Category Archives: 8 Star Games

Star Ocean First Departure R Review

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It’s been a while since I played the last Star Ocean title. With this one we get back to the classic days of the series. It’s a great RPG with a lot of quality of life features scattered throughout. Surprisingly the one thing it is missing is quick travel. I gotta admit that it would have been handy to have that around but I suppose it would have definitely sped the game up a great deal. This game is already fairly short compared to other RPGs so you would probably not want to let it get too out of hand.

The general plot starts with a mysterious plague infecting the people of Roak. Roddick needs to figure out what is going on with this plague quickly because everyone is turning to stone. That’s when mysterious beings from a planet called Earth show up. They explain that they are from the future and will need to join Roddick in the past in order to stop the plague. It will mean going up against a demon lord and an army of high powered fighters. Will Roddick and his friend really be enough to stop them? Well, they have an ace up their sleeve in the form of symbology, a kind of magic that defies even the most advanced sciences.

The game did a good job of balancing both sides pretty well. Sometimes in these things you wonder what the old timers can really do against the future. Well, in this case having your swords amped up by magic helps quite a bit. The future folk can still just wipe out the planet but fortunately that’s not their style. Then you have the demon lord who is immune to conventional weaponry but not against magical attacks. So it’s a rather perfect balance there.

The gameplay is not quite turn based. It’s an auto attack system where you continually attack as you wait for the meter to build up on your specials. The strategy comes down to positioning. You always want to be surrounding the opponents and preventing them from doing the same to you. Even if they are considerably lower leveled, a few good shots from both sides will take you down in a flash. So you want to always be moving and it seems to help with accuracy but that could be placebo.

As you level up you will learn more attacks and have to decide which ones to use in battle. You can also switch between characters at will and use their attacks as well so you want to make sure that all of your characters are in good fighting shape. There will be times where some members of your group are not available so you should keep that in mind. Otherwise you may have a situation where your strongest fighters are all gone and your weak ones are too underleveled.

The game can get rather difficult so this one is definitely not a walk in the park. You will need to get stronger at multiple points so you should go ahead and fight a lot of enemies. There is no way to turn off encounters so you will have plenty of chances for that. At times the spawn rate can feel really high but later on you will learn skills to reduce that a bit. You will also learn skills that reduce your stats in order to get more exp and skill points. I highly recommend using these while training.

Also you should level up the skill that reduces the cost for all other skills as your top priority. It makes it possible for you to learn all skills before reaching level 100 with a lot of room to spare while it would take you way longer to do that otherwise. You will have the opportunity to use all skills but this will save you so much time on it. So the game has a lot of little strategy problems for you to deal with like that. You want to really keep these things in mind before just diving in.

The graphics are pretty impressive within the game. You have some fully animated cutscenes in addition to the normal ones. The game also allows you to swap between the modern character portraits or the more retro styled ones. The game is always very clear visually on what’s going to happen next. Then we have the soundtrack which is also pretty good. It’s a little more limited but there was a danger theme that I enjoyed a lot. So that was a good one to listen to.

In terms of replay value you have the trophies to try and obtain. That should take you a very long time because of all the endings. There is also a post game dungeon to try and complete as well. So you’re getting a good amount of content here. The main campaign is probably around 10-12 hours as well so that’s decent. When you combine all of the content, then you’re definitely in good hands here.

The only improvement I’d like the game to have would be a quick travel. It just feels like that should be a necessity for any RPG nowadays. If not, then you at least need a way to turn the random encounters off. Whether you do that directly by turning them all off or only turning them off when they are a certain number of levels below you, both are solid options. I dare say that would make this game even better, but like I said that’s just a minor quirk. Ultimately it’s not a big enough deal that it would significantly hurt the experience for you. There’s also no excuse or you to be underleveled as a result of it. Make a backup save every now and again just in case though.

Overall, Star Ocean is a great game. In some ways you can call it a very basic RPG but it does the job for me. You have enough time to get used to the characters and the story is good. I liked the gameplay and the technical effects were all good. I have no real complaints with this game and in general I just really enjoy RPGs. You can’t really go wrong with the genre and it tends to churn out a lot of the all time best video games. I look forward to seeing what the next Star Ocean adventure will be like.

Overall 8/10

Marvel’s Avengers Review

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After all these years I get to see what all the fuss was about for this game. It really had a tragic history as the game decided to be a live service title and those never do well. I contributed to this since I never got the game. Live service can work to be sure but I generally think it needs to be a free to play title. Even then the market is pretty saturated at this point. The game goes for dirt cheap nowadays though and you get all of the unlockables by default so that’s a lot of content. Ultimately it is a great game and I hope one day we get another big budget Avengers game that is made with a proper ending.

The story starts off with you playing as Kamala. She was at the big Avengers expo when they are attacked by a bunch of robots. They manage to stop the invasion but not before thousands of people are murdered and a genetic weapon is exploded which forcibly alters the DNA of many in attendance. These people are being referred to as the Inhumans and they are being hunted by AIM. AIM now controls the entire country and continues to spread. The Avengers have broken up and are too depressed to do much about this. So Kamala will have to save the world and reunite the team in the process.

It’s definitely an ambitious story here. The game decides to not actually have the Avengers present for nearly the entire base story. I feel like you could only make this decision if you actually think that you’ll be around for years and years. So I do like the confidence, I can really appreciate that. That being said, it is a risky move for a reason. You’re probably looking forward to properly playing as Captain America and Thor who have not really had a triple budget experience prior to this. Hulk and Iron Man have had their fun before but not the rest of the team.

We do get the 4 DLC update stories though so that’s pretty fun to play through. The Avengers are finally back for those and we gradually unlock more and more characters. There are well over 100 missions within the game and tons of items to buy and such. The menus for upgrading equipment and stats can be a bit overly convoluted though. There are just so many menus. It reminds me of a mobile game where you decide to download it in year 3 and there’s just so much going on. I think the best games can mitigate this to an extent but Avengers does feel pretty overwhelming at times.

Like I mentioned, the gameplay is really why you’re here though. It’s very solid with a lot of care being put into the combat system. You have a whole lot of attack options at your disposal so you can approach a fight in different ways. Additionally you have numerous takedown animations and can equip up to 11 at a time. Mix that in with the dozens of costumes for each character and you’ve got so many options at your disposal. It’s really a fun thing to see.

Keeping up with the best gear and equipment can be a bit of a nuisance but it’s not completely necessary. There was just one fight that was particularly tough for me and that was the Maestro. He beat me several times so I actually had to pay attention to my gear. All of the DLC missions auto scale their level to match yours which is why they are considerably tougher. Definitely keep that in mind since you may even want to pick a weak fighter for that reason. Go too weak and it’ll feel just as painful though.

The graphics are definitely really good. This feels like 1st party Sony from the character designs to the destroyable environments. I don’t have any real issues on the visuals. The soundtrack is a bit generic though. Now the biggest issue here are the loading times. They are absolutely brutal and far longer than you would expect. The first time you boot up the game for each session can take almost 5 minutes to actually start playing. Then between every mission you get close to 2 minutes of loading times.

These really add up as you play the game and it’s the one big technical issue here. You’ll run into some visual ones as well but this is one that actually affects gameplay which is what makes it a really big deal. It’s too bad they couldn’t have optimized this a little bit in the final dlc update or something. That would have been cool but making everything free offline was already a big step so I suppose I won’t say much here.

Each character has a very unique moveset so you don’t have to worry about them all feeling the same. I enjoyed playing as Iron Man the most because I always love beam spamming. The other characters were all fun too and the main story forces you to play as quite a few of them which is a good thing. Otherwise I have a tendency to just stick to my favorite character the whole time. I found Black Widow to be the toughest character to play as so it’s no coincidence that I lost several times when playing as her. I doubt they literally made her the weakest on purpose or anything but that would be funny if that was the case.

Overall, Avengers is a pretty great game. Definitely one I would recommend checking out. You have a lot of parkour and high octane action. It’s the kind of 3D experience I feel like we don’t see a whole lot of from Marvel outside of a few characters. Spider-Man typically gets a lot of action but otherwise Marvel isn’t super active. We need more games like this, but done offline. It’s a shame we couldn’t get to the end of the story here but the journey is still long enough to make this a W either way. You’re getting a pretty decent amount of content within this one and that’s not even counting all of the side content. It should keep you busy for quit a long while. If they ever make another Avengers game then I’ll be ready to check it out. Hopefully that can arrive sooner than later.

Overall 8/10

Final Fantasy VIII Remastered Review

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It’s time for another legendary Final Fantasy adventure. This one really switches up the mechanics quite a lot. I have to admit that going into it I didn’t know a whole lot about the gameplay. I kind of just assumed it was the same ole style as the others but in this case it was actually quite different. Leveling up isn’t particularly necessary here and is in fact discouraged for parts of the game. I tend to be a heavy farming guy though so that would be a real change of pace. Give me an RPG and I’ll usually give you a few hours of fighting every minion that I can.

The game follows a group called SeeD, who are soldiers with a mysterious purpose. Squall has always been extremely talented but he’s not the most personable fellow. He does the job but isn’t here to make friends. He does share a nice dance with a new girl who shows up though and it turns out that she is with a resistance faction. This is going to get Squall into a lot of trouble right? Well, the whole group is in trouble as he starts to find out about the secret bosses behind the organization and that their purpose may be rather nefarious as well. Additionally, he’s having these strange dreams of being someone else in the past. What can it all mean?

Final Fantasy VIII does a great job of reminding you how weird the franchise could be back in the day. Final Fantasy is part of what popularized the trope of RPGs having incredibly convoluted plots with tons of twists that would shock the normal audience. This game fits quite in with that as we have time travel, abilities that let you transcend time, and there are a ton of twists. The story is definitely great and the ending really seals the deal in a good way. If you haven’t checked this one out yet then you should get on that.

So what about the gameplay then? Well, it’s an active turn based combat system similar to Final Fantasy XIII. When it’s your turn you have to move quickly because the opponent’s turn gauge is still loading up. This is one of the toughest things because you have a whole lot of options and you have to go through them quickly. We’re talking attacks, magic, summons, draws, etc. Now what are draws? Well they’re a big point of emphasis in this game.

You can basically drain an enemy’s magic to use as your own. Sometimes they will even have a secret summon hidden among the options. The tricky thing is that it can feel like a waste of a turn at times. You can stockpile magic which helps with the grind though. See, your summon can be equipped and then you add magic onto your connection which increases your stat.

You can equip magic to each stat based on if your summon has them unlocked. Then if you have 100 of that magic spell, it will greatly increase your stats. That means you probably don’t want to be using that magic a whole lot though. It’s really hard to keep track of all this though and if you don’t draw enough, you’ll actually lose out on some summons which is rough. By the end of the game I got most of them but still missed around 4 or so which means that my stats were permanently nerfed.

When battling enemies you earn EXP for yourself and for your summons. You can then have the summons learn new abilities through AP which you then connect onto yourself. It’s a whole lot of things to remember and you can only equip 2-3 abilities at a time out of dozens. So choose carefully. Also make sure you actually add magic/summons as options on your menu or you will wind up in battle with only the ability to attack.

Several times I went into battle without the ability to use magic because I forgot to re-equip it after getting into battle. I wish those settings would save even when removing your summons but eventually you’ll just be reminded to check. You can level up your weapon by getting a bunch of items and finding a magazine to learn the recipe from but I never ended up getting the hang of that. So I beat the game with the default weapons. That meant attacking was basically useless for the whole game so I relied exclusively on magic and summons.

There’s also a whole card game built into Final Fantasy and this is how you learn a lot of strong magics. I probably should have played the game much more but in the end that’s why I had to grind hard on an island to get magic. I lost my first card game and never ended up going back into it. You later gain the ability to turn opposing monsters into cards but I never got to try that.

Then the cherry on top is that the enemies scale with you but they do so at a higher rate. So if you are level 5 then your opponent will be level 5. You will have the advantage though because you started out stronger. However, if you are level 20 and your opponent is level 20, now they have the advantage because they gain stats much quicker than you do. So there’s a lot to consider here and getting too strong can be an issue. Apparently they stop scaling around level 60 so you could eventually just power level to a point where they can’t stop you. The summon abilities are what you are really supposed to lean on though.

It goes against my usual strategies but I adapted. You can see how the game is really complicated and in depth with all of these mechanics though. It makes for a pretty intense experience. I’m not in fan of some of the mechanics to be honest. I like my RPG experience to be a bit simpler. In general I feel like going too far into the weeds can make a game feel a bit more like homework than just letting you have a blast. The game is still great overall and I had my fun but the gameplay does lag a bit behind the others.

The remastered version does have two good quality of life features though like being able to turn off random encounters as well as speeding up the game 2X. Certainly great when you have to run around the world looking for a spell or the next destination. There is also an option to just make the game much easier by multiplying your attacks but I didn’t use that one since it is going a step too far. Without the double speed though, the gameplay might have felt a bit tedious at times with how long the combat animations are.

When it comes to the graphics, the Final Fantasy games never disappoint. This one certainly doesn’t either with a lot of great effects the whole time and attention to detail. It was always a real treat to see the fully animated cutscenes that would come up from time to time as the game flexed its CG. The soundtrack is also pretty good. Perhaps not quite as noteworthy as some of its rivals but I liked the final boss theme and there was also a really good tension theme. That one had a whole lot of replay value to it.

In terms of value, the story will take you around 30 hours. There is also a ton of other things to do in the game like beating all of the card fighters so by the end you’re probably looking more at 50 hours or so. If you go too far then you won’t be able to tackle the side content so you should always have a backup save at the ready. There are plenty of areas to get soft locked. Either way you’re getting a ton of value here, especially since you can sometimes get the game for under $10 when it is on sale.

Overall, I would definitely recommend picking this game up. You should really take time to actually learn the gameplay style though. You can cruise through a lot of the game like I did by playing it normally but then when you get stuck it will hurt a lot more than if you had already gotten the fundamentals down. I really had to change my whole approach near the end and even then I barely won. Had I been defeated by the final boss’ last phase that would have been a real setback. You always do expect that the game will end with a bang though and it did not disappoint. I look forward to seeing how Final Fantasy IX goes.

Overall 8/10

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order Review

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It’s sure been ages since I played the first two Ultimate Alliance titles. The first one is super nostalgic for me, I’ve seen the cutscenes numerous times and remember how much fun it was to play. The second one I remember feeling like a downgrade but it was still pretty fun. Now after all these years I get to check out the third one. It’s pretty solid although it does feel like the gameplay/story are weaker compared to the last ones. Still ends up being a fun overall experience.

The game starts with the Guardians of the Galaxy causing trouble as per usual but this time it gets serious because the Infinity Stones are at stake. Peter Quill acts fast and prevents Thanos’ army from getting them but now they are scattered across Earth, where most villains reside. They will have to team up with the Ultimate Alliance in order to get them back. This will mean tangling with powerful foes like Magneto and Green Goblin. Will the heroes be able to do this?

You get to see a whole lot of Marvel heroes and villains here which is pretty fun. The story certainly does move at a breakneck speed as a result and the story tries to cycle the characters who appear in the cutscenes a lot. I think a better approach would have been to send different members to each mission to force you to play as a bunch of different characters but that may have gone against the game design philosophy. This game makes it easy to constantly switch out your party every level if you want to.

Personally I stuck to my team as soon as I unlocked the fun ones. I went with Thor, Psylocke, Iron Man, and Wolverine. A pretty good team if I do say so myself. The game can actually get rather challenging so I would encourage you to stick to a team. You do get bonuses based on the character dynamics though so you may want to just play as Avengers for an easier experience as they get a nice bump. I just wanted to play as the characters I wanted to play as so I didn’t really worry about any of that.

One of the toughest levels was actually the first one. I don’t know why but the Guardians have some of the worst movesets possible. You will want to get rid of them as soon as possible. I think it made the whole gameplay feel weaker before I switched out. For example Starlord has so much recoil that he goes backward with every hit. Then you have Drax as the power hitter but he doesn’t do much damage. So yeah you want to get them out of there. I do think part of what makes the gameplay a little weaker here is how airy everything feels though. You don’t feel the oomph behind the blows the way you would have in the older action games.

It also means that the big beat em up sections aren’t as satisfying because you want to really be blowing them away. Instead you’re just spamming attacks until you win. There are many ways to get stronger such as equipping ISO crystals, filling out your skills matrix, and upgrading your techniques. It’s not the most convenient way to get stronger that I’ve seen but it’s definitely worth going through those menus. You also have your general level ups as well. Like I mentioned, the game can be difficult so if you don’t do that, then you will likely be losing a lot of battles.

You can grind by doing different Rift missions at any time. So at least you won’t be getting stuck anywhere. The game makes sure that you have the tools that you need in order to get stronger. The story also feels like it’s at a decent length. Mix that in with the bonus missions and you have a good amount of bang for your buck. If you are here for the story, it’s still fun to see everyone interacting. The scope of danger is also the highest that it’s ever been with reality in the balance but none of the heroes take it particularly seriously so you probably won’t either. I would have liked to have seen more unique character interactions within the story but due to the structure of how many characters are around that may have been difficult.

The graphics are pretty solid. The game is very colorful and the characters all look very sharp. The different game locations are all immediately recognizable and so I have no issues here. The soundtrack is surprisingly good although it is extremely limited. So fortunately I enjoyed the main theme but if you don’t like it, well be prepared to be hearing it for almost every cutscene. That’s why it’s important to have a good theme and since the game pulled this off, there’s nothing to worry about. On a technical level the game holds its own.

One nitpick I have with the game is that every characters starts out with only a single special attack instead of the usual 4. You gradually learn the other 3 as you level up through the game. It doesn’t take too long to learn them but I think I was halfway through the game before I got my first character to have all 4 attacks. So until then I was spamming even more than usual since I only had a single attack to use. I feel like you should have all attacks learned from the start. Also we can probably ditch the platforming for the next game. It’s clear that this wasn’t the developmental focus of the game and it’s extremely choppy. I don’t think anybody’s playing this game for platforming so that can safely be dropped.

Overall, Marvel’s Ultimate Alliance 3 is a pretty fun title. You’re playing this for classic popcorn fun and it definitely succeeds in that area. I can see some gamers playing it through a few times to talk to every character and maximize how much enjoyment they get out of it. You can’t say that the game is low on content after all. I’d like an Ultimate Alliance 4 at some point with a heavier emphasis on the crossover aspect. Maybe make it a reboot so we can get all of the original meetings. When this game starts, the Ultimate Alliance is already a team led by Nick Fury after all. Going in fresh could add more potential to the series, particularly since most of the characters have already been used by this point.

Overall 7/10

Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest – The Adventure of Dai Review

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This is one of those games where I was able to get it for a super great price thanks to the PSN. Under $10 for a full game like this is one of those deals where you can’t go wrong. It’s definitely a great title with a whole lot of action and content. It’s too bad the title couldn’t make it to the end though considering how detailed it was. Maybe they just ran out of development time at the last second or something.

The game follows a kid named Dai who grew up with monsters. One day, they are attacked by some pesky humans and then even by a demon lord. Dai has to finally leave his island and become the champion of the world. This will not be an easy fight for him but it’s one that he is ready for. He has many powerful allies by his side and each one will be needed as he fights against the onslaught of demons. This is a story where the villains always tend to have the edge but the heroes pull out wins in the end.

The story uses pictures from the anime and then overlays them with voice acting. So I can see this being hit or miss for folks but fortunately the story is really engaging so it works. Additionally there are some times where you will get fully animated cutscenes and that is always a really nice treat. The story feels pretty long as a result and I’d say we’re looking at over 10 hours here. Maybe 13-14 or so? There are also bonus battles for you to engage in so that you can get some bonus trophies as well.

Outside of the story, you have the temple mode. This is a mode where you start out at level 1 and see how far you can get. The levels reset every time and each fight lets you pick which door you want to go through next. This determines your stats so in a way it’s like a roguelite mode. A pretty fun addition but I don’t think you’ll be spending too much time here. Unless you want to get the Platinum in which case you will spend a lot of time here.

The graphics are really solid. This is definitely a game that has a lot of polish and was trying to excel at all times. The effects within the gameplay are always very sharp and the CG cutscenes hold up. The soundtrack is excellent since the theme song had a ton of amazing tunes. The game is able to bring them all back which was really a great decision.

As for the gameplay itself, it’s a 3D action title. You could even say it’s a full on beat em up with how a lot of the levels are structured. You have your standard moves, then you have 4 special attacks. You have a super move as well and can parry/dodge attacks. Dodging is usually your best bet since parrying is a really tough mechanic to master here. The enemies always seem to be attacking at absolutely rapid speeds.

It is very important that you level up the characters because otherwise the game will catch up to you. When I was playing through the story, I actually got overwhelmed several times. So then I would replay the levels over and over to get a ton of exp. Gaining levels is a pretty quick process so it won’t take you long to grind. If you want to level up your equipped cards, then you do have to go into the temple mode though and hope for duplicates which is how you get the currency for those power ups.

My biggest issue here would be the cards in general since that power up scheme is a little too convoluted for me. It would be better if you could just power them up directly like you do with exp. I suppose they really wanted you to play the temple mode though. At least I can say that the cards aren’t super important to actually completing the game. The main story can be completed without getting them to a high level or anything like that.

You have 4 main characters who are playable here. Each of them gets a second form later on but fortunately the levels stick so you don’t have to grind the individual forms. They do require different cards for some reason though so get ready to spend a little extra time on your loadout. I give the game credit for making each character play differently though. Dai is always the most satisfying one to use but that’s partially because I had him at the highest level. The others had to work in order to reach that level. Maam’s good for healing abilities though, it’s nice to just heal endlessly.

A slight missed opportunity for the story mode was not having a level where you see the 4 characters fighting together though. I would have thought it just wasn’t possible but then in the temple mode you have all 4 fighting in real time so clearly that’s not the issue. Maybe it would have just been hard to code in but I absolutely think it would have helped to enhance the game 100%. Would have really made the final level feel huge in scope.

Overall, Dragon Quest is a pretty great action title. It’s definitely a lot different than the main line ones but as long as you enjoy beat em ups then you will enjoy this one as well. It’s direct and to the point. You’ll be getting a lot of content here and there is a solid amount of replay value for the trophies. If you really don’t like visual novel type storytelling, then that would be the only reason for me to tell you to be wary of this one. Otherwise you are all set for a good time.

Overall 8/10

Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution Review

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It’s time for the return of Shantae! This game seemed like it would never come out for many years but now it has been finalized and released to the public. It’s definitely a pretty fun title and I’ve always enjoyed the games quite a bit. I would have appreciated a good map for this one since the backtracking can be tricky without it but I don’t have many real qualms with the title. If you like a fast paced Metroidvania then this is the one for you.

The title starts with our half genie hero Shantae faced with a new crisis. Risky Boots has returned and she intends to sink the entire country while looting it to the ground. Shantae will have to find the legendary relic hunters in order to spoil Risky’s plans but to do so she will need to face off against the terrible trio. Three powerful monsters who have sworn allegiance to Risky. So this won’t be easy by any means. Fortunately Shantae has a lot of friends on her side as well.

These games are always pretty light with some dark tones underneath. The banter is always a lot of fun. Now these games do tend to have quite a bit of fanservice but that’s easier to ignore in a game since you’re focused on the combat. It’s still a lot more in your face compared to other titles though so it’s enough to note. The game is especially shameless about this for the ending where they make sure you know what’s going on. Fortunately the script and gameplay are still strong enough here to make up for that.

This is a 2D platformer so you can jump, attack, and use a lot of special abilities to get through. I didn’t use any of the special abilities until the final boss because for the most part your normal attack is already busted enough. Your specials are really good though. For example you can become completely intangible with one of them, double your attack power with another, etc. You can also buy items that completely restore all your hearts and it only costs 10 gems. So this is a game where you essentially control your difficulty based on whether you use these items or not. You could choose to skip them and then naturally there will be more of a challenge.

One of the important things that the title does well is let you feel stronger as you get more power ups. It can often be the tipping point between a good and bad Metroidvania. For example you get a faster swimming form near the end so you can easily dash through areas that took a while at first. Then you get a flying form at the end so you can skip a lot of the platforming. These are absolutely crucial additions to the game because they feel like a suitable reward for playing. It’s nothing new for the series but always worth mentioning.

The game is a little short but there is still a good amount of content here. Finding all of the collectibles will take you some time and if you want the elusive platinum trophy then you are going to have to complete the whole game in under 4 hours which will not be easy. I ended up clearing it in around double that time for reference. You will really have to get a great sense of where the next items are each time. I would often get lost between chapters.

I guess the main advice I’d give is to constantly make sure to talk to everyone for hints and for them to give you more collectibles. I apparently got around 80 collectibles out of 100 so that’s not too shabby if I do say so myself. Perhaps next time I could get that number even higher. Most of the collectibles feel natural to obtain without you having to do a lot of crazy things or take on a fully alternate path. Then there are a few that you can easily see but it’s just difficult to get where they are.

There is a puzzle aspect to Shantae to an extent but it’s not a big focus. Yet another W for the game since we’re here for the platforming. The puzzle exploration stuff should only be something to supplement this as opposed to taking over. There are also several ways to approach a lot of the situations here with all of your abilities so you have a lot of freedom in how you play. There isn’t really a wrong way to enter battle here.

The soundtrack is really solid as always. There are quite a few fun references here and the final world in particular has a really ominous theme that worked really well. It was fitting for the game to let you know that the intensity was going up. The graphics are also really good. The artstyle is very colorful and fun. You’re never confused on what is going on within the levels. At worst, sometimes a platform can be hard to see because it doesn’t stand out next to the rest of the level.

Overall, This was a pretty good Shantae game. It’s definitely nostalgic to be playing through another one since the titles seem to come out so rarely. Hopefully the next one arrives sooner than later because the formula is really a strong one. I could play through these all the time and they are a staple for how Metroidvanias should be. Well, it’s just missing the map but that’s it. I’d recommend checking this one out if you haven’t already purchased it.

Overall 7/10

Astalon: Tears Of The Earth Review

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It’s time for another Metroidvania and this time it even has rogue elements! You can’t go wrong with that, at this point it’s safe to say that I love rogue elements. Throw those into every game. For those who are not familiar, it basically refers to any game where you can obtain permanent upgrades once you die. In essence, every death gets you closer to completing the game. I like when you have something to show for your efforts. It is also why I really enjoy RPG titles because that’s how level ups work. If it were up to me, you would be able to do this in every game.

The game starts with a party of 3 approaching a tower. They need to stop the villains here because right now the waters are all being poisoned and people are dying. Just about everyone in their village was destroyed as well. A mysterious Black Knight stands in their way as well as a legion of Gorgon monsters. It’s unknown exactly how they will get past them but they haven’t died yet..or have they? Well, it turns out that the spellcastor made a deal with an evil deity of death where he can be revived along with his two comrades every time they die. Only he will remember though and once they have conquered the tower, he will surrender his soul.

It’s essentially a classic deal with the devil but the mage felt that there was no other way and it’s easy to see why. They die many times in this tower so without the deal they would all be dead and the world would be over. Your soul is naturally an absolutely huge price to pay but in a story like this it’s hard to say how you could succeed otherwise. Additionally this is how the story explains all the power ups so the party literally gets stronger at all times.

The gameplay differs depending on who you are playing as. You have the swordsman who is good for classic hack and slash gameplay. He’s basically average in every way. Then you have the archer who is extremely quick but she also ends up having low defense. Her double jump is immensely handy for platforming too. Then you have the mage who is slow but packs an absolute punch. His energy blasts can go through walls and hit enemies from a distance. The game will have you constantly switching between the three of them as you go through the game to solve each of the puzzles.

Metroidvanias will be good or bad all depending on how you handle the world at large. Is it easy to travel? Are there any quick travel points or shortcuts? Do you actually feel stronger as you go through the map? These are all absolutely critical pieces of the puzzle and I have to admit that a lot of games surprisingly mess this up. It really shouldn’t be hard but I suppose it might be a case where this is easier said than done.

Well, this one pulls it off as long as you can find these things. For example, the quick travel key is found in a random room on the map. I found it fairly quick but it easily could have taken me a long while. Same with the portal key and every other quality of life key. The fact that the game made each quality of life feature a physical item in the map was pretty fun. It helped make the place feel rather massive. Like at first you have to find a campfire to switch between party members and eventually you get an item where you could do that at any point.

For most of the game you have to die in order to access the shop and then later on you are able to access the shop from different points on the map. There are also a lot of secrets in the game that I didn’t fully understand. I recommend holding down the attack button as the mage because attacking invisible things seems to work sometimes. Some switches are invisible for example and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Later on you will end up finding a statue that wakes up when you blast 8 randomly glowing skulls throughout the hub world.

I don’t know what it does yet because I only found 5. The map is so huge that by the time you beat the game there will still be around 20% unexplored. This is because you need a bunch of blue key to unlock the white/red keys and then you use those to find more blue doors and then you need more blue keys. Every room has tons of secrets and while it can be a little overwhelming, it’s also fun because you know this way that there are always more ways to get stronger.

Whether it is in finding health items, magic items, or even just beating more enemies to put into the bestiary, you are always doing something. There are enough elevators and your speed is high enough where that is all really fun throughout. The game really feels smooth the way that a modern game should. I was really satisfied with the gameplay and I ended up making the mage my best fighter. He seems to easily do the most damage so you can just run up to a boss and really beat the health out of him.

There are a lot of different power up options to choose from when you die. I recommend grabbing the one offs first like being able to see all secrets on the map and getting the description ability. You can also buy 3 extra cutscenes which shows you the whole history for the main villain. After that, you should focus on only one character and max him out. I went with the mage of course but you can power up the others once you have beaten the game. You want one solitary fighter who can be the best.

I gotta admit that some of the things to buy are a little too vague. I feel like the game should give you descriptions when you buy items instead of just having to go by the title. Personally I got the wrong impression of the item on a few different occasions as a result of their being so vague. I suppose it’s meant to work well with the fact that the game is super vague in general but there are limits to that. Let me see what I’m buying!

The artstyle is really good. It’s got that retro look but stays very colorful and I also appreciated the rare illustration like right when you are about to fight the final boss. It looks really good all around and the game has to load a bunch of villains at all times with no real lag. The processing within the game is on point. The music is also good enough. It’s not super notable but works with the story.

The game’s story will probably take you around 8-10 hour or so. Then if you want to get the platinum that’ll probably take longer still. It’s a game that has a good amount of bonus content and that comes with more story and lore details. So I’d say it’s definitely worth it and I guess many agree with me because nearly half of all players got the 100% ending. That’s super impressive and I’ll have to go for that at some point because right now I’ve got an E rank in the game even after beating the campaign. Now that’s surprising!

Overall, I definitely recommend this game! Rogue elements go hand in hand with a Metroidvania experience like this and make the whole thing better. The game was a real blast and it’s why from the Christmas batch I had to jump into this one right away. If they ever make a sequel to this one then I will definitely be ready to play it. You really can’t go wrong here so even if you aren’t a big fan of the vania style, I recommend trying this one.

Overall 8/10

Batman: Arkham Origins Review

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The Batman Arkham games have definitely been a blast and so now it’s time to get back in there with another one! Arkham Origins is a great addition to the series and easily has some of the longest cinematic battles within the series. The fights with Deathstroke and Joker were good examples of QTEs mixed in with live combat. It’s all aged incredibly well so this is a game that is very strong on all sides.

The general plot involves Black Mask putting a bounty on Batman’s head. It’s a rather large sum and so now Gotham’s most dangerous villains are all after him. Batman is fairly early in his career and yet he will have to deal with a wide assortment of crazy villains. Finding Black Mask will not be easy, particularly since GCPD is also after him at full speeds. Commissioner Gordan is not exactly impressed with Batman’s approach after all.

Right away the gameplay will feel familiar to Arkham fans. The action is heavily centered around parrying. You want to be dishing out damage but also keeping an eye out for nearby attacks. If you time your parry right, you will block the hit and land a counter. You can also finish off an opponent but it will leave you vulnerable to attack. The benefit is that they will stay down and otherwise they will get up several times during the fight. So there is a lot of strategy here right out of the gate.

You also have an array of gadgets to help you out like smoke bombs and such but honestly they are sometimes more work than they’re worth. I preferred to just jump in each time and start the combos. I did die quite a few times though so perhaps this wasn’t always the right move. The game has a kind of old school level of difficulty. It’s tough enough where you will be dying quite a few times but the checkpoints are fairly close by so you never feel like you have lost a ton of progress. I would say it is really balanced. When you die, it’s always to a very avoidable mistake on your part.

What will really test your creativity are the stealth sections of the game. You often have to find ways to isolate a bunch of the villains and take them down one at a time. At the same time, the game does allow you to go and fight them if you want but the bullets deal massive damage. So this way you have some freedom to challenge the villains in whatever your preferred option is. I like that it’s not the kind of game where you instantly die as soon as the villains see you.

The graphics are really great and have definitely aged well. The art style nails a realistic look without making the mistake of trying to simulate a live action movie. As a result it is still stylistic enough to get the job done. The soundtrack is a bit more on the forgettable side though. I would have liked some kind of fast paced battle theme for some of the battles but that wasn’t really going to be the case in this one.

If I have any slight issue with the game, it’s that the loading times can be a bit long. When you boot up the game, there is no way to skip all of the company announcements. Then when you die, you have to watch a fairly extensive cinematic of the villain making fun of you. It’s not ultra long or anything but when you die a lot, it certainly begins to feel that way. It’s a nice touch that the villain mocking you will change based on the level but I’d prefer a quicker restart.

There is a lot of replay value here in getting the PS3 trophies to aim for a Platinum. It seems like a rather difficult set of trophies to get, or at least a very time intensive endeavor. One day I may go for it but this doesn’t seem like the highest one on my list for that reason. You are definitely getting a lot of bang for your buck here though. You can also unlock different costumes for after you beat the game, although low key I would have liked to have had those sooner.

There is also a progression system where you can use your level ups to unlock moves and such. The EXP system is maybe a little too generous though because you will have all of your moves maxed out before the end of the game. There are gadget upgrades you can do next but not without doing some kind of side mission so I never actually got around to that part.

Each of the boss fights have their own unique mechanics so you will be glad to hear that there are no recycled fights. Each one also incorporates some level of QTE into it. It’s not exactly surprising, the games have always been really good at that. Like I said before, this is a very high quality title that clearly had a lot of effort put into it. The main campaign may be fairly short but that is true for most of the games in this series. The replay value helps to counter balance that with how much more content is available.

Overall, Arkham Origins is a great title that really avoided making any big mistakes. You could tell that some of the platforming could be a bit clunky next to Arkham City but just on a relative level. If you look at the game on its own then it is as smooth as it needs to be. If you don’t own this game yet then you definitely ought to change that. This would also make for a pretty good movie one day. Now there is only one Arkham game left in my marathon adventures so we’ll see how that one ends up playing out.

Overall 8/10

Immortals Fenyx Rising Review

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This is one of those games that I passed by in the store 100 times. It’s clear that Ubisoft made a whole lot of copies for this one and unfortunately it doesn’t look like it panned out. You can usually get the game for about $5 which isn’t what you want to see for a big budget title. The writing definitely tends to be a big miss but the gameplay itself is really stellar. So this is a game with a lot of ups and downs but ultimately the gameplay is able to keep this one at a high level.

The game starts with Poseidon begging Zeus to free him from his endless torment. Zeus basically laughs at the idea and he’s busy because all of the gods have been taken down by a villain known as Typhos. Zeus is the last one ready to fight but Poseidon tells him the story of a mortal who may be able to tip the scales of battle. Her name is Fenyx and she is on a quest to save all of the gods. Perhaps if Zeus is amused by this story, he will free Poseidon. Maybe…he tends to shift with his moods at random points. Poseidon will have to risk it all here though and Fenyx is his only chance. She will have to harness all of her abilities to win this one.

So when it comes to the writing, this is definitely a game that isn’t taking itself very seriously. There are jokes in every other line and aside from Fenyx, all the other characters are total jerks. By the time the game does transition into being a more serious title, it’s just a little too late. There are definitely some lines that will get a chuckle out of you but also a lot that will have you rolling your eyes. Your best bet to enjoy the story is if you just really like that kind of annoying character. A character who complains nonstop but has absolute power so everyone just has to roll with it.

The game doesn’t shy away from all the darker parts of the old gods either. Zeus and the others are all basically evil with how many crimes they did so it’s hard to root for them. Typhos may be less sinister as he’s just evil in a basic destroy the world kind of way. Zeus and the others are busy torturing people for life so it’s a little hard to be worse than that.

Like I said, the gameplay is why you are really here though. It has a large hub world like Breath of the Wild, but you can glide at high speeds and have a more generous stamina bar. It lets you navigate the world a little smoother than Link. There is also a ton of content here with the main game being around 20 hours long and the bonus content will probably take you another 10 hours or so on top of that. Not a bad deal for your buck right?

The gameplay is intuitive enough where I had a lot of fun exploring and completing side missions. Not purely for the fun of it but because each power up makes a solid difference. The collectibles expand your health bar, potion inventory, stamina, and attack power. Even with all of those power ups, I still lost my initial attempt against the final boss which shows just how powerful he was. The game never gets absurdly difficult but it will give you a fair challenge. It’s not the kind of game you can just beat with your eyes closed.

The combat is all in 3D so picture any 3D action title. You have your sword, an axe, and a bow to shoot arrows with. I used axes for 90% of the game as they hit harder than swords and can also stun enemies. They are a bit slower but that’s fine. You can roll to dodge enemy attacks or parry them. I never tried parrying in this game because dodging felt a whole lot more natural but it’s worth noting that it is an option. So you want to keep it all in mind.

The game has enough customization where you can really have a very different gameplay style than the next player. Do you go aggressive or focus on parrying? The choice is really yours here. Then the puzzles come in a wide range of different options. They can sometimes be a bit too unclear on what you’re supposed to do but for the most part they aren’t bad. This game is probably the first time I’ve seen a puzzle rush as opposed to a boss rush. I was definitely not expecting that.

The graphics are pretty solid here. The artstyle isn’t my favorite but on the whole the game is clear. I only encountered two glitches and both were purely artistic ones so it’s not like losing save data or something. The soundtrack is more on the generic side though. None of the tracks were particularly impressive and you will forget them as soon as you put the game down.

That’s why the game is fully dependent on the gameplay here. There are a bunch of quality of life features here as well like quick saving anywhere, fast travel, and a super detailed map. I would like it if you could refine the map a bit more in terms of limiting what you want to appear but that’s me being a little greedy. This is still more than what most other games have. The clear progression and really fun action gameplay makes for a dynamite combo. I think you could pull off just about any kind of story with this gameplay because I’m just going to be addicted to the combat. This game was a good example of that as it is a very weak story compared to pretty much any game I’ve played in a long time and yet the experience was still a lot of fun. Not fun enough for me to buy the dlc though.

Overall, This is definitely a pretty unique game. I can definitely say that for better or worse I will certainly remember every bit of it for a very long time. The goo and the bad. I wouldn’t be running to grab a sequel but I certainly wouldn’t avoid it either. If you’re looking for a solid action game with a ton of content to play through, then this is a good one to check out. It will really test all of your abilities.

Overall 8/10

Pokemon Legends: Z-A Review

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It’s time for the latest big Pokemon adventure. I was definitely hyped to get this one as soon as they announced it. At this point Pokemon is just one of those games that you have to get right away. It may not always have the life or death stakes that you will see from other big games but the pure gameplay and quality of life features are always on point. This game is incredibly smooth and while you may run into the occasional issue, I can recommend it without any reservations. It’s really just a lot of fun all the way through.

The game starts off with the main character getting off the train into a new town. His luggage is stolen but a girl helps him get it back and asks if he wants to join her team. She helps keep the city safe while working at a struggling hotel. The manager, AZ is a guy who is said to be 3000 years old and is rather mysterious. Still, this means the main character has a place to live and immediately has 3 friends so it’s a pretty good deal. He agrees to help and gradually rises up the ranks. Still, there is something mysterious about the tower in the middle of the city. Terry may be uncovering a mystery that leads to disaster!

Now to be clear, around 90% of the game is just happy slice of life adventures. If you’re looking for a super epic game, this isn’t really it. Although the climax does end up being pretty intense so I have to give it some credit there. The game also has a good amount of callbacks to the original XY games and the continuity is pretty strong. I wasn’t expecting much in that area so it was a pretty nice bonus. Also while the game isn’t particularly difficult, the climax did raise the level for the opponents quite a bit. I ended the game around level 80 and that felt right for an adventure like this.

The main campaign took me around 20 hours and there is a short post game that would probably add a few more. You’ve got a good amount of content for your dollar here. Completing the Pokedex and all of the challenges will probably take a little time as well although probably not a ton. The game keeps the recent addition to the games where every member of the party gets EXP at the same time which helps a lot. You can also earn screws to permanently increase the exp boost and other passive effects.

I ended up getting enough screws for most of the passive effects. There are also about 140 side missions, I beat maybe 20 of those. They’re mostly all really fast and easy so you can have fun going through those. The most important thing here is that the game is just a lot of fun to play. It’s why you can even go out of your way to play the bonus content because it’s very easy to access. I didn’t come close to 100% or anything like that but I certainly had more fun exploring and doing bonus content than in other games. It just ended up feeling natural.

Now when it comes to the gameplay, this is a full real time adventure. So when you call the Pokemon out, you can have it use any of the 4 moves. There is no PP or energy meter this time so you can spam the attacks after the cooldown is over. This is fun but it does mean that the game is way less strategic than usual. Just spam your attacks until you win. Potions and revives are dirt cheap so you can keep on healing your Pokemon until you win. It’s why you should rarely lose here. The only time you may lose is if you let your guard down and let the Pokemon attack you directly. You have a health bar of your own but you can’t see the progress of it so sometimes you will die when you thought you had more health.

Occasionally your Pokemon will attack a wall by mistake or something like that but otherwise I didn’t really encounter many glitches. At times if there are too many Pokemon, the game can’t load them all so they teleport out of nowhere but these instances are few and far between. While the game may not be the most strategic, I still had a lot of fun battling. That’s a good thing since you will have to defeat well over 200-300 opponents over the course of the story. Many fights are over in less than a minute though so I have to underscore how quick they are.

Meanwhile the graphics are pretty solid. The game looks good even if it’s not quite at 2025 level. It looks like a game you may have played on the PS3 at some point. Nintendo isn’t worried about graphics though, they’re here to hit you with intense gameplay and they succeed on that front. The soundtrack is also way better than you may have expected. The songs have a lot of pop to them and there is a large amount of variety. Various bosses have their own theme which is really nice since lately you are stuck with just a general boss theme.

As you play through the game, you will have more and more areas where you can engage in a little platforming. It’s pretty fun and a good way to get more items. The world has an abundance of rare candies and screws to trade for more power ups. They even seem to be unlimited but I could be wrong about that. Either way the game is set up so that it’s very easy to level up. This allows you to switch up your party if you want to. For the most part I didn’t do much switching as I get attached to my main fighters but it wouldn’t set you back much if you did. Of course I recommend saving your rare candies as long as possible since each one is a guaranteed level up so you get the best bang for your buck if you wait until near the end in order to snag it.

Overall, This was a great game. I do get the concerns about the company phoning in the effort to an extent. It’s clear that this wasn’t a super high budget game and the lack of voice acting is still disturbing. That being said, it’s a lot of fun to play and at the end of the day that is the most important part for any video game. It never felt like the story was dragging on for me and there was no point where I just wanted to put it down. I could easily keep on marathoning it for a long time and I have to give the company a lot of credit there. The gameplay itself is really tight and that makes up for having a smaller world/cheaping out on different areas. I’ll still be eagerly awaiting the next Pokemon game as soon as it comes out!

Overall 8/10