Scummy publisher Edia makes kickstarter for an incomplete collection of emulated games. Aside from physical paraphernalia, the only incentive for supporting the Kickstarter over just emulating the games on widely available ROMs is the English translation, hostage to an arbitrary stretch goal.

The stretch goal is reached and as expected it's a very bare-bones package with an emulation below the level of what the free alternative offers... but the game just doesn't have that promised English translation. How curious. 🤔

Turns out paying for that stretch goal wasn't enough, as now if you want the English translation you have to buy a separate English release from... drum roll ¡Limited Run Games! ¡And they made sure to milk the shit out it!

As this is going on tho, Edia announces a second kickstarter... for a second installment of this incomplete collection of emulated games. Not only that, but they are now keeping games hostage under certain stretch goals. May I remember the readers that we're talking about EMULATED GAMES?????

But let's go back to the English side of things. As I'm writting this, sales of the English version have long ended but they haven't delivered the game yet, so buying the game from the already overpriced JP edition would be cheaper and quicker than actually buying the game in its official English publisher. Good old Limited Run!

Also... because hiring talent to modify the roms was too complicated, the subs are superimposed by the emulator. Which would be OK if they hired an UI artist or, IDK, cared a little to use a font that would fit the game's aesthetic, but alas it was too much for poor old Limited Run, therefore you're presented with subs that have lazier presentation than a third-grade fansub.

The dust has settled (for now, there are still games left to release so a third volume is not completely out of the question), Edia keeps making kickstarters for EMULATED GAMES of other franchises and to top it all of starts its own NFT brand which of course includes Valis tokens.

Valis X was more respectful to the franchise than whatever the fuck this is.

The opening level, exploring the Enchanted Kingdom, going to the Badlands and being greeted with an ongoing war, visiting the first two towns and solving sidequests using your wits and powers, their corresponding action stages... I think the first two thirds of the game are great stuff and showcase Rare's strengths as game developers. They were aiming to deliver an 3D action-adventure platformer effectively blending something more akin to 3D Zelda with a Rare flair, and you can definitely see that with the transformation gimmicks, and some of the puzzles being effectively an optional collect-a-thon, but they also wanted to throw in some combat mechanics that make the player find synergies between transformations and adapt to each scenario or horde, and it's honestly pretty good and can lead to some cathartic moments when you're going full on DMC in this mf.

However upon entering the third town (which is a pain in the ass to navigate) and discovering that its Elementals are two of the most circumstantial of the game, plus the game kinda just running out of ideas for interesting layouts, make the last third a bit of a letdown. Not helping the situation is the fact that Thermite, the last Elemental, is so OP that in the final stretch I rarely used any other Elementals unless necessary. Feeling so powerful makes for a cathartic climax, yes, but I prefered when the game wanted me to be creative or kept me switching between transformations, which was the bread and butter of what made the first two thirds so fun.

The game almost manages to end in a good note with some spectacular setpieces in the last level, but it gave us the most uninspired boss fight of the entire game as the final encounter. Man, that was a letdown.

The first two thirds I would rate as a perfectly good 7, but the last third just loses focus on what are the game's strengths and so it ends up being a very close call between a 6 or a 7. There's a lot of potential here for a sequel, and Rare seemed to think alike, but alas Kameo 2 didn't take off as a reality. In the meantime, despite some mixed feelings and a lot of room for improvement, I did appreciate Kameo a lot, and thinking that it was supposed to be originally a GameCube title makes some of the things it pulls off even more impressive.

It's kinda like if MicroMachines V4 and Motorstorm Apocalypse had a child and it was developed by Tamsoft. If you're into that type of low budget chaos, this delivers like few.

It's also constantly pushing above its weight, so even with the budget limitations it manages to create a spectacle and it's unironically very interesting mechanically.

It doesn't quite work as it should, so most often than not it's a complete clusterfuck, but it's a fun type of clusterfuck.

First FPS attempt by Insomniac as a launch game for a console that was notoriously hard to work with and... It has aged much better than I thought!

Played it on Difficult. The game is about 90% smooth, but about 10% is tampered by some difficulty spikes that needed some ironing out or maybe a bit of checkpoint fine tuning. The game early on also has a bit of a newbie developer syndrome, where you can tell Insomniac was really set on nailing down the FPS fundamentals, so it takes a bit to get going. Most people do think about the first Resistance as this Halo-wannabe, and while it is at times, it's equal parts trying to take in elements from other FPS schools of design: it has the lonely solitude of some of the early Medal of Honor games, it has some of the setpieces of early Call of Duty, but it's also very Bloodish when it comes to close quarters encounters. It's good stuff, and to tie it all there's this constant theme of resistance and survival. It's a very dreary looking game that complements the style of gameplay, and the silent protagonist cliché is used very well to deliver this lonesome journey of a man that's doomed to become a chimera.

The core gameplay is intense in a good way; the shifts between level structures makes the game flow in variety; the weapons are pretty fun to use; the chimera AI is simple enough so it doesn't overpower you, but it still knows when to cover or run towards you to prevent situations from becoming static; the recurring minibosses are a menace and some chimera types can give you a good scare... it's consistently engaging and I had a lot of fun, even with some rough spots.

It ain't bad at all! The core gameplay is pretty fun, blowing up one objective after another is super smooth and engaging once it finds its groove... the shame is that it doesn't really build up to much (much like the original Crackdown in that regard) and the difficulty is super wack (sometimes even on Legendary is too easy, but sometimes it cranks the difficulty up way too much) but I guess that's what happens when the developer that was supposed to make the game houdini'd mid development and instead you get a (talented) B-Tier studio to build something out of scraps and polish things up in record time just to release something.

Also, despite being a much more smoother experience (most of the time), it kinda misses the point of what made the original Crackdown special and instead becomes a Just Cause / Red Faction Guerrilla type game. A very decent one, and it does nail a lot when it comes to the core gameplay and expanding some design aspects, but because it's in service of a much more standard sandbox, I don't think it would've have had that much staying power in people's minds even if the game had been received more positively, unlike the original which is still very bold, unique and fondly remembered.

- Do you like Corpse Party?
- Do you like Visual Novels?
- Are you up for a collection of prequel, sequel, and what-if chapters that don't necessarily push the plot forward?
If the answer to all those questions is "yes", then sure, give Book of Shadows a try.

It's better written that Blood Covered, it has better scares (IMO), both main and secondary characters get more fleshed out, better CGs, better voice acting... It's a good package, but to get into it you must be aware that only the last chapter matters when it comes to the series' development, and the rest is complementary material that could've easily been extra chapters in Blood Covered... but with much better quality.

I actually liked it more than Blood Covered, it's just a shame that it doesn't stand as its own individual installment and instead is kinda like the Corpse Party version of the Animatrix. You can't recommend it on its own, and the genre change along with the chapters-as-short-stories formula might put off a significant portion of the core fanbase, but if you're into what's being offered, you might be pleasantly surprised.

Shmup of the year contender right here. If someone put the Cave logo on it, I would've easily been fooled into thinking this was a new official DoDonPachi.

-You like CAVE? Buy it. This has Crimzon Clover levels of DDP DNA.
-You like shmups? Please check it out. It's easily one of the best shmups in recent memory.
-You want to get into bullet hells but don't know where to start? This is an excelent starting point It has a very good tutorial explaining the basics on how to play and approach the genre and it has more easy-to-get-into modes than just the arcade (if you want to see for yourself, there's a demo!)

There are three Metal Gear Solid 4:

- The MGS4 that wants to push the ideas of Metal Gear forward exploring the concept of war economy and mass produced soldiers as a product of capitalist greed aided by gene manipulation and nanomachines.

- The MGS4 that wants to burn everything to the fucking ground Hideaki Anno style and spit on MGS fans for asking for more games. And it'll make sure that any grave that the franchise has left is getting pissed on.

- The MGS4 that's a caring and touching love letter to everything the series represents. A celebration of everything that's dumb and fun of Metal Gear.

Three games, three different core ideas and themes, and and it doesn't mesh all that well. It's a freaking mess of a game and has both the lowest and highest points of any Metal Gear.

But despite its flaws, I had a lot of fun.

This was a technical marvel in its time, but the fact that G-MODE released this on modern systems before an actual DOJ release is just legendary.

The game itself is a certified DoDonPocho (Spanish pun where pocho means something close to "withered" in a casual manner). The fact that it manages to be so close to the actual thing is both a big achievement and a curse. It's amazing they even managed to make this a reality for phones of that era, but nowadays what's the point of even playing this when you can play the OG?

The LULZ, of course.

It's a novel and curious way to play DOJ, but most importantly, an inexpensive one, so if you're a Cave fan you might feel like playing this and have a chill time and while you're at it, throw a couple of bucks to the folks at G-MODE for their preservation efforts which are SEVERELY underrated.

In a 2012 interview Cave devs explained that if SaiDaiOuJou was going to be their last game, it had to be a very straightforward experience. A game that's very simple and puts all of its focus around the good ol' dodging bullets, but with a contemporary approach. As a result, SDOJ is a pure bullet hell with 0 gimmick mechanics, but with all the over the top excess of the later Cave releases. The game can be way too much, and leaves very little window for casual plays. If you want to make a dent in it, you gotta sit down and commit to getting your ass kicked. There's very little in the way of strategy or understanding how to play it, you just need to dodge like your life depends on it. It's brutal. It's insane. It's non stop sensory overload. But at the same time it's oldschool as hell.

I'm still figuring out my feelings towards this game because, aside from the amazing OST and ultra futuristic presentation that pushes the limits on what can be readable in a 2D bullet hell, there's not a lot to say outside its intensity. I respect the back-to-basics approach, but it's easy to feel like there's nothing in the game you haven't seen from previous Cave offerings.

But what the hell. Even at its most derivative, Cave games can be a fucking blast, and this is no exception.

Let's pray to god we get a proper Steam port. I can't buy the wonky Xbox port from my European 360 and I'm not paying 4000+ bucks for the Exa version and system.

Tamsoft goes full L4D in this Oneechanbara spin-off and it's a game I have almost no feelings towards. There's some ideas here and there that could make for a low-budget trashy fun time, but the game is too predictable and not over the top enough to stand out in any capacity.

At the same time, aside from a chronic lack of polish and attention in mission flow (which is to be expected in these kinds of products) there ain't much that's outright bad or a waste to my time or patience, so I keep it installed as the ultimate palette cleanser.

Do you ever just, end an amazing game that you feel like there's nothing that will fill its place? SGZH will clean that aftertaste and soon enough you'll feel motivated to play something else.

Do you ever feel overestimulated and you can't decide what to play next? SGZH will make you feel like you're videogame purgatorium. There's nothing to get excited about here, so before you know it you'll feel in a much more conscious place.

Do you want to play something and at the same time playing nothing at all? Play SGZH. You'll eventually hunger for games that are actually interesting.

Do you want to play a low budget zombie game? Play Oneechanbara.

Do you want to play a low budget shooter game? Play Earth Defense Force.