Category Archives: 7 Star Games

Hellboy: Web of Wyrd Review

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This is one of those games that may have been on my radar earlier if I had already been on my rogue marathon. Well, better late than never as they say. It’s pretty interesting to play a Hades styled game that’s in 3D. You can feel a lot of similar elements here from the soundtrack to the level designs and gameplay setup. It definitely feels much lower budget though with certain parts of the game really needing quality of life improvements. All that said, the game was really fun to play through.

The game starts off with Hellboy and the BPRD heading to a castle because some weird things have been happening there. One of their guys named Lucky is nearly trapped in a parallel dimension known as “The Wyrd”. He warns Hellboy that weird things are going on in there but Hellboy has to risk it. Somehow the Nazi’s have invaded the realm as well and may use that to stage an attack against the real world. If they aren’t stopped quickly, then it will all be over.

The Wyrd is the game’s way of explaining the death mechanic. Right before fully dying in the Wyrd, Hellboy’s teammates pull him out of the dimension using the tether. That way he can keep trying until he wins. As in any rogue type game, you are expected to die over and over and over again until you get strong enough to complete the game. When you die you keep your orbs which is the currency you use to upgrade your weapons or physical stats.

Right away that is one difference here since usually you would have more than one currency which would match with how many things there are to power up. This game doesn’t actually have a ton of content for that and as a result you can get nearly every trophy easily. The only tough one is getting all of the lore and that’s mainly because there is a ton of RNG at play here. Additionally the game plays the same message no matter how many times you pick up the same piece of lore so you will really have to remember which ones you got.

The platinum seems easy enough but a little too time consuming to go after it seriously. Keep in mind that every run will take you around 2 hours because of how many rooms you have to clear. You also aren’t going to be clearing it all that much faster as you power up since the differences are slight. It’s a bit excessive as titles like Hades can cram a ton into 30 minute run. That’s a lot more doable than something that’s around 2 hours.

This game is fully in 3D like I mentioned so you are mainly alternating between your punches and gun shots. For the guns the best one is easily the grenade launcher which makes sense as it’s the final one that you unlock. It can deal devastating damage so you should try to max that out as soon as possible. Then you have your punches which are strong enough. You mainly want to focus on learning when the best time to dodge or parry is. This will help you immensely as you make your way through to the game.

Every attack can be dodged and so if you play your cards right then you shouldn’t lose much. I died maybe twice so it can still happen if you don’t let your guard down. Now, while I had a good time with it, the lack of attacks does mean that you may find this repetitive if you don’t really enjoy the combat. So it will all come down to that in the end. Particularly since there aren’t any other real modes to this. You will keep bashing away at the same enemies until they have all gone down for the count.

The graphics are really good though. The atmosphere works really well for a horror type game. Everything is very eerie and suspenseful. The colors are all really strong as well with how bright the red is and how sharp the colors are in general. It’s a game that really stands out. The soundtrack is also pretty good since it is really trying to capture the rock feeling from the Hades titles. So the technical aspects don’t disappoint in these two areas.

Ultimately for the game to turn the corner and get to an 8 I would have just needed a little more content. Maybe a wider range of enemies to go up against or some more levels. Instead of making the runs so long I would have more runs that are shorter in length. I guess it would mean less opportunities for power ups and such but it just seems to fit the genre a bit better this way. You could also make the levels more linear instead of having doors that basically take you in a loop. With no map, it could be easy to waste a little time. Especially when you are also checking the ground for items and gold since they really don’t stick out.

Let me just focus more on the action and then we’re good. Without the grenade launcher, the game would definitely have jumped quite a bit in difficulty. I was effectively able to cheese it to an extent since the explosions are so powerful. Without the launcher, I’d have to go in swinging the whole time and naturally that comes with a whole lot of risks as well. If you miss a parry, you eat an absolute ton of damage.

Overall, This is a pretty good game. I do think it should have had more content or at least been able to tell you when you’ve found a new collectible. It’s the little things like that which makes a difference or the game not having a map. This feels like it just didn’t have a big production team. Still, the combat is fun which is easily the most important part. I’d definitely recommend playing through this one. It will give you a good amount of fun for as long as it lasts.

Overall 7/10

Beyond Oasis Review

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This is one of those old Genesis games that really pushed the console to its limit. It showed what was possible with these platformers and I can say that it has aged well. Now, I do think there are a certain amount of mechanics and areas that would have been really annoying if I played it without the rewind feature, but as it stands it was a fun game with these quality of life updates.

The game begins with the kingdom being attacked and the princess is captured. Her brother the crown prince has to save her as well as the world and he is armed with a powerful arm weapon. It can be used to harness the powers of the 4 legendary elemental spirits. This will give him a fighting chance at the very least. He will need to defeat the mysterious villains and reclaim the other arm weapon, but it appears to have grown sentient and evil. This will not be easy.

As far as the gameplay goes, it’s an overhead Legend of Zelda type game. No worries though, you can jump and use an assortment of magic. The various spirits you summon can heal you or aid you in battle by attacking foes. They all have their own special abilities as well like being able to go underground or make you become intangible. This will also tie into the puzzles which can really get difficult by the end. Don’t think that you can just walk in and ace any of the puzzles with your eyes closed because it’s not happening.

I breezed through the first half of the game but then the second part really slowed me down. One reason for this is the puzzles but another is how difficult the enemies could be. If you drop a combo mid way then you are going to be eating an absolutely devastating counter that drains a lot of your health away. Additionally the weapons you have all run on a use system kind of like Breath of the Wild. So once you’ve used your sword enough then it will break. You only have one dagger that never breaks and it’s the weakest one.

Personally I would save the big swords for the boss fights but it does mean that the minions become extra dangerous. I never like it when weapons break so that is one area where I would say they should have ditched this mechanic. It is not one that has ever aged particularly well. The game does have a really good map though so that’s another example of something that the game did right. Many games completely mess up on that when it should be a fairly straight forward addition.

You do have a very small inventory of how many weapons and items you can hold onto which also makes you feel really worried about what to keep. I definitely recommend keeping some spirit summons on hand because sometimes it can be hard to find the exact element that you need. You summon spirits by blasting something made out of it. So you blast a river to summon the water spirit for example. One shortcut around this is to have an item on hand that summons the associated spirit but they are very rare. The game will make sure you get 1 per spirit so you should save that for as long as you can. The fire spirit in particular is extremely handy for boss battles because of how much damage he deals. The water spirit is also handy for her infinite health regeneration for as long as she’s active.

Technically the shadow and grass spirits are only really good for puzzles. I think the shadow one absorbs some hits for you but it seems inconsistent and the grass one attacks too slowly to be of any real help. There’s no reason to have them along for the boss fight but I suppose it’s not like they are making things worse. You can also de summon a spirit to save on magic meter as needed. It will regenerate quickly when you are outside of a dungeon or if you use an item to stock up again.

I also thought the combat got an extra boost from how you can actually land combos. That’s not something you would see so often from an older game. Usually it’s a basic slash or two, not throwing every move that you have against the opponents. You can still miss at times but it plays like those old 2D beat em ups. I appreciated the attention to detail here.

The graphics have held up extremely well. The illustrations look really good but even beyond that you have great sprites and character models. The action is always clear and then you also have a really good soundtrack to back it up. When you mix all that together, there’s just not much to worry about here. The technical areas are really good. The game is a little on the short side with around 5 hours of content but since you may get lost that helps add to the time. You also really need to factor in the sheer difficulty here too.

Overall, Beyond Oasis is a pretty good game. I had fun with it and it just has solid fundamentals around the board. It’s the kind of game that you can’t help but enjoy. I would definitely look forward to a modern remake of it someday. If you like retro games then this is definitely a great one t check out because it is considerably more polished than most other games from this era. It feels satisfying to blast through the enemies and get to the end.

Overall 7/10

Tonic Trouble Review

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This is a game that I was not particularly familiar with and that’s surprising because it seems to be a fairly big game that was well thought out. It’s a 3D platformer that can hold its own with all the big guns. I had a lot of fun here and while the game is a little on the short side, I thought it worked well. It made sure that the collectathon parts never got to be too overbearing or anything like that. Fun was the priority here and I appreciate that. You do need to have a lot of orbs to access the final boss but none were hidden away too crazily like they were trying to stump you.

The story starts with the main character making an oopsie and a chemically powered drink lands on a nearby planet and infects everything. He needs to go and clean things up but unfortunately a local viking lord took the serum and has now become extra huge and powerful. Defeating him will not be easy so our lead is going to have to lock in! Fortunately there is a genius inventor who can help you. He will need a lot of orbs and relics in order to create a final instrument of destruction though.

So that’s the format for what you will be doing. Each world has a number of collectibles to be obtained and a bunch of enemies trying to stop you. The game is light on actual bosses though so a lot of the platforming is really about solving puzzles and using a whole lot of athletics. Nothing that you haven’t contended with before though. What I like about this game right off the bat is how fun the hub world is. It’s colorful and big without being a chore to get through. It’s fairly quick to run from world to world as well.

At times it may take you a little while to get it all memorized though. The main menu is also a great way of keeping track of how many collectibles you are missing. The quality of life features are really on point here. The developers did everything they could in order to make this a fun experience. There are still a few puzzles that will give you some trouble and one that I never figured out but you don’t need literally all of the collectibles in order to beat the game. So just get enough of them and you will be all set.

The graphics have aged really well. Like I mentioned, the artstyle is really colorful which fits the game really well. Then we have the soundtrack which is good. There aren’t any tunes in particular that really stood out for me but they all did their part in enhancing the overall experience. This was very well balanced on all sides. While there isn’t really a post game, you can grab all of the collectibles. Maybe that would at least get you a bonus scene at least.

So there is a decent amount of replay value here. Also for platformers you are generally playing them to just have a good time so this definitely works in that respect. I’m surprised they didn’t make a bunch of Tonic games, I guess in general people were less impressed with it than I was. It had good gameplay and a solid amount of cutscenes so you know that would in me over right away.

Aside from smacking your opponents, you also have a little gun at the ready. It’s really useful and for that reason it has limited ammo until the final world begins. You can hit enemies from really long distances and of course it also works on various traps that are out of range. I recommend using this as often as possible. Then you eventually learn how to glide which is super useful. You will quickly wonder how you ever played without it.

It’s another basic, but important fundamental of the game. After each world you will learn a new skill which allows you to reach more locations. The game doesn’t force you to backtrack as often as other titles though. Generally you can reach around 80-90% of the collectibles on your first visit to a location. Then you would go back to grab the very last ones. This is exactly how this kind of game should play out. It’s how you make collectathons fun.

Then in one of the last levels you get a marathon of classic puzzles. For example arranging blocks into a specific image is one of them. Another is connecting lights together where each switch activates all adjacent spots. I always like these brain teasers so those are fun puzzles to go with. They are puzzles that always feel fair as it’s just up to you to logically make your moves. There is also a reset option for all of these if you want a fresh slate.

I’m not saying the game is a walk in the park either. It’s not the most difficult platformer I’ve played but I did die a number of times. I also did use the rewind a bit when falling to save time. So you can’t exactly close your eyes and play this one. Still, I thought that the difficulty was fair the whole time. When you die, it’s generally because of something you did. Only exception is an occasional camera angle that’s kinda wonky.

Overall, Tonic Trouble is a fun game to play through. It’s a very old school platformer and yet it’s one that has more quality of life features than some modern games. It really felt like the devs were thinking of the player the whole time and I appreciate that. If you have the Nintendo Switch Online then you should play this game asap. It’s not one that you will want to keep on the backburner for long.

Overall 7/10

Batman Arkham Origins: Blackgate Review

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It’s time for an Arkham game that quite a lot of people never really got to experience. I can say after playing through it that it is a worthy addition to the franchise. The ending does start to drag on a little bit though which is what just barely keeps it from getting an 8. It could have used some quality of life updates to the travel but otherwise does a good job of feeling like a miny version of the main Arkham games.

The game starts off with Batman chasing Catwoman but ends up getting some unexpected help from a private military force. They lock Catwoman up in Blackgate but then a big riot happens and all of the prisoners escape. The place is ruled by three factions led by the Penguin, Joker, and Black Mask. Catwoman agrees to help Batman gather intel as long as he can break her out and have her transferred to a safer jail afterwards. He agrees and now begins his tough mission of taking down all of the villains.

I enjoyed getting to see some different opponents here. This game has boss fights with Catwoman and the Bronze Tiger for example. Bronze Tiger is probably my favorite boss fight in the game because it is straight up hand to hand combat the whole time. It’s really smooth and makes good use of the quick time events. That was a lot of fun and really tests your timing. The Catwoman boss fight continues this but the timing is even tighter so that ended up being an incredibly difficult boss fight. She actually defeated me multiple times before I was able to win.

The gameplay is similar to the main Arkham games, just in more of a 2D setting. You have your combos and the parry option for all of the serious attacks. Then as you play through the game you get various gadgets that help you get through the different areas. The main difference compared to the main games is that this one’s actually a Metroidvania. Trust me I was surprised about that as well. You will be going back and forth among the different areas and that is where the game can be a bit weaker.

My main problem there is that it isn’t always easy to get from world to world and the map layouts can be a little confusing. The use layers instead of stretching the map out so you will have multiple doors on the map and it’s hard to tell which one goes where. I ended up going to the wrong place several times as a result. In the climax you have to go back to every world again which got old pretty fast. So I could have done without a lot of the backtracking there.

The game isn’t too long but just long enough where the travelling adds up. Should take you around 5-6 hours to complete the game. There is a decent amount of replay value with all of the collectibles and multiple endings though. You have to beat the game at minimum 3 times in order to get all of the endings and the Platinum. I like the fact that each path gives you new cutscenes which adds some incentive to playing the game over again. Perhaps someday I’ll go after the other routes. It’s not super high on my list but I ended up with a D for the trophy list so I would like to get that up to a C average at least.

The graphics are pretty solid. I really liked the artstyle for the cutscenes. It was very artistic and stood out as a result. Batman always looked really intimidating the way they set him up as well. The levels look solid and everything is easy to keep track of. There isn’t much of a soundtrack but the voice acting is very good. So all in all there is really a lot to enjoy here. Mix in the great gameplay and you’ve got a solid title.

It would be nice if you could have unlocked more costumes and such to wear during the game. The way they are spread out, you won’t be unlocking any until the very end though. The way you play the game will vary a lot from player to player since it’s very non-linear though so maybe some ill pull that off. Since you often need power ups to enter new areas, I’m thinking that will definitely be limited though.

If you do really enjoy Metroidvania titles then that will probably bump the game up for you though. It’s not a genre that I can see returning to Batman anytime soon after all so you will want to enjoy it now. The combat itself is extremely easy outside of boss fights though. This is a game where you can generally ignore stealth and just run into the enemies every time. Everyone goes down in a few hits and that’s why the bosses will take you by surprise since they are really difficult. I want to say that nearly every boss beat me at least once. Not exactly a flex, but it shows how tough the game could be.

Overall, I would recommend checking this game out. If you want to play it on the PS3, keep in mind that their shop is still open but you have to have a pre filled card or PS credit first since you can’t reload on the older console. It was cool to find this out since I thought the shop was completely shut down. So that’s a little tip if there are any other PS3 games you want to play. I’m not sure when I’ll be playing another PS3 game in the future so for now this was a fun nostalgia visit. I’m basically caught up with Batman games now as well so hopefully we get a new one soon.

Overall 7/10

Stolen Review

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It’s time to dive into a stealth game that I didn’t even know existed. Stealth can be hit or miss for me, it all depends on the execution. I suppose you could say that is true of anything but stealth is a particularly volatile area. I am glad to say that this one ended up being pretty good. The beginning of the game gave me a lot of issues but once I mastered the mechanics, then I was really ready for action. The game is over very quickly but you will have had a good time.

The game follows a spy/secret operative named Anya and unfortunately she is blackmailed by another evil spy. She must now help a corrupt politician in his pursuit for power, but only until she can manage to get the upper hand. This guy must not be allowed to rise to power, even if it means bringing back the old mayor who was not particularly good either. Sometimes the status quo is better than the change but will she really be able to pull this off? It’ll be her toughest mission yet.

For most of the game, the objective is to find different data items and avoid detection. If you are detected, you need to find a place to hide or quickly down the attackers. Of course if you do knock someone out, they will sound the alarm as soon as they wake up. You have a number of gadgets that can help like stun guns and such but usually hand to hand is your best bet. There is also a heavy emphasis on platforming here so you should be prepared to be jumping across areas and running quickly.

There’s a rooftop chase that is rather tricky because one wrong move will take you down. Fortunately the game has a good amount of checkpoints which is absolutely crucial for a stealth title like this. Whenever you die, you don’t feel too bad as a result. I certainly died in this one quite a lot but I would always be more prepared for the next run. The gameplay can be a little clunky at times so you do have to be ready for a few deaths that shouldn’t have happened. Trust me, it’s annoying but that’s just how it goes sometimes.

My biggest advice here is to always choke the enemies out. If you knock them out then they wake up in around 30 seconds but choking them out will down them for around 3 minutes. That is an absolutely massive difference when you’re running around. You can choke someone out by sneaking up from behind or from throwing 3 punches which stuns the opponent. The game becomes much easier once you start doing this.

You will still run into issues as their attacks deal a ton of damage. Also be sure not to use your health packs unless you really need them. Sometimes it is better to just die and respawn with your health packs than to clear the level while using them. You don’t automatically get new ones later on after all and you may wish that you had them for the final boss. The final boss is a pretty fun one though as it actually uses the stealth mechanics right up to the end. Now there is a game that never lost sight of its objective.

The graphics are pretty good here. It has that retro PS2 style that has just aged extremely well. The soundtrack was also rather good although it took me a while to even realize that the lyric was saying “stolen” the whole time so it may not be the clearest lyrics that I’ve heard in a while. The technicals were on point the whole time. I do think Anya could have been a cooler main character though. She’s meant to be a fairly tough fighter who has a lot of confidence like Lara Croft would, but Anya falters too much and also ends up letting her partner get away with too many subtle cracks at her. A better main character would really have been able to bounce back with the banter the whole time and that would have been a more fun dynamic.

I also think that if they leaned more into being an action game it would be a good idea because I was looking forward to fighting with the rival but that never really gets to happen. Not directly at least and so the climax feels a little underwhelming compared to what it could have been like. The game saw its vision through to the end so I can’t say that was a mistake but I would have liked a big boss battle. I give the game credit for letting you fight back when you are spotted in the stealth levels though instead of just automatically losing. Now that would have been annoying.

The game is fairly short and there’s no real replay value so that is one thing to keep in mind when it comes to the value. You will probably complete this game in around 5-6 hours I would guess. It will really wrap up before you even know it. The game only has 4 levels after all, but granted they are fairly long. The difficulty is also what makes the game longer than it would have been otherwise.

Overall, This was a pretty good game. I had fun with it and while it won’t go down as a great title, it satisfies the requirement of being entertaining. The story was good and the level designs were fun. The game could be rather dark at times but that’s really because of my TV and not totally the game’s fault. The soundtrack is solid and the writing is good. If you can find this game, I would recommend checking it out as you can really get it for cheap. Maybe one day they will do a remake.

Overall 7/10

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Review

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Metroid Prime fans have been waiting a very long time for this game. We got the first trailer back in 2017 after all and even then it ended up taking another 8 years to come out. After all that waiting you would certainly be expecting an absolutely top tier experience. Well, ultimately I thought it was pretty good but I suppose it would be a bit underwhelming considering all the time that has gone by. It’s a good game but an ordinary one at the same time. You’ll be able to blast through the content and so in the end I would recommend it but definitely keep your expectations at the baseline.

The story starts with a big battle between the Federation and Sylux’s goons. Samus is able to easily overpower him but then gets stranded on a planet along with a few other soldiers. Samus will have to find several teleporter keys as well as a mythical fruit in order to get off this place. Unfortunately it is loaded with powerful monsters everywhere and Sylux is still on the loose. This may finally be a job that Samus cannot complete on her own. Will she be able to trust these other soldiers to help her out or will she be forced to tackle all of the responsibility on her own?

The game puts a lot of stock into Samus being the chosen one, a hero beyond all measure. Honestly I wouldn’t even say that’s a bad thing. She is clearly a cut above the rest and as the various games have shown she is able to incorporate a ton of different dna and special abilities without side effects. In essence she is the ultimate battle soldier and this game does a good job of showing how powerful she is. This can be a double edged sword though. For example, Sylux is never portrayed as being a real threat to her.

Likewise for the rest of the villains. This is clearly an easier battle for her than the last 3 Prime games and the only reason the situation is tough is because getting off the planet will require more than super strength. Her allies help out quite a bit and so that ties the whole adventure together. It just makes this an uphill battle for the villains since they are the ones on the back foot the whole time. They are never even close to making a play.

That being said, I still like Sylux. He gets some good dialogue at the end and has a good design. His boss fights are also fun except the final boss which gets a bit rough. This ties into the gameplay itself. You have to use both joysticks to aim which makes it hard to also shoot. I had to hold the controller in a bit of a weird way in order to land all 3 and it didn’t really feel natural. I think there should have only been one control stick to move and then the rest goes as normal. It felt like they had to nerf the lock on feature here in order to make the final boss more of a challenge.

To be clear, they definitely succeeded. It was a really tough final boss and one that absolutely kept me at the edge of my seat. I died several times there before I was finally able to win. Ironically the first phase is the toughest one while the next two go by very quickly and easily. In general the game is easier than the first 3 Primes but not insultingly so. I would say the difficulty is reasonable enough so long time fans will have a good time.

The main gameplay is still the classic first person style where you can shoot your energy blasts or missiles at the opponents until they go down. You will unlock different elemental attacks as you go forward and will get other kinds of power ups. It’s all pretty familiar if you have played the previous titles. In a lot of ways this one is trying hard to be a total formula game without trying to go beyond that. Fortunately the gameplay is fun enough where you won’t mid the repetition too much but there are some areas where the game isa bit dated.

The biggest example is not having any fast travel. There is a lot of backtracking here and it feels completely unnecessary. You should be able to cover larger chunks of ground without taking so long. Then you also have the green crystal grind at the end. I made sure to hit all the green crystals I could as I went through the game but wouldn’t go out of my way for others either. So then at the end I would do the main grind. It won’t take you longer than 2 hours or so but it just feels like a pointless grind. Why even include it?

The Prime games always have a bit of a collectathon at the end so it felt like this game was just adding one to continue the trend instead of actually getting real hyped for it. Not the best way to go. The desert definitely could have been handled better and the bike would have been more fun if it was faster. It goes by slow enough where that just adds to the tedious nature of it. A rare mistake from Nintendo. So the game had its issues like this but on the whole it was fun.

The collectibles are pretty easy to find with how well the map is labeled. Additionally, the power ups do help to make you feel a lot stronger. The puzzles are much better than in previous games and so for the most part it did feel like Nintendo thought this one through. Just one or wo quick fixes would have done a lot to make the game reach the next stage.

The graphics are definitely real solid. Metroid has never looked sharper and that is something I can say with 0 reservations. I did appreciate that we got more voice acting here. The side characters were all rather weak though. I much preferred the aliens and metahumans from Prime 3. I don’t know why you would go back to normal humans. Still, we got more of a plot than I was expecting even if it would vanish for large portions of time.

The soundtrack is also solid although it doesn’t match the previous games. For example you won’t be hearing anything that launches you out of your seat the way the Dark Samus theme did in the second game. That one is just hard to beat. So it was good all around but like in other areas, Prime 4 was unable to pass the third game here.

Overall, Metroid Prime 4 is a pretty good game. I had a good time with it. The title is fairly short as you will definitely manage to beat it in under 10 hours. Getting all of the collectibles and such will likely take this to around 15 hours or so but even then it won’t be extending things a whole lot. There isn’t a ton of replay value here unless you really like the story. For that reason you may want to wait for a bit of a discount. I’m always glad to see Samus though so hopefully this time the wait for Prime 5 is a lot shorter.

Overall 7/10

God Eater 3 Review

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It has been a little while since I played the second God Eater but now it is time to finally wrap things up with the third one. I would say this one may be the most cinematic in terms of consistent cutscenes although it is a good deal shorter than the first two games. There is a bit of a post game here but of course the first two had longer post games as well so that’s something to consider. You can get this one for a really good price nowadays which is also nice for the value. If you enjoyed the first two God Eater titles then I bet you will enjoy this one as well.

The game starts off by showing us that humanity is still on the loosing end against the Aragami. They have seized control of most of the planet by this point and the few who can fight back are now treated as slaves by humanity. Why create a caste system when things are so helpless right now? Well, that’s just how toxic humanity is as a whole. They continue to make it easy to root for the aragami when it counts. We follow two God Eaters who manage to escape their captivity during a mission and are taken in by a much more humane group. They aim to help out and gradually get the funds to lead a peaceful life.

It won’t be easy though, the government owns most of what remains of humanity and god eaters are explicitly treated as second class citizens. It’s not as if the heroes can just walk outside either. Most of the world is covered in a fog that is completely poisonous. To get around that, most people live in various bases but of course those are owned by the government as well. Meeting up with a friendly crew was definitely a stroke of good luck. They even meet a humanoid aragami who looks like a little girl. She befriends the characters but everyone wants to murder her so that’s going to be another tricky thing to deal with.

The story itself is pretty fun even if I have some doubts on the logic of it. If you only have around 1000 God Eaters left for humanity and they are the only ones able to fight off the monsters, why would you treat them like slaves? Seems to me like they could easily revolt and finish the extinction of humanity. It’s also hard to see how we got to this point after the events of the first two games. It sems like there was a decently large time skip as the only big returning character from the first two games is the original humanoid aragami. He even goes by a new name now and nobody recognizes him so a lot of time must have gone on for that to have happened.

The story also does go in circles a bit with how many times the villains try to convince the heroes to hand over the little girl. So I can see some faults with the story but overall I was engaged. Just as important is the gameplay of course and fortunately I can say that it was very good. It’s taking a much simpler approach than the first two games. This one almost feels more like an arcade game in that sense. Gone are all of the different god burst abilities and they have de-emphasized the elemental boosts here. In the last games it was very important to switch up your weapon both for element as well as weapon type based on the enemy. Sometimes you would want a sword and sometimes a hammer.

It was based on if you needed striking power, piercing power, and I forget the name of the third one. Well, in this game you can forget about all of that. Just pick one weapon and focus on it until you’ve gone really far. I picked a buster blade from the start and that carried me all the way through to the end. I never switched weapons and just kept upgrading this one the whole way through. That was the best way to go and I have no complaints.

I imagine it would make more of a difference in post game so it’s not like the mechanics have been removed. They’ve simply been de-emphasized which is a big difference. Beyond that, the rest is as you remember it. The game is a 3D slasher where you have to defeat all of the key monsters in each level in order to move forward. The main story has around 70 or so levels in it. You’re given 30-60 minutes to complete each level but most of them should only take around 5 minutes or so. The final levels take a bit longer but even then it’s not by much. So you will end up beating the game in no time compared to the others.

The gun seems a lot weaker in this one so personally I’d say to stick to the sword. The gun is maybe okay at bet for aerial enemies where you will be missing a whole lot. Then it’s worth breaking out the gun. Otherwise, stick to the sword and trust me you won’t regret that. My personal tip is to try and keep your burst mode on at all times even if it just means level 1. That 10% boost really ends up adding up before you know it.

The graphics are pretty good as you’d expect. The PS4 is able to render the cutscenes well and there are a number of full on cinematics outside of the main gameplay cutscenes. The soundtrack is also pretty good with a solid variety of tunes to enjoy. Less lyrical songs than the second game but the ones that we do get definitely hit pretty hard. In general I would also say that the battle osts are good. The menus and various layouts are also handled really well. The game has polished them throughout the years and this one didn’t take a backseat or anything like that.

Overall, God Eater 3 is pretty fun. If you enjoy 3D combat then you have to enjoy this one because the action is basically nonstop. For that reason the gameplay is infinitely important because if you are the type of person to get bored of the same gameplay for too long then this won’t be for you. There are very few bits of variety within the game as you will literally be defeating the same enemies over and over and over in the levels. I just really love the hack and slash gameplay so for me that was a real blast. It all comes down to if you enjoy the style or not. I’d definitely be hyped for a 4th game if they ever did it, hopefully we would actually get a real ending this time though instead of humanity’s endless fight against the Aragami.

Overall 7/10

Bendy and the Dark Revival Review

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It’s time for the next Bendy adventure. I actually beat this one a little while ago so this review has definitely been waiting. Bendy is one of those titles that is always intense and so it’s a good October type of game. It’s fairly short so you won’t be playing it for too long but there is a decent amount of replay value in trying to Platinum the title. You do not want to miss out on this one if you have not played it yet.

The game starts out by introducing us to the new main character. She was working the late shift when she notices just how abandoned the place is. The only one left is the janitor and he tends to act rather suspiciously. Unfortunately the two of them seem to be locked in the workplace now and monsters are appearing everywhere. Is she even still in the real world? There are a lot of questions to answer and no obvious clues in sight. The only rule here is to never let your guard down.

That’s why the heroine does come across as being rather naive or just unintelligent for a good chunk of the adventure. The way she acts just doesn’t make sense at times like listening to a guy who is obviously evil and falling for the most basic of traps. It’s one of those games where you’re basically pleading with the main character not to talk into the 10th trap in a row but there’s not a whole lot you can do about it. In general there always tends to be a lot of backseat driving in a horror title for any medium but I dare say this one was more extensive than usual. You’re just really wondering why she isn’t coming to terms with what is going on.

The gameplay is initially more of an inspection game. You walk around and click on things that are suspicious. As the game goes on you get a weapon and that’s when the core gameplay really changes. Now you’re bashing all of the enemies that come your way with a few exceptions that are immune to your weapon. There is actually a super weapon that can beat them but I never came across it in the playthrough. For the most part I think I did a pretty good job of getting almost all the collectibles but I still missed a few.

You want to use the vending machine as much as possible and constantly hit enemies with the shock pipe since both things help you accumulate trophies. The more stuff you do upfront, the less grinding you will have to do in the post game after all. Same with knocking out enemies from behind, if you get into one of the areas where they respawn forever, I would recommend taking advantage of that.

I would need to go back and get them for the Platinum but that requires beating the game at least 3 times so I would definitely want to space that out quite a bit. There is a form of quick travel in the game that you unlock at the very end but unfortunately it is one of the clunkiest ones that I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to find various sewers and each one takes you back to another location but there is no map and this gets confusing very quickly. I appreciate the attempt but it is something that the next game could improve upon.

The gameplay is smooth outside of that though. Also if you think the action takes you out of the experience, you can play on a higher difficulty where I hear attacking is not nearly as good of an option. Stealth is the name of the game there and that will probably feel a whole lot more like vintage Bendy. I personally like the combat as it turns the whole thing into a full action title but to each their own.

The graphics are really good and you can clearly tell the difference between this one and the last installment. The developers made the most out of the new tech and it also helps with the scares because of how realistic everything looks. There isn’t as much of a soundtrack but of course that’s by design. I would have liked some hard rock tunes of course but it works well enough with what they’re doing.

While the game length isn’t super long, there is enough here where you don’t feel bad about the purchase. You’ve got a pretty good amount of content to go through as it is. Meanwhile like I mentioned earlier there is a good amount of replay value with getting the trophies. The story is also compelling so this is definitely a perfect example of a game that is worth the money and will provide you with a fun experience. You really can’t go wrong here.

Overall, This is definitely a really fun game and one that I would recommend. Longtime Bendy fans will get even more out of it as I didn’t notice some of the guest stars or easter eggs that popped up. It has more combat than the first adventure so you really get to have fun taking out the enemies and progressing through the adventure. It has a good amount of difficulty as well so you won’t just be closing your eyes and progressing through the levels. You’re going to have to work for your victories here and I look forward to seeing what happens in the next story. There is certainly a lot more Bendy to experience!

Overall 7/10

Fatal Fury Special Review

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Fatal Fury is one of those video game series that has done pretty well for itself. It has tons of games and remakes over the years and yet it has always struggled to reach the same heights as Street Fighter and Tekken. It’s tough for any fighting series to match those two though. Street Fighter has decades of legacy among the core fans and Tekken has its legendary story. Fury is sort of stuck in the middle of that and has to share a lot of screentime with King of Fighters. Still, this is a pretty fun game to check out on the Nintendo Switch Online. A true retro title that keeps you on your toes.

I jumped right into Arcade Mode and naturally picked Terry Bogard as my character. That guy is a whole lot of fun to play and he’s also a good all around fighter. So I couldn’t really ask for much more than that. The arcade mode is quite a bit longer than the average one. Usually you have around 8 fights in this mode but this game went closer to 15. Not bad eh? It really makes you work for this and you fight all kinds of secret bosses.

It was a good decision because it does make you feel like you are playing the special version here. The gameplay is very smooth and you will have fun mixing up your combos. The game does a good job of not letting it feel like the villains know all of your moves ahead of time. You can actually “trick” them with a mixup every once in a while which was definitely a good thing. It helps make the whole thing feel more realistic.

Naturally the graphics are fun with the retro sprite look. It will feel like you were playing the game right at the arcade. The soundtrack is also very old school and fast paced to match the action. There are a good amount of levels for the game considering how old it is. There isn’t an abundance of content here so the value is really going to be in the multiplayer. That’s true for most fighting games to be honest. I’d say the ones with a robust story mode are outnumbered by the multiplayer ones, certainly back in these days that was even more true.

So compared to newer games in the series this one won’t be able to compete but if you look at it in a vacuum, this is a good game. It’s very basic but delivers what you are looking for in a fighting game. The characters all have distinct movesets and the combat is executed well. The gameplay is smooth and the game doesn’t seem overly unbalanced. I’m sure it probably would be in the hands of an expert but for the most part on a casual level it feels like the devs did a really good job here.

At this point I own most of the Fatal Fury games. I’m certainly not caught up but I’m always glad to play a fun fighter like this one. The Switch Online has been a great way to play through a lot of retro games so I look forward to seeing which ones come up next. There is certainly still room for quite a lot more titles in the future especially if they keep on adding more consoles.

You probably won’t need rewind a whole lot for this one compared to some of the other old games but of course it can never really hurt. Some of the secret bosses at the end can really hit like a tank and the game’s sped is just fast enough where it can be difficult to react to their attacks at times. You have to absolutely bring your A game at all times and also have to be careful not throwing out too many big hits. They deal a lot of damage but naturally leave you open for quite a while as well.

Overall, Fatal Fury Special is a really good game. It’s one of those titles that reminds you of the fundamentals the whole time. You can’t just close your eyes and start spamming specials. Instead you have to slowly close the gap and win. Also I couldn’t figure out how to use most of the special attacks even if I wanted to do them. So I did a lot of sweeps and throws which is a fun and balanced way to play anyway. I would definitely recommend checking this game out.

Overall 7/10

The Gex Collection Review

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Gex is one of those series that I was not overly familiar with before playing the collection. I knew about him in a vague kind of way but I can’t say that I knew the story behind the games or even the gameplay. Well, now I got to play through the trilogy and it is definitely an example of a game series that has aged well. The first game is definitely the weakest since it’s in 2D, but as soon as it went over to 3D, it was off to the races.

The first game is your classic platformer, only there is an extra objective. You have to find various TV remotes in order to clear each level until you make it to the end. If you finish the level without it, then you don’t unlock the next level and in a way all you’ve done is waste your time there. So you don’t want to let that happen. They aren’t that hard to find once you’re really looking for them but if you don’t know about this objective, you will probably waste a little time when you complete the level the first time.

It’s a pretty quick game all around though. It doesn’t take you very long to beat all of the main levels. There is a bonus world at the end which does take more time since those levels intentionally go crazy. I ended up going through them for the Platinum trophy but otherwise they aren’t quite as fun. I enjoy a good 2D platformer as much as the next guy but it’s just not as satisfying as playing in 3D. You aren’t able to rush on through and do what you want because there are always pitfalls to watch out for. There is also a bit less of a story in this one as the original. So all in all it’s fun, and certainly brings in a good challenge but it doesn’t hold pace with the next ones.

The second game is where things really kick it off. Gex is called back into the TV worlds to beat his arch nemesis and we get our first look at the 3D environments. They’re definitely quite a bit of fun and feel like something out of Mario 64. You have different worlds which each have multiple remotes to obtain. So you will be completing each world several times until you’ve really gotten the knack for it. You need to complete most of the missions in order to reach the final boss, but not every one. So if there’s a mission you don’t like, you can just skip it.

The gameplay is smooth and without any real issues so you’re able to just enjoy it. The game is much easier than the first but that is pretty hard to avoid with the 3D environment. The jumping and tail spinning are both mechanics that are handled really well. You will be moving with purpose the whole time and the only tricky thing can be the camera at different points.

The game continues with Gex’s smooth sense of humor and boundless confidence. He’s always got something to say about everything. The lines do run out early on so you will be hearing the same tunes quite a few times, but that’s fine. It’s still better to have reused lines than to not have voice acting in the first place after all. It’s all about that balance.

Then we have the third game which changes up the flow quite a bit. Gex has gone from being ultra confident to being a very pleading guy as he begs for the attention of a girl who’s been kidnapped. She enjoys making fun of him while waiting to be rescued and it’s definitely a real crazy dynamic. That being said, the gameplay is still really solid here. The game is even easier than the second one as there are even less levels that you need to play through in order to unlock the final boss. You can skip a great chunk of them and so I had to go out of my way to at least get to play one level in each world. The war level is probably the best one in the game. It’s definitely a lot of fun and shows how the game could really tackle different genres.

Control wise it’s basically the same as the second game so it really stayed consistent there. I’d definitely have no real complaints on this end. So the Gex Collection was definitely solid and the graphics have aged well. The art style works and everything is very clear. Additionally, the soundtrack isn’t bad although it could use a few more all timers. The tunes we have here are good, but I doubt you will be remember any of them a few years from now.

The only weakness is that the third game’s story is not able to hold on as well as the others. The nonstop flirting between Gex and the captive gets old quick and the game is leaning a bit too hard on the fanservice angle here. I would argue it even makes Gex look a little out of character since he was always in control for the first two games and suddenly he is ultra desperate in this one. It may be hard for you to be a fan of the guy by the time this one ends.

There isn’t a ton of replay value here because the Platinum trophy is very easy to obtain. I got it upon beating the third game and so your game’s length will really be based purely on the story modes. Fortunately, that’s the advantage of being a collection. You’ve already got 3 games lined up here and clearing them all will still take some time. Between the three of them you’re probably looking at around 10-12 hours or so and that’s definitely not bad. The games are all individually fun as well so this won’t feel like a bad purchase. I’d definitely say to check it out when you have some time.

Overall, Gex is definitely a fun character and the collection ended up working out pretty well. I’d definitely recommend this to anyone who is looking for a solid platforming experience. The story in the third game can definitely be a bit of a weak point as it’s rare for a video game to be relying on fanservice but as long as you can get around that you will be okay. I think the series would definitely do well with a modern reboot someday although we’ll have to see if that’s in the cards. For the most part this does feel like a forgotten series all the way through.

Overall 7/10