ring puzzles) which is a really cool way to do collaborative multiplayer. However, I think the budget of this game again constricts it so that load times are pretty busted, and there's just the slight whiff of jank that stops me from investing a lot of time into it. I wish there was also more accessibility options, as I was able to jerry-rig controller support but this game was obviously not designed for it. I fully intend on coming back to this if it stays up for a decent amount of time, but in some ways it feels like the first attempt at something that could be really well-refined over time.
An odd little crossover fighting game, set up in the arena style of combat kind of like Power Stone but a little more focused on speed & movement than Power Stone's more item-based gameplay. Admittedly, I'm really only familiar with YS so I'm only getting part of the fanservice here but the structure of the combat & the look of it is a lot closer to YS so I guess it has that going for it?
While I think things are charming aesthetically for a PSP game (on an emulator the splash screens are there for a second & then gone), I just cannot really click with the combat. Often it just feels like frantic flailing & not a whole lot of strategy going on, even though it's not a particularly difficult game. A neat idea, but it didn't stick.
While I think things are charming aesthetically for a PSP game (on an emulator the splash screens are there for a second & then gone), I just cannot really click with the combat. Often it just feels like frantic flailing & not a whole lot of strategy going on, even though it's not a particularly difficult game. A neat idea, but it didn't stick.
Once again old YS games too hoard & I have shamed myself in the attempt. Hopefully I'll give it the old college try eventually but I'd rather just plat Nordics when it comes out...
Maybe I just run the game with too many mods to begin with, but I really did not notice too much of a difference between the update playthrough & a normal one. Game is still an exceptional modern open world game (though my criticisms of bloat, sameiness & getting sick of the aesthetic still hold true personally) but I really did not notice a big sea change with this.
One of the rare few times I've gotten decently far in a game, pretty close to an endgame in some senses, and just kind of put my head in my hands & said "no, I don't think so, fuck this I'm out". It's a shame too, since despite a lot of jank & awkwardness there was a lot I did like about the presentation & ideas present in Shadow Complex. I like the really unique setting for a Metroidvania that isn't fantasy or high concept sci-fi, more of a hi-tech Tom Clancy/"gadget-y secret society dad thriller" vibe complete with cheesy voice acting & a cartoonish plot. I also liked the much more visible way you gain abilities throughout this, going from just some dude hiking with a flashlight to a super-soldier with a sonic speed dash. The difficulty is fairly balanced as well, so I think the progression handles well.
However, once you really start to sink some hours into this the cracks & the irritants start to grow. The huge, overarching dilemma with this game is one of the worst Metroidvania maps I've seen, and I've played a decent amount. There's no shortcut system, so if you have an objective on the other end of the map or somewhere without an easy line to get to then you have to waste ungodly amounts of time hiking back & forth. I appreciate that the save rooms are more checkpoints you can blow past to autosave, but some of the traversal in this is infuriating mixed with the sometimes jittery controls & the bizarre 2.5D that makes it hard to shoot enemies in the background or understand depth.
The locating of secrets too is also fiddly & bizarre, with some hidden in ways that are poorly explained or lots of quick death traps that just serve as time sinks. So many areas that require crawling through areas that is slow even when holding the dash, and just everything in this adds up to waste time where it shouldn't. I really really wanted to finish this, but as someone who really does take games casually for the most part I just did not want to waste any more time with a clunky game.
However, once you really start to sink some hours into this the cracks & the irritants start to grow. The huge, overarching dilemma with this game is one of the worst Metroidvania maps I've seen, and I've played a decent amount. There's no shortcut system, so if you have an objective on the other end of the map or somewhere without an easy line to get to then you have to waste ungodly amounts of time hiking back & forth. I appreciate that the save rooms are more checkpoints you can blow past to autosave, but some of the traversal in this is infuriating mixed with the sometimes jittery controls & the bizarre 2.5D that makes it hard to shoot enemies in the background or understand depth.
The locating of secrets too is also fiddly & bizarre, with some hidden in ways that are poorly explained or lots of quick death traps that just serve as time sinks. So many areas that require crawling through areas that is slow even when holding the dash, and just everything in this adds up to waste time where it shouldn't. I really really wanted to finish this, but as someone who really does take games casually for the most part I just did not want to waste any more time with a clunky game.
2009
Old YS games too hawrd for a simpleton like me, and I don't want to be a Big Gay Baby & play on Easy mode like a bitch (same problem I had with YS Origin). Still might try to come back to this since I want to try to tackle all the YS games, but I think everything pre-Lacrimosa may just not be for me.
2024
I think the weakest of the Pheonixx free games, in that both the gameplay & the artstyle are kind of bland & didn't grab me the way the others did. Maybe if the mechanics were more fleshed out & the robot switching was more on-the-fly it might spice things up, but as it stands this is the idea I was the least interesting in expanding on.
(I will say I did not really engage with the New Game+ at all, it felt like a little too much which kind of plays into my overall feelings about this game)
In terms of a remaster, I think this is a really good example of how to approach them in a general sense. A new look that doesn't ruin the original's aesthetic and differs slightly but not too much to be radically different, an expansion on the core game & some extras added in to spice things up. However, this might also be an example of a little too much of a good thing. While this is the pretty standard Kirby experience throughout with the central gimmick of Ultra Powers being...fine, I guess, it felt like there was a real content bloat here that felt like trying to finish a whole birthday cake by myself (which I guess also works as an analogy for the syrupy nature of the Kirby series).
Even just trying to finish the main game while taking time to get the minigame tickets & extra lives felt like a bit of a time slog on it's own, not to mention trying to get all the Dress-Up masks & achievements in the park. The minigames, the level design, all that was pretty standard issue Kirby stuff but it just felt like an obligation near the endpoint. I think this is broken up a little by the more interesting Magolor side game, which almost seems like a test run for the game engine to branch out into different game styles that still adhere to a general Kirby formula. The idea of an upgrade system & the different moveset was enough to keep me going for the short runtime, so I think that more than anything else was the biggest pull in this game for me. A fun enough traditional Kirby game but too bloated & familiar to be one of my favorites.
In terms of a remaster, I think this is a really good example of how to approach them in a general sense. A new look that doesn't ruin the original's aesthetic and differs slightly but not too much to be radically different, an expansion on the core game & some extras added in to spice things up. However, this might also be an example of a little too much of a good thing. While this is the pretty standard Kirby experience throughout with the central gimmick of Ultra Powers being...fine, I guess, it felt like there was a real content bloat here that felt like trying to finish a whole birthday cake by myself (which I guess also works as an analogy for the syrupy nature of the Kirby series).
Even just trying to finish the main game while taking time to get the minigame tickets & extra lives felt like a bit of a time slog on it's own, not to mention trying to get all the Dress-Up masks & achievements in the park. The minigames, the level design, all that was pretty standard issue Kirby stuff but it just felt like an obligation near the endpoint. I think this is broken up a little by the more interesting Magolor side game, which almost seems like a test run for the game engine to branch out into different game styles that still adhere to a general Kirby formula. The idea of an upgrade system & the different moveset was enough to keep me going for the short runtime, so I think that more than anything else was the biggest pull in this game for me. A fun enough traditional Kirby game but too bloated & familiar to be one of my favorites.
2024
An intruiging tech demo that I think could be fleshed out into something really great. The movement feels really good, though I do think the trail-making of the boomerang needs to be a little more detailed & versatile to make this into a more challenging full game. I did like how open-ended the levels were which could give way to a really fun secret-hunting full game, and the lack of a damage system let me take more risks looking around. Art style is a little too plain (even that feels like a demo), but a kind of clean "Genshin Impact meets Y2K" look could be spiced up a little bit. Would love to see this one built out a little more.
I think all the positive buzz I heard about this was mainly just due to the connection with WayForward & the fact we got another one of the rare "pretty good tie-in games", so I think my expectations may have been set too high. This isn't a bad game by any stretch, the art direction & soundtrack are really wonderfully done if not even remotely resembling the movie it's based off of, but there were lots of little annoyances that piled up on me to the point where I just wanted to play a better Metroidvania.
The biggest, most constant hurdle for me was the very slippery controls; it always felt like a stop/start way of moving throughout the game & like I would slide off of ledges I'm trying to jump on. Obviously, for a genre the involves quick movement & tight controls this started to become really grating. Add to this very precise windows for damage & I got more frustrated as I went along. It's still a relatively fun platformer, but there were enough little issues that I'm not sure when I'd come back to it.
The biggest, most constant hurdle for me was the very slippery controls; it always felt like a stop/start way of moving throughout the game & like I would slide off of ledges I'm trying to jump on. Obviously, for a genre the involves quick movement & tight controls this started to become really grating. Add to this very precise windows for damage & I got more frustrated as I went along. It's still a relatively fun platformer, but there were enough little issues that I'm not sure when I'd come back to it.
2018
A really visually nice & mechanically competent Metroidvania that started to sour on me with more annoying backtracking due to how the abilities worked (felt like it was always hard to clear a room with returning enemies) & with the central gimmick being utilized kind of awkwardly to the point where it felt like it could have been stripped out pretty much entirely. Decent enough, but I'm not sure if I'll revisit it or just play more tightly made similar games.
2024
Very fun, very short "messing up shit"-type game (a la Untitled Goose Game, Octodad, Under The Skin, etc.) where you're an evil little dog who completely destroys your family's house. Love the graphical style, and this could probably be expanded into a successful full length title.
It's free on Steam & it's short, no reason not to get it!
It's free on Steam & it's short, no reason not to get it!
2022
Attention! I have stopped playing this game solely because I'm having weird slowdown issues when I move too fast or are in certain areas in the game. I'm totally sure it's not my PC, and I cannot find ways to monkey with the .exe of this to make it run in a more efficient way. If this has happened to anyone else & you fixed it let me know how, I generally really really enjoy this game but at this point the slowdowns are too much of a hinderance to ignore.
Other than that issue, what a charming & addictive little game. The art style is stellar; with this bouncy pixel look that's just detailed enough to have more style but still keeps every graphical element readable & easy to comprehend quickly on a scan. While I think at some points the movement is a little too slippery for precision platforming, I do like the grapple mechanics a lot & the bouncing mechanics brought in later give you this great sense of momentum. The music is boppin', the dialogue is funny without being overly quirked up; just generally this has a really appealing vibe & gamefeel. If I can ever get this issue resolved (or get it on another platform), I'd love to see it through. Hopefully the sequel addresses all the issues!
Other than that issue, what a charming & addictive little game. The art style is stellar; with this bouncy pixel look that's just detailed enough to have more style but still keeps every graphical element readable & easy to comprehend quickly on a scan. While I think at some points the movement is a little too slippery for precision platforming, I do like the grapple mechanics a lot & the bouncing mechanics brought in later give you this great sense of momentum. The music is boppin', the dialogue is funny without being overly quirked up; just generally this has a really appealing vibe & gamefeel. If I can ever get this issue resolved (or get it on another platform), I'd love to see it through. Hopefully the sequel addresses all the issues!