Category Archives: 7 Star Games

Knack II Review

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It’s been a very long time since I played the original Knack. It was a fun game but not exactly anything to write home about. Well, it was only a matter of time before I would eventually head out to get the sequel. Knack II certainly improves upon the first one. Elements like the gameplay are quite similar but more streamlined. Graphically the game has improved as well and I would say that the story is better as well. With all areas of the game improving, it’s no surprise that the sequel manages to hold your attention the whole time.

The game starts off with Knack and Lucas being under attack by a bunch of robots. Knack manages to take most of them down but just when he is about to be destroyed we cut away to a few months earlier. Knack and Lucas were having fun exploring with Uncle Ryder when all of a sudden a lot of robots start to come back to life. These robots used to belong to the goblins back during the Crystal Wars but for some reason they are active again. Lucas will need to team up with some scientists as well as the government leader Xander in order to stop these guys. One of the head monks is a girl named Aya and she is always ready to help Lucas and friends. They’ve got a pretty good system set up here but will they really be able to conquer an entire army? One thing’s for sure, they’re going to need Knack to bring his A game.

The plot is fairly basic of course with robots ready to take over the planet. You can probably predict all of the twists and turns that will commence fairly early on into the game. One thing the title does effectively though is the various time skips that happen during the game. The characters will be in a jam one minute and the next 4 months have passed. The villain definitely got a whole lot done in that time so the heroes really cut it close. I wasn’t able to buy into the origin of the Crystal Wars though. I’m not really bale to buy that a bunch of humans with swords were able to take on an army of giant robots. That’s just hard to buy.

It’s a fairly minor plot point though I suppose. Some of the characters here do not look great this time around though. First lets take the main scientist Vargas. For some reason here he just does not trust Lucas in the slightest and it ends up forming quite the rift between them. You get the feeling that if he had been at least a little supportive then things would have played out differently. I don’t really get why everyone was telling Lucas he needed to get serious and accusing him of being distracted by Ava. The game never showed for a moment that he wasn’t serious.

I wouldn’t say Lucas looked great either though. He definitely gets very emotional during the game and makes some questionable decisions like deciding to hand the orb away. He’s also very slow on the uptake during someone’s speech later on. It has to be completely spelled out for him to understand what’s happening. That’s definitely not the ideal hero that you’ll have been looking for. Knack is okay but he still doesn’t have a whole lot of character. He follows orders and is a nice guy. That’s about it. I like his confidence but you just get the feeling that he is as unoriginal as they come. If he had more character moments that would be good.

Ava is a solid new character at least although she definitely makes the wrong decisions a whole lot. She ends up seeming a bit naïve with how she didn’t realize what was going on until the very end. I dare that during one of the multi month time skips there would have been a lot of red flags everywhere. Meanwhile Xander’s okay if not just a bit generic. He doesn’t have any of the witty dialogue you need his character to have in order to stand out so that was unfortunate. He’s a big improvement over the goblins from the first game though.

As for the gameplay, Knack II is your classic 3D action game. You can rush in and mess enemies up with hand to hand combat as well as your other tools. During the course of the game you learn new moves like a boomerang, the ability to pull opponents to you, and things like that. Once you unlock the boomerang I recommend using it as often as possible. It’s definitely got to be the most useful ability in the game and it’ll never steer you wrong. There’s actually a decent amount of strategy to this combat style as you can’t just run in trying to punch everyone. That’ll end up with you being defeated very quickly most times. Learn to use your boosts to dodge a lot and you’ll be fine. There are also upgrades you can unlock to strengthen Knack using EXP from enemies and you also have a lot of quick time events to master as well. There’s just a good amount of depth to the title so you’ll be in good shape for taking on the enemies. Make sure you always stop to open the crates for bolts since improving your size is incredibly handy and makes all of the combat moments a lot easier.

Unsurprisingly the graphics in the game are pretty good. This definitely looks like a modern game with a lot of great visuals throughout. Whether it’s the characters themselves or some backdrops Knack II does not pull any punches here. The soundtrack isn’t as impressive though. None of the tunes ended up sticking out. It’s unfortunate because an action game like this should have a lot of great rock themes or something but this title avoided those. Well, that’s something it can shoot for in the third game.

The main story took me a little under 9 hours. For replay value I suppose you can play through hard mode in order to get the rest of the collectibles as well as aim for the Platinum Trophy. That should take some time to be sure. I saw you also get to unlock Colosseum mode at the end so that should be a fun mode. Sounds like it would have a lot of battles at the very least. Right now the game tends to go for cheap so now’s a great time to take the plunge and go all in.

Overall, Knack II is a pretty fun game. I would definitely recommend it if you’re looking for a solid action game to play through. It’s definitely not going to win any big awards for its character or story but the gameplay is strong which is definitely important. You won’t grow bored during the game and the trial and error tends to be enjoyable since each section is quick so you never have to replay a whole lot. I’d be game for a third Knack game coming out someday although it looks like the odds of that happening are not great.

Overall 7/10

Sackboy: A Big Adventure Review

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Sackboy has returned for a new adventure! It feels like not so long ago when I had just completed the first Little Big Planet and now we’re once again caught up with the series. The first game was not very good in my eyes. It really didn’t have a lot of interesting level designs and the plot was pretty much nonexistent. Then the second game came out and had a really great plot. The third followed that up with more villains and another good adventure. So the series really rebounded from the first adventure and the latest one continues that. The series is certainly in good standing now.

The game starts with Sackboy trying to enjoy his day when the planet is attacked by an evil mastermind named Vex. He manages to suck up just about every Sack creature on the planet except for Sackboy. He decides to let Sackboy live just so he can rub the whole thing in his face. Well, Sackboy is determined not to let this stand. He will visit each of the planets and eventually liberate his people by collecting the various Dream Orbs. Vex doesn’t intend to make this easy though.

The gameplay is your classic platformer type adventure. There is less of an emphasis on puzzle elements this time around. You don’t have to conjure up objects with Sackboy’s magical menu or anything like that. This is more of a straightforward adventure where you run and jump around obstacles to get to the end. Then you deal with the boss battles that usually appear twice a world. Vex has a lot of pretty fun bosses to be sure. What I like about his battles if you have a good amount of obstacles but not a lot of waiting. He goes through his motions pretty quickly so you either win or lose right away but you don’t have to wait a bunch. That’s always the sign of a well designed boss battle if you ask me.

The graphics are definitely quite nice as you would expect. The game definitely has a lot of great looking environments to be sure. The costumes are also back so you can dress up Sackboy in a lot of different looks and gear. I gave him a sci-fi warrior look of sorts which was fun since it came with the official helmet and even an energy blade to run around with. The cutscenes keep the enhancements you’ve made so that it also pretty cool. It adds a little extra immersion. Then you’ve got the soundtrack which is fun enough. I wouldn’t say Sackboy tends to stand out with that kind of thing but the music is all pretty pleasant and definitely fits in with the level’s theme.

Next up is the replay value aspect and this game has quite a lot of that. I guess I’d say that the length of the campaign is probably around 7 hours. I can’t say that I was really keeping track though. After the main campaign then you’ve got a good amount of replay value here with the extra world that you unlock in the end. Getting there will require you to grab a lot of orbs. Then you’ve got the knightly trials which are a lot of extra levels as well. Speaking of orbs, some can only be grabbed from the multiplayer levels so you’ll need to either plug in a second controller and control them both or head online for some help here.

I’d imagine that grabbing all of the orbs and getting all of the trophies will definitely take you a good amount of time. I’d be surprised if you can do all of that in under 15 hours or anything like that. While you are forced to collect a lot of orbs in order to complete the game which I always tend to find fishy, at least there are enough extra levels around where you shouldn’t have to replay any of the old levels at all. That’s one thing I was a little worried about near the end so I was glad that was the case. Collectathons aren’t really my thing initially but they make for great post game content. Some of the orbs are also quite hidden as I was actively looking for all of them and still missed some when going through the levels.

Sackboy doesn’t really talk sort of like Mario and other protagonists so I wouldn’t say he has a lot of character but he’s a solid lead nonetheless. He may get nervous and even go to the verge of tears at times but he always stands again. There is also a mentor type character who shows up at times but we don’t get to learn a whole lot about her. Part of me suspects that she is hiding some things and would play a big role in a future title but perhaps that isn’t the role they are going with her. Either way it’ll definitely be interesting to see how that all plays out someday.

The game has fun experimenting with some alternate gameplay styles as well. As you progress through the game you’ll get hoverboots, a grapple hook, and other such items. Using them is a nice break from the usual gameplay. In particular you can get hooked on the hoverboots since it’s a lot of fun to fly around everywhere. Hard to go back to walking after that but the gameplay is very smooth so you’ll adjust quick enough.

Overall, A Big Adventure is definitely a solid title and a good way to continue with the Little Big Planet series. Vex is a really solid villain so I’d definitely be down to see him return someday. His abilities are really creative and that makes him a pretty dangerous opponent to go against. Sackboy does seem outmatched the whole time but he never gives up which is important. The game also has a scene after the credits so you’ll want to stick around to see that. It ends things off on a pretty hype note although I’m not sure if that would be for the sequel or if the post game content covers that. Either way I’d definitely recommend checking this title out.

Overall 7/10

Super Valis IV Review

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With this title out of the way I’ll have played all of the new additions to the SNES online service. Super Valis IV is definitely a good way to end off though. It’s a pretty fun platformer with a solid plot and good all around gameplay. It’s a title you’ll enjoy playing through and it’s also got a good amount of difficulty. The final boss for example has a health bar so large you’ll think the game has glitched out on you.

You play as a warrior who is fighting to save her planet. To do so she will have to go through several realms and fight all manner of creatures from demons to skeletons and other such creatures. Each land is guarded by another powerful fighter but she won’t let anything stop her from reaching the the red moon. The game is fairly linear although some levels have a few different paths you can take which can turn you around in a circle. It’s hard to say how you should know where to go, just make sure to always keep going right whenever possible and you should be fine.

For the combat you have a blade that you can fight with as well as an energy blast that you can spam. It’s quite handy in some boss fights like against one guy who has a pet leopard. If you go to the very edge of the right side screen, he cannot hurt you. The only thing to watch out for is the occasional fireball which you can just jump over anyway. Outside of that you’ll pretty much be all set. The other bosses don’t have such easy counter measures though so you’ll have to learn them as you go. The toughest one to deal with is probably the guy who can make clones of himself. It’s extremely hard to react to his attacks because of how fast he is and the amount of raw power. Just touching the guy will deal you a bucket of damage.

The final boss is easier to dodge but the tough part with him is the large health bar as I mentioned. For the first dozen or so attacks you won’t even see the health bar go down because it spills over the meter so much. Eventually once it starts to go down then you’ll see that you have a lot more hope in store for you. You can also grab different power ups throughout the level that will help you when you’re in a pinch. I highly recommend using these items as long as possible. At the very least the transformation is a must have as it temporarily makes you completely invincible. No attack will be able to break through the barrier. For offense it’ll just depend on how much you like the item. I admit that the normal blaster and sword are so good that you may not need anything else.

Graphically the game definitely holds up really nicely as well. The character illustrations are solid and the fact that we got both an opening and an ending is really good if you ask me. It means that you actually feel like you’re making a lot of progress through each level. The character designs are also excellent. The bosses all look really unique and you can tell that none of the designs were just slapped together. A good amount of work went into them. The soundtrack is more on the forgettable side but still pretty solid throughout. I don’t expect you will have any complaints as you go through the game.

There isn’t really any replay value though. Once you beat the game there is nothing left to do. The credits roll and then you can play through the game again if you like. The actual game is about an hour long give or take. So this is a short one but at least it’s free with the online service so that helps. I don’t ask for much more of the SNES era. Just having a story and smooth gameplay already makes it fairly high end. It’s a nice way to pass some time and hopefully someday we can get a proper reimagining of this title.

Overall, Super Valis IV is a pretty solid platformer. It’s a simple game with proper execution and an engaging story. You really can’t turn down such an adventure. I definitely recommend playing through it if you have the Switch and a little time. There’s so much they could do with the concept if they were to keep going with the series. I look forward to the SNES Online adding in some more games at some point. Right now it’s definitely been updating at a rather slow pace so I’m hoping that can change soon. If we are going to add more consoles soon then why drag out the releases right? Well, when we do get some new games I’ll be sure to start them right away.

Overall 7/10

Defender Review

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Defender is a game I’ve had on the shelf for a very long time. It’s a game that is also extremely difficult and the developers did not pull any punches with the game. I had it frozen on the backlog for a long time but with the numbers continuing to drop it was time to put this one back into play. Currently we are down to 35 games left so that’s pretty good. Defender is a good title and far better than something like Battlestar Galactica. Now that’s a game that could use a bunch of work.

The general plot is that the aliens have taken over Earth as well as the entire solar system. The humans have been forced to move out of the system entirely to regroup which has not made them very happy campers. Well, we’ve now got a good amount of ships and mechs at our disposal so it’s time to reclaim our planets. The game has you go from world to world as you exterminate the aliens with Earth naturally being the big prize at the end. It hasn’t been easy but now it’s the humans’ turn for a counter attack. It’s a pretty nice plot and I like the idea of the humans having to invade Earth since it has already been taken over.

There are some cutscenes here and there which get pretty emotional. For example there was a mechanic just minding his own business and suddenly an alien appears and takes him away. The graphics hold up really well for both the cinematics and the gameplay. At most it can be a little hard to follow along with what is going on at times but I’d guess that is a little unavoidable with how many enemies are running around at all times. If you want the skies to be cleared then you’ll have to do it yourself.

The soundtrack is okay. It’s not particularly memorable but works well enough with the the levels. It’s a fitting ost which is all that you can ask for. In terms of length I wouldn’t call the story all that long but the difficulty should help to extend that quite a bit. I would estimate the game is maybe around 5-6 hours long. It can also be longer if you do the bonus levels. See, each world has 2-3 levels but you’re always able to just go to the next one after beating the first mission. The others are totally optional but note that if you skip to the next planet then there is no way to go back so that’s definitely something to keep in mind. You have to be absolutely sure of yourself when making the decision.

For the gameplay, this is a 3D shooter. You pilot your ship around the surface of the planet as you blow up all of the enemy fighters and installations. The actual goal of the level will vary heavily so always pay attention to the objectives which are shown at the beginning of the level and also explained through the dialogue. For example, one mission may have you simply blow up all of the fighters while another one may have you protecting a base until everyone is able to be evacuated. With the title of the game you won’t be surprised to hear that quite a few of the levels are protection missions like that.

In general protection missions never tend to be my favorite ones. Your ally’s health goes down so quickly and it’s hard to protect everyone. One level I really had some issues with was where you had to protect a series of satellites from robotic suicide bombers. That one was really tough in part because the level was so big and aside from the bombers you had to worry about the rest of the crew as well. Definitely puts you in a tough spot.

Fortunately you have more than one ship to choose as an option. Each ship has a different array of weapons. Personally I used the second ship for almost the whole game and then used the second to last ship for the final few levels. The reason I switched was because the new ship has an laser which has no limits for ammo. You can just keep on using it although you do need to let it recharge for a few seconds here and there. Each ship can be updated by using your points which can improve all of the weapons on board and even add another life to your ship. I would say that the extra life should be your lowest priority since most of the levels have a strict time limit anyway which ends up being more important than having another life which you may not need.

Overall, Defender is a pretty decent game. It’s a basic sci-fi shooter game where you’re blasting away at aliens. You can’t really go wrong there right? I would say that one area which would improve the game though would be a way to play old levels and earn some more money. Much like Armored Core 2 you could be in a tough spot if you spend your money on the wrong ship and have none left for the final level. It’s why I stuck with one of the default ships for almost the whole game just in case. Last thing you want it to be trapped without money in a level that’s just too difficult to conquer. If you see this game in stories somewhere somehow, then I would say to pick it up. It’s old school but has aged pretty well. The plot’s fun and the gameplay is pretty smooth which is really all that you need in the end.

Overall 7/10

Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup Review

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Quidditch was a lot of fun to play through in the first Harry Potter game so it was fun to see it make a return here. I definitely missed it when the latter games were cutting it out. Of course with a whole game built around this concept that means that you really need to have tight gameplay. Fortunately it is quite good and a lot of fun. I just think the game should have had a bit more of an ending to be honest.

When the game starts you are told to pick a team. I naturally went with Griffindor because you just can’t go wrong with that group right? The first few levels are about taking down all of the other schools. Then you can enter the World Cup where you have to go up against the other countries. Once you’ve done that then you’re done. The game loops for extra matches and you work on getting the rest of the cards. I ended up with 33/104 so I suppose that’s not too bad. It would be nice if the game could save your spot in a tournament though. While you can save your title at almost any time, it always takes you back to the menu when you boot it up again to start a tournament from scratch.

I should quickly talk about the gameplay since Quidditch is a pretty unique sport. So the goal of the game is to pass the ball to your teammates to earn points or to shoot the ball through one of the 3 hoops. Each time you do so you get 10 points. Once the meter is fully charged an event will start where you and the opponent try to grab the Quidditch ball. Whoever grabs it first gets 150 points and then the battle ends. So this keeps the hoops points from being meaningless or anything like that but at the same time the points don’t matter much. I was beating an opponent by around 400 before I realized this match wasn’t ending. That’s why scoring shouldn’t be your top concern. It doesn’t build the meter much at all.

The best way to win a match is to use combo passes. Hold down the L button and keep on passing the ball around. This will build the meter very quickly and the more meter you have, the more time you have to boost your broom in the final chase. Be careful about turning the ball over though as that will negate any meter build up you had amassed from the current combo. Clearly there are a lot of variables to consider here and you really want to try and take them all into account. Of course if you want to be really safe you can still score around 200 points so that way even if the other team grabs the Quidditch you would end up winning. You should always be able to grab the Quidditch first though, at least I found that part to be pretty easy.

You also have some special abilities but they aren’t all that necessary. Often times I found it easier to just do a basic tackle with A to knock the ball away then to get into the fancy stuff. For example, if you press B you get a mini cutscene where you take the ball away. Y allows you to gain a quick boost that lets you go forward and there’s X which lets you fire off one of the balls to hit the opponent with. I don’t mind the abilities but in a way they have 0 impact on the game. Whether you use them or ignore them they will not affect the entire match at all in which case I wonder why they are even around. You’ve also got the final smash attacks for a team which give you instant goals but it takes a while to build up enough energy for this. I got to see the computers use it a few times but I never had enough energy for it unfortunately.

The graphics are pretty decent. I wouldn’t say they are anything special but the character designs are on point and the whole thing looks pretty nice. The only time you may have some trouble is with navigating the turns during the final chase but that’s not really a graphics thing so much as it’s just about the gameplay. On the whole I would say the gameplay is pretty legit but those turns are just rough. I wouldn’t say any of the game’s tunes really stood out though.

In terms of length this game will probably last you around 2 hours to beat every opponent I suppose. Outside of that the only replay value is in collecting all of the cards by completing specific challenges. It’s a reasonable incentive to at least add a bit more punch to the usual gameplay but I’m not really sure if that would really be enough to get you back to play a bunch of extra matches once you’ve already won. I feel like it would be a hard sell at least.

So the game is pretty fun but I do have to emphasize that it is just very short. You need to make sure that you pick it up at a good price or you may end up with a few regrets there. There is multiplayer mode as well though which should also increase the replay value. As long as you find the gameplay fun then I suppose that’s really the most important thing here.

Overall, Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup is a pretty fun spinoff. It’s nice that this sport got an entire video game to itself even though the sport itself does not yet exist. It just makes for a very original game. A bit of a story mode would have been nice but I suppose it’s not something that would have been expected. Hopefully the new PS5 Harry Potter game coming out will include some Quidditch gameplay as well. I look forward to seeing how it looks with the modern technology backing it up.

Overall 7/10

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Review

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We continue our Harry Potter marathon with the next game in the series. Chamber of Secrets really takes a lot of what made the first game good and then improves on them. So that’s exactly what you could have hoped for from a sequel. There aren’t any really weak parts to the game although at the same time I wouldn’t say it’s great or anything like that. It’s just a fun follow up to the original. The hub world isn’t quite as large as the first game but is still quite large.

The game starts with Harry having a good time in town as he gets some shopping done before heading back to Hogwarts. As much as things change they also stay the same. Draco Malfoy and the gang keep picking on the weaker mages. The stakes are a little higher this time around as a fabled Chamber of Secrets is somewhere in the school. Harry needs to track it down because in the meantime a monster is on the loose and it may end up murdering a bunch of the students if it isn’t taken care of and fast. Harry will need all of his skills if he is to take this guy down.

It’s a pretty solid story here. The Potter games have been consistent with giving a lot of cutscenes throughout. Just from the games I can quickly remember how much fun Snape is. He certainly gets a bad rap but at least the guy is always around unlike Dumbledore who vanishes when things get tough. The whole twist about Tom Riddle is pretty interesting and he makes for a pretty great character. The guy’s just a lot of fun. Meanwhile Harry and the crew are pretty solid although Ron never tends to grow on me as much as the other two. He needs a little more skill to back up his confidence.

Gameplay-wise this one is pretty basic. You have a few different spells at your disposal and use them in order to take the opponents down or to solve various puzzles. The spells are largely the same as in the first game. You are still only able to equip two at once so get ready to have to pause the game a lot. The save feature is also still manual so just try to remember to save every now and again or you may have to replay large chunks of the game. It’s pretty impressive just how similar to the first game this one is. Even the menus all look very similar. Same with the levels but that makes sense since it is still the same school.

The graphics aren’t bad and look pretty similar to the first game. I’d be hard pressed to tell you which one was better. Th soundtrack is also decent. None of the tunes will stand out in particular but I wouldn’t say they hold the game back either. They have just the right amount of pep to add to the fights. I feel like that describes the game pretty well as a whole. It’s a very standard game that feels like you’re picking up right where the first game left off. There are some improvements like labels on the map so you know where you’re going and the controls themselves are a lot smoother. Those are the two main improvements here and I would have to say that they are fairly key.

The gameplay one alone is really nice to have. In the first game it wasn’t uncommon for you to just fall off of a box or something because the character refused to move in the right direction. That should not happen here. The game isn’t all that long though. You should have it conquered within around 6-7 hours I’d say. Of course if you aim to grab all of the cards then that will probably take you a little longer. There are a bunch of them scattered all throughout the place. The toughest part is that you have no way of knowing which ones you have already collected which naturally makes things pretty tough. Still, it would definitely add a few hours to your overall play time.

Chamber of Secrets does end up hitting you with an extremely easy final boss though. The way to beat it is pretty simple, you just dodge the attacks by moving side to side for a bit, knock it with your main weapon and you’re good to go. Rinse and repeat around 6 times until you claim victory. The main thing that makes this fight pretty easy is just the fact that the way to dodge the boss’ attacks is simply to move from side to side. You don’t even need a true strategy to beat him, that’s really what is pretty crazy about all of this.

The game is fairly light with bosses though. Another fight has you go up against a giant spider but it’s not so much a direct boss as it’s more about you running around to burn all the webbing. That allows you to gain the upper hand and escape. It’s a pretty nice level set up I’d say. The game stays quick paced at all times except for when you have to find some potion ingredients for Professor Snape. That’s when things can get a little tedious as you figure out how to do this. In the third game you would eventually be given pillars of light so you can see the ingredients once you’re within range but there’s nothing like that for this game.

Overall, The Chamber of Secrets is a pretty fun follow up to the first game. It’s been pretty nice to see the old Harry Potter adventures in video game format. You can’t help but feel that the points system is pretty rigged though. No matter what you do you always end up in first place when it comes to total points. That doesn’t seem totally fair or balanced if you think about it. You feel bad for the other groups because it feels like Dumbledore is determined to pick Griffindor no matter what. I suppose our class is the best one though. If you want to play a fun little game on the GCube then this is a good one to check out.

Overall 7/10

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Review

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At long last I have begun the Harry Potter marathon. It’s definitely a pretty legendary series that’s for sure. The games are out of print though so getting a hand on this one is pretty difficult. It ended up costing 100 but I was able to get it in a bundle pack with two other Harry Potter games so the price didn’t feel all that crazy. Usually you’re likely going to be spending a whole lot more than that on it. It’s a pretty fun game, fairly standard I’d say but one that does the job.

The game starts with Harry being invited into Hogwarts. It’s a school for magicians where he will be able to perfect his craft. He quickly becomes friends with Ron and Hermione which is handy since being on your own here is pretty tough to say the least. One of the Professors seems pretty shady. His name is Snape and he just looks like a villain. Mix that in with his teaching the dark arts and the heroes are all wary of him. When the kids learn that the Philosopher’s Stone is around they realize that they’re going to need to find and secure it before the villains can make a move. After all, Voldemort is supposed to be dead but is that really the case?

From a gameplay perspective Harry Potter isn’t going for anything new. It’s a classic 3D Platformer where you navigate through the levels and deal with the occasional boss. You can’t jump but your character will automatically jump if you are next to a gap. You learn 5 different spells although awkwardly the game only lets you equip 3 so prepare to have to open up the menu a lot. The spells are Light, Attack, Fire, Cut, Open, and Spring. Use them wisely in order to get through the obstacles. The game is typically pretty clear about what you have to do so no worries there. The first plant boss took me a little time to figure out how to beat him but since there aren’t a ton of attack options it’s not like you have to experiment too often. They also re-use the plant boss two more times so it’ll be easy to take him out after round 1.

Aside from two times where you have to go and find some potion ingredients which involves backtracking the game is very linear. You go accomplish your goals for the day and then you have the option to end the day or go collect some cards. If you want to end the day you can do so immediately from the start menu as opposed to having to go back to your room each time. I definitely appreciated that. The fact that you have the option to explore is nice too. There are over 100 trading cards in the game so grabbing those will probably take a while. You can also collect little beans to buy things with. You can only carry 50 though so you get the item box filled really quick. In a way it’s nice to stay filled up though as otherwise Harry always makes a lot of noise when going for the beans. You’d think he would take the whole thing with a little more stride.

The game’s length isn’t bad. You should have it beat in around 5-6 hours and then with the replay value of getting the cards it should take a few extra hours. The hub world is surprisingly huge so finding the collectibles would be quite the journey since there is no way to track where the ones you haven’t grabbed yet are. Still, the game isn’t quite long enough to drop $100 on so I would keep that in mind if it’s still out of print. In that case it’s only worth that amount if you are an incredibly large Harry Potter fan.

The graphics look pretty nice. All of the characters have the huge eyes approach so they’re almost like bobble heads at times. There are a ton of cutscenes and the whole thing feels like it has a good amount of effort to it. The soundtrack is more on the forgettable side though. I don’t think there are any tunes here that will make you think twice about the whole thing. So all in all the game works pretty well on a technical level. It’s just a pretty quick platformer to spend a few hours on and have a good time. We even have a few broom levels where you get to zoom around the room. Honestly I would have liked more of those levels since they were a fun change of pace. Finally there are 2 stealth levels but they seemed kind of broken. I just ended up cheesing them by running past the guards and opening the door even if I was seen. It was still a fun little minigame though.

The only thing I would say against the game is that the lock on feature isn’t very good. At times your lock will just go away so you end up shooting at nothing. Changing targets is also difficult. I feel like this could have used a little polish. At times it makes some parts of the game a little more difficult than they should be just because you can’t get the game to lock on to the person you want to attack. On the whole though I would say this isn’t a huge deal and it’s something you can certainly adapt to and quickly overturn. It’s big enough where I thought it was worth mentioning though.

Overall, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is a pretty fun initial journey into the verse. It does a good job of capturing the story and tone of the original movie. I look forward to seeing the characters progress in the sequels. I’ll be starting the second game shortly. So if you find this game at a reasonable price then I would definitely recommend checking it out. If it’s still a little overpriced then you’re good with just waiting a little while or even skipping it. You won’t be missing a whole lot. The game’s not trying to do anything special. It’s just a pretty good game, no more and no less.

Overall 7/10

Shantae and the Seven Sirens Review

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Shantae has had a pretty fun gaming history over the years. While her games did not start off very big, they’re now titles that are at the top of the Indie charts to the point where you probably could call her mainstream nowadays. The best title in the franchise is still Half Genie Hero if you ask me, but the Seven Sirens is a great follow up. It’s always nice to see the characters get together for some more adventures and the new Siren characters are pretty solid as well.

The game starts with Shantae and her friends going on vacation. They’re looking forward to having a peaceful time away from their usual save the world adventures. Unfortunately it won’t be as easy as all that. It turns out that there are a bunch of other half genies so now Shantae isn’t the only one. This is great except that they are all promptly kidnapped. Shantae is once again the last one standing but this time she has a chance to save the others. She’ll have to travel all across the island and an old villain by the name of Risky Boots has shown up which complicates matters. Risky always has some kind of purpose behind her actions and Shantae is going to need to figure out what that is before it’s too late.

The gameplay is that of a classic platformer but it’s got Metroidvania elements to it as you will often have to go back and forth in the map as you search for things. You start the game off with no real powers and every world you learn 2. For example, when you start the game there will be large pools that you can swim in but once you unlock the frog ability then you can go back there. It’s unlikely that you will memorize all of the different routes so you are highly encouraged to go back through each area when you gain new abilities. At times the map will show you where you need to go next but usually it’s more about trial and error. At one of the 3 towns there will usually be someone who can give you a hint though.

Your main attacking option is your hair. It’s a pretty quick attack that deals a lot of damage. At the shop you can buy an upgrade to make it faster or to make it more powerful. If you earn enough coins you can quickly max out both stats which makes a big difference in the battle. The rest of your abilities are explained as you learn them which includes shooting electricity, seeing invisible objects, and causing tremors. One ability allows you to heal yourself or cleanse poisoned water which is really handy. You can also buy magic spells like fireballs which can aid you in gameplay although they’re never as effectively as your classic hair blows if you ask me.

The boss battles can be pretty tricky at first until you remember that you have items. So at first I was just spinning my wheels without any backup assistance. No magic or items, just my platforming skills and hair. That’s when I realized that something just wasn’t quite right. It was then that I realized I had been holding myself back for quite a while. With the items the game becomes a whole lot easier to the point where you should not lose again. Not only are items so common that you should have all food maxed out pretty quick but you’ve also got your healing spell which takes up virtually no energy and heals you thoroughly. Your magic meter also regenerates pretty fast as long as you have the proper equipment on which you unlock near the middle of the game.

So the game should not pose a challenge to you as long as you remember these key elements. At that point you will be all set for action. So the gameplay is nice and fast paced which should keep you entertained at all times. The story is also pretty fun. The Squid is definitely my favorite character now. Not only is he just a fun guy but he’s got a great character theme as well. His story is rather tragic if you think about it. He really just wants to be successful and he’s trying to do it the right way but it’s just been tough for him. Hopefully one day he’s able to get that spinoff game that he’s always wanted. Shantae is a fun lead as always too. She may be a little starstruck at the other half genies but at the end of the day I would take her in a fight. Risky Boots is also a solid villain who never underestimates anyone. She just uses whichever characters are around and that’s the hallmark of a talented villain.

The graphics here are definitely real solid. The art style is excellent and is part of the game’s charm. It’s all definitely as colorful and vibrant as can be with a lot of good level backdrops. It may be a little more limited than the previous installment since you’re mainly stuck on the island the whole time but it’s a good locale in general. The soundtrack is also very good. You have some remixes from past games and then a lot of original tunes. They all bundle together for a solid array.

The game’s length is around 6 hours or so but there is a good amount of replay value as you grab all of the collectibles and aim to grab the PS4 trophies if that’s the version that you got. The toughest trophy will probably be the speed run entry since you have to complete the game very quickly. It can definitely be done if you put your mind to it though. Platformers usually aren’t super long or anything so 6-7 hours is pretty standard I’d say. You’re getting a good purchase for your buck.

Overall, I’d recommend picking up Shantae and the Seven Sirens. It’s a fun game with a pretty engaging plot and definitely a solid cast of characters. This is a game that’s very easy to pick up and play at any time. The overall atmosphere helps to keep the game calm and interesting from start to finish. I do hope they keep the Shantae series up with quick releases because there’s always a whole lot you can keep doing here. The game ends on what I would consider a cliffhanger after all so I am expecting another game at some point. In the meantime I suppose I just have to wait until she makes it into the Super Smash Bros series.

Overall 7/10

Little Big Planet 3 Review

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The Little Big Planet series started off rather rocky with the first game and then really jumped with the second one. This final installment in the trilogy manages to keep that same energy and keeps the series on an upwards trajectory. I wouldn’t say it quite matches the second game which still had the most intense plot but the fact that the game has a pretty serious story with clear plot progression is always a good thing. Sackboy has really done everything he could in order to save the world at this point. He may get nervous but he’s always ready.

So there’s a guy named Newton who has decided to awaken the Titans. He had the best of intentions initially as he just wanted to help the world with energy and such. Unfortunately the power corrupts him as everyone warned it would and he aims to destroy the world. Sackboy will have to resurrect the 3 legendary warriors to back him up and claim victory now. It’ll be dangerous but if he has these guys back him up then now he has a real shot at success. Naturally that means Sackboy will have to get past the Titans though so he can’t afford to lower his guard at all or it may be game over here.

There are 3 worlds in the game and each one has around 5 levels. The campaign is a little on the short side as you’ll have it completed in around 3 hours. There is a lot of replay value to be had here though as you can go back and play online levels, grab collectibles, and earn PS4 trophies. There are a lot of these to grab so that should extend the game to around 10 hours or longer I would expect. There are also a bunch of extra levels that aren’t required to beat the game but are present in each world. You can also get the game for a pretty good price so that helps even out the length concerns. Part of why it goes a lot faster than the other games is because the game is a lot easier than the second one. Perhaps people weren’t thrilled with the difficulty of the last one? It could get surprisingly tough that’s for sure, I remember being pretty surprised at that myself.

The story itself is pretty fun though. Newton makes for a fun villain who even has an emotional backstory. You can’t help but feel a little bad for him because he’s had it tough. Not “Gotta destroy the world” tough but still I’ll give him some props. Meanwhile the graphics are definitely solid. The levels have a lot of really solid backgrounds to it and each of the worlds are pretty unique. The soundtrack is also nice with an iconic Christmas song thrown in and then you’ve got another lively one during the credits. A good amount of work was put into this. I wonder if the songs were free domain at this point or if they had to pay for them. Either way it’s pretty nice to have though.

The gameplay is your classic 2D platformer. You want to run and jump past obstacles to make it to the end of the game. This time around you have multiple playable characters though and each of them have some slight differences. The dog for example can move faster than Sackboy. He can’t grab things but he can run on walls. Then you have the bird who can fly at high speeds. He makes for some of the tougher bits in the game since when you go into free drive it can be difficult to dodge the lasers and such. Then you have the power player of the group who can shrink into a tiny form to go under platforms or into the huge form in order to punch through obstacles.

One thing that’s always been a big point of emphasis for the Little Big Planet games is how much customization there is in the gameplay. Aside from level creating you can also equip your Sackboy with hundreds of different clothing options. You can make him an explorer, superhero, monster, etc. I gave him a basic Indiana Jones type costume this time. Initially when you start the game the two options are that one and Red Riding Hood but there are tons of materials to find in every level. After the first level you can probably combine for a bunch of different uniforms as well. So Sackboy can really appear as you want him to be.

Overall, Little Big Planet 3 is a pretty fun game. You can’t ask for much more from a classic platformer. The gameplay is strong with no glitches in sight, the soundtrack is on point with a lot of variety and solid tunes, finally you have really good graphics with a lot of character designs that are on point. It doesn’t lose in any technical aspects. The only real factor working against the game is the length of the story and even then there are a lot of bonus options you can do to keep up the replay value. I’m looking forward to seeing how the 4th Little Big Planet turns out. If it does well then it may be time for Sony to more aggressively think of spinoffs putting Sackboy in different gameplay styles and situations. I think there’s a lot of potential there. If you like platformers then this should be somewhere on your list.

Overall 7/10

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time Review

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Mario’s certainly had quite a few RPGs over the years. It’s always been interesting to see Nintendo balance having both the Paper Mario series as well as the M&L titles. It used to be that the former would have the darker plots while M&L would have the hype dialogue. Gradually the Paper Mario games turned into the more fun titles without much of a plot and I’m not deep enough in this franchise to see if it’ll go the same way. Well, this is definitely a fun sequel and I would put it above the first game. The story is a little on the short side for an RPG but at around 15 hours I can’t reasonably say that it’s super short either. It’s long enough and gets the job done.

The game starts with the team deciding to time travel to the past for fun. Apparently that’s the kind of thing you do when you’re bored now. Peach heads to the past but when the time machine returns there is a monster in there instead of Peach. The Mario bros are able to barely take him out and head to the past. There they are quickly defeated by the Shroobs. Fortunately they are saved by Baby Bowser as well as Baby Mario/Baby Luigi. Now these guys are going to need to team up to find out where the present Peach is and save her. The stakes are high because this group is also looking to conquer the kingdom in general. They already own the Mushroom Kingdom in the past and Mario must now stop this from happening in the present.

Of course along the way a lot of hijinks ensues and you know Bowser will want to have a word in. Surprisingly Bowser’s role here is rather small. He gets a solid role at the end of the game though which was pretty tense. I was definitely not expecting things to go that way. The game does not disappoint with the climax. It’s pretty high-end as you would expect from an RPG experience. The boss has more than one phase and it’ll take everything you had to win. The game is rather difficult if you don’t stop to get some extra level ups along the way. I spent a few hours just going back to get level ups and the final boss was still pretty tough.

The best advice I can give it to really spam the Copy Flower and the Mix Flower. These are really your best options if you ultimately want to score the win. You can deal hundreds of damage just by using the flower once and at the same level my standard attack would do around 70. I don’t see how you can beat the final bosses without these items. I ran out of items the first time I tried to challenge the final boss and ultimately that put me in a real spot. I wouldn’t lose since I was good at dodging the attacks but I couldn’t deal enough damage to ever win. See, the boss has 3,000 HP and she is protected by a lot of other parts. The idea is to destroy the shields and then attack her but the shields regenerate every few turns. So by the time I would destroy 2 shields another would pop up so I would never get to the actual villain. You need the items for this fight. I can tell you that right now.

Also, it’s important to use the roulette to increase other attributes. Initially I was putting everything into Health but I didn’t realize that the roulette gets worse and worse if you focus on just one stat. You’ve got to increase them all to really put yourself in a good spot. It’s the only way to get far here. I recommend always increasing HP, Attack, or Defense. They’re the only 3 stats that really matter if you ask me. Earning XP isn’t super easy in this game though. Enemies don’t respawn unless you time travel so it can take a while to get anywhere. Additionally the EXP amounts just aren’t great. I beat the game at Level 25 and just getting to that point took quite a long while.

The gameplay is classic turn based although it’s fairly interactive. Pressing buttons at the right times will allow you to extend a combo or deal extra damage. You are also given the option to dodge enemy attacks if you time the buttons correctly. It’s a nice little touch that keeps you sharp the whole time. You can’t just space out as the enemy uses their moves. It’s not quite as crisp as your average RPG but I’ll give Nintendo props for keeping things different here. I do think it’s a pretty good idea.

As for the graphics, I’d say that the game looks pretty clear. The character sprites are on point. The animations are a little limited along with the sound effects so you’ll see and hear the characters do the same things a lot but at the end of the day it always feels pretty in character. The soundtrack is okay but the game was really lacking a danger theme. As a result even during the really serious moments you would have a happy theme play and it could dampen the mood a bit. The game could have really used a dark theme or something with a little rock for these moments.

There isn’t much replay value in this case because there isn’t anything to do after beating the game. You can earn more level ups I suppose but there isn’t much of a reason to do so with no post game. It’s short for an RPG as I mentioned but you can get it for a decent price nowadays and 15 hours is nothing to sneeze at. Additionally, the game is just a lot of fun. The dialogue is on point. Now, Luigi does get thrown into the dirt quite a bit as the series always love making fun at his expense. If you’re a big Luigi fan then this could be a rough ride for you. For the most part it’s all done in good fun but you may have doubts.

Overall, Mario & Luigi Partners in Time is a solid sequel to the first game. I thought that the story was a little better and I do love time travel adventures. It’s not a game that will stick with you for long as it’s off to the next thing right away but it’s a solid title nonetheless. I look forward to playing the next one soon. I feel like back in the day Bowser’s Inside Story was known as the best game in the series so I’ll be interested in seeing if that’s the case. I’m definitely expecting another really solid adventure. Mario hasn’t let me down before and I don’t expect he’ll start now.

Overall 7/10