TerraGlaive
Oh boy...this game is an absolute mess. I usually don't review negatively or review stuff I don't finish, but I can't play this game. It's a sprite flickering mess of a game and the first level's music is ear grating.
My understanding is you are to lead Yuko to something while an arrow on your HUD acts as a sort of radar and you attack enemies as you platform around...this was all I could grasp of the game from the first and only level I played. I couldn't get anywhere due to the sprite flickering of the enemies and their projectiles doing the same, combined with the odd scrolling and it makes for a frustrating game.
Honestly couldn't tolerate the game at all.
My understanding is you are to lead Yuko to something while an arrow on your HUD acts as a sort of radar and you attack enemies as you platform around...this was all I could grasp of the game from the first and only level I played. I couldn't get anywhere due to the sprite flickering of the enemies and their projectiles doing the same, combined with the odd scrolling and it makes for a frustrating game.
Honestly couldn't tolerate the game at all.
At this point I had played the MSX version (which I REALLY didn't like) and the Switch version (which is a remake) and here with the Genesis version, I believe it's a really good port that doesn't really lack in much.
Since this isn't a long or deep game I can only say so much.
I really do like the look of the cutscenes, it has that 80's anime style with Japanese and English subs which really is pretty decent and it adds to the charm.
The levels actually look like something out of Castlevania or Super Ghouls and Ghosts at times, very other worldly, but not quite dark and demonic.
The music is actually pretty okay, it's the Genesis sound chip, so you're bound to get a mix of really good bass that adds to the music, or really tinny sounds that don't ruin the music, but aren't quite complimentary.
The gameplay isn't anything special, it's side scrolling with some platforming and hack-n-slash, you find power ups that give you different attack options and magic as well to take down enemies with a boss at the end of each level, see nothing crazy new.
The only issue I have is with the story, to my knowledge this is the first of the Valis series, but some of the dialogue makes it feels like there's a manga or book the prequels some of this stuff and explains it, but that's the only issue I had.
I honestly enjoyed the game despite how short it was and it's a great port especially when put beside it's original.
Since this isn't a long or deep game I can only say so much.
I really do like the look of the cutscenes, it has that 80's anime style with Japanese and English subs which really is pretty decent and it adds to the charm.
The levels actually look like something out of Castlevania or Super Ghouls and Ghosts at times, very other worldly, but not quite dark and demonic.
The music is actually pretty okay, it's the Genesis sound chip, so you're bound to get a mix of really good bass that adds to the music, or really tinny sounds that don't ruin the music, but aren't quite complimentary.
The gameplay isn't anything special, it's side scrolling with some platforming and hack-n-slash, you find power ups that give you different attack options and magic as well to take down enemies with a boss at the end of each level, see nothing crazy new.
The only issue I have is with the story, to my knowledge this is the first of the Valis series, but some of the dialogue makes it feels like there's a manga or book the prequels some of this stuff and explains it, but that's the only issue I had.
I honestly enjoyed the game despite how short it was and it's a great port especially when put beside it's original.
2022
Oh boy....okay...the entire time I was playing this game I had two thoughts going through my head. This game is kinda cute and it's at least not as bad as Valis: The Fantasm Soldier on the MSX...which is pretty faint praise. I'll start with the positive stuff and move on to the issues with the game.
As I said before in the past reviews of the series, I never really liked the story, and with this game at least it was simple and very short of a story that it didn't bug me at all. I really liked seeing chibi style sprites of the old bosses and characters as well as Yuko herself. It's quite colorful of a game and felt like an anime shorts cartoon.
The gameplay is a double edged sword in spots, I'll stick to the positive. I actually adored the option to change armors on the fly and each of them had their own stats and also effected the sort of "beam" your sword uses, which you can also change whenever you like, it was a good way to give you some strategy freedom as well as reference the different outfits in all the past games and concept art.
That's about it for the good stuff, and it's not even like the bad stuff is massive either...
- The controls are waaay too floaty, you slip and slide and float jump everywhere so you take hits more than you should, because along with that, the screen should have been pulled back some so you can see.
- The bosses range from absolutely brain dead to complete frustration due to their beams and animations taking up too much screen with little to no option to answer their attacks, the game has no in-between balance there.
- I ran into a glitch were my "special power" was at 3 uses and it wouldn't activate no matter what I did or pressed, I used one at the start of the game by accident and somehow the game locked me out of using anymore the rest of the game.
- The music is forgettable, like nothing stood out at all and felt like background noise.
- I don't know if it's a translation issue but D- Power and A-Power are flipped I think...I would assume D-Power is defense and A-Power is attack, but it's actually the reverse...I only learned that due to the instruction book halfway through the game.
This game wasn't awful to play exactly, it just needed more to it and some balancing. I wouldn't be rough on it if it was a Game Gear or Game Boy release where it seems it would fit better, but it's a Genesis release and doesn't feel like the right amount of effort was given to it and I don't think this is a good example of the series...but again it's leagues better than the Valis MSX game, so it's doing something right.
As I said before in the past reviews of the series, I never really liked the story, and with this game at least it was simple and very short of a story that it didn't bug me at all. I really liked seeing chibi style sprites of the old bosses and characters as well as Yuko herself. It's quite colorful of a game and felt like an anime shorts cartoon.
The gameplay is a double edged sword in spots, I'll stick to the positive. I actually adored the option to change armors on the fly and each of them had their own stats and also effected the sort of "beam" your sword uses, which you can also change whenever you like, it was a good way to give you some strategy freedom as well as reference the different outfits in all the past games and concept art.
That's about it for the good stuff, and it's not even like the bad stuff is massive either...
- The controls are waaay too floaty, you slip and slide and float jump everywhere so you take hits more than you should, because along with that, the screen should have been pulled back some so you can see.
- The bosses range from absolutely brain dead to complete frustration due to their beams and animations taking up too much screen with little to no option to answer their attacks, the game has no in-between balance there.
- I ran into a glitch were my "special power" was at 3 uses and it wouldn't activate no matter what I did or pressed, I used one at the start of the game by accident and somehow the game locked me out of using anymore the rest of the game.
- The music is forgettable, like nothing stood out at all and felt like background noise.
- I don't know if it's a translation issue but D- Power and A-Power are flipped I think...I would assume D-Power is defense and A-Power is attack, but it's actually the reverse...I only learned that due to the instruction book halfway through the game.
This game wasn't awful to play exactly, it just needed more to it and some balancing. I wouldn't be rough on it if it was a Game Gear or Game Boy release where it seems it would fit better, but it's a Genesis release and doesn't feel like the right amount of effort was given to it and I don't think this is a good example of the series...but again it's leagues better than the Valis MSX game, so it's doing something right.
2022
Going into Valis IV I was expecting the game to feel old like some of the other Valis games I played up until now, but I was honestly in for quite a surprise.
I know in the past I've compared Valis to the Castlevania series in a sense, and Valis IV doesn't change that, I kept getting Castlevania Generations vibes as I was going through it. This was most heavily felt in the gameplay, due to the switching of characters and each one having their own set of attacks, magic, and skills when it comes to platforming, such as one character can kinda double jump, one can slide under low platforms, and the other can ignore some of the stage hazards. I felt the game played very smoothly for the most part, the double jump was kinda picky on activation.
The music is actually the amazing part, it sounds soooo great to hear epic rockin' tunes that every stage sounds great as do the boss themes. The cutscene animations still have that late 80s into early 90s anime vibe which is cool.
My only few issues with the game kinda fall under some stuff that the whole series tends to bug me with.
- The story again, isn't something I'm all too interested in, I did enjoy some call backs and having played the past games, I get the story...but I still don't care about it.
- While the controls worked pretty well, the double jump needed some work, it sometimes doesn't cause any rise or it won't go far enough.
- Some of the spells and crouching attacks don't lend themselves very well at times, they tend to have directional properties or animation properties such as homing or falling down in ways that make you wonder "why?"
Other than those things, this game was amazingly fun, would be nice if all the Valis games got remakes in this style in the future.
I know in the past I've compared Valis to the Castlevania series in a sense, and Valis IV doesn't change that, I kept getting Castlevania Generations vibes as I was going through it. This was most heavily felt in the gameplay, due to the switching of characters and each one having their own set of attacks, magic, and skills when it comes to platforming, such as one character can kinda double jump, one can slide under low platforms, and the other can ignore some of the stage hazards. I felt the game played very smoothly for the most part, the double jump was kinda picky on activation.
The music is actually the amazing part, it sounds soooo great to hear epic rockin' tunes that every stage sounds great as do the boss themes. The cutscene animations still have that late 80s into early 90s anime vibe which is cool.
My only few issues with the game kinda fall under some stuff that the whole series tends to bug me with.
- The story again, isn't something I'm all too interested in, I did enjoy some call backs and having played the past games, I get the story...but I still don't care about it.
- While the controls worked pretty well, the double jump needed some work, it sometimes doesn't cause any rise or it won't go far enough.
- Some of the spells and crouching attacks don't lend themselves very well at times, they tend to have directional properties or animation properties such as homing or falling down in ways that make you wonder "why?"
Other than those things, this game was amazingly fun, would be nice if all the Valis games got remakes in this style in the future.
2020
The remake of the game I've been holding off playing for YEARS. I absolutely LOVE the Mana series and I honestly got really excited seeing the trailer to this game and was conflicted if I should play this or the original first. If anyone else is curious about that but don't want spoilers I can say this: play the original if you either want the authentic pure feel of how action RPGs were back in SNES days or if you want to play the game co-op then the original in the Collection of Mana is your bet. If you want a modern feel of an action RPG and find yourself enjoying stuff such as voiced dialogue and a full interpretation of the artist's and developer's vision then go with this remake. Now onto the review.
Now for starters, I can't actually compare the original game and the remake because I have yet to play through the original, so these thoughts are from someone who played all the Mana games and their remakes except the original Trials. That being said, I really love how beautiful this game looks. I recall seeing this kind of look when the other games were pushed to 3D such as Dawn of Mana or in lesser terms the horrid Secret of Mana remake. Everything in this game looks great and I never stop being impressed seeing 3D models of enemies I once fought in the old 2D Secret of Mana brought to life. It's vibrant and colorful and everything is very animated.
The gameplay was the one point I was actually worried about. I was so used to the 2D feel of the Mana series and wasn't sure how a 3D game in that fashion would work. I know Dawn of Mana was 3D but it was an a PS2 game with you using one character while Trials does stick to a 3 person team and you all fight together, and I gotta say I love how this game plays. You take control of your main character you picked and you can easily switch between the other two on the fly and menu access is as easy as a button press. Combat has a sort of timed hit way of playing to button mashing isn't really a highly valid way of playing and each character has their special way of playing and using their own skills which can change based on a character's class change at certain levels giving them new skills and stats. The gameplay is very fun and engaging and somehow still feels like the old game despite being different.
The music was also another shocking part. As much as I love the music from the Mana series in the past, I had never actually heard a single tune from the original game and I definitely was worried that if they modernized the music it would lose whatever magic it might have initially held. I can say with certain that you get the option to go with the original or remake music and I played with the remake music and forget to ever go back to the original, so I loved the remake music so the original must be just as good or better, because aside from Super Mario RPG I usually go with original music anytime. thanks to Secret of Mana remake I was afraid the voice acting was gonna be terrible, but I can gladly report it was very well done and was never taken out of the great story being told through the voiced dialogue.
Speaking of story...I do have to say the story being told was decent is the best I can say. It's good, but because you choose 3 characters to start with out of 6 selectable ones, it creates a slight issue. I can't really explain it very well with being super vague or anything, but I'll use my choice of characters to show what I mean about the stories issues.
I choice Kevin as my main character, so this is the character who the story will focus around. You'll get told everything you need to know about him and he'll have the most input, he's the main character. I chose Angela as my second character/ She will act as a companion and most of her story and her dialogue will intertwine with Kevin in spots as well as have her own. She'll be somewhat as important as Kevin, her story being slightly shadowed over his, but she will interact and react along with Kevin kinda like a sidekick. Lastly I chose Duran as my third character. His story is going to be told alongside Kevin and Angela but it's mostly the cliff notes of his story. Anything deeper than the surface of his story won't be told and his input will be minimal to the point it's almost like he's barely there and he only has importance when things are relative to his storyline or if Kevin or Angela have no input. The other 3 characters Hawkeye, Riesz and Charolette will be seen throughout the game and you may get a 5 to 10 minute snippet of their story and dialogue just to move the plot forward and that's it. Again, you can choose any sets of characters and their importance change based on if they are main or support characters or NPCs.
So, because of what I explained above. The main character's story does get fulfilled from start to finish, but when the other characters and their stories get involved in the main plot, it causes holes in story, because you won't have all the context you need, so while the main story is great, the game's storytelling mechanic does bog it down a little.
Speaking of bog down...what else brought the game down?
- The A.I. You can set commands to the cpu controlled characters, but the choices are so vague and not precise, that sometimes having them feels like a detriment.
- The class change system doesn't do a good job of explaining what kind of skills you get over time, example is saying a class has healing spells, yet you only get one and it's a basic one that other classes get.
- Certain character's stories make more sense and complete it better with the right companion, yet the game does nothing to tell you which or if that's even a thing.
- While the music is really good, it reuses ALOT of Secret of Mana's music and jingles, but in spots that feel out of place, so if you played Secret of Mana a lot then get ready for uncanny music.
This was awesome playing this well done remake after avoiding the original for years. It was fun every second and I even did the post content and it was fun and worth doing. I recommend this to any Mana fan or action RPG fan. I still don't think it's better than the original Secret of Mana game but it's MILES ahead of the Secret of Mana remake...can you tell I hate that game?
Now for starters, I can't actually compare the original game and the remake because I have yet to play through the original, so these thoughts are from someone who played all the Mana games and their remakes except the original Trials. That being said, I really love how beautiful this game looks. I recall seeing this kind of look when the other games were pushed to 3D such as Dawn of Mana or in lesser terms the horrid Secret of Mana remake. Everything in this game looks great and I never stop being impressed seeing 3D models of enemies I once fought in the old 2D Secret of Mana brought to life. It's vibrant and colorful and everything is very animated.
The gameplay was the one point I was actually worried about. I was so used to the 2D feel of the Mana series and wasn't sure how a 3D game in that fashion would work. I know Dawn of Mana was 3D but it was an a PS2 game with you using one character while Trials does stick to a 3 person team and you all fight together, and I gotta say I love how this game plays. You take control of your main character you picked and you can easily switch between the other two on the fly and menu access is as easy as a button press. Combat has a sort of timed hit way of playing to button mashing isn't really a highly valid way of playing and each character has their special way of playing and using their own skills which can change based on a character's class change at certain levels giving them new skills and stats. The gameplay is very fun and engaging and somehow still feels like the old game despite being different.
The music was also another shocking part. As much as I love the music from the Mana series in the past, I had never actually heard a single tune from the original game and I definitely was worried that if they modernized the music it would lose whatever magic it might have initially held. I can say with certain that you get the option to go with the original or remake music and I played with the remake music and forget to ever go back to the original, so I loved the remake music so the original must be just as good or better, because aside from Super Mario RPG I usually go with original music anytime. thanks to Secret of Mana remake I was afraid the voice acting was gonna be terrible, but I can gladly report it was very well done and was never taken out of the great story being told through the voiced dialogue.
Speaking of story...I do have to say the story being told was decent is the best I can say. It's good, but because you choose 3 characters to start with out of 6 selectable ones, it creates a slight issue. I can't really explain it very well with being super vague or anything, but I'll use my choice of characters to show what I mean about the stories issues.
I choice Kevin as my main character, so this is the character who the story will focus around. You'll get told everything you need to know about him and he'll have the most input, he's the main character. I chose Angela as my second character/ She will act as a companion and most of her story and her dialogue will intertwine with Kevin in spots as well as have her own. She'll be somewhat as important as Kevin, her story being slightly shadowed over his, but she will interact and react along with Kevin kinda like a sidekick. Lastly I chose Duran as my third character. His story is going to be told alongside Kevin and Angela but it's mostly the cliff notes of his story. Anything deeper than the surface of his story won't be told and his input will be minimal to the point it's almost like he's barely there and he only has importance when things are relative to his storyline or if Kevin or Angela have no input. The other 3 characters Hawkeye, Riesz and Charolette will be seen throughout the game and you may get a 5 to 10 minute snippet of their story and dialogue just to move the plot forward and that's it. Again, you can choose any sets of characters and their importance change based on if they are main or support characters or NPCs.
So, because of what I explained above. The main character's story does get fulfilled from start to finish, but when the other characters and their stories get involved in the main plot, it causes holes in story, because you won't have all the context you need, so while the main story is great, the game's storytelling mechanic does bog it down a little.
Speaking of bog down...what else brought the game down?
- The A.I. You can set commands to the cpu controlled characters, but the choices are so vague and not precise, that sometimes having them feels like a detriment.
- The class change system doesn't do a good job of explaining what kind of skills you get over time, example is saying a class has healing spells, yet you only get one and it's a basic one that other classes get.
- Certain character's stories make more sense and complete it better with the right companion, yet the game does nothing to tell you which or if that's even a thing.
- While the music is really good, it reuses ALOT of Secret of Mana's music and jingles, but in spots that feel out of place, so if you played Secret of Mana a lot then get ready for uncanny music.
This was awesome playing this well done remake after avoiding the original for years. It was fun every second and I even did the post content and it was fun and worth doing. I recommend this to any Mana fan or action RPG fan. I still don't think it's better than the original Secret of Mana game but it's MILES ahead of the Secret of Mana remake...can you tell I hate that game?
After the amazing game that was Spider-Man and the Miles Morales DLC/Expansion I was wondering if it was possible for the second game to better. I can with ease say that yes, this game is absolutely one of the best "Super Hero" games to be made, and this is coming from someone who has very little history with Marvel comics or any of the past Spider-Man games Come with me as I explain what I really like about this game.
Now for starters, I think this might be one of the best examples of what developers can do when developing a game from scratch for the current generation of games and not be held back due to past gen release or even multiplatform releases (which if you didn't know goes for the lowest infrastructure and works it's way up if possible.). The game is absolutely beautiful and the way it is able to tell a story with the action as well as cutscenes seamlessly happening together shows the strength of the devs understanding of the system. The load times are almost split second and the rendering works very well, giving you a grand view of masses of the entire city and environments all at a steady frame rate. It's an amazing looking game and I'm not really one for every game needing cutting edge graphics as long as the art style is consistent and fits.
The gameplay is very smooth. While combat was actually really nice in the first game, this time it feels very fast paced with many options of how you want to do things. This also goes for outside combat, with a world you can explore and much you can do and freedom to do what you like or just go through the story if need be. It's odd to feel that the way you get to each mission feels just as good as doing the missions themselves. The skill trees are pretty well done and the many ways to earn the points for each skill and the many many costumes and even I knew some of the references too are just as fun as the rest of the game.
If the game had a "weaker" part to it, that may be the soundtrack. While voice acting is stellar with no flaws, the game's music goes from: the best pick of music for the cutscenes action or boss fight...to...pretty much ambience with most of the noise being the city or the one of two tracks that play as you web-swing through the city depending who you are using. Everything in the sound department is amazing, just the music is a bit weak in some spots.
Ultimately the best part of the game, while the combat is awesome, the story is a whole other level of amazing. I was invested in it from second one of the game. It actually took the best of Peter Parker's story and Miles Morales story and intertwined them to fit a web of a narrative that honestly was very well done and to be honest, the story felt like a movie on it's own, like one of the best movies. While I'm much more partial to Mile's story, every other character and their story was strong and just as good.
So does the game have any weakness? Not really but I have nitpicks...
- While the graphics are amazing, I did run into more bugs than I did in the original game such as getting caught up on geometry and one time having a car drive on the side of a building and graphically fall apart during combat.
- I went into the game completely blind and I mean like 90% blind and I felt the game's cover image spoiled a bit of the late game.
- I felt Mile's story was much stronger than Peter's for most of the game, but I have a feeling it's a personal nitpick.
- Some of the skills and gadgets felt useless for me and some of the trees forced me things I wouldn't use for better stuff, but that's common in skill tress, but worth mentioning.
- The first game's story is explained in a truncated "What Happened So Far" collection of cutscenes, but it doesn't include stuff from the DLCs which are kinda important to the plot, which I didn't play the DLCs so I felt like I missed some context that I wouldn't get till later.
Other than the nitpicks I have which feel like personal gripes, this game was amazing and was even my Game of the Year choice hands down. I saw anyone who just likes an amazing story and/or action game should play this. If you're a fan of Marvel or Spider-Man you probably played this already and if you didn't, then do it now.
Now for starters, I think this might be one of the best examples of what developers can do when developing a game from scratch for the current generation of games and not be held back due to past gen release or even multiplatform releases (which if you didn't know goes for the lowest infrastructure and works it's way up if possible.). The game is absolutely beautiful and the way it is able to tell a story with the action as well as cutscenes seamlessly happening together shows the strength of the devs understanding of the system. The load times are almost split second and the rendering works very well, giving you a grand view of masses of the entire city and environments all at a steady frame rate. It's an amazing looking game and I'm not really one for every game needing cutting edge graphics as long as the art style is consistent and fits.
The gameplay is very smooth. While combat was actually really nice in the first game, this time it feels very fast paced with many options of how you want to do things. This also goes for outside combat, with a world you can explore and much you can do and freedom to do what you like or just go through the story if need be. It's odd to feel that the way you get to each mission feels just as good as doing the missions themselves. The skill trees are pretty well done and the many ways to earn the points for each skill and the many many costumes and even I knew some of the references too are just as fun as the rest of the game.
If the game had a "weaker" part to it, that may be the soundtrack. While voice acting is stellar with no flaws, the game's music goes from: the best pick of music for the cutscenes action or boss fight...to...pretty much ambience with most of the noise being the city or the one of two tracks that play as you web-swing through the city depending who you are using. Everything in the sound department is amazing, just the music is a bit weak in some spots.
Ultimately the best part of the game, while the combat is awesome, the story is a whole other level of amazing. I was invested in it from second one of the game. It actually took the best of Peter Parker's story and Miles Morales story and intertwined them to fit a web of a narrative that honestly was very well done and to be honest, the story felt like a movie on it's own, like one of the best movies. While I'm much more partial to Mile's story, every other character and their story was strong and just as good.
So does the game have any weakness? Not really but I have nitpicks...
- While the graphics are amazing, I did run into more bugs than I did in the original game such as getting caught up on geometry and one time having a car drive on the side of a building and graphically fall apart during combat.
- I went into the game completely blind and I mean like 90% blind and I felt the game's cover image spoiled a bit of the late game.
- I felt Mile's story was much stronger than Peter's for most of the game, but I have a feeling it's a personal nitpick.
- Some of the skills and gadgets felt useless for me and some of the trees forced me things I wouldn't use for better stuff, but that's common in skill tress, but worth mentioning.
- The first game's story is explained in a truncated "What Happened So Far" collection of cutscenes, but it doesn't include stuff from the DLCs which are kinda important to the plot, which I didn't play the DLCs so I felt like I missed some context that I wouldn't get till later.
Other than the nitpicks I have which feel like personal gripes, this game was amazing and was even my Game of the Year choice hands down. I saw anyone who just likes an amazing story and/or action game should play this. If you're a fan of Marvel or Spider-Man you probably played this already and if you didn't, then do it now.
2023
Alrighty, I have quite the history with the Warioware series. to start off, the first Warioware Microgames was my favorite and still is and I've played all of them up to this point except Warioware Twisted and Game & Wario if that counts. My honest belief is that a Warioware game lives and dies by it's controls and the console it's on...if one of those aren't right it's gonna not feel good and it's gonna bomb. So, let's move on to see how this one did.
It's actually kinda funny they stuck to this art style for so long. I mean, yes, it's looks more polished and refined every game with more animations, but it's the same style for the most part and it's honestly the best Wario has looked without looking too much like the Mario Bros look he's had prior to the series and anytime he's in a sports game. I think they could actually turn this into a webcomic or something and people would love it. The animations look great and it's probably the best part of the game.
The story the game tells is...wacky to say the least. Like the past games, you get to see the other characters go through their arcs while this time they go on vacation to an island with Wario. Also like the past games, it begins and ends with Wario's arc. It's honestly not really anything special, just a charming bit of stories to get things moving.
The music...you know...I can't say I remember any of it, and honestly I've noticed in the past that an issue. Yeah, Warioware games have music to fit situations, but that's kinda the thing, it fits while you're playing and rarely does it ever stick to you once you shut it off. So, I'll talk about the voices, I'm almost certain Wario is voiced by the same actor as Mario and Luigi in the Wonder game and it's actually really well done, if not a bit odd to hear Wario talk so much and more fluent. It honestly makes me more excited to hear him in future Wario and Mario Bros games. Everyone else sounds the same, I don't think anyone had voice changes, but to be fair none of them are major characters in the grand scheme.
Mkay...here's the gameplay where Warioware lives and dies ultimately...and to be brutally honest, this game is only gonna sale due to the Warioware fan and because the Switch has a big install base. After the first few days of sales I'm sure it dropped off a cliff, because using the joycons is a bit of a mess and it's basically what takes you out of the game. I'll give the game this, the mini games are creative as they always are in the series, hell this is probably the most creative it's been...but the joycons different motions and the lack of a proper explanation of gestures for each game vs each series of gestures makes it very frustrating and dull. It's very gimmicky and at times not very fun and the fact you have a "try again" gesture to start over where you messed up and not get punished makes me wonder if they knew how unintuitive this all was so they made a safety net which ended up taking away any challenge. I dunno, it felt like a lose-lose, but they HAD to have the gimmick, no matter what it did to the game.
Ultimately, this was okay for the short few hours it took to beat, but I think the fans of Wario and WarioWare deserved something a bit better than trying to do Smooth Moves again, but with a console that rarely really uses it's motion controls. Maybe next time we'll get a more focused Warioware game, but this one might be good with friends or at parties or whatever, but a solo playthough is not worth the price at all. Get it on sale if you're curious.
It's actually kinda funny they stuck to this art style for so long. I mean, yes, it's looks more polished and refined every game with more animations, but it's the same style for the most part and it's honestly the best Wario has looked without looking too much like the Mario Bros look he's had prior to the series and anytime he's in a sports game. I think they could actually turn this into a webcomic or something and people would love it. The animations look great and it's probably the best part of the game.
The story the game tells is...wacky to say the least. Like the past games, you get to see the other characters go through their arcs while this time they go on vacation to an island with Wario. Also like the past games, it begins and ends with Wario's arc. It's honestly not really anything special, just a charming bit of stories to get things moving.
The music...you know...I can't say I remember any of it, and honestly I've noticed in the past that an issue. Yeah, Warioware games have music to fit situations, but that's kinda the thing, it fits while you're playing and rarely does it ever stick to you once you shut it off. So, I'll talk about the voices, I'm almost certain Wario is voiced by the same actor as Mario and Luigi in the Wonder game and it's actually really well done, if not a bit odd to hear Wario talk so much and more fluent. It honestly makes me more excited to hear him in future Wario and Mario Bros games. Everyone else sounds the same, I don't think anyone had voice changes, but to be fair none of them are major characters in the grand scheme.
Mkay...here's the gameplay where Warioware lives and dies ultimately...and to be brutally honest, this game is only gonna sale due to the Warioware fan and because the Switch has a big install base. After the first few days of sales I'm sure it dropped off a cliff, because using the joycons is a bit of a mess and it's basically what takes you out of the game. I'll give the game this, the mini games are creative as they always are in the series, hell this is probably the most creative it's been...but the joycons different motions and the lack of a proper explanation of gestures for each game vs each series of gestures makes it very frustrating and dull. It's very gimmicky and at times not very fun and the fact you have a "try again" gesture to start over where you messed up and not get punished makes me wonder if they knew how unintuitive this all was so they made a safety net which ended up taking away any challenge. I dunno, it felt like a lose-lose, but they HAD to have the gimmick, no matter what it did to the game.
Ultimately, this was okay for the short few hours it took to beat, but I think the fans of Wario and WarioWare deserved something a bit better than trying to do Smooth Moves again, but with a console that rarely really uses it's motion controls. Maybe next time we'll get a more focused Warioware game, but this one might be good with friends or at parties or whatever, but a solo playthough is not worth the price at all. Get it on sale if you're curious.
2023
It's the game that I thought would never get a remake. I had the original game when I was younger and played it quite a lot. It was one of my early RPG games and I never grew tired of it. Yet, I never got to play it again years later. I'd watch people Let's Play it, but that was about the extent my interaction with the original game, until the release of this one. I was already excited about the announcement when it was made, but I'd be lying if I didn't say I was a tad worried, because this is an old SNES classic that didn't need any improving really, but had a lot of things that could go wrong if stuff was changed. So, how did it go?
Graphically, I really love the new art style of the game, while it does remind me of the Link's Awakening remake, it does it in a good way. I think a fully 3D look would have ruined the charm of the game, but going with this art style with the 3D but still cartoony look was prefect. A lot of stuff was given more life such as bosses, environments, battle effects, and just story moments. If there's one thing they knocked it out the park with, it's the entire look of the game.
A common thing said through this review is going to be comparing things to the original, and if anything, that stayed pretty much the exact same, it's the gameplay. Aside from the Timed Hits giving a damaging area of effect if perfectly done, nothing else changed in the game at all. Yeah, there's some quality-of-life additions such as warping on the world map, and a journal, and just stuff you'd expect modern RPGs to give you, but the platforming, the battle, and everything else is the same as the original.
the story also didn't change much. It's still pretty light as RPGs go, the humor is what's actually up front. Each moment made better now the characters and enemies are more expressive. The game does have post-game content to do that add more to the story and gives more characters a little bit more...well...character, but it's definitely worth doing.
Now the music and sound are kinda where the double-edged sword hits. You have the option to change the music to the original or the remake version of songs. Honestly, most of the remake songs are just okay, not really bad but fall flat when compared to the original, but that could be the nostalgia. So, I'll say the original music is fantastic and the remake is up to your taste, but you can't really go wrong with either since none of it is bad in the least.
So, does it have anything wrong with it? Yeah, but they are cherry picking nit-picks.
- The frame rate in very particular spots falls a bit.
- I don't complain about this in other games much, but this could have benefited from a "hard mode" or difficulty modifiers as an option.
I know a lot of this has been just comparing this game to it's original but that's kinda how this works. This game is a 1-to-1 iteration of the original to the point you could play either and get the same experience, the only difference is just graphical preference. Either way it's an amazing RPG for Mario fans or RPG fans or just fans of charming well-made games.
Graphically, I really love the new art style of the game, while it does remind me of the Link's Awakening remake, it does it in a good way. I think a fully 3D look would have ruined the charm of the game, but going with this art style with the 3D but still cartoony look was prefect. A lot of stuff was given more life such as bosses, environments, battle effects, and just story moments. If there's one thing they knocked it out the park with, it's the entire look of the game.
A common thing said through this review is going to be comparing things to the original, and if anything, that stayed pretty much the exact same, it's the gameplay. Aside from the Timed Hits giving a damaging area of effect if perfectly done, nothing else changed in the game at all. Yeah, there's some quality-of-life additions such as warping on the world map, and a journal, and just stuff you'd expect modern RPGs to give you, but the platforming, the battle, and everything else is the same as the original.
the story also didn't change much. It's still pretty light as RPGs go, the humor is what's actually up front. Each moment made better now the characters and enemies are more expressive. The game does have post-game content to do that add more to the story and gives more characters a little bit more...well...character, but it's definitely worth doing.
Now the music and sound are kinda where the double-edged sword hits. You have the option to change the music to the original or the remake version of songs. Honestly, most of the remake songs are just okay, not really bad but fall flat when compared to the original, but that could be the nostalgia. So, I'll say the original music is fantastic and the remake is up to your taste, but you can't really go wrong with either since none of it is bad in the least.
So, does it have anything wrong with it? Yeah, but they are cherry picking nit-picks.
- The frame rate in very particular spots falls a bit.
- I don't complain about this in other games much, but this could have benefited from a "hard mode" or difficulty modifiers as an option.
I know a lot of this has been just comparing this game to it's original but that's kinda how this works. This game is a 1-to-1 iteration of the original to the point you could play either and get the same experience, the only difference is just graphical preference. Either way it's an amazing RPG for Mario fans or RPG fans or just fans of charming well-made games.
2017
Wow this game really is about 6 years old from the time I played and beat it huh? Either way, my original hearing about this game was it supposed to be a multiplayer arena mini game fest...and that actually fits what the game is. I didn't really know what to think about how the game was gonna be and I honestly only played it because I had played nearly every Kirby game to this point and figured why not play this one, it can't be too bad...
Alright so starting at the graphics for the game...it's pretty decent, no it's not mind blowing or anything, but it fit for the fact that the purpose was to be able to fit 4 players into a mini game in and arena and be able to see everything and do event without the game coming to crawl or lagging. Other than that, it was just fitting.
As far as Kirby games go...the sound is amazing! I mean what do you expect? The game has some of it's own tracks, but most are really good remixes of past Kirby games that keep the action going.
The story is just there and that's not really a bad thing. Barely any Kirby game has an amazing story and it's usually just there to set the adventure in motion and this one is no different. I will say they did a good job of making King Dedede act like the version of him in Kirby: Right Back At Ya! Which is probably the first time really outside the show.
The gameplay is something that's kinda hard to explain...first off the copy abilities are in the game and act mostly like they do in past games, so if you've played any of them or even Super Smash Bros then you'll have a general idea of the controls. The hard part to describe are the mini games themselves...see it's not quite like Mario Party or Kirby's usually mini games where it's just movement and one button to do things. This game gives you objectives like pick up apples and put them on a contraption that drops them to your area for points, but along with this, you can easily fight the other team or opponents...they always have health bars and all your attacks are always available, so it's like Mario Party mini games but the ability to hit and temporary KO the opposition is always there. It's interesting and a decently fun concept.
So with all that, what's wrong with the game?
- The mini games are repetitive, fun but get same-y really fast.
- The copy abilities are tied to progression in the story.
- The CPU aren't very smart or challenging, in fact around the end your partner's A.I. gets stupid to make it harder.
- The online was pretty much dead a few days after release, so I didn't even try it.
- This should have been a Nintendo Switch release...it could have been bigger and could have benefited from a bigger player base.
So yeah, this wasn't really as bad as people say it was, but to be fair it wasn't too remarkable. All in all decent, but could have benefited better as a console release and not a late 3DS release.
Alright so starting at the graphics for the game...it's pretty decent, no it's not mind blowing or anything, but it fit for the fact that the purpose was to be able to fit 4 players into a mini game in and arena and be able to see everything and do event without the game coming to crawl or lagging. Other than that, it was just fitting.
As far as Kirby games go...the sound is amazing! I mean what do you expect? The game has some of it's own tracks, but most are really good remixes of past Kirby games that keep the action going.
The story is just there and that's not really a bad thing. Barely any Kirby game has an amazing story and it's usually just there to set the adventure in motion and this one is no different. I will say they did a good job of making King Dedede act like the version of him in Kirby: Right Back At Ya! Which is probably the first time really outside the show.
The gameplay is something that's kinda hard to explain...first off the copy abilities are in the game and act mostly like they do in past games, so if you've played any of them or even Super Smash Bros then you'll have a general idea of the controls. The hard part to describe are the mini games themselves...see it's not quite like Mario Party or Kirby's usually mini games where it's just movement and one button to do things. This game gives you objectives like pick up apples and put them on a contraption that drops them to your area for points, but along with this, you can easily fight the other team or opponents...they always have health bars and all your attacks are always available, so it's like Mario Party mini games but the ability to hit and temporary KO the opposition is always there. It's interesting and a decently fun concept.
So with all that, what's wrong with the game?
- The mini games are repetitive, fun but get same-y really fast.
- The copy abilities are tied to progression in the story.
- The CPU aren't very smart or challenging, in fact around the end your partner's A.I. gets stupid to make it harder.
- The online was pretty much dead a few days after release, so I didn't even try it.
- This should have been a Nintendo Switch release...it could have been bigger and could have benefited from a bigger player base.
So yeah, this wasn't really as bad as people say it was, but to be fair it wasn't too remarkable. All in all decent, but could have benefited better as a console release and not a late 3DS release.
2023
This is gonna be kinda rough to review. For starters if you've followed me for a while or just check what I've played in the past, you'll notice I gave Sonic Mania the same rating and I actually never reviewed it. In all honesty it wasn't because it was bad and neither is Sonic Superstars, but having played both proved to me that I'm not really a fan of playing 2-D Sonic games on consoles, I prefer them on handhelds such as Sonic Rush or Sonic Advance. I bring this up because playing this reenforced and proved to me that I actually feel that way, but it's not all doom and gloom for the game.
Despite what I said, I can recognize how pretty this game is. I grew up playing the Genesis Sonic the Hedgehog trilogy and I think this game captured the same kind of design of the early games but modernized, not remade mind you, but they captured the feel of the past games and added new stuff on top you wouldn't be able to dream of back then. I feel like if they didn't make the game seem like a "reboot" of sorts or an alternative world of Class Sonic, this could easily replace the dumpster fire that was Sonic 4. The character designs I really like and they did a very neat job of keeping the classic personalities and not try too hard to force the modern versions personalities in. Overall it's a very pretty game.
Now the gameplay...hmmm. This is where I started to worry at first. Usually when I play a 2-D Sonic game I go for the character that isn't Sonic, and it's usually Knuckles...sadly like I learned when I played Sonic Origins Plus very recently, Knuckles has lag, like jump lag, landing lag, sliding lag, and recovering from climbing lag...he makes the game a bit annoying to play because Sonic games are speedy platformers and his lagging animations makes him an unreliable character to use for me. So I skip Tails because I don't like his flight making the game easier and I'm not gonna use Sonic....so I went with Amy Rose who to my surprise felt more like an average platforming character and made things much more fun. I was able to explore a bit and really check out what the stages had to offer and she made fighting the bosses pretty fun. I know it's odd most the gameplay was me talking about the characters, but sadly there's not much to say about the gameplay, if you've played any 2D Sonic game from the Genesis era or Sonic CD or kinda the Advance games then you know what you're in for here, with VERY little stuff added to it.
Well Sonic 2D games really aren't known much for their story....and this game really didn't attempt to push boundaries. It has it's little in game cutscene moments, but really doesn't attempt to tell much of a story and the bit it does I can't really talk about for spoiler reasons and something else I haven't mentioned.
The one thing I think this game actually SUPER excelled in was the music. The music to this game was very well done and had a lot of unique tracks and very few remixes. they really went with a whole new sound that I was actually expecting them to try to do a modern sound mixed with a retro feel, but no. they went with their own type of sound that fit each level, and even one song that sounds so much like Shantae level music that you could probably play it over gameplay of that and never know the difference. Very solid soundtrack.
Alright, you can judge by the stars I have some issues with this game, I tried to be as positive as possible with everything above, but here it goes...
- For the start...this game doesn't really do enough new to it, it feels like the Classic Sonic levels of Sonic Generations just done a little better, but nothing more.
- The levels while pretty, don't seem to bring anything to the table, until the last 3 worlds, all the levels felt like it was just running forward with almost nothing stopping you.
- The levels and even the game feels like it goes a little long, to the point that I didn't do the "other part" to the game because by the end I was going through the motions and not into the game, so I beat it but didn't get the "true ending"
- I understand the levels not being balanced for each character, but bosses don't have the same excuse and I feel like playing as Amy made a lot of bosses waaay too easy, can't speak for the other characters.
This game isn't awful at all, but it did teach me that Sonic 2-D just isn't my style and I can honestly see how a 2-D fan would absolutely love this game, but it really wasn't for me...and I'd be lying if I didn't say I grew bored of it about the midway point and REALLY wanted it to be over 3/4 into the game. If you like classic Sonic go wild, it's probably an awesome game for you.
Despite what I said, I can recognize how pretty this game is. I grew up playing the Genesis Sonic the Hedgehog trilogy and I think this game captured the same kind of design of the early games but modernized, not remade mind you, but they captured the feel of the past games and added new stuff on top you wouldn't be able to dream of back then. I feel like if they didn't make the game seem like a "reboot" of sorts or an alternative world of Class Sonic, this could easily replace the dumpster fire that was Sonic 4. The character designs I really like and they did a very neat job of keeping the classic personalities and not try too hard to force the modern versions personalities in. Overall it's a very pretty game.
Now the gameplay...hmmm. This is where I started to worry at first. Usually when I play a 2-D Sonic game I go for the character that isn't Sonic, and it's usually Knuckles...sadly like I learned when I played Sonic Origins Plus very recently, Knuckles has lag, like jump lag, landing lag, sliding lag, and recovering from climbing lag...he makes the game a bit annoying to play because Sonic games are speedy platformers and his lagging animations makes him an unreliable character to use for me. So I skip Tails because I don't like his flight making the game easier and I'm not gonna use Sonic....so I went with Amy Rose who to my surprise felt more like an average platforming character and made things much more fun. I was able to explore a bit and really check out what the stages had to offer and she made fighting the bosses pretty fun. I know it's odd most the gameplay was me talking about the characters, but sadly there's not much to say about the gameplay, if you've played any 2D Sonic game from the Genesis era or Sonic CD or kinda the Advance games then you know what you're in for here, with VERY little stuff added to it.
Well Sonic 2D games really aren't known much for their story....and this game really didn't attempt to push boundaries. It has it's little in game cutscene moments, but really doesn't attempt to tell much of a story and the bit it does I can't really talk about for spoiler reasons and something else I haven't mentioned.
The one thing I think this game actually SUPER excelled in was the music. The music to this game was very well done and had a lot of unique tracks and very few remixes. they really went with a whole new sound that I was actually expecting them to try to do a modern sound mixed with a retro feel, but no. they went with their own type of sound that fit each level, and even one song that sounds so much like Shantae level music that you could probably play it over gameplay of that and never know the difference. Very solid soundtrack.
Alright, you can judge by the stars I have some issues with this game, I tried to be as positive as possible with everything above, but here it goes...
- For the start...this game doesn't really do enough new to it, it feels like the Classic Sonic levels of Sonic Generations just done a little better, but nothing more.
- The levels while pretty, don't seem to bring anything to the table, until the last 3 worlds, all the levels felt like it was just running forward with almost nothing stopping you.
- The levels and even the game feels like it goes a little long, to the point that I didn't do the "other part" to the game because by the end I was going through the motions and not into the game, so I beat it but didn't get the "true ending"
- I understand the levels not being balanced for each character, but bosses don't have the same excuse and I feel like playing as Amy made a lot of bosses waaay too easy, can't speak for the other characters.
This game isn't awful at all, but it did teach me that Sonic 2-D just isn't my style and I can honestly see how a 2-D fan would absolutely love this game, but it really wasn't for me...and I'd be lying if I didn't say I grew bored of it about the midway point and REALLY wanted it to be over 3/4 into the game. If you like classic Sonic go wild, it's probably an awesome game for you.
At first I was a tad bit worried about this game, because I've played all the 2D Mario games and a few quite recently. The one thing that bugs me is not liking the NEW Super Mario Bros series of games due to how they feel the same and some even reuse nearly ever asset of the prior games. This was my fear when they announced the game and that fear kinda stayed due to me never watching things past the first trailer. Pretty much 10 mins into the game, I knew my worries were unfounded.
This game is absolutely beautiful. I can't even think of another game that uses this art style exactly, but the closest may just be the Kirby's Return to Dreamland Deluxe game. The graphics are spot on and feel like they have a sort of clay or toy look to it, and the game is absolutely riddled with VFX all over it to create stunning transitions and whimsical effects. As I kept playing, I found myself reminded of Super Mario World (based on the game's structure and gameplay) and Super Mario Land 2 (based on the character/enemy models and creativity) Enemies, characters, background, foreground and the world itself has vivid animations and the game feels lively from start to end.
Speaking of lively, the music is pretty unique in spots. some of the music is remixed with a deeper or extended feel, while some levels have their own songs not related to the past games, which is impressive considering how much music the whole series has. If I had to compare the music, I found myself comparing it to the music Camelot used to produce for Golden Sun as well as the Mario sports games. Something I had a slight worry for was the voice acting...not that Mario as a series ever had a lot if barely any voice acting, but this was Nintendo's first game in YEARS not using Charles Martinet (the G.O.A.T.) for Mario and Luigi, so I worried a bit of how it was gonna sound...aaaaand? The new voice actors did an amazing job, everyone sounds just like they should and in some cases a bit better. Apparently almost everyone got a voice change, but to be honest it's barely noticeable and it's not, because they tried to be sound-alikes, but most of the cast haven't had new voice clips since the Gamecube era and some even longer, yet they did an amazing job with everyone.
Usually I would explain the story, but that's one spot that didn't really improve much. The story isn't bad, but it's what it is usually for Mario...Bowser does something that Mario and group has to fix and this time no Peach kidnapping, otherwise standard affair and done as well as in the past.
While the story didn't change, the gameplay kinda did in certain ways. You're given 12 characters: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy (my girl), Blue Toad, Yellow Toad, and Toadette are all the normal characters you can choose that honestly don't play any different from each other, so it's just cosmetic. Green Yoshi, Red Yoshi, Yellow Yoshi, Blue Yoshi and Nabbit all act as a sort of Easy Mode and don't take damage when hit and the Yoshi's play much like they do in Yoshi's Island while Nabbit is just faster than most the characters. Easy Mode characters can't transform or use an of the power ups. The new transformations and power ups are actually pretty fun, but the main event of the game is the Wonder Flower which warps the stages and different ways and adds a dreamy effect to everything. The amount of effects are waaay too verified to list. You also collect Wonder Seeds that let you progress through the different levels akin to the Power Stars in Super Mario 64. Overall the gameplay is fun and the controls are as tight as a Mario game can get and the feeling is enhanced by the Badge system which let's you equip a badge and gives you different effects such as flutter jump, parachute, and more. This is pretty much the answer to not giving each "Normal" characters abilities so you can use whoever you like and let the badges adjust how you play. Also the game has an Online Mode where you can play with a group of friends in a room or just play online with other people in "ghost" mode where you see them playing too and have very minimal interactions, but can still help each other in way such as recovering from death or dropping items and pointing out secrets to help each other. It's a very underrated system they should keep, as it has the same kind of community feel as Dark Souls or Elden Ring.
So yeah, that was a lot of praise, but does it have any issues in my eyes?
- I feel like Nintendo could have made Green Yoshi a "Normal" character, and give use the default Toad as a "Normal" character and move the Blue and Yellow Toad over to the "Easy Mode" characters. As I said before Yoshi plays much like he does in Yoshi's Island so he could have used all the power ups and transformations in alternative ways, so there was no reason to not have one normally playable.
- 100% completion does nothing really. I know there's no rule that it HAS TO, but with how well everything was done and how fun it was, seems like a reward would have been nice.
Other than those very few nitpicks, I absolutely loved this game and had a smile the whole way through it, be it the game world, the music, or the community feel the online part has, this was an amazing game and I hope Nintendo keeps up this fun but weirdness.
This game is absolutely beautiful. I can't even think of another game that uses this art style exactly, but the closest may just be the Kirby's Return to Dreamland Deluxe game. The graphics are spot on and feel like they have a sort of clay or toy look to it, and the game is absolutely riddled with VFX all over it to create stunning transitions and whimsical effects. As I kept playing, I found myself reminded of Super Mario World (based on the game's structure and gameplay) and Super Mario Land 2 (based on the character/enemy models and creativity) Enemies, characters, background, foreground and the world itself has vivid animations and the game feels lively from start to end.
Speaking of lively, the music is pretty unique in spots. some of the music is remixed with a deeper or extended feel, while some levels have their own songs not related to the past games, which is impressive considering how much music the whole series has. If I had to compare the music, I found myself comparing it to the music Camelot used to produce for Golden Sun as well as the Mario sports games. Something I had a slight worry for was the voice acting...not that Mario as a series ever had a lot if barely any voice acting, but this was Nintendo's first game in YEARS not using Charles Martinet (the G.O.A.T.) for Mario and Luigi, so I worried a bit of how it was gonna sound...aaaaand? The new voice actors did an amazing job, everyone sounds just like they should and in some cases a bit better. Apparently almost everyone got a voice change, but to be honest it's barely noticeable and it's not, because they tried to be sound-alikes, but most of the cast haven't had new voice clips since the Gamecube era and some even longer, yet they did an amazing job with everyone.
Usually I would explain the story, but that's one spot that didn't really improve much. The story isn't bad, but it's what it is usually for Mario...Bowser does something that Mario and group has to fix and this time no Peach kidnapping, otherwise standard affair and done as well as in the past.
While the story didn't change, the gameplay kinda did in certain ways. You're given 12 characters: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy (my girl), Blue Toad, Yellow Toad, and Toadette are all the normal characters you can choose that honestly don't play any different from each other, so it's just cosmetic. Green Yoshi, Red Yoshi, Yellow Yoshi, Blue Yoshi and Nabbit all act as a sort of Easy Mode and don't take damage when hit and the Yoshi's play much like they do in Yoshi's Island while Nabbit is just faster than most the characters. Easy Mode characters can't transform or use an of the power ups. The new transformations and power ups are actually pretty fun, but the main event of the game is the Wonder Flower which warps the stages and different ways and adds a dreamy effect to everything. The amount of effects are waaay too verified to list. You also collect Wonder Seeds that let you progress through the different levels akin to the Power Stars in Super Mario 64. Overall the gameplay is fun and the controls are as tight as a Mario game can get and the feeling is enhanced by the Badge system which let's you equip a badge and gives you different effects such as flutter jump, parachute, and more. This is pretty much the answer to not giving each "Normal" characters abilities so you can use whoever you like and let the badges adjust how you play. Also the game has an Online Mode where you can play with a group of friends in a room or just play online with other people in "ghost" mode where you see them playing too and have very minimal interactions, but can still help each other in way such as recovering from death or dropping items and pointing out secrets to help each other. It's a very underrated system they should keep, as it has the same kind of community feel as Dark Souls or Elden Ring.
So yeah, that was a lot of praise, but does it have any issues in my eyes?
- I feel like Nintendo could have made Green Yoshi a "Normal" character, and give use the default Toad as a "Normal" character and move the Blue and Yellow Toad over to the "Easy Mode" characters. As I said before Yoshi plays much like he does in Yoshi's Island so he could have used all the power ups and transformations in alternative ways, so there was no reason to not have one normally playable.
- 100% completion does nothing really. I know there's no rule that it HAS TO, but with how well everything was done and how fun it was, seems like a reward would have been nice.
Other than those very few nitpicks, I absolutely loved this game and had a smile the whole way through it, be it the game world, the music, or the community feel the online part has, this was an amazing game and I hope Nintendo keeps up this fun but weirdness.
Man...53 hours...I honestly think it took me as long to beat this game as it did to play the other games up until this one combined. I usually don't start out talking about things like that, but it's kind of the best way to express that this Dragon Quest game is different from the past games.
As I've played the series I've said that I can oddly see the parallels between how Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest grew between their matching numbered games, but I honestly think FF6 and DQ6 don't quite have the same parallels except for MAYBE that both have an issue where the plot comes to halt and there's a lot between that time and near the end where there's just side quests and dead air of vague story, before the story revs up and gets going again.
It's honestly becoming kind of hard to talk about this series graphically because it seems each game uses the same sort of graphics and animations as the last. DQ 1 - 3 as far as the Switch remakes look the same, DQ4 - 6 on the DS kinda looks the same with very small improvements in spots. this isn't a bad thing, because as I've said with 4 and 5, the game's look great and remind me of that era between SNES and GBA. I will say the one thing that has been getting much better per game is the character art, definitely has improved a lot.
Everytime I write one of these reviews I kinda worry if when I think of music to the game, have I been hearing the same tunes between the trilogies and aren't noticing or are the compositions so alike that I'm confusing them? Either way, I really like the music even if I'm too the point I swear I've been hearing a lot of these songs for like 6 games with little change, but if it's not bothering me, it's apparently pretty good then.
Now for the story...as I said earlier, the game has this weird issue that the story kinda disappeared for a good chunk of the game and was just sending me for place to place late into the game, but before then...the story was going very nicely. The mystery of why you constantly find yourself going between two worlds that seem closely related to each other and why things are affecting one in ways that sometimes do or don't change the other. I really liked the story overall, and honestly found most of the characters to be pretty interesting. It's weird, but I kinda like the "Hero" design of this game out of the 6 so far. Oh, and unlike some of the past games, this actually fixed something I've complained about and actually made the villains important and were a constant through the whole thing.
As for the gameplay, not much really changed from the past games. Exploration was mostly the same, dungeons and puzzles were the same, combat didn't have too much of a difference....except the Vocation system was brought back. I absolutely love job/class system games in RPGs and I love to customize my team and especially since there's a Martial Artist vocation I went straight for it! But...this system felt like a double edged sword. Unlike the past games, you learn skills from the Vocations as they go up by rank. this is done per battle and isn't tied to your experience level. every skill you learn in your Vocation you get to keep when you move to another vocation, so there's plenty of hybrid customization. even better, some vocations when mastered make a new Vocation, again an awesome system, but where the double edged part comes in is...the Vocations kinda feel like accessories or something to that nature, because when you equip a Vocation it doesn't change anything about the character aside their stats and skills they can learn. This mean that you can have a Mage which in most games uses Staves or Clubs, but in this game equipment types are tied to the character themselves not the Vocation...so if you make the Hero a Mage...he's gonna be a sword and shield heavy armored Mage casting spells or in my case a Martial Artist with the same equipment, but using fist-like skills and kicks despite having a giant blade and wearing heavy gear...get what I'm saying? It's weird, but not entirely bad...just strips the identity of the Vocations a little.
I did have some things that caused me not to be able to give this game the 5-star treatment.
- I'll start with the biggest issue and the reason it took me 53 hours. Grinding is required and I don't mean just leveling, Vocation grinding too. the final boss ALMOST requires 3 particular Vocations to be mastered or you're highly unlikely to win.
- Sometimes there's so much space between story bits, it's easy to forget what you were doing originally.
- The map really could be smaller, so many areas had little to no point to it and it makes it worse with two worlds.
- Half the total characters are optional characters and half of the main characters are under developed story wise.
Honestly I really liked this game for what it was, but I kinda felt it needed to be reeled in a bit and shortened to be a tighter experience, it has all the makings of a great RPG, but is a little too bloated in spots, but other than that, a pretty solid entry in the series.
As I've played the series I've said that I can oddly see the parallels between how Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest grew between their matching numbered games, but I honestly think FF6 and DQ6 don't quite have the same parallels except for MAYBE that both have an issue where the plot comes to halt and there's a lot between that time and near the end where there's just side quests and dead air of vague story, before the story revs up and gets going again.
It's honestly becoming kind of hard to talk about this series graphically because it seems each game uses the same sort of graphics and animations as the last. DQ 1 - 3 as far as the Switch remakes look the same, DQ4 - 6 on the DS kinda looks the same with very small improvements in spots. this isn't a bad thing, because as I've said with 4 and 5, the game's look great and remind me of that era between SNES and GBA. I will say the one thing that has been getting much better per game is the character art, definitely has improved a lot.
Everytime I write one of these reviews I kinda worry if when I think of music to the game, have I been hearing the same tunes between the trilogies and aren't noticing or are the compositions so alike that I'm confusing them? Either way, I really like the music even if I'm too the point I swear I've been hearing a lot of these songs for like 6 games with little change, but if it's not bothering me, it's apparently pretty good then.
Now for the story...as I said earlier, the game has this weird issue that the story kinda disappeared for a good chunk of the game and was just sending me for place to place late into the game, but before then...the story was going very nicely. The mystery of why you constantly find yourself going between two worlds that seem closely related to each other and why things are affecting one in ways that sometimes do or don't change the other. I really liked the story overall, and honestly found most of the characters to be pretty interesting. It's weird, but I kinda like the "Hero" design of this game out of the 6 so far. Oh, and unlike some of the past games, this actually fixed something I've complained about and actually made the villains important and were a constant through the whole thing.
As for the gameplay, not much really changed from the past games. Exploration was mostly the same, dungeons and puzzles were the same, combat didn't have too much of a difference....except the Vocation system was brought back. I absolutely love job/class system games in RPGs and I love to customize my team and especially since there's a Martial Artist vocation I went straight for it! But...this system felt like a double edged sword. Unlike the past games, you learn skills from the Vocations as they go up by rank. this is done per battle and isn't tied to your experience level. every skill you learn in your Vocation you get to keep when you move to another vocation, so there's plenty of hybrid customization. even better, some vocations when mastered make a new Vocation, again an awesome system, but where the double edged part comes in is...the Vocations kinda feel like accessories or something to that nature, because when you equip a Vocation it doesn't change anything about the character aside their stats and skills they can learn. This mean that you can have a Mage which in most games uses Staves or Clubs, but in this game equipment types are tied to the character themselves not the Vocation...so if you make the Hero a Mage...he's gonna be a sword and shield heavy armored Mage casting spells or in my case a Martial Artist with the same equipment, but using fist-like skills and kicks despite having a giant blade and wearing heavy gear...get what I'm saying? It's weird, but not entirely bad...just strips the identity of the Vocations a little.
I did have some things that caused me not to be able to give this game the 5-star treatment.
- I'll start with the biggest issue and the reason it took me 53 hours. Grinding is required and I don't mean just leveling, Vocation grinding too. the final boss ALMOST requires 3 particular Vocations to be mastered or you're highly unlikely to win.
- Sometimes there's so much space between story bits, it's easy to forget what you were doing originally.
- The map really could be smaller, so many areas had little to no point to it and it makes it worse with two worlds.
- Half the total characters are optional characters and half of the main characters are under developed story wise.
Honestly I really liked this game for what it was, but I kinda felt it needed to be reeled in a bit and shortened to be a tighter experience, it has all the makings of a great RPG, but is a little too bloated in spots, but other than that, a pretty solid entry in the series.
I kinda wish I could give this DLC the complete 5 star treatment. When it comes down to it, this is just more Resident Evil 4 Remake. Retreading places you've been but see things from different perspectives and going through places you may have remember seeing at one point but now you get to really explore it. The gameplay is as solid as before, it really doesn't have any major changes it's just more added to the original and very much worth the $10.
So what's the issue?
I'm someone who didn't like the original Assignment Ada on the original RE4 and to be quite honest I never really liked Ada in any of the games she appeared in, so I already had an amount of dread when this got announced. I wasn't looking forward to using her to go through another set of chapters.
That was my initial issue...but it got worse when I realized she's voiced the same way in the regular campaign and having her monotone dialogue be the main part of the DLC and then hearing other characters being voiced very well, put a slight damper on experiencing the new parts of the story. Everything else about the game is fun and perfectly fine, until she talks and drags the immersion down.
Other than that, I had a blast and recommend to anyone who enjoyed the original campaign, but you already got it and played it by now right?
So what's the issue?
I'm someone who didn't like the original Assignment Ada on the original RE4 and to be quite honest I never really liked Ada in any of the games she appeared in, so I already had an amount of dread when this got announced. I wasn't looking forward to using her to go through another set of chapters.
That was my initial issue...but it got worse when I realized she's voiced the same way in the regular campaign and having her monotone dialogue be the main part of the DLC and then hearing other characters being voiced very well, put a slight damper on experiencing the new parts of the story. Everything else about the game is fun and perfectly fine, until she talks and drags the immersion down.
Other than that, I had a blast and recommend to anyone who enjoyed the original campaign, but you already got it and played it by now right?
2021
I never really did a review of Deltarune Chapter 1 or even Undertale for that matter. I don't really have a huge history of either game, the fandom made me curious about Undertale so I played it, and all the connections speculated made me play Deltarune Chapter 1 and so here I am for the second chapter.
I actually really like the art style of Deltarune as a whole. Chapter 2 kinda revamps what the first one did, giving the characters more portraits and animations and giving a whole new world of Cyber World, which is pretty neat and focuses a lot on playing of computer, internet, and what you would see if the idea of the internet was a place. It's pretty interesting in concept and reminds me of Mega Man Battle Network in that way.
The game's music is actually really good. I remember Undertale having a sort of Earthbound sound to it, while Deltarune seems to be leaning closer to Mother 3 with it's music and sound. the game does a good job of keeping things simple while adding that bit of extra to it.
I can easily say, Chapter 2 is freakin' brutal at times with it's gameplay. While it still keeps up the same "bullet hell" mode during getting attacked, when on the offense the game actually has a lot of quality of life and allows more combinations of attacks and choices instead of the first game where you often followed the same old routine with very little difference. For example Kris isn't always forced to ACT to get certain things done.
I can't really explain the story any further than I had at the start of the review, because it's spoilers and would be better to be played IF you're okay with the idea that this is similar to Chapter 1 just with a new "world" to explore and continuing the story.
So does the game fall short anywhere?
- I thought the combat would have a little more depth to it when you're on offense, but it seems to be not the case.
- The writing of the characters feel like their suffering from signs of flanderization to the point they seem kinda like fanfic versions of their Chapter 1 selves.
That really about it for issues, I can't say I'm really a fan of Undertale or Deltarune, but after played chapter 1 to refresh myself of the story and Chapter 2 right after, I can easily say I'm pretty interested in the story and hope Chapter 3 isn't another long wait.
I actually really like the art style of Deltarune as a whole. Chapter 2 kinda revamps what the first one did, giving the characters more portraits and animations and giving a whole new world of Cyber World, which is pretty neat and focuses a lot on playing of computer, internet, and what you would see if the idea of the internet was a place. It's pretty interesting in concept and reminds me of Mega Man Battle Network in that way.
The game's music is actually really good. I remember Undertale having a sort of Earthbound sound to it, while Deltarune seems to be leaning closer to Mother 3 with it's music and sound. the game does a good job of keeping things simple while adding that bit of extra to it.
I can easily say, Chapter 2 is freakin' brutal at times with it's gameplay. While it still keeps up the same "bullet hell" mode during getting attacked, when on the offense the game actually has a lot of quality of life and allows more combinations of attacks and choices instead of the first game where you often followed the same old routine with very little difference. For example Kris isn't always forced to ACT to get certain things done.
I can't really explain the story any further than I had at the start of the review, because it's spoilers and would be better to be played IF you're okay with the idea that this is similar to Chapter 1 just with a new "world" to explore and continuing the story.
So does the game fall short anywhere?
- I thought the combat would have a little more depth to it when you're on offense, but it seems to be not the case.
- The writing of the characters feel like their suffering from signs of flanderization to the point they seem kinda like fanfic versions of their Chapter 1 selves.
That really about it for issues, I can't say I'm really a fan of Undertale or Deltarune, but after played chapter 1 to refresh myself of the story and Chapter 2 right after, I can easily say I'm pretty interested in the story and hope Chapter 3 isn't another long wait.
2023
Here's a series that I've been pretty back and forth about. I started with the original Mortal Kombat on Genesis then skipped all the way to Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance on GBA then to Mortal Kombat Armageddon on the Wii then played every Mortal Kombat game after that in order, which lead up to my favorite Mortal Kombat 11 and me loving it and wonder just how the series would continue after such a heavy reboot...ya know...after they just rebooted it a few games ago. I was SUPER hyped waiting for the next game and here it is.
Okay whew...that was a lot of explaining, but it had to be done because I hadn't reviewed one prior. Speaking of prior games, I don't think it would be much of a shock to say, this is the best looking Mortal Kombat game to date. I know the aim of most Triple A studios is to have the graphics or at least the cutscenes look as true to life as possible and I think MK1 nearly nails it. The more I played the game...or moreso watched it, the more I kept feeling like I was watching a real movie, and the game feels like at times it's like one coat of polish away from looking 100% real. The stages, the characters, the effects, everything looks really amazing and runs very smooth. Mortal Kombat has come a VERY long way since the first reboot.
I'm not gonna lie, Mortal Kombat to me has never really had memorable music to it save for the Genesis version of the first game, the rest always felt like background noise to me, and MK1 seems to be a good step up of mixing music well with the cinematics and the battles.
Although the best part of the game is the voice acting. Except for one character, all the others gave an extremely well done performance and it was great to see and hear characters who didn't play as big a role in the past, now stand in the forefront.
I'm not sure if I played or watched someone play Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, but I remember it having a chain command combo system, which seems to be the heavy importance of how this game plays. It kinda feels simplified for the most part but with subtle hints of a higher skill ceiling. I'm not great at fighting games, but this one felt semi comfortable and never felt stale. As someone who hates the "tag system" the Vs Capcom series uses, I believe MK1's Kameo system is probably the best version of that idea and keeps the gameplay fresh without becoming overwhelming. Like I said I'm far from an expert, so this is from a VERY casual player.
The story...the best part of the game by far. After the end of MK11 Aftermath I was already super ready for the new world of Mortal Kombat and in no way did this really disappoint at all. I feel it's a reboot done right. this story is filled to the brim with references to the past games and media of the franchise and spins some of the things on it's head to make something brand new, or makes things once non canon now canon. It must be played to be appreciated...I say "played" but really it must be watched, because, yeah this is a game, but story mode plays out like a movie with enough fights scenes so you don't forget it's a game. I can't count that as a negative, because I was so drawn into the story it was telling, I didn't realize I had been watching more than I was playing until about the halfway point. That says a lot for someone who played all the Metal Gear Solid games.
So does it have an issues?
- While it offers the best story ever, it lacks any of the extra stuff past MK games gave you to do outside the story. (Example: The Krypt in Armageddon.)
- It's not surprising to me, but the Fatalities feel like they were trying too hard to be shocking to the point they look kinda ridiculous at times and partially recycle past characters motions or actions.
Very few issues I have there and they weren't really issues as much as my own opinions. Ultimately I really enjoyed the story to this game and eagerly wait for the DLC story expansion as well as what MK2 has in store.
Okay whew...that was a lot of explaining, but it had to be done because I hadn't reviewed one prior. Speaking of prior games, I don't think it would be much of a shock to say, this is the best looking Mortal Kombat game to date. I know the aim of most Triple A studios is to have the graphics or at least the cutscenes look as true to life as possible and I think MK1 nearly nails it. The more I played the game...or moreso watched it, the more I kept feeling like I was watching a real movie, and the game feels like at times it's like one coat of polish away from looking 100% real. The stages, the characters, the effects, everything looks really amazing and runs very smooth. Mortal Kombat has come a VERY long way since the first reboot.
I'm not gonna lie, Mortal Kombat to me has never really had memorable music to it save for the Genesis version of the first game, the rest always felt like background noise to me, and MK1 seems to be a good step up of mixing music well with the cinematics and the battles.
Although the best part of the game is the voice acting. Except for one character, all the others gave an extremely well done performance and it was great to see and hear characters who didn't play as big a role in the past, now stand in the forefront.
I'm not sure if I played or watched someone play Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, but I remember it having a chain command combo system, which seems to be the heavy importance of how this game plays. It kinda feels simplified for the most part but with subtle hints of a higher skill ceiling. I'm not great at fighting games, but this one felt semi comfortable and never felt stale. As someone who hates the "tag system" the Vs Capcom series uses, I believe MK1's Kameo system is probably the best version of that idea and keeps the gameplay fresh without becoming overwhelming. Like I said I'm far from an expert, so this is from a VERY casual player.
The story...the best part of the game by far. After the end of MK11 Aftermath I was already super ready for the new world of Mortal Kombat and in no way did this really disappoint at all. I feel it's a reboot done right. this story is filled to the brim with references to the past games and media of the franchise and spins some of the things on it's head to make something brand new, or makes things once non canon now canon. It must be played to be appreciated...I say "played" but really it must be watched, because, yeah this is a game, but story mode plays out like a movie with enough fights scenes so you don't forget it's a game. I can't count that as a negative, because I was so drawn into the story it was telling, I didn't realize I had been watching more than I was playing until about the halfway point. That says a lot for someone who played all the Metal Gear Solid games.
So does it have an issues?
- While it offers the best story ever, it lacks any of the extra stuff past MK games gave you to do outside the story. (Example: The Krypt in Armageddon.)
- It's not surprising to me, but the Fatalities feel like they were trying too hard to be shocking to the point they look kinda ridiculous at times and partially recycle past characters motions or actions.
Very few issues I have there and they weren't really issues as much as my own opinions. Ultimately I really enjoyed the story to this game and eagerly wait for the DLC story expansion as well as what MK2 has in store.