SlasherMcGirk
It had been so long since I played the original title A Plague Tale: Innocence, so I watched a breif summary of the first game. My memory of it was that it was a pretty impressive title for an indie game and looked quite nice and while I liked the characters the game and story itself left a little bit to be desired. Requiem to me also fits that ball well despite the fact I just finished it. I can already tell I will feel the same way in a few years and a slight rememberance of disapointment.
For starters the game looks really great on the PS5. Much better than I thought it would even considering the past title. Enviroments really pop and the flora really stands out as being well done. Character models for the main cast look great and it runs pretty consistent but there are notable spikes and lag in stuff from afar. I can imagine it was not like this at launch though.
The gameplay of Requiem is very similar to the first. It doesn't really have "combat" per se. Well I guess technically you could argure it does but fighting enemies is not what the game wants you to do. In fact it's rather hard to kill all or any enemies in any given area. Instead I feel it's more like a stealth puzzle game that disguises it's self as having combat. It's more about resource gathering and mix alchemic potions to trick or lure enemies into areas so you can get around them. It's much much easier to play stealthy in this game as opposed to most games where using combat attacks and bum rushing it using raw skill. It's a decent pace breaker at the very least although I don't think the game does an exceptional job at it none the less. The majority of your time in Requiem is speant in slow walking sections as characters talk and comment about the situation they are in. Really no lie, this is the vast majority of what the game comprises of. There are other sections of the game where instead of avoiding enemies you have to figure out how to traverse a set peices while avoiding herds of rats that will instant kill you if they touch you. So then it becomes a puzzle of sort to try to light fires to give you space to move or even extinguish others to lure them in while you navigate a space. Sometimes it can be annoying when you are low on resourses and you are missing the one item pot that you need to make a break for it. The game is really paced like this. Forced walking section > rat maze > second rat maze > forced walking section > breif exploration > forced walking section > sneak section > sneak section again > forced walking section > cutscene and end chapter.
When it comes to the story it is a continuation from the first game but honestly it is pretty easy to follow if you haven't played it outside of one or two details. This is kinda a journey game so there really isn't much twists or turns. Every story beat is easily expected and guessed. The only thing that really feels like any originality is really the ending. I will not spoil it but I really was not a fan of it. I don't think it was earned and it honestly hampered my mild enjoyment of the game.
The one thing I really did like was the performance of the voice actors and the characters in this game. The actress that did Amecia was really well done and Hugo was not nearly annoying at all despite him being a whiny child character. There were some great moments that really brought the voice work forward and made it stand out. Punished murderous Amecia is best Amecia The music was also really well done and really heighted some of the scenes. It's almost like the presentation of the game was really well done and every other ascpect of the game from gameplay, story and pacing was just an absolute slog. My second playthrough to cap off the last couple of trophies I didn't have was just the most boring second run of a game I think I can even remember. It was slow the first time around but the second time was agonizing.
I don't know if the team is planning another one of these games but they would have to take it in quite an interesting direction to get me excited for it and overhaul the game play a bit. It was worth one go around to experiance it but it kinda feels like junk food gaming. Enjoyed it enough while having it but immeaditly got paines and remorse thinking back on it.
Platinum #201
For starters the game looks really great on the PS5. Much better than I thought it would even considering the past title. Enviroments really pop and the flora really stands out as being well done. Character models for the main cast look great and it runs pretty consistent but there are notable spikes and lag in stuff from afar. I can imagine it was not like this at launch though.
The gameplay of Requiem is very similar to the first. It doesn't really have "combat" per se. Well I guess technically you could argure it does but fighting enemies is not what the game wants you to do. In fact it's rather hard to kill all or any enemies in any given area. Instead I feel it's more like a stealth puzzle game that disguises it's self as having combat. It's more about resource gathering and mix alchemic potions to trick or lure enemies into areas so you can get around them. It's much much easier to play stealthy in this game as opposed to most games where using combat attacks and bum rushing it using raw skill. It's a decent pace breaker at the very least although I don't think the game does an exceptional job at it none the less. The majority of your time in Requiem is speant in slow walking sections as characters talk and comment about the situation they are in. Really no lie, this is the vast majority of what the game comprises of. There are other sections of the game where instead of avoiding enemies you have to figure out how to traverse a set peices while avoiding herds of rats that will instant kill you if they touch you. So then it becomes a puzzle of sort to try to light fires to give you space to move or even extinguish others to lure them in while you navigate a space. Sometimes it can be annoying when you are low on resourses and you are missing the one item pot that you need to make a break for it. The game is really paced like this. Forced walking section > rat maze > second rat maze > forced walking section > breif exploration > forced walking section > sneak section > sneak section again > forced walking section > cutscene and end chapter.
When it comes to the story it is a continuation from the first game but honestly it is pretty easy to follow if you haven't played it outside of one or two details. This is kinda a journey game so there really isn't much twists or turns. Every story beat is easily expected and guessed. The only thing that really feels like any originality is really the ending. I will not spoil it but I really was not a fan of it. I don't think it was earned and it honestly hampered my mild enjoyment of the game.
The one thing I really did like was the performance of the voice actors and the characters in this game. The actress that did Amecia was really well done and Hugo was not nearly annoying at all despite him being a whiny child character. There were some great moments that really brought the voice work forward and made it stand out. Punished murderous Amecia is best Amecia The music was also really well done and really heighted some of the scenes. It's almost like the presentation of the game was really well done and every other ascpect of the game from gameplay, story and pacing was just an absolute slog. My second playthrough to cap off the last couple of trophies I didn't have was just the most boring second run of a game I think I can even remember. It was slow the first time around but the second time was agonizing.
I don't know if the team is planning another one of these games but they would have to take it in quite an interesting direction to get me excited for it and overhaul the game play a bit. It was worth one go around to experiance it but it kinda feels like junk food gaming. Enjoyed it enough while having it but immeaditly got paines and remorse thinking back on it.
Platinum #201
The first time I caught a glimpse of Astalon: Tears of the Earth was on a quick hidden gems video. I really liked the graphical style and how the characters color's would pop very simialr to NES Castlevania or Mega Man. Watched a quick review for it and then I knew that this was a title I wanted to try out.
Astalon is a metroidvania style dungeon crawler through and through, although it plays and feels more like a classic vania but just in that world structure. What stands out the most about Astalon is it's difficulty and it's level design. Both elements are at it's core of what makes this game special and unique amongst it's peers.
Astalon's difficulty could turn off most fans of the genre but it's really one of the elements I really felt refreshing. First of all when I talk about difficulty I am not referring to it's combat. It's combat is very simple Castlevania style, with a few attacks and upgrades with multiple characters switching mechanic. Certain characters and only reach certain areas or have different kinds of attacks. Some are better for traversal or maybe better at tanking hits. It's very similar to the Curse of the Moon franchise of the last few years, and if anything feels like that I'm on board. Like most metroidvania's though with enough grinding and upgrades ypu will make most encounters trivial with time, so even if there is an initial hurdle on an enemy or boss it isn't for very long. Every time you die you get a chance to upgrade your characters, health, damage and acuire new items. So even if you are constantly dieing and feeling like you are not making any progress, you actually are.
The difficulty is really all about exploration. Moving from section to section taking out monsters and trying not to die to reach new areas is where the struggle lies. Everytime you die you start back at the very begaining of the game. No checkpoints. Granted yes you can make some short cuts and open some elevators in the massive tower but reaching one side of the map to the other usually is quite the trek. On top of that Astalon has an interesting system when it comes to healing. Enemies do not drop health pick ups, nor are there item useage to recover health and you do not recover health from killing enemies. (Although there is a late game upgrade that has a random chance to drop health) Instead there are candle sticks that littered throughout the tower that drop 4-5 HP refills. Once they are used they are gone for good. The only way to replinish them is to buy them back after death from the merchant. This may sound kinda punishing for new players but I felt this really prevented repeated enemy spawn killing for health and made exploration more tense.
What I really like about the exploration in Astalon is just how much of the world is explorable from the get go. There is barely a set path that makes you feel like you have to explore this area first or this one next. There are three major bosses that have to be killed before the reaching the top of the tower and they do have to be killed in order but the rest of the map is completely optional. Exploring one hard section might feel like your not making progress in anything but then you get a really useful item or get some permenant upgrades and a ton of cash that make the off the beaten path totally worth it. The items in this game are really usefull and total game changers. Imagine not unlocking the elevator to travel up and down the tower. Toatally missable. So if the game is so open to explore is it frustrating to make any progress? Well yes and no. The game kinda works on a simple 3 key system. White keys, Blue Keys and Red Keys. Keys are in fixed locations and never change. White Key's typically lead to more critical pathways in a dungeon. Blue Key's seem to be more for rewards, hidden areas and short cuts. Red Key's are the rarer key's that unlock major critical areas or super rewards.
You will find yourself at times with like five different areas to explore and you choose one and you don't have enough keys to fully explore yet or lack a upgrade to get through an obsticle. In fact it seems a very common response to this game is people asking if it's possible to soft lock your game because you used the wrong keys in the wrong areas and the answer to that is no. That just goes to show you the importance of choice of what kind of key to use and in what spot. I can see a permenant health upgrade over here but I aslo need a blue key to keep exploring the catacombs and I might not know when I find another one. It's these kind of choices that really highlights how well crafted this games world is. Many games have secret areas or false walls in these old school platformers but only Astalon I can remember where some of these areas are required to progress and not just small easter eggs to get an item. You never ever wanna leave a single room unexplored and pay close attention to how many exits a room has. Also I REALLY appreciate that once you explore about 85-90% of the game you can buy a map to fill out the remaining rooms you haven't found. So many metroidvania's time wasted missing one or two rooms preventing 100% exploration but not here.
The only thing I didn't like about Astalon where the unlockable extra modes. They were extremely poorly designed and overly difficult. It made a nice platinum run a little more tedius and annoying. Boss Rush is a complete RNG nightmare. Just ignore those extra modes. Still I got a solid 15-20 hours completing the main game 100% and it was a very enjoyable experiance. I would definitly say that Astalon is a hidden gem and right out of the gate for 2024 a definite contender of my favorite games of the year.
Platinum #200
Astalon is a metroidvania style dungeon crawler through and through, although it plays and feels more like a classic vania but just in that world structure. What stands out the most about Astalon is it's difficulty and it's level design. Both elements are at it's core of what makes this game special and unique amongst it's peers.
Astalon's difficulty could turn off most fans of the genre but it's really one of the elements I really felt refreshing. First of all when I talk about difficulty I am not referring to it's combat. It's combat is very simple Castlevania style, with a few attacks and upgrades with multiple characters switching mechanic. Certain characters and only reach certain areas or have different kinds of attacks. Some are better for traversal or maybe better at tanking hits. It's very similar to the Curse of the Moon franchise of the last few years, and if anything feels like that I'm on board. Like most metroidvania's though with enough grinding and upgrades ypu will make most encounters trivial with time, so even if there is an initial hurdle on an enemy or boss it isn't for very long. Every time you die you get a chance to upgrade your characters, health, damage and acuire new items. So even if you are constantly dieing and feeling like you are not making any progress, you actually are.
The difficulty is really all about exploration. Moving from section to section taking out monsters and trying not to die to reach new areas is where the struggle lies. Everytime you die you start back at the very begaining of the game. No checkpoints. Granted yes you can make some short cuts and open some elevators in the massive tower but reaching one side of the map to the other usually is quite the trek. On top of that Astalon has an interesting system when it comes to healing. Enemies do not drop health pick ups, nor are there item useage to recover health and you do not recover health from killing enemies. (Although there is a late game upgrade that has a random chance to drop health) Instead there are candle sticks that littered throughout the tower that drop 4-5 HP refills. Once they are used they are gone for good. The only way to replinish them is to buy them back after death from the merchant. This may sound kinda punishing for new players but I felt this really prevented repeated enemy spawn killing for health and made exploration more tense.
What I really like about the exploration in Astalon is just how much of the world is explorable from the get go. There is barely a set path that makes you feel like you have to explore this area first or this one next. There are three major bosses that have to be killed before the reaching the top of the tower and they do have to be killed in order but the rest of the map is completely optional. Exploring one hard section might feel like your not making progress in anything but then you get a really useful item or get some permenant upgrades and a ton of cash that make the off the beaten path totally worth it. The items in this game are really usefull and total game changers. Imagine not unlocking the elevator to travel up and down the tower. Toatally missable. So if the game is so open to explore is it frustrating to make any progress? Well yes and no. The game kinda works on a simple 3 key system. White keys, Blue Keys and Red Keys. Keys are in fixed locations and never change. White Key's typically lead to more critical pathways in a dungeon. Blue Key's seem to be more for rewards, hidden areas and short cuts. Red Key's are the rarer key's that unlock major critical areas or super rewards.
You will find yourself at times with like five different areas to explore and you choose one and you don't have enough keys to fully explore yet or lack a upgrade to get through an obsticle. In fact it seems a very common response to this game is people asking if it's possible to soft lock your game because you used the wrong keys in the wrong areas and the answer to that is no. That just goes to show you the importance of choice of what kind of key to use and in what spot. I can see a permenant health upgrade over here but I aslo need a blue key to keep exploring the catacombs and I might not know when I find another one. It's these kind of choices that really highlights how well crafted this games world is. Many games have secret areas or false walls in these old school platformers but only Astalon I can remember where some of these areas are required to progress and not just small easter eggs to get an item. You never ever wanna leave a single room unexplored and pay close attention to how many exits a room has. Also I REALLY appreciate that once you explore about 85-90% of the game you can buy a map to fill out the remaining rooms you haven't found. So many metroidvania's time wasted missing one or two rooms preventing 100% exploration but not here.
The only thing I didn't like about Astalon where the unlockable extra modes. They were extremely poorly designed and overly difficult. It made a nice platinum run a little more tedius and annoying. Boss Rush is a complete RNG nightmare. Just ignore those extra modes. Still I got a solid 15-20 hours completing the main game 100% and it was a very enjoyable experiance. I would definitly say that Astalon is a hidden gem and right out of the gate for 2024 a definite contender of my favorite games of the year.
Platinum #200
As a fan of Final Fantasy and Elite Beat Agents I really wanted to try to get into the original Theatrhythm game on the 3DS. For whatever the reason it just didn't gel with me very well and it was not satisfying to play. I admit I am not very good at the the Theatrhytm games and it does hamper my enjoyment of the original title. While not perfect there was a lot to like but I just never felt like playing it.
Warp to Final Bar Line being on announced for console. I was really intrigued on how the game would play without the touch screen and how in the world would that be satisfying at all. Then I had heard that it was going to have a demo to try it out and mess with the settings to your playstyle. It's been a long time since a demo has actually swayed me to purchase a game but this one surely did.
First thing I noticed was how much I struggled. Man the difficulty can be quite intense for someone who does not play these kinda games often. However I swallowed my pride and tried out simple mode and believe it or not it was much more enjoyable for me. Simple mode just concentrates on hitting the beats in sync at a more relaxed pace. I was able to enjoy the songs much more this way. Not trying to hit crazy notes going lightning fast and more complex motions on harder settings. Being able to enjoy the massive song list at a relaxed pace had me much more engaged.
So then I thought if this was easy now and im just going to go through the motions for song completions am I not just going to get bored? Thankfully I wouldn't because I think they did a really great job in the series quest mode. You can go through each title of game and play all the songs and try to accomplish quests during the song to get a reward and some unlockables. Such quests might include beating a stage with a certain character, hitting a certain number of critical hits, finding 5 treasures chests, beating a boss in 30 seconds, not using items or killing an enemy with a certain weakness and so on. Now on simple mode most of these quests weren't so bad but some really do make you prep and customize your party to tackle a challange. Each character has their own stats, abilities and special moves that you can use during songs to fight monsters, find loot or up your defense. Soon it became not about hitting 200 flying notes on hyper speed and prescion but building a party and level characters and customizing my party to equip myself on completing a challange. Theatrhythm started to feel more like an RPG than a rhythm game to me. That and the achievment list was very much catered to this kind of play instead of simply being hit every note perfectly on every song and thats it. Even a less skilled player could complete the trophy list, which gave me extra motivation. By the end of the series quest play, I really had to carefully plan my party to complete some hard quests but nothing that was simply impossible without repeated play.
The only things that really annoyed me about FInal Bar Line is that despite having a massive song list there are a lot of poplular pieces not here. They seriously not include "Eye's on Me" from FF8? It's like the main theme of the game. A FFX2 series list but no english versions of 1000 words or even the intro song? That and some tracks that were selected were kinda head scraters as to why they are here. Some songs are so short and slow they don't work very well in this kinda game. That and the bias for certain titles of the franchise does kinda stick out. Would have liked to seen more Dissidia tracks as they have some great originals and remixes in that series. Also since the characters are simple and sharre a lot of skills and stuff they should have included every playable FF character from all the games listed. The event mode songs also feel really cheap and lazy in the video department. I feel like they could have been better.
In the end Final Bar Line I expected to play pretty casually but ended up more drawn in than I bargained for thanks to the great gameplay customization and multiple game types suited for all skill levels. I'd recommend if your a fan of FF or a die hard music rhythm gamer.
Platinum #199
Warp to Final Bar Line being on announced for console. I was really intrigued on how the game would play without the touch screen and how in the world would that be satisfying at all. Then I had heard that it was going to have a demo to try it out and mess with the settings to your playstyle. It's been a long time since a demo has actually swayed me to purchase a game but this one surely did.
First thing I noticed was how much I struggled. Man the difficulty can be quite intense for someone who does not play these kinda games often. However I swallowed my pride and tried out simple mode and believe it or not it was much more enjoyable for me. Simple mode just concentrates on hitting the beats in sync at a more relaxed pace. I was able to enjoy the songs much more this way. Not trying to hit crazy notes going lightning fast and more complex motions on harder settings. Being able to enjoy the massive song list at a relaxed pace had me much more engaged.
So then I thought if this was easy now and im just going to go through the motions for song completions am I not just going to get bored? Thankfully I wouldn't because I think they did a really great job in the series quest mode. You can go through each title of game and play all the songs and try to accomplish quests during the song to get a reward and some unlockables. Such quests might include beating a stage with a certain character, hitting a certain number of critical hits, finding 5 treasures chests, beating a boss in 30 seconds, not using items or killing an enemy with a certain weakness and so on. Now on simple mode most of these quests weren't so bad but some really do make you prep and customize your party to tackle a challange. Each character has their own stats, abilities and special moves that you can use during songs to fight monsters, find loot or up your defense. Soon it became not about hitting 200 flying notes on hyper speed and prescion but building a party and level characters and customizing my party to equip myself on completing a challange. Theatrhythm started to feel more like an RPG than a rhythm game to me. That and the achievment list was very much catered to this kind of play instead of simply being hit every note perfectly on every song and thats it. Even a less skilled player could complete the trophy list, which gave me extra motivation. By the end of the series quest play, I really had to carefully plan my party to complete some hard quests but nothing that was simply impossible without repeated play.
The only things that really annoyed me about FInal Bar Line is that despite having a massive song list there are a lot of poplular pieces not here. They seriously not include "Eye's on Me" from FF8? It's like the main theme of the game. A FFX2 series list but no english versions of 1000 words or even the intro song? That and some tracks that were selected were kinda head scraters as to why they are here. Some songs are so short and slow they don't work very well in this kinda game. That and the bias for certain titles of the franchise does kinda stick out. Would have liked to seen more Dissidia tracks as they have some great originals and remixes in that series. Also since the characters are simple and sharre a lot of skills and stuff they should have included every playable FF character from all the games listed. The event mode songs also feel really cheap and lazy in the video department. I feel like they could have been better.
In the end Final Bar Line I expected to play pretty casually but ended up more drawn in than I bargained for thanks to the great gameplay customization and multiple game types suited for all skill levels. I'd recommend if your a fan of FF or a die hard music rhythm gamer.
Platinum #199
2023
I have always been been a fan of 2D Sonic but it's clear outisde of Sonic Mania there really hasn't been much to like since the genesis days. Watching the initial trailer I didn't get any annoying vibes from Superstars but I still felt skeptical. Still, the game did look pretty and hearing impressions that the physics and levels were very clearly desgined by the classics did edge me into the direction of wanting to try it. The whole multiplayer aspect I did not care for what so ever. Not sure it's possible to do a traditional sonic game in multiplayer and it not be shit. They are just not desgined to be that way with the whole "gotta go fast" mantra.
I have to give Superstars some credit though it is one pretty game and it's gameplay does harkin back to the classics. I really liked the level design in this game. Some of the stage theme's were pretty great and while others might not hit the mark they were not bad or dull. Overall the game plays how I want a traditional sonic game to play and I very much enjoyed my initial playthrough. The levels are a bit longer and really feel even more labyrinthian in nature and feel great to explore. They really did well there. Equal parts of platforming and exploration. The game has pretty good lenghth as well. It's not super long but any longer and I feel like it kills the replay value. I don't know if it's worth the full game asking price but for what I paid I was very happy.
Superstars isn't perfect though. One big glaring issue I have with it is that quite frankly the music in Superstars sucks. It's so dull and unenergetic. Man the one thing you can usually count on in a sonic game and it's not here. I think I would like the game even more if I could be jammin with the tunes like in the classics.
Some other gripes that are most certainly worth mentioning is some of the bosses in this game are really annoying. Not hard but just frustrating. Like going long stretches where the boss can not be damaged and repeating easily avoided phases constantly. It's the one thing that kinda kills the pacing of the game.
The emerald powers I thought were a great idea of adding some flavor to the classic style and offer some great exploration tools and they do just that but still I feel like some of them are rather pointless and underutilized. Wish some were redesigned or given more use.
Another thing that stinks is the story. Now I don't need much of any plot in these games and usually the less the better but some nice stage transitions or a loose structure outline would help it. I feel like something is missing especially with the new character Tripp and the other villian Fang. No idea what's going on there and I certainly didn't know what in the world that unlockable true final boss was. Seemed completly out of left feild. What in the world where they thinking? Still as the base game and base final boss are satisfying enough. I feel the regular "main story" path is enough and the extra tripp mode and final final boss are useless padding that are not needed.
I am happy to say despite what I read online where a lot of people seemed kinda luke warm on Superstars, I happened to like it much more than I thought I would. It might not be as high as Mania or the genesis titles but it's still leagues better than CD or Sonic 4.
Platinum #198
I have to give Superstars some credit though it is one pretty game and it's gameplay does harkin back to the classics. I really liked the level design in this game. Some of the stage theme's were pretty great and while others might not hit the mark they were not bad or dull. Overall the game plays how I want a traditional sonic game to play and I very much enjoyed my initial playthrough. The levels are a bit longer and really feel even more labyrinthian in nature and feel great to explore. They really did well there. Equal parts of platforming and exploration. The game has pretty good lenghth as well. It's not super long but any longer and I feel like it kills the replay value. I don't know if it's worth the full game asking price but for what I paid I was very happy.
Superstars isn't perfect though. One big glaring issue I have with it is that quite frankly the music in Superstars sucks. It's so dull and unenergetic. Man the one thing you can usually count on in a sonic game and it's not here. I think I would like the game even more if I could be jammin with the tunes like in the classics.
Some other gripes that are most certainly worth mentioning is some of the bosses in this game are really annoying. Not hard but just frustrating. Like going long stretches where the boss can not be damaged and repeating easily avoided phases constantly. It's the one thing that kinda kills the pacing of the game.
The emerald powers I thought were a great idea of adding some flavor to the classic style and offer some great exploration tools and they do just that but still I feel like some of them are rather pointless and underutilized. Wish some were redesigned or given more use.
Another thing that stinks is the story. Now I don't need much of any plot in these games and usually the less the better but some nice stage transitions or a loose structure outline would help it. I feel like something is missing especially with the new character Tripp and the other villian Fang. No idea what's going on there and I certainly didn't know what in the world that unlockable true final boss was. Seemed completly out of left feild. What in the world where they thinking? Still as the base game and base final boss are satisfying enough. I feel the regular "main story" path is enough and the extra tripp mode and final final boss are useless padding that are not needed.
I am happy to say despite what I read online where a lot of people seemed kinda luke warm on Superstars, I happened to like it much more than I thought I would. It might not be as high as Mania or the genesis titles but it's still leagues better than CD or Sonic 4.
Platinum #198
Despite Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name being labled a smaller title similar in scope to games like Miles Morales or Uncharted Lost Legacy, Gaiden packs a pretty decent sized experiance with a lot to see and do. I wouldn't say that Gaiden is required for bridging the gap between Yakuza 7 and 8 but if you just want another beat um up game with some Kiryu hijinx then this game still delivers in spades. It doesn't do anything the "best" in the series but if your looking for more of that RGG goodness than Gaiden will leave you satisfied. If your the type of person who just plays the story and not much more you might be scratching your head at the praise because the story missions are pretty short and if that's all your here for might lead to a so so experiance but if your the type of yakuza player that likes to conqueror all substories and go in deep with all the minigames and stuff to do in the city than Gaiden will reward you with a nice 40 hour experiance.
I'm honestly surprised with how much stuff they were able to cram into the small open areas of Sotenbori and the Castle. In most other open world games this would be like the equivilant of a few blocks but like tradition they have managed to pack in so much life into the small area and despite having been to this area in past games doesn't feel like an asset flip that it mostly is. It alsmot feels like a best of compilation of yakuza minigames and ideas.
I remember reading in an interview that the entirety of Gaiden was going to be playable in a flashback in Infinite Wealth and then it was decided that it might be fun to stretch it out a bit more and make it it's own mini entry. Which is very cool and definitly feels like thats what it is but even with the padding, extra content and light story, I still feel like i got my time and money's worth. I think the battle stystem works fine but I do wish there were more heat moves, which are solely lacking, especially new ones. It's servicable for the game but it's not a series highlight. The game does bring those over the top moments and fights coupled with the melodrama the series is known for. That ending i knew was coming and it's still such a tear jearker.
In the end Gaiden was just supposed to tide us over til Infinite Wealth and let fans have another beat um up Kiryu game and in that regard it delivers in spades. Heck it really wasn't that long since Ishin was released. This does get me plenty hyped for the next game Infinite Wealth. Bring it on!
Platinum Trophy #197
I'm honestly surprised with how much stuff they were able to cram into the small open areas of Sotenbori and the Castle. In most other open world games this would be like the equivilant of a few blocks but like tradition they have managed to pack in so much life into the small area and despite having been to this area in past games doesn't feel like an asset flip that it mostly is. It alsmot feels like a best of compilation of yakuza minigames and ideas.
I remember reading in an interview that the entirety of Gaiden was going to be playable in a flashback in Infinite Wealth and then it was decided that it might be fun to stretch it out a bit more and make it it's own mini entry. Which is very cool and definitly feels like thats what it is but even with the padding, extra content and light story, I still feel like i got my time and money's worth. I think the battle stystem works fine but I do wish there were more heat moves, which are solely lacking, especially new ones. It's servicable for the game but it's not a series highlight. The game does bring those over the top moments and fights coupled with the melodrama the series is known for. That ending i knew was coming and it's still such a tear jearker.
In the end Gaiden was just supposed to tide us over til Infinite Wealth and let fans have another beat um up Kiryu game and in that regard it delivers in spades. Heck it really wasn't that long since Ishin was released. This does get me plenty hyped for the next game Infinite Wealth. Bring it on!
Platinum Trophy #197
1998
Honestly the game is pretty weak and the roster sucks. Doesn't do anything to stand out and feels incredibly genaric. I remember liking FV1 more than this. I dropped this pretty fast in LIke a Dragon Gaiden.
It's a pretty great arcade shooter but very memorable for it's legendary dub. Even that alone warrants a playthrough.
Above average arcade shooter for the time. Balanced the style with the arcade mechanics pretty well.
1993
Just because a game was revolutionary doesn't mean it's a good game. Was never any fun to play IMO.
1996
A below average fighting game that exists soley to be a novelty to the fact they wanted to churn out a cheap sonic fighting game. Man does the ring noise getting grating everytime you hit someone.
2022
Signalis was a game I really wanted to try out based on user reviews and the idea that it mimicked the classic survival horror atmosphere of the PS1. In playing Signalis I struggled to find what everyone else sees in it.
Graphically Signalis is very unapealling if im being frank. The whole color pallete is pretty monotone and a lot of the backgrounds and characters models are way too dark to really make out anything. I know they were going more for a minamalistic approach but I think it hinders it more than it helps it. Most of the zombie enemies just look like brown blobs without any defining features. It doesn't help that it feels zoomed out as well. Still if your a fan of visuals that can't quite make out what it is and that's univerving to you than maybe Signalis is the game for you, me it annoyed me.
Gameplay is it's strongest point, at least at first. I think the game does pretty well at feeling like a open exploration world that focuses on limited resourses and limited item management. Exploring and figuring out what item goes where and solving pretty fairly balanced puzzels does scratch that survival horror itch. The map system is also really useful and works well with open exploration and helping the player remember or find where key items can go. The first third of the game I think does this rather well and the middle section starts cracking and has some really obnoxious backtracking, backtracking that is worse than the average survival horror. Then the last third of the game thought it was a good idea to just delete the map feature and have all the enviroments look the same. Hope you rememer how to get back to that item box or save point. When it comes to the enemies they are flat out terrible. They hardly respond at all and when they do they are just mindless drones. Yes i get they are zombies but there is barely anythreat. Walking doesn't even trigger them, even when your in their direct line of sight. You have to be stand directly in front of them for them to notice you. Hell most times they will just be annoyingly sitting in front of a door you need to get through and won't move at all. It's really dumb too cause most of my damage was not from the enemey hitting me but it was just me touching the enemy. You take damage just by touching enemies. Not a fan of that.
The story of Signalis was completly uncomprehensible to me. I really tried to follow it but it's presented in such a minamalistic but schizophrenic way that I struggled to care by the last third trying to figure it all out. There are barely any characters or cutscenes to begin with and the erratic nature of loose notes and complex terms became grating to keep up with. Worst of all I feel like the game just ends out of nowhere. Maybe I got a bad end but it was extremely unsatisfying. I don't think Signalis is as deep, provoking or a good survival horror game as its reputation lets on.
Graphically Signalis is very unapealling if im being frank. The whole color pallete is pretty monotone and a lot of the backgrounds and characters models are way too dark to really make out anything. I know they were going more for a minamalistic approach but I think it hinders it more than it helps it. Most of the zombie enemies just look like brown blobs without any defining features. It doesn't help that it feels zoomed out as well. Still if your a fan of visuals that can't quite make out what it is and that's univerving to you than maybe Signalis is the game for you, me it annoyed me.
Gameplay is it's strongest point, at least at first. I think the game does pretty well at feeling like a open exploration world that focuses on limited resourses and limited item management. Exploring and figuring out what item goes where and solving pretty fairly balanced puzzels does scratch that survival horror itch. The map system is also really useful and works well with open exploration and helping the player remember or find where key items can go. The first third of the game I think does this rather well and the middle section starts cracking and has some really obnoxious backtracking, backtracking that is worse than the average survival horror. Then the last third of the game thought it was a good idea to just delete the map feature and have all the enviroments look the same. Hope you rememer how to get back to that item box or save point. When it comes to the enemies they are flat out terrible. They hardly respond at all and when they do they are just mindless drones. Yes i get they are zombies but there is barely anythreat. Walking doesn't even trigger them, even when your in their direct line of sight. You have to be stand directly in front of them for them to notice you. Hell most times they will just be annoyingly sitting in front of a door you need to get through and won't move at all. It's really dumb too cause most of my damage was not from the enemey hitting me but it was just me touching the enemy. You take damage just by touching enemies. Not a fan of that.
The story of Signalis was completly uncomprehensible to me. I really tried to follow it but it's presented in such a minamalistic but schizophrenic way that I struggled to care by the last third trying to figure it all out. There are barely any characters or cutscenes to begin with and the erratic nature of loose notes and complex terms became grating to keep up with. Worst of all I feel like the game just ends out of nowhere. Maybe I got a bad end but it was extremely unsatisfying. I don't think Signalis is as deep, provoking or a good survival horror game as its reputation lets on.
2023
It's a collection of great games with some minor enhancements. HOWEVER, it loses massive points for removing and replacing some of the tracks for Sonic 3 and Knuckles. Not only is it a sin to remove them but it's a even bigger crime to replace them with such boring drek of tunes instead. Would have prefered remixes if its some kinda of legality issue. Sorry but it just doesn't feel the same.
Platinum #196
Platinum #196
Jay and Silent Bob Mall Brawl is trying to be Double Dragon 4 just as much as DD4 is trying to be DD4. It plays exactly like that warts and all in the year of 2020 actually says more about it than anything else. It has so little depth there really is not much to say at all. It's short enough to be inoffensive but it's not something I'd ever want to play more than a single time. I like my kevin smith characters as much as the next guy but that all this really is. Felt like a quick hack of a nes game done by one guy in an afternoon. Still I"ve played worse beat um ups.
2019
I bought this game for a whole 19 cents. So my expecations where set. Biolab Wars is the laziest contra clone i have ever played. Uninspired is a word thrown around a lot but it truly summarizes this game fully. Biolab Wars is a functional game. It has that at least going for it but in every other regard it falls flat at even trying to be remotely memorable. Bad games at least have that going for it. Biolab is so short and easy that it's a guarntee that you will forget it before it's short credits are past rolling.
As a collection and port job it's pretty average. Would have been great to upscale the graphics a bit but the extras while nice and cool it's nothing to get super excited about. Its just awesome to play these on modern hardware.