Category Archives: 8 Star Games

Azure Striker Gunvolt: Striker Pack Review

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It’s time to finally take a look at the Gunvolt series. I remember always seeing this one around but I never got to try it back in the day. Well now was my chance and I can definitely say that the games hold up. They are great adventures with a solid story and really good gameplay. You’ll feel bad for Gunvolt himself as the poor guy always gets a rough ending but you will be on the edge of your seat each time.

In the first game, Gunvolt decides to quit the resistance group he was a part of because they wanted to murder a little girl. Yes the girl has dangerous abilities that could doom the planet but she’s just a kid. So he goes rogue with her and becomes a mercenary for hire. This quickly becomes a job where he will have to save the world though. Will his abilities be enough to defeat all of the other metahumans running around? In this world just about everybody has some kind of ability after all, but Gunvolt’s is one of the strongest.

It’s a good setup here and I like the futuristic environment. I would say it does feel like there wasn’t much point in Gunvolt leaving the group since they end up hiring him for every level anyway but I was glad he stuck to his principles. The gameplay is a classic 2D Mega Man style but moving at a faster pace. You’re pretty much always dashing around the map and blasting away at the enemies. The main difference here compared to a classic Mega Man title is your energy barrier. While it is up, no attack can harm you. You can also shoot while having the barrier up but your attacks will be much weaker. If you take the barrier down to strengthen your attacks then you take a risk.

It’s a pretty cool system and also a way to naturally modify difficulty. If you aren’t too sure of yourself then you can keep the barrier up at all times and just beat the level with a terrible time score. If you feel like you know the enemy then you can dash through and win with record times to really show off what you can do. I died a few times here and there myself. I wouldn’t say that this is a very hard game but the climax really doesn’t hold back. I don’t expect very many people will beat the final boss on their first shot.

The game also has clever ways around the barrier aspect without cheating like having an attack just break it. Yes, there are a small handful of attacks that can pierce the barrier but the final boss also has a wind attack to try and make you fall. If you fall, you die rather than respawning. So then you go all the way back to before the boss battle. Likewise the final phase of the boss is about speed so you have to defeat it before the walls close in on you. That means you have to remove the barrier and take your chances.

Just very clever gameplay all around here and each stage had its own gimmick. It made for a lot of great variety and made the game stick out. Sometimes you are messing with gravity, slipping with ice, going through walls, etc. So you’ve got to adjust and the variety also just shows a nice level of development time here. Many games have much lazier levels than that. As for the bosses, they are all different and unique so you have to tackle them in different ways. I was really impressed with it.

Then the graphics are solid as you would expect. It’s a very flashy game and the sprites look good. The art illustrations that we get are all on point and I also enjoyed the soundtrack. The lyrical songs were really good and the gimmick of your partner saving you with a song is pretty good. I also liked the general boss battles. The game even has a good amount of replay value as you have to go back and get all of the gems in order to unlock the true ending. There aren’t a ton of stages with gems so that won’t take super long but every bit helps. It’s also not a crazy requirement so you don’t feel like the game is really stalling you too hard.

After that we have the second game where they add even more content. After the tragic events of the first game, Gunvolt is doing his best to move on. He’s made some new friends and has gone back to taking on requests and helping out. Unfortunately a new group of villains show up and they steal most of the life force from his best friend. Gunvolt must now take them all down. Meanwhile there is a second story mode for the rival whose sister is abducted by these villains. He always knew that the Adepts (Metahumans) were evil and this proves it. He will destroy them all, including Gunvolt.

I gotta say this guy is really hype. His name’s Cogen in the Dub but in the subbed dialogue they always call him Akira or at least it sounds like that. Either way I liked him a lot in both games because he is a normal human going up against these crazy fighters. That takes a lot of guts and skills. It’s hard not to root for an underdog like that right? His style of gameplay is also way different. You have to use a little bot as additional lasers as you zip around. You can auto parry up to 3 attacks but then you have to recharge.

It’s the same meter as your super attacks though so you have to choose between attacking and dodging at all times. As a result I would say his gameplay is noticeably harder than Gunvolt’s. Meanwhile Gunvolt’s gameplay is mainly unchanged but the game finds more clever ways around his barrier. The final secret boss is also fun because you have to go up against a foe who has your barrier while yours is completely powered down by the super attacks. Now that was a really tough boss and it took me a whole lot of tries.

I think it’s safe to say that they amped the difficulty up on this one. Doubling the story content was also awesome. It may be a bit of a stretch having to beat the game 4 times in order to see all endings though. I think they could have added the final story as an extra level rather than having to replay the long boss rush level each time. The graphics look as good as always with it being very shiny and clear the whole time. I would say it probably looks a bit better than the first although they are very close. There may be more illustrations this time around.

The soundtrack is also great as always and this time we have more songs. The battle by the end is really hype and the game also does a good job of being very cinematic. For example at one point you are forced to lose so that you can get up with a super form in a very Shonen Jump type of moment. The game is an all around great package as you would expect.

Overall, Azure Striker Gunvolt is an excellent series and I highly recommend picking these two games up. You’ve got a good value when you have both games here and you don’t want to miss out on this sage. It would be something that you would absolutely regret the whole time. I’ll be reviewing the third game shortly so you can definitely expect to see that soon. Hopefully the franchise keeps on going because I could play games like this all day.

Overall 8/10

Star Wars: Jedi Survivor Review

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It’s time for the big sequel at long last. Jedi Survivor definitely took a while to come out but at the same time it took me a while to get it as well. It definitely does a great job of following up on the first title. The gameplay is still top notch with a really well developed combat system and way to get stronger. My one qualm would be that it feels like the Force abilities were all nerfed rather hard. There is virtually no reason to use it at all here as you can really just keep on surviving with lightsaber abilities and beat the enemies a lot quicker. Still, it’s possible there were some force strategies that I didn’t get to try which would have been a lot more useful.

The story starts a few years acter the first game with the heroes all splitting up to go their own ways. Cal is pretty upset because he feels like they all should have kept on fighting the Empire alongside him. Instead one created a bar, one went off to focus on data gathering, another to travel the universe, etc. Cal won’t give up though and continues to attack base after base but doesn’t seem to be making much of an impact. Perhaps it is all hopeless. A new recruit named Bode shows up though and has the old fire that Cal once did. Together perhaps they can meet up with the old members and start fighting again. Additionally, an ex Jedi is on the loose and has to be stopped before he causes some real damage.

There’s a lot going on with the story and you can definitely sympathize with Cal not seeing much in the way of results. That is how the main series tends to be as well. I still remember film 7 basically erasing films 4-6 in the intro with the Empire suddenly being back. The heroes need better logistical support or something because when it comes to the combat they really aren’t doing much at all. Even when they destroy thousands of storm troopers, new ones are just created. The Sith are very few in number but just seem to stick around. It really is hopeless to an extent.

The never ending fight against endless hordes makes for good gameplay though. It’s a bit of a shame that we don’t unlock the dark side until the final chapter of the game in this title. It feels great to be mowing through hundreds and hundreds of troopers the whole time. For the most part your level of power is lower so you won’t be doing that until the end. There is also one level where you play as another character and can one shot everybody which is pretty fun. I get why balance wise they can’t do that all the time but it really is a tremendously good way to have a change of pace.

The graphics are really good like I mentioned before. The lightsaber and general special effects all stand out on a pretty high level. The soundtrack is also good although I wouldn’t say there are any memorable tracks. They at least fit the moment while you are playing the game. The base game is close to 20 hours which is really solid and getting all of the collectibles and such will certainly extend the playthrough by a great deal.

The collectibles are generally not hidden too much which is good for at least getting a solid amount during the normal campaign. There are plenty of areas you don’t need to travel in during the story that will probably have a bunch of extra things to get. There are also a lot of side quests to go through and I didn’t actually end up doing any of them while playing through the game. So you can really see that the replay value is high here. There is a whole lot to add to your experience.

Also the parry system is still a lot of fun. You really have to have fast reaction times though because there are so many attacks which cannot be parried. Those tend to really be a hassle to deal with. Especially when they intermix inside of a combo and throw off your timing. I would just end up brute forcing my way through a bunch of the enemies as I got to the later parts of the game. It was easier than waiting for the parry. If you go for this strategy, just make sure to roll a lot. That’s the safest way to dodge an attack if you aren’t going to actively parry.

The game is reasonably difficult so you can definitely be assured that you will have to really concentrate on this one. Sometimes running past an enemy will not be worth it since they will then swarm you from all sides. Also the save points have a fun gimmick where if you choose to rest then all of the enemies you defeated will respawn. So you definitely want to be strategic about how and when you rest. Do it at the wrong time and you are effectively redoing all of the progress that you just made. Something to keep in mind. Also it’s why you should search through as many chests as possible. You should find at least 4 full life power ups during the game and they are permanent. So when you revive each time it’s like you have 5 health bars instead of 2. The game would have been a whole lot harder without those.

Overall, Jedi Survivor is a great game around the board. From the combat to the graphics, soundtrack, etc there is no area where the game is lacking. The length is good and there is a lot of replay value. You will definitely be glad that they decided to continue the series all the way through. There is definitely room for another game I’d say although I’m not sure how close they are to catching up to another big story point. This era with the Jedi is already jam packed but it’s also the most fun era so I get why you want to keep the stories here. It would be nice to see Cal fight Vader next time although Cal may need some serious upgrades first.

Overall 8/10

Beyond Good & Evil 20th Anniversary Edition Review

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This is one of those games where the title is absolutely legendary. I’ve heard of this game for so long but didn’t know anything about it. Well, I finally got to play through the game and it’s definitely a great title. It actually even managed to make taking pictures fun. The game ends up feeling a bit short but it really does set up the sequel well so I’m definitely eager to see where the story goes. A lot of potential here.

The game follows a reporter named Jade who lives on a planet that is constantly terrorized by aliens. She ends up joining the resistance and they aim to let the public know just how evil these aliens are. Most people are seriously brainwashed at this point so it won’t be easy but that’s their goal. In order to turn public sentiment to their side they will definitely need a lot of photos and evidence though. Is Jade up to the task?

The core gameplay is that of a 3D platformer. You can jump and roll but also smash away at opponents with your staff. Then a big part of the gameplay involves your camera for taking pictures of evidence against the villains or also for snapping photos of animals. Every 10 animals gets you a new pearl so you want to snap away at every one that you pass. You need a lot of pearls in the game in order to beat the game after all so you don’t want to miss any. The game is generous with giving you a lot of these as you play through but even then I still did need to beat all of the looter chases and the 2 races in order to get enough to beat the game.

The more pearls you find naturally, the less grinding you will have to do in the end. That’s always something worth considering here. It’s also fun because the side missions tend to switch up the gameplay a bit by having you use the various vehicles. By the end of the game you will have both a boat and an aerial vehicle so you will want to get used to using them both. Nothing beats the classic running around and swinging at enemies of course but every gameplay style has its moments here.

You also have various teammates who will show up to help for puzzles. Often times you will need to send one away to step on a platform or something like that while you take care of business. The main thing to remember is that they have very small health bars so you want to protect them as much as possible. If they take the wrong kind of hit then they’ll go down and you warp back to the last save point.

Fortunately that’s where the quality of life comes in. The save points are very close to each other and the game has constant auto saves. Losing a life never makes you lose a significant amount of progress which is nice. It’s especially handy because the espionage sections are actually really difficult. You need proper planning there and sometimes I even had to rely on a bit of good ole fashioned RNG like when I fell off a level and got back up but the enemy forgot about me so I landed the KO.

The combat is generally easier but the final boss was challenging. He took me down to a last hit scenario so I only barely defeated him. That could have easily gone sideways but it’s good for a final boss to be tough like that. He really tested my reaction times and everything. Having to fight while the controls were inverted was also a nice touch.

I did fall into two glitches during the game but at least they weren’t major. In one of them an enemy got stuck in a wall while holding the pearl so I had to restart and another time a gate closed while I was halfway through it. Again the auto saves come in clutch here because then I only lost like 2 seconds max. Really nothing to worry about at all in the grand scheme of things.

The graphics are definitely solid. The character designs are on point and there is a lot of variety here. The special effects when blowing up enemies are good and the cinematics go smoothly. The soundtrack is also good although it’s definitely more on the low key side. I can’t say that I would really be looking up any of the tunes on Youtube but they worked well enough within the game.

In terms of replay value, you can definitely aim for the Platinum trophy. I haven’t looked this up yet so I don’t know how hard it would be to obtain that but it will definitely add some time to your playthrough. The main campaign is around 7-10 hours so you’re in the double digits either way which is always the important part. Hopefully the sequel can maybe be a tad longer and keeps in the smooth picture aspect. There aren’t many games that are able to seamlessly add in the photo features without it being super forced or annoying so the game gets big kudos there.

Overall, Beyond Good & Evil is a game that mixed in a lot of classic combat with espionage while even fitting in a bit of a cosmic plot by the end. No way you can play through the whole game without admiring that. The sequel is certainly high up on my radar now and I would definitely recommend picking this title up. The story has aged very well and the overall game design was really on point. Some of the puzzles can get a little tricky and some mazes like the slaughterhouse can really be intense but there is always a fair answer to them. The game has a great amount of quality of life features here which is the cherry on top. You don’t want to miss out on this one.

Overall 8/10

Sword Art Online: Fractured Daydream Review

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It’s time to enter the world of Sword Art Online for the ultimate crossover hype! Lets just say this is one of those games that you can’t put down. It’s a really great experience that keeps you at the edge of your seats. The story may be shorter than the average game in the franchise but the crossover appeal more than makes up for that. It’s just such a good story and this is what I would have liked to have seen for Jump Force, the latest Super Smash, Marvel vs Capcom, etc. This game understands what people want to see in crossovers like this, which is a lot of unique character interactions.

The story begins with Kirito and his friends taking down some monsters and having fun in ALO. One thing that doesn’t make sense though is how Quinella is hanging out with the crew and Kirito doesn’t question this. Well, it turns out this is because the various worlds have all been warped and the characters have had their memories sealed. This didn’t work on Quinella since she is generally too powerful for any hax and she wakes Kirito up. The two of them must now wake everyone up and figure out exactly what is going on here. It’s also not just the heroes who have been awaken but the villains as well. Hopefully they are willing to play ball.

Now this is the one part of the story that will probably have you giving it the side glance just a bit. The odds of someone like Death Gun working with the heroes seems slim to none. Additionally some villains just deserve to get beat up the whole time like Oberon. Some villains make sense for the redemption arc like Heathcliff but that’s not the case for the majority. I suppose at best you could say this just works because the villains know they would be absolutely crushed if they try anything. It’s not the most convincing argument but it’s the best that I’ve got.

The graphics were really solid with this one. The character designs even felt a bit more light novel inspired which works well. It’s a very colorful game and they really nailed the feeling of seeing all of the different game environments mesh into one. Meanwhile the soundtrack is pretty fun as well. I will admit I was hoping for a lyrical song at the end though since the series is so well known for that. It was pretty surprising now to have that included in some fashion. The grand finale still felt really epic with all of the characters getting their hype dialogue but this could have really helped to push it over the edge.

Even with a fairly nice sized story mode, the game’s content is focused on the online. So that’s where most of the modes are and you will probably want to get the PS+ so you can really experience it. A large number of the trophies are connected to that as well so I’m not even going to get close to obtaining the platinum without it. Playing with friends and tackling the super bosses does sound like a good deal of fun though. It’s definitely an added bonus. There isn’t really any offline content outside of the story mode so you should keep that in mind in terms of replay value.

After you beat the game, you can aim to get a bunch of S ranks I suppose. The trophy related to that is for getting half of them so that doesn’t sound too bad to me. I got a few S ranks here and there and they would probably be even easier when replaying the levels since your characters are a lot stronger. Down the road that is the trophy I would aim for since it actually feels really achieveable. I won’t call it super easy or anything like that and it will take some time though.

While the gameplay can be a little slippery, I appreciate that each character plays in a way that is accurate to their game. The GGO characters have machine guns, zoom in, and all of the usual controls associated with a shooting game. the ALO players can fly and zip through the air which is really cool, etc. Then each character has their unique skills, a number of special attacks and more. The game absolutely put the effort in and I definitely appreciate that. This did feel like a fun anniversary treat for the fans and I hope we do get more Sword Art Online games. There are endless possibilities for a fun online environment like this so I don’t see why you would ever really need to stop. The days of adventuring with Kirito must go on!

Overall, This was an absolutely hype game all the way through. It’s probably my favorite of the Sword Art Onlines. Having this original story was a lot of fun and while the combat itself may not be the most advanced, I can see how they went with the more arcade style for online. This way anyone can just jump in and it’s easier to coordinate everybody. The large scale of this is fun and the story mode does work as a good intro to the online. Next time there is a free PS+ weekend I’ll definitely check it out even if just to get a few more trophies in there.

Overall 8/10

Vampire Survivors Review

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Now here is a game that takes me back. I’ve never played it before but I used to see it on streams all the time and it looked like a lot of fun. I like the idea of a survival game like this where you are surrounded by never ending legions of enemies. You really have a lot of decisions to make each time with the power ups and win or lose, it feels like it was all on you. It’s also a unique title that you can completely play with just one hand which is also cool. You could be texting while playing, watching a tv show, reading a book, etc. You’ll probably die quickly if you’re too distracted but it’s just such a novel idea.

So like I said, the idea is to survive here. You start out with a whip or an energy blast scepter. (You can buy other characters with your gold) When the game starts, there are only some enemies at first. You blast them and level up which lets you upgrade your default weapon, select a new one, or upgrade one of your other weapons. As the levels up continue, you have to make hard decisions. Do you boost all your attacks by 10%, unlock a 4th weapon or strengthen the original? I would say a good thing to do is try and craft a strategy. Pick the build you want to create based on what you start with. Like I love having a scepter/garlic build because it lets me shoot tons of energy blasts while I also have the garlic to protect me up close. This is the strategy that finally let me survive the full 30 minutes and effectively beat the game. That being said, there is no guarantee that I get the garlic option.

It’s why you can’t be too stubborn about the build you want. If the garlic never comes up, you will have to pick something else up and if garlic shows up too late in the game then it might not even be worth picking. A level 1 garlic won’t be doing much once you’re already level 20 after all. So definitely keep that in mind. It’s also fun to be experimenting with all kinds of different decks anyway. That’s how you really have a lot of fun. The game will take you a very long time to complete anyway. I finally made it to the 30 minute mark where I fought the super demon who destroys you in one hit. I heard there is actually a way to get past him which sounds crazy but I would consider that to be the end of the game.

Of course if you own the game and want to continue then this is amazing because it adds a ton of replay value. You will have to really trin properly there. Fortunately this is a Rogue title which means that you will gradually get stronger in every playthrough. While you fight off the legions, you want to grab as many coins as possible since that is how you unlock more characters and permanent upgrades. So if you just play long enough, you’ll eventually be starting off with 10% increases in damage, speed, and exp. Things like that make a massive amount of difference the more that you play. Personally I really like the EXP one. That’s how I made it to level 50 on the run where I finally survived the 30 minutes. Without that I would have definitely died earlier.

One big thing to remember during gameplay is to always defeat the sparkling enemies or any enemy that looks very different from the others. Why? Because those guys will drop treasure chests which always have at least 100 coins in them. They also drop an extra level up upgrade bonus so you really want that. These enemies are absolutely more durable and can be a royal pain to destroy but they are still worth it 100%. You can’t just think about the current run after all, you have to factor in your future runs and this is where those chests come in handy. So just keep on earning those coins, trust me there are so many power ups that it’ll take ages to get every power up anyway.

The graphics look pretty good. I’m impressed that the game can handle so many enemies on screen at a time even without a bigger budget. There is no lag or anything like that, the game run really smoothly. It’s super nice to see and of course all of the action is clear at all times. So the graphics are good and I also really like the main theme of the game. It’s catchy and definitely fills you with energy right out of the gate. It works perfectly with the gameplay to further enhance the game.

Overall, Vampire Survivors absolutely elevates this genre of game. I haven’t played any other title quite like this one and apparently it got so big that other games like this are named after it as Survivors now. I’d be curious to play more games like this one but I’ve heard that so far there has never been another game even close to this one. That’s a shame but I suppose it would definitely be really hard to stop. The game has a ton of replay value and is incredibly filled with content for the price. This is a game that I could absolutely recommend purchasing even at its normal price. You are bound to have a whole lot of fun with this game and it will be hard to tear yourself away from it. It’s why I say that games with a power up system where you feel yourself getting stronger are absolutely awesome.

Overall 8/10

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom Review

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As soon as they announced this game I knew it was going to be hype. It’s about time that Zelda got to carry her own adventure as well. Link had his fun but even Peach has already gotten 2 games to herself. This time Zelda got her first big budget title and it’s a whole lot of fun. I would even say it’s more well polished than any of the other overhead LoZ titles. It also has one of the best portrayals of Link to date which was pretty cool. He doesn’t get shortchanged just because it’s not his game this time.

The story starts with Link breaking into the villain base and taking names. This is Link from the end of the game so he has all of his weapons and abilities and man is it a blast. He just mows everybody down like it’s none of his business. We get a terrific opening boss and then something massive happens and we switch over to Zelda. It’s now her turn to save the world from the dangerous rifts that are befalling the land. She will have to use a legendary scepter that lets her create echos of any object or minion that she defeats with it. Will these abilities be enough to stop the legions of villains that are after her? Only time will tell.

Right away you could tell that there was a whole lot of passion and heart into this project. The levels look absolutely great with a lot of solid details the whole time. The colors are vibrant and everything’s really nice. The art style works really well and it’s also very expressive for both the heroes and the villains. The soundtrack is a little limited but fortunately I really enjoyed the tunes so I didn’t really care too much. When you give me a solid tune, I don’t really worry about the rest. I just know that now I have a very solid background bgm at the ready.

The gameplay is your classic Legend of Zelda overhead style but with one big twist. Instead of always having the sword, you have the scepter and you use that to summon objects and enemies in order to get through puzzles. It reminded me a lot of Scribblenauts where you have countless ways to get past each obstacle. It all comes down to how creative you are about the whole thing. I can tell you I made sure to really be as creative as possible in most areas to get the maximum amount of fun. My go to object was definitely the bed.

You can stack it up in a lot of different ways and jump over large gaps. You can also use it to balance other items or buy yourself a few seconds when you’re trying to get objects to land at the same time. You can also use spiders to soar up to a high level, etc. I’m pretty positive that there were several areas where I cleared the obstacles in a way other than how the devs really intended but the results are really what matter right? So long as you get to the end, that’s what counts.

On the whole I would say the game is fairly easy but this does make you have to use your head a little. I really appreciated the game having a good map the whole time and always telling you where to go though. If you die, the respawn point is always super close and so you have a lot of quality of life details here. Additionally, you can sleep in the beds to gain hearts at any point. You even get the super bed later on. It is possible to miss these things though so I highly recommend scanning every object you come across. There is literally no downside to doing so after all and you’re only hurting yourself if you skip an important one.

Likewise you want to beat every enemy type at least once so that you can summon him. I got a super powerful level 3 sword fighter armored type villain early on and he was perfect for every boss fight. He has a super powerful lunge attack when you first summon him and so the trick is to summon him, let him attack, then summon him again. It results in a nonstop barrage of powerful hits that can down just about any opponent in an instant. Yeah that was really good stuff. Surprisingly the big array of summons is the only part of the game that didn’t feel fully optimized.

Scrolling through all of your echos by the end of the game gets rough because there are so many. It almost makes you want to keep using the same ones so you don’t have to go too far back. I still had fun switching them around though and admittedly this is a fairly small issue to even think about. It just takes more time than you would expect. Now while I would say this is easily one of the least difficult Zelda titles, you can always get overconfident and still die once or twice if you aren’t careful. The enemies deal a whole lot of damage in an instant so you want to watch out for that.

Also, the puzzles get easier the more side quests you complete which is a pretty cool mechanic. For example, when you complete puzzles in the rifts then you get more energy which allows you to summon more things at once. Let me tell you, it’s way easier to make it past a series of gaps when you can summon 8 beds vs 4. So I encourage you to knock out all of the rifts and side quests on the way. Most of them just take under a minute anyway for civilian missions and maybe 2 minutes for rifts. In exchange you will have more hearts and power.

As a final note, this is also one of Link’s best portrayals and I have to give the game major props for keeping his reputation strong as the hero. He’s not suddenly powerless without his equipment or anything like that. He helps out a great deal and show really solid reaction times all the way. He’s an absolute game changer and definitely a fighter you are not likely to forget. The climax of the game is also an absolute blast and I’d like to see more of this in the future. Echoes of Wisdom had a ton of fantastic ideas here and it also had more of a story than I’m used to for the overhead games. In short, there is absolutely a ton to enjoy here!

Overall, Echoes of Wisdom is definitely a great game. It’s the kind of title that you never really forget about and it will go down as one of the best Zelda titles. I do wish it had more of a post came though. Not that I’d have the time to play it right now but it does feel like there’s not a ton of bonus content. I beat most of the side missions and got most of the stamps on the way to beating the game. It definitely added some solid hours into the game but even with 100% I wouldn’t say this is a super long title. It’s long enough though and at the end of the day if you’re high quality enough, then that can make up for sheet length. You really don’t want to miss this one.

Overall 8/10

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Review

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After all these years I have finally gotten to play one of the legendary Legend of Zelda games from the Gamecube era. I remember reading through the user guide for this one so many times back in the day. I think it was a double pack with Wind Waker’s or something but it was always cool reading up on it. The manga was also fantastic so I had high hopes for the game. Let me tell you, it did not disappoint! I can safely say that it is the definitive title for the main Link, even if Wind Waker will always be the head honcho.

Everything was going good for a while until Link and his village are attacked by a bunch of creatures. They quickly overwhelm the heroes and curse Link into being a wolf. Fortunately Midna shows up and agrees to help Link. She will help him save the world and protect his friends. In exchange he will help her gather all of the dark power so that she can crush the evil Zant who has taken over the world. Many lives hang in the balance but Link is ready to save the world. He is just the guy for the job.

It was pretty interesting to have a new villain in the mix here. Usually Ganondorf is the one running around so having Zant in here was cool. The guy actually makes for a great villain for most of his screen time. He talks really tough and is constantly in control. Unfortunately the mask starts to weaken later on and he loses a ton of hype. While he does sink pretty drastically from where he started, I can safely say that he is still one of the higher Legend of Zelda villains. He may not be head honcho material like Ganondorf but he can fight. I also thought he had the hardest boss fight in the game, even harder than ole Ganon himself.

The game takes everything very seriously as you journey through the realms. Outside of Majora’s Mask it would be fair to say that this may be the darkest game. The atmosphere is always intense and it’s nice to see all of the characters in their latest incarnation. The games do tend to recycle the same regions over and over again like the Gorons and the Zora so I would like to see that changed at some point though. Lets just have a true fresh start since it is a new adventure every time anyway.

While the game is darkly lit because of all the shadows, I would say the graphics are still pretty good. The art style doesn’t hold up as well as Ocarina of Time or Skyward Sword but it is still strong. The soundtrack is also good as well. The technical aspects don’t miss here and of course the gameplay is also on point. I always like a good 3D action game and you have so many different weapons and gadgets to choose from. It definitely allows you to play in a rather free way. For bosses you will have to fight them as the developers intended but for minions you can mix things dup a whole lot.

There are also several different gameplay styles here like being on foot, on horse, and as a wolf. The wolf gimmick is the main one that is new to the game. I can’t say that it’s my favorite but it doesn’t bring the game down or anything like that. I just tend to miss playing as Link himself whenever I’m in the Wolf form which is probably not the intent. It’s just that using the wolf’s sense abilities would usually feel like i was slowing down the game.

Meanwhile as Link, you really can’t go wrong with the fundamentals. Even the puzzles feel pretty smooth in this one. There were some puzzles that I couldn’t solve, but fortunately a good deal of them are optional. Even in the final dungeon, I couldn’t figure out why some of the doors wouldn’t open but I could just keep going. I definitely appreciated that, it’s a good balance of how these things ought to be.

One mild quality of life change I would like would be for you to be able to open chests even when your wallet is filled though. My wallet was always filled up so when a chest would have a rupee it would automatically close. The annoying thing about this is that the chest will still appear on the map so I would have to keep track of that while looking for the one item that I missed. They should let me take the rupees even if I’m at my limit. Also as another mild thing, Midna is often not helpful at all with the hints. They should have given her more things to say because half the time when you ask her for advice, she just reminds you of the plot. That’s not exactly what I was hoping for after all.

The game is quite long so you will definitely be getting a lot of bang for your buck. Nintendo is always delivering quite a lot with the Zelda series there. There is a ton of replay value as well. This is a game that you can stick with for quite the long time. As a final note, I like that most of the bosses have weaknesses that make practical sense. Zant is the one exception because I don’t get why arrows literally go through him but the others play their way around the items that the game doesn’t want you to use. It’s fairly creative as opposed to the game just making the weapons do 0 damage for no reason. Having actual explanations and everything is always the way to go.

Overall, Twilight Princess is great stuff. It is absolutely a title that all Nintendo fans should play at least once in their gaming careers. The boss fights are creative, the technical aspects are on point, and the characters are likable. You can’t really ask for much more than that in the end. It’s the stuff that dreams are made of and it’s why Twilight Princess is a game that can be enjoyed by any generation. There is also a ton of side content and dungeons to be tackled. I mainly just sped through the game and it still took me 30 hours which shows you just how long the game is. They did not cheap out in any area.

Overall 8/10

One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows Review

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It’s time for one of those games that looked just enough like a tie in where people had some reservations about it. The good news is that because of that you can get this game for dirt cheap nowadays. I always enjoy some good One Punch Man action so I was definitely eager to see how this one turned out. Fortunately they really held nothing back here. It’s a great title and one that is even carried a bit by the technical aspects. The combat isn’t the most fine tuned 3D title that you’ve ever seen but the menus and layouts are all just really solid and smooth. You’re constantly impressed as just how easy everything is to navigate. This is probably the kind of game I would point to when explaining to people why menus are so important.

The game roughly follows the story of season 1 but has you playing as a brand new hero. You are recruited into the hero’s association and work on rising up the ranks by saving people and crushing monsters. Along the way you run into Saitama and Genos. This results in your constantly showing up to fight off the big villains but typically Saitama is the one who will actually put a stop to the madness. It would be more effective if you actually talked during the cutscenes though. During gameplay your original character talks and even has some great lines so I don’t know why they didn’t keep that energy up.

Either way the story is a pretty reasonable length. It should take you around 6-7 hours to clear it and there is a lot of replay value aside from that. This is a fighting game title after all so you can have fun in multiplayer mode for many hours. Additionally in single player mode you have a ton of bonus missions and level ups to work on. You will want to max out each of the fighting styles for more trophies as well. The platinum trophy looks like it will take a while to unlock but at the same time it looks very achievable. So put in enough effort and you will definitely be able to complete this one.

When you level up you get to choose which stats to increase so I recommend putting everything in attack power. Trust me, that’s what you will be using the most by far. Use two quick hits, a low hit, and then your standard combo. It does a good amount of damage and you can recycle that comb for the entire game. A pretty tempting strategy to use if I do say so myself! You don’t really need to get fancy here. It is good to make sure you have a super attack that breaks through guards though. That is really handy for when they start blocking.

Ultimately I went with the power type for the whole game. Then my super attack was a grab so if the opponent blocked the opening moves of my combo, I would immediately use the grab and would deal the damage. It’s a really good way to cheese the opponent and so I kept up a win rate of over 90%. The tough levels tend to be ones where stage hazards show up. I died once because a meteorite was slamming me into the ground and it did massive amounts of damage. The hazards could probably be dialed back a little to be honest.

I could never figure out how to get up quickly though. This is the toughest part of the game by far as a result since the enemy only has to knock you to the ground once and then after that they can keep comboing you to oblivion. It meant that I would either crush an opponent without getting hit or just barely win because one hit has such a massive effect to it. I’m assuming there is something you can do but I just couldn’t figure it out.

Back to the technical elements, the map is super detailed and has icons for every kind of content around. There is an arrow always pointing you to where you need to go within the story and there is also quick travel. All of the menus have super fast loading times and really look natural. There is really no downside to be found here. Then the graphics are also really good. The game models look sharp and there was just a whole lot of effort put into this one. I have to give the soundtrack props next as the tunes are really good. It felt like everyone was proud to work on this game. It may not be a AAA title by any stretch but the technical elements wouldn’t be out of place in one.

Just touch up the story and gameplay a bit and this could have been the next big thing. Ultimately that wasn’t really part of the plan but it’s still a game that any fighting fan can really enjoy. I always love playing through a great fighting title and this one is really no exception. Anime fighters can get real immersive and I dare say this game feels like it had a much higher budget than even something like Jump Force which is crazy when you think about it.

Overall, One Punch Man really delivered with this game. I definitely had a blast here. The whole game definitely goes by real quick but it’s also one that I could feel like picking back up and playing at any time. I left a whole lot of content on the table as well so there would be a lot for me to do when I get back into the game. The fact that the whole game is dubbed and contains a ton of voice acting is also super impressive. It’s something I never take for granted because even nowadays games will come out without voice acting like this. So when it does appear, that’s just really awesome. If they ever come up with a sequel to this one then I can safely say that I will be there day 1. I definitely won’t be missing out on this and I recommend picking up One Punch Man whenever you can. It’s that good.

Overall 8/10

Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit Review

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It’s time to jump back into the world of DBZ. Things definitely get rather intense there so you can be sure that this would be another great game. While I do think it is completely inexcusable to not have the Buu saga, the rest of the game is still really good. It’s interesting to see which fights were made into stages and which weren’t. The game is fairly short so it definitely won’t last very long but you will have a good time throughout the adventure.

This story mode is definitely made with DBZ veterans in mind more than the average DBZ game. While it has more battles than the original Budokai, this one rarely gives you any real context to the battles. You’re thrown right in, sort of like a best hits kind of compilation to the title rather than a true story mode. Each arc has around 20 levels in it. There are also alternate paths/stories where you can relive the Broly movie, the Bardock special, and then a few random fights thrown inside. That does help extend the story play time a little bit although it’s still fairly short in the end.

Most of your playing time here will likely be in the vs mode which makes sense. This is a fighting game after all so that is mainly why you are here. The character roster is fairly small but all of the core characters are here which is what counts. It is interesting to hear Cell’s first form with his Perfect voice since they seem to share a character slot though. In the cutscenes he sounds normal so I’m surprised they couldn’t set it up that way in gameplay. Unless maybe it is and this is just a glitch in the story mode. I can’t say that I went into the vs mode myself to test this out.

The graphics are really good. I like the dynamic designs and artstyle used for the characters. The game places a heavy emphasis on the aura that each character admits, so you should get ready to see a lot of bright colors. I imagine this might be tough if you have any vision issues so keep that in mind. It can be a bit overdone at times but all in all I would say it ages pretty well. I don’t always get the point of spiking up my aura but I’m sure that’s more of an advanced gameplay mechanic.

As for the soundtrack, it’s fairly decent. There aren’t many memorable tracks here so I can’t give it a higher rating than that. It works well for the scenes that it is in but the whole time you do feel like they could have some richer tunes. Something more along the lines of Xenoverse 2 which sounds amazing in all of the levels. DBZ on average should be leaning towards hard rock music that really gets you into the match.

One thing this game does which is fun is throw in a quick fight that is pre rendered before every story battle. You quickly see how there are only 3-4 variations that are looped to each character model but I still liked the effort. I always like seeing the characters mix it up before the actual battle starts and it adds more of a cinematic flair to the fights. These are battles that all DBZ fans will be super familiar with since every game has them so this helps the game to stand out a little more than it would otherwise.

There are no PS3 trophies to add to the replay value for single player content but you could try to unlock all of the special conditions in each fight. There are a bunch of them based on different techniques or actions that you need to take. I’d say that would be a fun way to test your limits and everything. Ultimately the unlimited replay value is in the vs mode but it’s still important that there is some more single player content to have past the initial hours. How long it takes to get the complete requirements in each level will likely vary dramatically with your skill level but for even the best of players this should at least double the run time.

I will take one last shot at not having the Buu saga though. This is something that you absolutely need to have. To say that there wasn’t enough space or budget in a PS3 game is something that I would have a hard time with. Saving it for the sequel is also not a good enough excuse because that is the devs getting really greedy. I could see this absolutely lowering the hype for a lot of people because cutting out one of the biggest arcs like that is crazy. I still can’t get over that part. I’d still be playing the game right now if there was a whole other big arc of battles left to play like that.

Overall, Burst Limit is definitely a great game. It is one that feels like it was made with a rather narrow budget at times but all in all it’s still a lot of fun which is the important thing. The gameplay is rather advanced so it is difficult to craft the combos that you want. You will really have to study up in this game and learn all of the moves if you want to pull that off. It’s not an easy feat by any means. I suppose in that way it is definitely a lot more like a true 2D fighting game. You can have endless fun with friends here which definitely keeps the title at a high level.

Overall 8/10

The King of Fighters XIII: Global Match Review

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King of Fighters XIII definitely surpassed my expectations here. The instant it had a real story mode and not just throwing cutscenes into arcade mode, I knew it was quite literally built different. This was a game that was putting the story first and I was all here for it. There are even branching paths so you can see different versions of the story and more added context as you play through the game. I ended up getting 60% of the cinematics on my first run.

The story concludes the big saga of the villains trying to revive Orochi and using their cosmic powers to get in everyone’s way. Ash gets a big role in here as he stole Iori’s powers last time and is working on getting Kyo’s now. If the old lead isn’t careful then he is going to be taken down. It’s a really good premise to get you pumped up and I greatly enjoyed the intro. We got to see all of the old leads like K and Kyo and then it ends with the lead being attacked. This game just has the most focus on story by a longshot and it was an excellent idea. I always feel like this is the perfect way to really get you focused up for what is about to happen.

The story definitely doesn’t disappoint. We get a lot of fun illustrations the whole time as the plot moves forward and a ton of dialogue. I didn’t even see all of the paths as I mentioned before so they added a ton of content here. It almost felt like a visual novel at times here. I should also mention that there is another King of Fighters tournament going on here of course. That’s always got to be a factor here of course. Why would there not be a tournament?

It should come as no surprise that the gameplay is great as always. The graphics look really sharp here once again and the movement speed is really good. I felt like the bosses were also designed better so you got to actually play against them. It wasn’t a matter of abusing loopholes or cheesing the opponent out. Instead you were actually fighting them mano a mano the whole time and that was a much better idea. So I was really glad to see that, it’s definitely the way to go.

You feel more of a sense of triumph when you win as opposed to just exhaustion and wondering if the boss is still more skilled than you are. Here, the boss is still rather difficult but it’s nothing crazy. The boss is way aggressive and like a real player will leave openings for you to attack with. I will say that the second to last boss had such long animation cycles though. When he grabbed you, you could basically close your eyes and rest a bit because then he keeps on punching you in the stomach and taking forever to get on with it. He’s a very dramatic fighter to be sure. I feel like it would probably be funny to see anyone using those combos in a competitive tournament assuming that the character has these moves when you play as him.

In terms of the paths in the game, usually you will have a choice for example to see what’s happening at the tournament or what Ash is doing meanwhile. Typically I went with the Ash plot since I figured it would be more intense but you’ll probably want to try them all. When I googled how to get the true ending, there seemed to be quite a few requirements to even get the chance so good luck. Definitely not a pushover by any means but that adds to the ever expansive replay value of the game.

You have the endless vs fights, getting all story mode paths, and of course getting the Platinum trophy in the game. By the time you’re done with that I’m sure you will have spent a ton of time on the game. Additionally, here are a lot of characters to play around with so you’ll want to test them all out and see which character you are best with. I’m actually starting to like the grappler characters in this game. It feels so satisfying when you land a command grab out of nowhere and it deals a ton of damage. A super throw is what won me the final match after all. I was about to lose otherwise.

Overall, King of Fighters XIII is a great game. I dare say that it is easily the best of the early games although calling it an early game is probably misleading. I think XV is probably still the best overall but I’d need to think about it. Either way the latest 3 games are the top 3 overall which is cool because it shows that the series is in its peak right now. They need to bring us some more games but bring back this expansive kind of story mode. It really does help the series go to the next level and doesn’t feel like it should be a giant ask. If there’s any King of Fighters game that you should get, this may even be my first recommendation because of the story.

Overall 8/10