Shangri-La Frontier Review

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Shangri-La Frontier is one of those titles that got a good amount of hype when it was coming out. Not only was it getting the big anime production but there was even a mobile game coming out around that time. Who doesn’t like an action show about a fun VR world right? One thing that did differentiate this one from other titles is how they weren’t stuck in the game this time though. You can actually log out and you don’t die in real life when you die in the game. So it’s more about enjoying the game itself and the series succeeded massively at this. It shows that the writer was able to pull off an engaging story without life or death stakes and that’s very admirable.

The story introduces us to Sunraku (I’m mainly going to use the game names for everyone here to keep things a little more straight forward) who is a “Trash” gamer. Basically that means he intentionally only plays the absolute worst games imaginable so he can have fun mocking them and having a good time. It’s a pretty good strategy the whole time I have to admit. I do the same thing at times, only I still play the high quality stuff too. I can’t imagine limiting myself that hard. Well, one day Shangri-La Frontier comes out and Sunraku decides to give it a try. It’ll be the first “God Tier” game that he’s played so how will this feel?

Well, in a way it feels even better than for the average player. Going from a string of 0/10 games to a 10/10 is just a feeling that’s out of this world. He also happens across one of the legendary bosses in the game, Lycagon. This is such a rare spawn that almost nobody has ever even seen him. Sunraku is destroyed but this causes him to revive with a curse and a unique quest involving a bunny named Emul. Can he clear the quests and solve the mystery of the game or has he finally bit off a challenge that’s simply too big for him? Along the way he meets up with some old associates from other games including Pencilgon and Oikatzo.

One of the key challenges the series would inevitably have here is keeping your interest piqued without the big death stakes. Like I mentioned earlier, the series does well with that and I’d say the main reason is Sunraku as the lead character. He comes off as a fairly overconfident gamer who thinks he can tackle any challenge and it sort of give the show a bit of a sports vibe. Just like you’re engaged in a good game of tennis in Prince of Tennis, you enjoy the boss fights here to see how Sunraku fares. We still get glimpses of the human world from time to time where we actually see him looking at resource guides and browsing online for tips and tricks.

The show is really immersive when we’re inside of the game but I do like these details to show that this is still a video game that exists in a real world. Sunraku won’t always be the first person to discover something, in fact the one exception is the unique quest. So reading up online is something a hardcore player would absolutely be doing. We get to meet his quirky family as well and there’s even a mild romance plot going on in the human world. The absolute best detail though is that Sunraku still occasionally plays some other games. We see him enter a fighting game to practice some moves/unwind and he goes into another game for the occasional meeting.

It all does a lot for the world building. In one episode we even get to meet some of the devs behind Shangri-La which was cool. They haven’t gotten to do a whole lot yet but their banter already makes them likable characters. I have high hopes for their roles in the story coming up soon. There will be balance patches and updates coming into the game soon too so it’ll be fun to see how all of that is handled. Right now Sunraku may have the highest natural talent out of any player in the game but his character’s level isn’t as high as some others so he can still lose fights. In fact we see him lose a decent number of battles which makes sense. Even the best video game player in the world can’t expect to beat very level without dying on his first try.

This isn’t a power fantasy like Sword Art Online (Which is till legendarily hype!) and it’s going for a different vibe. Sunraku is super good at games but it’s for a very realistic reason which is that he stays home and plays video games all day. The guy’s spent his whole life doing this so it makes sense that he would be really good. The same is true for both of his main allies. At most I guess you could say Pencilgon may not make quite as much sense since she is a lot busier with her real life work but hey some people are just really good at games. She’s always a fun character to have around as well.

In terms of production values, I would say the show is very good as well. The soundtrack has a lot of variety to it and is definitely a lot of fun. The themes really help to enhance all of the scenes from slice of life moments to the fights. The Weathermon fight in particular has a lot of fun themes going on there. Both of the opening songs are also exceptional, some of the best I’ve seen in anime. The classic rock really gets you pumped for the action. Meanwhile the animation is also really good. Again, the Weathermon fight has some of the peaks for the series there as it doesn’t give an inch and keeps things moving at a high level. The animation is consistently solid throughout the show though.

Now lets talk about the characters a bit more. Like I said earlier, Sunraku’s a lot of fun and he’s a big reason why the show is so good. I like his overall confidence and how he doesn’t back down from a challenge. Even when he’s outmatched, he just trusts in his overall abilities and reaction times. He reminds me of myself to a large degree I gotta say. It always feels great when he clutches out a great victory and shows why he is still the best. He does a good job of bantering with the rest of the characters and is just a lot of fun the whole time.

He really takes his time about equipping the right items and formulating battle strategies for the fights. We get a lot of insight into his overall personality even outside of the battles. He’s a reasonable guy who has a lot going for him and that makes for an entertaining main character all the way. Then we have Emul who is sort of the sidekick/animal mascot here. She’s okay but a bit bland as far as supporting characters go. Right now I don’t feel like she really adds much to the equation. Yeah she can fight a bit but in terms of comedic potential she doesn’t have a lot yet.

Fortunately Sunraku has two full allies to help carry the load. First up is Pencilgon who definitely likes to think of herself as a leader figure. She has a lot of power and influence within the game thanks to her guild ties. While her circumstances change as the series goes on, she’s always super resourceful so you have no doubt that she will always be near the top. She has a lot of assets and knows how to exploit every rule in the game. Having her on your side is a big deal. While she tends to be a super tough character, she does allow the game to get her a bit emotional at times.

Hey that’s when you know a game is really good after all right? You want to be able to fully immerse yourself in the game and have a good time. I’d like to see her have a real fight with Sunraku at some point. Surprisingly none of the trio have actually fought each other yet and I think that would be a lot of fun. Of course my money is on Sunraku taking them down in the end. Then we have the third member of the team, Oikatzo. The fact that he is a pro gamer is really fun. I don’t remember seeing a character with that job before and it’s nice as a really good reason as to why he can keep up so well. In fact, he still has to play a lot of other games on the side which is probably the only reason why he doesn’t do even better.

Right now it’s fair to say that Sunraku is still better but Oikatzo is a top tier fighter in his own right. I also like that he doesn’t use a weapon and just uses his knuckles to deliver damage to the opponents. I’m more of a sword guy myself but there are definitely some games where I just go weapon-less and enjoy the hand to hand combat. I did that in one of the GBA RPGs a while back because there was some kind of bonus to doing that. While the alliance was temporary you get the feeling that these 3 will constantly be a trio for most of the adventure although inevitably there has to be some kind of tournament where they fight.

Then we have the classmate, Psyger-0. She has a big crush on Sunraku but the guy never notices her. It’s definitely a rather tragic subplot for her and unfortunately she tends to freeze and panic whenever he is around so she is unable to properly confess. Also, the game store they hang out at has a giant poster of Sonic Frontiers so it’s hard to notice anything else when you’re seeing a top quality game like that. Hopefully she will eventually gather her courage but in the meantime at least she gets to see him inside of the game at times. She has a super high leveled character in game which makes her one of the most powerful. It’s definitely a very impressive build even if she can’t get all of the credit for it. I think the account belonged to her sister or something like that, another character who will show up soon.

So I can’t say that I love Psyger-0, I don’t tend to be big fans of the timid characters. I can appreciate that she really takes care of business in-game though. She is actually a really solid player with how she handles the combos and adapts on the fly. The cast actually isn’t that big for the supporting characters beyond that. We do have the various other characters at Rabituza but this is really the only weakness of the series. Right now I don’t really care much about that place. It just feels a little boring and I always want to get back to the main plot. Yeah there are some good gags here occasionally and the place leads to some good fights but I just haven’t had my interest captured yet.

The blacksmith is okay and she’s good at her job but she’s not all that entertaining. Then we have a sword fighter who shows up at the very end of the season and I can’t say that he’s all that good either. The big boss is your average tough guy character but I need to see him fight seriously before I can really appreciate his character. I know this will probably be the area with a big payoff since it’s a super unique quest that only Sunraku has activated so far (Main character hype!!!) but yeah it’s just kind of dull.

The episodes are always more hype when he’s running around the real world. For example the early boss fight with Lycagon was definitely one of the highlights in the show. It was cool to see him struggle for so long against this guy. He may not have been dealing all that much damage but he was fighting hard the whole time regardless. It reminded me of the optional fight against Ganondorf at the very start of Breath of the Wild. It was a good way to introduce us to the skill ceiling in the game.

All of the other boss fights are generally fun as well. We get to see Sunraku take on many different challenges. Then there are also the times where he has to grind up levels against minions or gather collectibles. All things you would expect to see in a game like this. It all leads up to the big Wethermon fight which you could say is the main focus of pretty much the whole season. We get a pretty solid backstory and all but mainly you’re here for the fight and it delivers. It is fair to say that Wethermon is my favorite villain right now.

The guy has a great design and a killer fighting style. I really enjoyed seeing him on screen the whole time and how he just kept on getting up. It’s actually hard to see how this fight will be surpassed any time soon. It felt like an end of series type of boss rather than being so early on. In fact, the devs reference this as he may have even been the strongest out of all the bosses and that’s considering that he was nerfed. So we’ll see how the bosses fare from here.

I have no doubts about the series staying strong though. The character cast has already proven themselves to be strong enough to make any scene entertaining. You don’t even need a top threat to make things exciting. Yeah, I may not care about the lore of the world and all that much so this new professor character could get annoying fast but I have every confidence that the main cast will concentrate more on the gameplay anyway. They’re not the kinds of characters to get distracted all that easily.

At the end of each episode there is a little SLF Mini segment which is kind of retro because I feel like more shows used to do that back in the day. The segment can be hit or miss at times depending on what you enjoy/find funny but all in all I like having it there. In particular I like the ones that show us events we missed or ones that give extra depth to a scene. The comedic ones can be a bit more of a miss but so far there has been a good balance.

Overall, I would definitely recommend checking this show out. Shangri-La Frontier is a great game. The rock music is so good and the show has a great action vibe all the way. It’s sort of like a back to basics kind of show but done with top of the line graphics. I also think it’s a nice change of pace to just have the characters enjoying the virtual world and having a good time. Not every show has to be super traumatic to the main cast at least. I’d say there’s definitely a whole market for more titles like this. Just a fun adventure with great writing and a really solid story. Hopefully they continue the series sooner than later because I am ready for more adventures!

Overall 8/10

Destination Inner Space Review

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It’s time for one of those classic creature feature films. You can always expect a whole lot of action out of a title like this. It’s a retro film that has aged well with solid pacing and a fun monster. I definitely won’t say that it’s out of this world or anything like that but it gets the job done. Your interest will be maintained the whole time and the simple plot makes for a good amount of replay value.

The movie starts with some kind of underwater object being spotted. It doesn’t appear to be a submarine or any kind of life that we have previously known. A few experts are brought in and Commander Wayne is ready to lead the team. Technically this falls more under the doctor’s authority than the marines so Wayne is a bit more limited in power than he normally would be but he is still ready to do what must be done. Unfortunately there is some drama though as a guy named Maddox is here and he keeps insinuating that Wayne did something really terrible a long time ago. It’s some kind of conspiracy that must not be uttered and it’s threatening to tear this crew apart.

While this is a creature feature film, you could definitely say that most of the stakes and danger actually come from the human plot. Maddox is really a loose cannon and definitely the worst character in the film. All of these passive aggressive jabs he takes at Wayne just feels really petty. It gets much worse once we actually find out the truth about his past. The guy was making a whole lot of noise for something that really wasn’t Wayne’s fault, even remotely. Seriously, the guy’s doing a lot of squawking when he should only be blaming himself. It makes him look super bad to be honest and I would argue that he never recovers from this. Just a really bad character all around.

The most surreal part of the film though happens once we’ve learned the tragic backstory. The heroine who likes Maddox suddenly says that she has gained respect for him. It’s supposed to be a touching moment since he just came clean about everything but instead you’re just rolling your eyes. You can’t take this seriously at all because one, it had to be completely dragged out of him. He was ready to keep up the pretense the entire time and blame Wayne for everything. He was actively lying about the events and if Wayne wasn’t persistent enough then this would have really gone sideways. It’s only after enough pressure was applied that he cracks. And second, it just makes Maddox look terrible.

Even if you make some excuses for the guy, at best you don’t lose respect. I don’t see how you could gain it though. So yeah that romance plot was pretty bad. Wayne’s romance plot wasn’t much better though. In his plot he tries convincing a girl to give a guy a chance. This lady is super jaded about men in general and I don’t blame her since Wayne’s first instinct when coming aboard the ship is to flirt with both of the women there. So it does make him come across as rather shallow I have to admit. This romance definitely doesn’t need to be in the film at all.

Wayne’s a solid main character aside from that though. He’s focused on the mission and doing his best to keep everyone alive. He knows what he’s doing which is more than I can say for most of the other characters. The main scientist/doctor here looks really bad. The guy is so concerned with getting a big discovery and achieving new science that he is willing to risk everyone’s lives without a good plan. The guy is actively getting everyone into trouble and does so very unapologetically. Having this guy around is really like having an enemy on deck. Things would have gotten a lot smoother without him.

Now how about the monster? Well the creature is definitely a lot of fun. It’s got a very colorful design and is an aquatic type creature like the Gill Man. The aliens are fairly high tech with the UFO and it made for a good antagonist. It is far from being the strongest villain on the block though. The humans are able to overpower this creature physically which does mean that it would be absolutely stomped/devastated by the average opponent. It would certainly not be going toe to toe with a Xenomorph for example.

The design is what counts though. It also got lucky with one of the humans pouring water on it so it wouldn’t die. Giving water to a water based alien creature is probably the #1 thing you should not do if you want to survive an alien encounter. The humans make a lot of pretty bad mistakes here but I would still say the writing itself is good. Sometimes characters are bound to make some really bad moves and that can be realistic in its own way. It’s not like these guys have to be super geniuses or anything like that.

Like I said earlier, the pacing is pretty good too. Things tend to move fast but you have to really enjoy the situation itself since the creatures take a while to do anything. This is definitely a film about the tension of the unknown and the human drama as much as it is a creature feature film. The action scenes hold up when they occur though and this film just makes for a good time. It’s really got everything I could want/expect from this type of movie.

Overall, Destination Inner Space has a clever title and this makes for a good movie. Even today the ocean is filled with mysteries and you can imagine a lot of spooky stuff being down there. Perhaps no humanoid aliens like this but it makes for a fun element. The movie isn’t flashy so don’t expect a bunch of giant explosions or anything like that. At the same time, what you can bank on is a lot of good fun. This is a film that delivers all the way and you aren’t going to forget it.

Overall 7/10

White Noise Review

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White Noise is one of those desperate horror films that actually snagged an interesting idea but rushed to churn out some random product that barely made use of it. I can’t say I was all that disappointed because to be honest I had fairly low expectations going into it. The movie’s fairly bad as you would guess. The villains are overpowered with no weaknesses and the whole film is an exercise in futility. At least the film has some restraint and doesn’t go too crazy though.

The film starts off with Jonathan being married to Anna and she is even expecting a kid which is hype. Unfortunately she dies after that so Jonathan gets rather depressed. He ends up meeting a shady guy who was following him around for a while though named Raymond. He dabbles in the arcane arts and explains that Sarah’s spirit can still be heard through the computer. They just have to listen hard enough and he’s a pro at the electro voice phenomenon and has made it his life’s work. He’s been helping another lady named Sarah as well. Now she can help Jonathan a bit because Raymond gets bumped off soon after. The spirits don’t appreciate this intrusion and plan to keep on murdering people. What can Jonathan do against these demonic entities?

Nothing to be honest. Lol you thought this guy could do anything about it? These ghosts are intangible, they’ve got super speed, super strength, endless stamina, they can control your body and make you jump out a window, etc. Their abilities are basically limitless so all Jonathan can do is flail around for a while until the ghosts have had enough of him. That’s my main problem with some titles like this. You have to at least introduce a concept that gives Jonathan some kind of a chance in this fight. Otherwise, what is even the point of watching the film? It’s just pointless if his only escape is his inevitable death. At that point then what are we even doing here?

The film also gets rather boring at times. It’s good that Jonathan is super good at hearing because half the time I couldn’t even get what the ghosts were saying through the computer screen. It could be like gibberish at times and I’m someone who tends to like white noise. I use it every night to create that hype atmosphere although I’ve thought about buying a more custom noise like a rainforest sound or something. I think those could even be more fun although I haven’t tried that yet. But even so it’s not something that can carry a movie. I did appreciate that most of the transitions were done using white noise though. The general colors, backgrounds, and effects weren’t bad either.

There just isn’t a lot of them to go around and they tend to be very repetitive. Also, it goes through the annoying cliche of only the evil spirits having power while the good ones can only repeat one or two phrases like an NPC. Anna shows up a few times to tell Jonathan to run but she never gives any more details than that. Also lets face it, running’s not even going to do anything at this point although I appreciate the attempt. No, he’s doomed no matter how you slice it.

One plot point that starts kind of late is how Jonathan can quickly see into the future. He is given glimpses into different dark fates that await various characters but with enough time to save them or help out in time. He does help out a bit but I’d be annoyed with this ability because it doesn’t come with any hints or anything. He just has to run around until he finds out what is going on. It’s also usually a half victory as someone still dies or gets injured while he saves someone else.

Ultimately though, it’s all rather futile like I mentioned. Jonathan never stood a chance at winning or doing much of anything. Depending on how you interpret the ending, it’s not looking much better for the other characters either. Part of the ending is a little funny though with some more static noise showing up and we get one last line from one of the characters. Everyone looks either shocked or happy except for the driver who is over the whole thing. He just drives off looking rather annoyed and I don’t blame him because from his point of view the whole thing’s probably been a real drag. Now he’s going to have to compete with a legacy that will probably be dramatized a bit. If he was in the sequel I’d bet that things would not go well for him.

Ultimately the message here is really not to mess with the dead and spirits. Once someone dies then you’ve gotta move on and fast. No trying to contact them or anything because you’re just going to be going around in circles and contacting demons anyway. I’d also say you should never trust some random guy who’s been following you around and telling you all of these weird stories. I get that Jonathan was desperate but yeah you definitely need to be able to move on. Not rebound of course, but just keep it calm and not chase after her spirit.

The film also has a really random plot twist near the end of the film that doesn’t make any sense. Feels more like a shock value moment than anything to be honest. Lets just say there is one human villain here to make things a little more tense at the end but there’s just no point to that. We already know that the demons can do anything they want so why involve a human? Just to mess with the main character? That seems like the only possible explanation. The demons strike me as really unreasonable villains who always have some kind of a chip on their shoulders even when they are the ones who created the situation. Yeah they’re not winning any points in my book any time soon.

Overall, At the end of the day there’s not much to positive to really say about the film. It’s a very by the numbers horror film but it doesn’t have a ton of good jump scares. The computer screen moments tend to be on the boring side and you’re really waiting for some action. Unfortunately there’s not much for the main character to even fight for most of the film and by the time we get a human villain the film is ending. This is a film that should have had more fun with the electronic setup. That should have also played into the demons weakness somehow. You know, just give us something with a bit more substance instead of dwelling on the computer screen for so long. Additionally the whole sub plot of Jonathan playing superhero by seeing into the future didn’t make a lot of sense and felt shoehorned in. The film just didn’t have time to really go into this plot so it felt pointless.

Overall 3/10

Bad Day at Black Rock Review

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All right it’s time for one of those films that I hadn’t heard of before but was actually really solid. There’s a lot of good tension here and at times it can even play out a bit like a Twilight Zone episode. The main character did annoy me at times with how much disrespect he was taking from the other characters but ultimately it was a tough situation and the movie was careful not to give him any easy outs. It makes for a tense watch the whole way through.

The film starts with a guy named John getting off of a train and into a small town. For some reason nobody is happy to see him and he is given the cold shoulder immediately. The concierge straight up tells him to go home and nobody wants to give him a car to drive. He’s told all of the hotel rooms are booked, people threaten him, etc. John came here in search of a guy named Komoko but the instant he brings up this name things get even worse. The local sheriff is completely drunk and refuses to help while everyone else just acts like a villain. It’s clear that nothing good happened to Komoko and now something is about to happen to John. Someone lets him know that he will be murdered by the town at the end of the day. Outnumbered with no vehicles, weapons, and 1 dead arm, can John find a way out of here?

You can see how the situation is definitely not in his favor. I’d say the biggest issue is really that he only has 1 good arm. It means that even with the element of surprise, any attack option will be incredibly risky. One bad hit and John will be on the ground with no real way to defend himself. Yeah it’s possible to fight with one arm but it gives you dozens of new weaknesses. You have to really fight perfectly and even then winning is only a possibility. Particularly with a whole town against you. Yes, it’s a small town but we’re still talking around 6-8 guys against 1 man. Those are not good odds.

John does his best not to pick any fights and to keep his head low but it’s clear that this won’t work. Now that he’s entered this town he won’t be allowed to leave. A good chunk of the film is really about the town making veiled threats against John as he tries to figure out what to do. Actually to be honest the threats are barely even veiled by the end. For most of the movie I was expecting there to be a twist like John could use his second arm or he had some kind of gun but that’s not the way things go. He is actually able to fight reasonably well but like I said, that’s not enough to really make him feel safe. If I was him I would have finished off the first attacker during the bar fight though. At least you take one guy down before dying.

In these kinds of situations I always feel like it’s better to die quickly than risk a slow death. So you jump into the fray which will force the enemy to shoot you a few times and then bam, you’re out of the picture. So you either win or you die fast and there’s no middle-ground. Now I should say that in the town not everyone is super evil. Some are just weak willed and don’t have the courage to stand up to the mob. It’s particularly tough in a small town like this. As one lady says, John will at least be dead in short order but the rest of them have to continue living in the town. It’s not even much of a town either.

They are running out of food and water, nobody ever visits and the place is completely isolated. There are less than 20 people living in the village and it doesn’t look like they will be having any kids anytime soon. It’s like watching an extinction in real time. The fact that the survivors actively try to prevent anyone from visiting definitely says a lot too. They are really making history here but the wrong kind.

As for what happened to Komoko, well it is explained. You can probably guess almost immediately what happened to him though based on how the town is. It’s definitely a pretty tragic event and it makes everyone look really bad. Even the characters who try to help out by the end I still don’t have a whole lot of sympathy for. They didn’t act when it counted the first time and that made everyone complicit. It’s almost worse in a way for the “good guys” who did nothing compared to the villains who are openly evil. If you don’t do anything then you really helped out in the end. The Sheriff in particular is rather toothless as he gets threatened as well and pushed around. That was definitely not a good look.

The movie sticks the landing and has a satisfying conclusion. I had a good time watching the movie. There are a decent amount of characters all things considered and they are written well. The villains have a lot of screen presence and all of the characters seem rather realistic. Like I said, I’d have liked John to do some things a bit different but who knows how things would have gone. At least keep the gun once you knocked the first guy out, that could have been super handy.

Overall, Bad Day at Black Rock is definitely an intense film. I would say part of what makes it rather scary as well is that you can picture this happening in real life. You always do want to be careful where you travel and you should always do some research first. Even the best of countries have rough areas, neighborhoods, and yeah even towns can fall into the picture. If you go unprepared then you are likely to vanish in the wind. Back in the day it was harder to actually do research like that though. John certainly had no idea what he was walking into. The movie tackles some serious themes and does so without missing a beat or overplaying its hand. I would certainly recommend checking it out.

Overall 7/10

Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 4: Road to Boruto Review

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The Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm series has always been one of the top tier, elite video games of our generation. The amount of playable characters and attention to detail is absolutely uncanny! I don’t think we’ll ever see another Naruto game that can quite compete on this one’s level. It’s really the full package and a perfect end to the Ultimate Ninja Storm series. Way I see it, all other games are spinoffs until they announce a Ninja Storm 5. If you’ve been playing the series already then you know what to expect but if not, lets just say that it’s about to blow your mind!

The game picks up with the war and takes you through the rest of the series up through the first sequel movie. So it covers quite a lot of content. For the first time the series does take a few shortcuts with more anime type clips rather than doing all of the cell shaded cinematics. As you get deeper into the game it goes back to normal though. They’re both good of course but seeing the whole thing in the game’s animation style does get you a little more invested so I loved seeing that style. The story is a bit shorter than the last title but when you through in the Boruto part I would say it’s about the same length. I liked the way the story also diverges with both the Naruto and Sasuke paths. I had fun alternating to try and keep it all as chronological as possible.

The gameplay is that of a 3D fighter. You pick 3 fighters and then try to dominate your opponent in close quarters combat. You can switch fighters at will or use them as assists. The characters all have great combos and the final smashes are as cinematic as ever. Each fight is very fast paced and fluid. It’s some of the cleanest 3D fighting you will ever see. We also have the quick time events for the story mode battles and even a few alternate gameplay type moments like the Kaiju type fights. Those are always fun as well although I’m not nearly as good at those. Getting S ranks there feels like an extremely difficult task if you ask me.

So you can expect to spend at least 10-15 hours on the story. After that there is also an Adventure mode with tons of content and also good ole survival mode. Don’t expect this to be easy either. The survival mode actually gives you a good run for your money and the intimidating thing is how long it can be. For example one trophy is to defeat 30 opponents in a row so if you get sloppy or make a mistake 25 opponents deep, get ready to start from scratch. The trophies here definitely look very difficult. Certainly achievable as long as you train your skills though but I imagine you will be here for a very long time before you are able to knock it out.

It almost goes without saying but the graphics here are absolutely top notch. It’s great to see Naruto and the gang on the PS4. It’s really night and day compared to other games where Naruto has appeared in like Jump Force. The colors here are so vibrant and there are a ton of cool animations that aren’t just recycled among characters. The soundtrack is also pretty good. I tend to like all of the themes even if there isn’t any singular track that really stood out for me.

In terms of character balance the game seems to do a pretty good job. Some characters just seem to have final smash animations that are too long. Like you should be able to dodge or block their final smashes every single time. Rock Lee and Might Guy are two examples of this. Meanwhile some characters like Sasuke in his End of Series version are extremely useful and will hit the opponent almost every time. It’s pretty much a cheatcode in survival mode and I highly recommend using him. You can just keep on using the final smash over and over again for quick victories. Of course that does mean watching the cinematic over and over again so I hope you really enjoy it.

I’d also like to note that the fact that there are so many unique dialogue quotes for the final smash depending on your opponent is really cool. Again, it’s all the little things that help to really make this game stand out. If they could squeeze in an easter egg then that’s exactly what they do. I’m sure there are a bunch of little things that I haven’t even noticed yet. In fact, that’s a guarantee since there are a bunch of bonus missions and side quests that I haven’t even stepped into yet. So yeah this is the game that just keeps on delivering.

Overall, Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 is definitely an elite game. One that should not be underestimated at any cost. I highly recommend picking this game up immediately if you don’t already have it. It’s really the gold standard of what an anime fighting game should be like. Any series would certainly be super proud to have a title with this amount of professional development behind it. The content justifies the price many times over as well. Naruto will always be remembered as one of the most iconic and influential series of all time and titles like this do the legacy justice.

Overall 9/10

Extreme-G Review

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It’s time for a racing game that was particularly inspired. This game has aged extremely well from the soundtrack to the visuals to the overall gameplay. Every part of the game really went hard and was better than I expected. Definitely a title you will want to check out right away when you boot up the Switch Online again. The game may not have a lot of single player content but the multiplayer is all that you need.

So at its core the main trait for this game is that it’s a futuristic racer kind of like F-Zero. It’s the kind of game where you get to blaze a trail past all of your opponents and go all the way to the goal. The road is fairly narrow so expect a lot of battling until you break away from the pack. You have a machine gun with a ton of ammo but taking down an opponent’s full health bar is extremely tricky. It takes so many hits that it almost feels pointless to use the gun but it’s still fun to have.

There are a number of items in the game though and that’s where it taps into its inner Mario Kart here. You can hit opponents with different kinds of energy blasts, aerial weapons, etc. Turning is the toughest part so half the time I would just absorb the hit and keep on going. Slowing down to do a sharp turn didn’t really feel worth it. Of course I’m sure that there are more optimal ways to play since I just know the basics here. The point is that it’s a lot of fun. The gameplay is very fast and something is always happening. The pacing is extremely good here.

The levels all look good here as well. They are all different while keeping the future aesthetic. Then you have the soundtrack which in particular is a big highlight here. The tunes are all just so good that you are left super impressed. There are very few games on the Nintendo 64 that could hope to hold their own against this one. It’s really ahead of its time. The graphics are also good, perhaps not as impressive as the soundtrack though.

Like I said, there’s not a whole lot of content in single player mode. There’s only 3-4 tournaments to play through there and even in those, some of the levels are recycled. So most of your play time will definitely be in multiplayer mode which is definitely a lot of fun and doesn’t really have any issues. Of course it will help to have someone to play with but there is also an online vs mode thanks to the new online features which is another buff to the game. Everything really went in its favor this time so that definitely turned into the best case scenario.

There’s not a whole lot more to say about the game. It is rather basic after all and that’s part of the charm. I suppose one last tip I will leave you with is to use the boost. It’s a bit deceptive in that you may not even realize that there is a boost feature. You have to tilt the control stick down and then you activate the boost. You can use it 3 times per race and it is a real game changer. You move incredibly fast when using the boost to the point where it’s almost literally game breaking as you fall through walls and deal a ton of damage. It’s pretty fun though I gotta say and that made the game even more enjoyable. I like to spam them at the start to build up a good lead but you can make a good case for saving them for the final lap instead to prevent the computer from doing any rubberbanding.

Overall, Extreme-G is definitely a really fun racing game. It’s basic but the execution is just so good. A lot of modern games could learn from this one’s example. Of course it would be nice to have a true story mode and some other features but when you buy a racing game, the main selling point is the actual racing and there are no issues there. So you really need to play this one as soon as possible and see just why it is so good. It’s definitely a title that deserves some kind of modern comeback.

Overall 7/10

Digimon Liberator

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It’s been ages since I started a new title on the Webtoon site so this is definitely going to be fun. There’s not a lot of chapters up yet so you could say that I’m really here on ground zero. So far it’s off to a pretty fun start. I can easily see this being a long running title if they want to go the distance. The art is really solid and I’m always up for an SAO type virtual experience. I’ll have a review up for the series once it eventually concludes.

Overall 7/10

Pokemon Go Update

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I finally got my next Platinum badge! Yeah this feels like a pretty quick update next to the last one but that’s more coincidence than anything else. These badges happened to be close together. Now I can finally stop mega evolving whenever I have the energy stored up. In the meantime I finished powering up Lunala and Ninjask.

Next up I’m focusing on Spiritomb who is the last Sinnoh Pokemon that I haven’t maxed out. That will likely be my next Pokemon Go update although I don’t see that happening for at least a month or two.

Iggy’s Reckin’ Balls Review

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It’s easy to see why this game never became a household name. I think it’s actually got a fairly interesting premise but the game doesn’t live up to it. The gameplay is way too limited and the platforming part just isn’t too fun. It should have leaned a bit harder into being a full on racing game and that would have worked better. This 50/50 split ultimately ends up limiting the game’s own potential. Still if you have the Switch Online service then you may as well give it a shot.

There are 2 main game modes here, Battle Mode and Grand Prix mode. There is also a training mode and for once I highly recommend that you check it out. It’s not that the controls are necessarily complex but they aren’t always intuitive so you want to know what you are doing first. This is particularly useful because the game can be deceptively difficult. I had an easy time for the first few levels but by level 10 I was starting to be left in the dust. I only won the first tournament by a single point and it was clear that I was going to get smoked in the levels after that.

Basically the race is going upwards rather than towards a goal. For example you need to get to the top floor and you do this by running and then jumping up a level. To fully reach it you have to press another button to grapple onto the ceiling. You can also use this to go down to spring yourself upwards. The physics for this work well but the whole game is super fast paced so you also need fast reaction times. It’s so easy to overshoot your target and run too far. Additionally the enemies are running around too and will try to get in your way. They will actively attack you and do their absolute best to get in your way. They do not hold back. You can use your grapple to slam them to the ground which will stun them for a bit but of course they can do the same to you.

Then the battle mode has the same gameplay but there is no end point. You have to instead hit your opponent 3 times in order to drain away all of his health. Once you have done that then you are all set. It is also a rather difficult mode to get the hang of because you have to time things perfectly since you and your opponent have the same attack range. Whoever lands the blow first will score the point and then you have to repeat that 3 times. I won a lot of times and also lost a lot of times so it was fairly balanced. I probably ended up spending a bit more time in this mode than in the races. It’s slightly more fun but still not thrilling.

The graphics aren’t bad though. It’s clearly not a top tier title by any means but I wouldn’t say it looks cheap either. The development shows the lack of budget more in the actual gameplay I’d say. The soundtrack is also rather good. Not out of this world good or anything like that but definitely good enough to warrant a mention. The technicals weren’t bad but unfortunately when the gameplay doesn’t deliver then the rest doesn’t ultimately matter all that much. Seriously, you need good gameplay to keep someone playing. That is why you pick up the game after all.

There is technically a good amount of content here. You can play through over 10 different grand prixes with several races in them. A lot of the levels do tend to look the same but they do start to get more difficult by covering more of the ground so you can’t jump just anywhere. It means you have to run around to get to your spot. There’s a decent amount of slow time compared to other racing titles which didn’t help this one. Monkey Ball gets around this by keeping a strict time limit on all levels so you have to move really fast. This game could have absolutely learned a few lessons there.

Overall, This is a game that will quickly be forgotten. It’s not that it’s a bad game but it doesn’t really have any hook to it. There’s no reason for me to play this over a traditional racing game like Mario Kart. It doesn’t stand out and there is no story mode to fall back on either. The racing ends up feeling a lot more repetitive due to the gameplay style of just climbing up. I appreciate the creativity here but it’s not enough for me to call this a good game. Ultimately your best bet is to duck this one for now and hope that one day they make a modern remake that really revamps the whole gameplay style.

Overall 5/10

Jump Force Review

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I remember how disappointed everyone was after this game came out. Everyone was super hyped for the initial trailer and everything but the actual game sort of fell flat. I get it because the game could and should have been so much better. That said, I would still call it a great game. You get to have your favorite Jump heroes all teaming up and interacting in the story and the combat works well for the fighting aspect. Ultimately, I’m glad we got this game and I’m confident that a new one would be vastly improved since they can build off of their mistakes.

The basic story is that all of the Jump Worlds are converging with the real world. The heroes are all rather confused about what’s going on so they turn to a random organization where the head is confident that he can fix this. Goku, Naruto, and Luffy lead the 3 main teams and together they have to recruit the rest of the jump heroes and save the day. The new villains have these mysterious cubes and a dark book that allow them to make fully functional clones of all the heroes. Things are going crazy real quick so they have to be stopped.

The first thing I would note off the bat is to completely ignore the power levels here. Trust me, they make absolutely no sense here anyway. Goku, Naruto, Kenshin, etc. Everyone is portrayed to be at about the same strength and the same goes for the villains. This is all just to get all of the characters together but I do think that they should have tried a little harder to make the plot make sense. It really wouldn’t have been that hard you know? So the writing is pretty bad here but it’s still fun to see the characters around. The script makes them all sound a bit generic at times so you don’t get to see their character personalities shine through, but again it’s all just an excuse to see them running around. The story is rather weak but at least it has one. A lot of fighting games don’t even have that.

The gameplay is naturally what you are really here for and no worries, that part is really solid. It’s a 3D title like the Ultimate Ninja Storm games although it isn’t quite as polished as those since those are the golden standard across the video game industry. You use quick combos, power moves, and ultimate attacks to take down your opponents. You can freely change between characters mid combat and a big focus here is on timing. You can dodge and even counter attacks by clicking the escape button at the right time. When you do this, the enemy is always allowed to respond as well so then it becomes a back and forth game until one of you messes the timing up. This is pretty easy to do since the window you have it smaller each time. All it takes is a slight hesitation and you are out of luck.

In terms of graphics, the art style hasn’t aged all that well but the game still looks good. It was going for a hyper realistic style which as you can expect doesn’t translate very well for all of these colorful characters. It was definitely a very questionable design idea. The attacks all tend to look very flashy though although that is a double edged sword. The one weakness to the gameplay is that the cinematics all last just a smidge too long which adds up as you are playing each match. They should have cut the timing on those.

Speaking of time, get ready to see the loading screen a whole lot. I haven’t seen loading screens this long in a very long time. It’s sort of like Sonic 2006 for PS3. There are loading times after every battle and between every cutscene. For some reason the cutscenes are often broken up into multiple chunks so you will play 30 seconds, loading screen, next 30 seconds, loading screen, etc. It just keeps on happening which really keeps you busy. You want to have something on hand to multi task with during the load times.

That aside, the story is fairly lengthy though. It’ll definitely take you upwards of 15 hours to clear the campaign and aside from that there is a ton of replay value with all of the bonus missions. There are tons and tons of those to a super impressive degree. There is also a level up system so getting all of your characters to level 99 will take some time. It actually does make a difference in your stats so I recommend grinding those levels up as much as possible. Getting the Platinum trophy looks like it would be exceptionally difficult so good luck if you are aiming for that one.

Overall, Jump Force is a great game but one that is carried almost entirely by the gameplay. The modes around it can be rather lackluster and really don’t do justice to the overall premise of the game. This should have been one of those games that really wow’d you, you know? I should have still been talking about this game for years and years to come. Instead, there isn’t much reason to play it while better fighting games exist. The best you can say for it is that the game has a really fun cast of characters. That is certainly true and it will always be the main hook here but it also shows you how incredible this would have been if they had tried a little harder. So this may sound like the harshest 8 star review I’ve written but that just speaks to how much promise was here.

Overall 8/10