Category Archives: 9 Star Games

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion Review

Posted on by
Reply


It was definitely a really hype day when they announced they would be porting over Crisis Core from the PSP. This is an absolutely top tier game that a decent amount of people never got to play. I can definitely assure you that the experience absolutely holds up here and I think they did add a few moments here and there on the PS5 version. I forget if there were any story additions at all or just side stuff, but either way it works perfectly as the lead in to Remake. You should definitely play this one first if possible as it makes your experience through the main game even more intense. Some parts of Cloud’s story don’t really seem to pan out eh? Hmmmmm…

The story starts by introducing us to Zack who is a fairly young member of the Shinra forces. He hopes to become a Soldier First Class and to do that he will need to impress the top brass. Fortunately for him, a lot is going on right now so it looks like he will get his chance. Genesis has gone rogue and now clones of him are showing up all over the planet and they have to be stopped no matter the cost. Along the way Zack begins to learn some troubling secrets about his employer which also have his comrades Sephiroth and Angeal rather frazzled. What was once the most powerful unit of all time is starting to break apart. Zack may be the only one who can keep them all together.

Well, where to even start on this masterpiece right? First up, everything is super modern here from the menus to the hud inside the game. You always know exactly what is happening and it is very easy to navigate all of the menus. Everything has a sci-fi feel to it and of course the graphics are really top notch. The cutscenes are all super good and there is voice acting for pretty much every line in the game. They really do not hold back on the budget at all. It’s great really learning more about the world here and the cast are all able to hold their ends of the story.

Then you have the soundtrack which is incredible. Pretty much every theme is some kind of big rock song which works really well with the vibe they are going for here. It’s just a very fast paced and intense game. Even the way the levels are structured makes sense with this. You usually have a cutscene, a few fights, cutscene, fight, then chapter ends. The game is rather short as a result of this though. I beat it in around 7 hours so this is definitely what I would call a mini game. Certainly nothing like the main FFVII title but it still covers enough. The length isn’t gonna limit this game but it does mean you could easily end up beating it in a day or two if you don’t pace yourself.

There is bonus content to keep you busy though. You can go back and complete all of the missions which is bound to take you some time. You can also try for the Platinum trophy which will be difficult to obtain. I won’t say that it’s a tremendous amount of replay value but every bit helps. It’s not about the length, but the quality of the time you spent after all and this was top quality.

As for the gameplay, this is your classic 3D slasher. The game is a lot easier than the main title for one critical reason though. There is no cooldown on items. So unlike the main game where you have to try and survive for a bit after using an item, you can spam them endlessly here. There’s not much to buy either so you’ll be swimming in cash. I maxed out on potions early on and then I was basically set. Get 100 potions and then get 100 Ethers. You can now spam your most powerful attacks over and over and over again for as long as you need to.

I recommend keeping one slot active for each of the 4 elemental types. Do that and you will be well equipped to deal with any enemy. There are a lot of fights and you may lose some on occasion but usually that will be because you let your guard down and got tackled. You should usually be able to win even with some good spamming. I recommend doing some of the side missions to beef up your summons though. They definitely go a really long way here plus you get cool cutscenes when you attack with them. Blocking is also a super good skill in this game.

A lot of times I completely ignore the button in any video game but it does seem to reduce damage by over 60% and some attacks are basically impossible to dodge so this is the way to go. I applaud the game for actually making the block option viable. Usually it just feels like it’s wasting space. So the devs really thought of everything this time around. I suppose if I had one nitpick it would be that we get the combat stance too late in the game. There’s a meter there so you can try to use it often in battles to build that up but there’s no apparent reason to use it.

It just seems worse than fighting normally. Maybe you unlock a true ending for getting the affinity to 100% of something. It better be a really good reward considering how slow you get the progress up with it whenever you land attacks. I got it up to 0.09% after defeating a bunch of enemies and that’s when I gave up on it. I would need much more of an incentive to use it, but hey more options is never a bad thing. I’m sure some people had a great time with it.

Overall, Crisis Core is an elite title and one that you need to play right away. The game does a tremendous job of showing us what Zack was like and Sephiroth’s fall from grace. It really covers a whole lot and of course you know how the story ends, but seeing it in real time is still crazy. The story was absolutely incredible! They did a good job with how the gameplay works for the final bosses as well. You definitely have to fight hard to make sure you last long enough here. Whether you’ve played the main Final Fantasy game or not, this is a must buy!

Overall 9/10

Megaton Musashi W: Wired Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time to look at Megaton, a game that was on a pretty good sale for the Switch. That was when I knew it was time to pick this one up and they did a superb job with it. It may be Level 5’s best game yet. There are an incredible amount of fully animated scenes here and the story is intense. Mix that up with excellent gameplay and you really have a super well balanced title.

The story starts out by explaining that aliens wiped out 99.9% of the human population. Humanity now only exists in a small town where they brainwash their own citizens into now knowing what is going on so that there is no panic. Select people ae chosen to be “Pilots” who use their giant mechs to take down the alien invaders. The thing is, we are heavily outgunned and outnumbered. Survival appears to be impossible but Yamato is ready to try his best. He won’t stop until he has murdered every alien. That was the plan at least but then he falls in love with an alien girl named Arsham. Is it possible that there are good people on both sides?

The story is over 20 hours long so you can imagine that there are a ton of twists and turns scattered throughout the game. We get multiple time skips and you play as many different characters. This version of the game is also the complete experience so it merges both versions of the original game as well as adds on a 2 chapter epilogue. So the point here is you are absolutely getting the max amount of bang for your buck. The game does not hold back on any area either.

We get to tackle a lot of themes like war and the ever lasting cycle of violence. The aliens have very solid reasons for attacking Earth and likewise the humans have good reasons for fighting back…like wanting to be alive. There are over 30 named characters running around and they each get pretty complete plot lines. They even throw in Adam and Eve near the end to mess with everyone. I don’t generally go into the story much for game reviews so you can look to the anime review more on that (With season 2’s review coming eventually) but yeah there is definitely a whole lot going on here.

The soundtrack is really solid with a ton of great themes. My favorite theme is definitely Yamato’s KENKA Rock song which shows up a few times in part 1. Sadly as the tone gets more serious and dramatic, the song vanishes completely. Still, there are a ton of big opera themes and other serious battle themes that show up to help counter this. The final boss themes are excellent, the danger theme is really solid, etc. There are no shortage of great themes to be found in this adventure.

Then we also have the graphics which are really solid. Like I mentioned, there are a ton of fully animated scenes that really go hard. There are no more once we finish where the show went up to, but before that you can expect a good amount of them in addition to the standard cutscenes. The battles have a lot of great special effects and really pop out at you for the added effect. So that makes for a really good balance.

As for the gameplay, it’s a 3D robotic shooter so you can’t really go wrong with that right? It gets a bit detailed as well with every attack and part having a type, so then you have to factor in which type is good against another and all that. To be honest, you could probably remove the whole type effectiveness chart and I’d be cool with it. Still, it’s interesting and I made sure to focus on only using the attacks that were useful for each fight. You always have a bladed weapon, blaster weapon, and 4 special attacks. How many arrows were next to each one will determine how good the attacks are.

You also have super attacks that show up occasionally, but usually they only appear for battles where you are supposed to use one. So you will get the notification and then you’re ready to use it. You can also use your boosters to zoom around the arena and even start to fly near the end. The controls for flying can be a little tricky but for the most part you can button mash and you will be okay. In general I wouldn’t say that the game is very hard. In each battle you are given 6 lives and by logging in for a few days you get 10 continues which turns into 60 lives. So it’s unlikely that you will be losing here but if you don’t keep up with the customizations it is possible. Worst case, you’re so weak that you barely deal any damage, then the battles will last a while.

The game has some marathon battles which also show up and those tend to take a very long time. You have to win numerous battles in a row so be prepared for that. It only shows up 3 times in the game though so it’s pretty rare. In addition to the main story that is 20+ hours long, there is a decent amount of replay value if you want to try getting every part and beating every side mission. Perhaps not an incredible amount of replay value but probably enough to boost this up to around 30 hours or so.

The game’s not super expensive or anything though so either way it’s a great game. Additionally, you are playing at least in part for the story which is really high tier. It’s a full RPG level story which is not something you are expecting to see in a robotic game. Low blow? Eh maybe but it’s definitely rare for the genre. It’s a shame we’re not getting more Megaton games, the story definitely ends with a lot of things you can still do in the future. That said, it’s a satisfying ending that even has a romance I can get behind. Not all of them really land if we’re being honest here but the main one does which is the important thing. They get so many montages and insert songs that the game just really nailed the dynamic. This feels like a true AAA title in a lot of ways and higher budget than I would have expected. It can hold its own with just about any RPG out there and it’s why I can recommend this game even if you aren’t a big fan of mecha titles. There’s just a lot more depth to this than just that genre.

Overall, Megaton is definitely a really intense game. You won’t want to miss out on this one and should get it as soon as possible. You can also have fun with the customizations which is something that I didn’t really dive into all that much. The A.I. sets you up well enough so either way you can beat all of the story missions but if you go in depth with it then you can get significantly stronger. It’s all about how you allocate the resources after all but if you do it right then you’re set. It sets the bar really high for mecha games.

Overall 9/10

Tales of Arise Review

Posted on by
Reply


Whenever someone says “Arise” it’s always in a very dramatic kind of way which makes you think and this game is no different. It’s a really intense RPG that has a good length. This allows time for all of the characters to get proper development and everything. I tend to play these games for fairly long batches of time and even then it took me a while to knock this one out. It definitely speaks to how much content is in the title. Granted, I did beat virtually all of the side missions but even then there was still more to do and extra content to be covered.

The game starts by introducing us to the world. There are two races of people. The Renans, who live in the sky and subjugate the Dahnans, the people who live on the ground. The Renans have incredible powers and so they took over easily 300 years ago. Ever since then, they have continued to dominate and there is really no way for the Dahnans to rise up. That is, until one slave named Alphen meets up with a Renan girl named Shionne. She has decided to murder the 5 Renan lords who have enslaved everyone and Alphen agrees to help. Along the way they make a lot of friends and fight off powerful monsters. The closer they get to the end of this journey, the more uncomfortable truths they find out. Will these revelations end up destroying their will to fight??

One thing about a game that is 40+ hours like this is that the plot will change a lot. So this plot summary I gave will be outdated very quickly but at the same time you don’t want to go into those plot details from the jump because they are filled with twists. The more surprised you are the better. All in all I would say the twists are all handled very well. It may get a little long for a bit there where you are sitting through 40 minute cutscenes of everything being broken down for you. At the same time it’s probably a good idea though because otherwise I do think you’d have people saying it was all too complicated.

The gameplay is a 3D fighter where you have your standard attacks and then you can also launch your power moves. They take longer to load and you have to have enough energy to use them. As the game goes on you can use upgrades and power ups to help replenish energy more. The level up system is pretty interesting here. Of course you have the standard level up system for the characters but in addition to that you also have the SP upgrades that you can use to unlock new skills or stat bonuses. You get points from every battle but very few of them. Most of your points are from completing side quests which is why you want to complete as many of them as possible. Then some of the sections with upgrades aren’t unlocked until you have completed specific tasks like eaten a specific food or completed a certain side quest. You can see what you need to do from the level up board so I recommend checking up on these from time to time so you know where to go. These upgrades are all fairly minor but really start to add up as you unlock more and more.

The game is surprisingly difficult at times. I can say with reasonable confidence that if you just try to barrel through and fight the final boss it is not going to end well for you. Go complete some side quests, get some good armors, etc. Load yourself up and then you will be fine. Items are extremely handy in this game and for that reason, earning money is a very slow process. It’s another instance where you need to complete side missions as often as possible. These will always get you a lot of money which you can then use to buy items like revives or potions that give you cure points.

The cure point system is something fairly unique compared to other RPGs. Basically, healing your allies takes energy from this system rather than your special meter. So if you run out, then you can’t use any of your healing spells. This means you often need to keep an eye on that and replenish it as needed. Without these items, you’d get crushed by a ton of the bosses. Grinding for level ups is still super important of course but another big thing is really just getting funds for the extra items.

I will also give the game heavy credit for the solid romance plots here. Not all 3 of the romance plots work but 2/3 is still really good. Especially considering that one of those is the main pairing. There’s a lot of development here and the two were through a lot. We even got a time skip of several months. So this game hardly took place over a few days. I thought it was all handled most excellently. The writing is really top tier here. Outside of the main story, there are over 300 skit cutscenes which you can have fun playing when you are at the campfire or live as you walk through the areas. I did like 100 of those but still had a lot to go.

The sheer amount of content here is breathtaking. Then of course you have the soundtrack which is really solid. Both theme songs in the game were really good and I also enjoyed the general battle themes and boss battles. The animation is top tier of course and the game even has some fully animated scenes as well. That was really cool. You can tell that this game got the top level budget and it was all worth it. People call this a top tier RPG and they are absolutely right in every way.

Overall, Tales of Arise is a top tier game. The characters are excellent and the story is great. The gameplay is executed incredibly well with smooth gameplay and even some solid platforming. It’s got every quality of life feature that you can think of and of course the story mode is already super long. Then you have a ton of replay value that can likely double your play time. If you somehow don’t own this one yet, then you should definitely check it out. It will forever be known as one of the top RPGs.

Overall 9/10

Scarlet Nexus Review

Posted on by
3


Scarlet Nexus is one of those games that was really huge when it was first announced. It was going to be a game that really changed everything. It would be the big RPG that people would be talking about for many years to come. Well, I can definitely say that is succeeds in those areas. This is definitely a game that I highly recommend checking out. It is an elite title all the way through and you will be having a good time here.

You get to choose from two characters when you start the game. Each one has a sizable campaign of around 20 hours and then you can play the second campaign. I stuck to 1 character this time around and went for the guy. He wants to be a great OSF agent and live up to the family’s powerful reputation. Along the way he makes several friends and everything seems good until he begins bumping into some very dark conspiracies. The OSF is about stopping aliens and protecting people but it looks like they may have gone a little beyond that in their pursuit of justice. It may be time to take them down but it’s important to not lose sight of who the big villains are. Tough choices will have to be made.

The game tackles a lot of big sci-fi themes like time travel, clones, alternate pasts, etc. So right away I can tell you that this is up my alley. Of course that does take a while to appear in the story but you’re pretty engaged with everything else happening the whole time. The game is mainly working within the context of there being a ton of organizations and all of them are reasonably corrupt and evil for different reasons. These are guys you would no want to bump into. Of course you can try to stay on their good side but that can be difficult in and of itself. That also does mean there isn’t a true main villain for most of the game.

The game does a great job of establishing the villain’s motivation even without a ton of screen time though. Out of the game’s 12 chapters, he probably only appears in 3-4 of them and usually only for a brief moment or two. Yet by the end you really understand why he is so desperate. I’m not by any means saying that you will end up rooting for him or anything like that but I am saying that you will be able to see his motive clearly which is important. It separates him from the average villain who is just trying to destroy the world or something.

The graphics here are definitely top tier. You have full cinematic type cutscenes and even the basic ones generally all have voice acting. There are some slight exceptions of course but those are small exceptions. I always like when a game has extensive voice acting like this. It takes the whole experience to the next level and shows that this is a real AAA game. Voice acting is often what can turn a very good game into a great one. It heavily buffs so many aspects of the game and so yes, Scarlet Nexus was a complete success here. The kind of game that you can really admire and respect. It was most impressive.

Meanwhile the soundtrack was also really good. Definitely another classic W for the title. There are a good amount of battle themes here, both for the normal encounters and for the bosses. There’s a good amount of variety in this title and it fits in well with the general sci-fi theme that the title is going for. There were definitely no issues on a technical level for this game. As an RPG i also goes without saying that there is a ton of content here. Beating the game with both characters will take around 40 hours easy. Then there is also completing all of the bond missions and getting the Platinum trophy. Definitely not going to be an easy task right there. So I was definitely satisfied with the length all the way around.

I do recommend doing a ton of the bond missions as you play through the game. The power ups you get with each partner are rather substantial. There are a ton of these missions so it can feel a bit intimidating but as long as you do all the ones that are available in each chapter as you move forward then it won’t feel like a crazy onslaught the way that it would once you are closer to the end of the game. It’s all about pacing yourself after all.

Now I didn’t talk much about the gameplay yet and that’s part of what’s unique about the game. You have your usual close quarter combat skills but you can also use telekinesis to throw blocks and objects around. It’s a pretty fun style of gameplay and this often helps you attack an opponent’s weak point. Once you have the villain down to a low enough amount of health and you have broken their mind gauge, you can defeat them with a brain crush. It’s a super handy technique.

You can also activate brain mode which makes you temporarily invincible so long as you’ve gotten the right upgrades. Definitely super handy but make sure you turn it off before the meter falls all the way down. If you forget to do this then it’s an automatic game over. It’s actually a really interesting mechanic because it ties into the story where his mind is slowly shattering So it makes sense that you would lose if you stay in this experimental mode for too long. My big tip is to use your materials to buy brain gears whenever possible. Brain crush mode makes even the final boss trivial since you can skip most of the craziness. I made sure to grab every material I could throughout the game so I was really in a good spot here. The game could get reasonably tough and I did die a few times but often it was because I underestimated the enemies. You always have enough items to keep on healing and moving forward.

Overall, Scarlet Nexus was really a blast. Waiting for this game was totally worth it. It definitely lived up to the hype all the way around. It would be great to see a sequel to this show up at some point even if the ending was rather definitive. The game’s ending lands on its feet so there really were not any issues here. You really got your money’s worth with this one. Even more so for me since the game was on sale for a crazy $10 amount. You really can’t get any more of a steal than that right? It’s the one benefit of waiting so long before getting a game although I can tell you when the second comes out that will be a day 1. Definitely no waiting this time.

Overall 9/10

Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for Xenoverse 2, one of the most well known games in all of Dragon Ball. That alone is a very impressive feat because there have been so many huge games over the years. Basically what happened is that the game has a ton of DLC updates and they have been going on and on for years with no end in sight. So at this point some people have basically grown up alongside the game which is super impressive. With the game being ported over to the PS5, I knew it was time to dive right in!

The basic plot here is that villains have returned to cause a bunch of trouble with the timestream. I’m not talking basic troubles either but end of the world type stuff. Mira and Towa are going to make it so that evil wins the day. Trunks and Terry from the first game are possibly in over their heads so that’s where Terry Jr comes in. He is ready to help save the day and show off the true powers of a Saiyan elite! You have the option to pick from a bunch of different races but of course I was going to go with the Saiyans. They’re always the best after all! There’s a lot of special dialogue you get from the characters too for being a Saiyan although I imagine that’s probably true for the rest of the types as well.

My only issue with the story is that it goes a bit too linearly. This was my slight problem with the first game too. Naturally the villains decide to mess with the Saiyan Saga first, then Namek, then Androids, then Buu, etc. We follow DBZ through the 2 DBZ-Super movies in a row without going out of order once. Considering that the game is about messing with the timeline and everything, it feels like the game jus plays it way too safe. I’m always glad to see Mira show up with the other villains to break things up but it’s really like reliving DBZ with some new elements as opposed to it being a completely new story.

I love all the classic DBZ content as much as the next guy so I still have a blast the whole time but it just feels like a wasted opportunity considering how many expanded villains and scenarios you could pull off with the timeline going crazy. Without a doubt this could have been as crazy as Dragon Ball Heroes. Ah well, I did really appreciate that you get to see the avatar from the first game return. That was a cool attention to detail and a reminder on the strong continuity between the two games.

Naturally the gameplay is a real blast here. It’s a full 3D fighter with a ton of characters and you get to really test out all of their moves. For your avatar you can naturally change the moveset up a ton. So feel free to try out all of the special abilities until you find one that you like. It takes a while to unlock the transformation into a Super Saiyan but in the meantime you still have plenty to work with. There is also a level system so make sure you get those level ups promptly.

The hub world is so huge that you might even find it to be rather intimidating the whole time. There are so many side missions and bonus content to tackle there that you barely know where to start. There’s over 100 Parallel Quests, different instructors, etc. They just keep on coming over and over and over. The trickiest part is when the game randomly makes this part of the story like getting 15 badges. That took a while because I never bothered with that at all. So I would recommend doing some side content early on to start building up your stash and getting that ready. Likewise with the instructor trainings to get Super Saiyan 2 or you will have to do a whole lot at once.

You can tell that the devs really wanted you to go ahead and play through a bunch of the content that they set up. I definitely get it, they worked hard on that. At the same time, it does feel rather forced which I do have to admit here. Just let me continue the battles! The gameplay has dramatically improved from the first title though. The hits link up way better and now there’s an actual reason to use special techniques as opposed to just punching everyone into oblivion. I really appreciated that since in the first game I did find it weird how weak the energy blasts were.

A sequel should always improve upon the original and that’s exactly what Xenoverse 2 did. Naturally the same is true for the graphics which are a bit sharper and look great as you would expect. Then you have the soundtrack which was a big jump up. The ost is incredible with a whole lot of big rock themes around every corner. A good soundtrack can also help to make the story events themselves more impressive as well so that’s a nice ripple effect. I had to Youtube a bunch of the themes right away after hearing them. They were too good to pass up.

Overall, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 is really the complete package. There’s just so much content to play around with here. It’s extremely impressive and the gameplay is top tier. While the story could have been bolder, I definitely still enjoyed it a lot. Whenever the game would switch from a cutscene to a fully hand drawn scene I also felt the extra hype there. You can bet that I would be lining up to buy Xenoverse 3 immediately on day 1 as soon as it comes out. You just can’t miss out on content like this.

Overall 9/10

Asura’s Wrath Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time to check out the classic known as Asura’s Wrath. I remember that this game always looked super hype when I would see the cover around or even any bits of the gameplay. The feats and characters were all very over the top which worked really well. Ultimately the game may not have done as well as it should have but I would definitely say that for me it did live up to the hype.

The game starts off by introducing us to the various gods who fight corrupted monsters that plague humanity. It appears to be a just cause and Asura does his best to make the world a safer place. Unfortunately he is framed for murdering the emperor one day and his wife is murdered while his daughter is kidnapped. The gods intend to use Asura’s daughter to power their army for eternity until the monsters have been vanquished and this is not an acceptable proposition for Asura. So he decides to take matters into his own hands and destroy all of them. Does he have the power to pull this off though?

While Asura is super powerful, the same is true for the rest of the fighters. In fact, Asura is put at a real disadvantage here because he is destroyed and doesn’t return for 12,000 years. So his skills have not improved while everyone else has ascended to a higher level. The game definitely has bigger time skips than you would expect for any title so it really uses their immortality to the story’s advantage. The gods also appear to be robotic in nature which you could make a lot of fun theories about to be sure. This doesn’t stop them from gaining new power through the energy system known as mantra though. The reason they need Asura’s daughter is that her prayers allow them to focus their powers. She basically improves their abilities on a continuous basis although obviously this isn’t a great setup for her which is why Asura wants to step in.

Some of these fighters try to at least act noble like they’re doing this for a good cause while other members just embrace that they’re being evil and do their best to be massive jerks. You are absolutely rooting for Asura the whole time because all of the other characters just seem crazy. They’re taking the concept of murdering a few to save many to a very huge extreme. For example we learn that they ended up murdering trillions to absorb their life forces to create a robot that can destroy the evil monsters once and for all. The idea is that if they do this then they can create a perfect utopia for eternity.

Fast forward long enough and even trillions of deaths will seem like a small number. Of course you can see how this is still rather insane and a few of the enemies show their true colors when they laugh about how humans exist to serve them anyway so this isn’t a big deal. Yeah Asura really needed to wipe the system clean. In a way he feels like the Hulk or Doomsday here. He is constantly unlocking new abilities and getting stronger as he gets angrier. When he is defeated he just regroups and comes on back. His anger is so high that even death cannot hold him for very long. It’s a really cool premise.

The game goes all in on the aesthetic here too which is what makes the whole game possible. You’re seeing the characters shatter ships the size of planets and moving at incredible speeds. The feats are all crazy here and the characters act like this is completely normal. That’s because it is normal in this context which is what’s so impressive. Then you’ve got the soundtrack which is really good. I liked just about all of the themes here. They’re all really epic and definitely get you hyped for the fights that come up.

It should come as no surprise that the graphics are also really good. The character models are really on point and the energy effects are all really good. This is a game that you can seamlessly play on the PS5 and admire just how solid it looks. Everything about the game was very carefully crafted with no issues at all. Now that’s not to say that the game is literally perfect. It is true that the game could definitely stand to be longer. There are 18 chapters in the game and each one is fairly short. More than a few only have around 5-7 minutes of gameplay while the rest are cutscenes. So you breeze through the game very quickly.

I enjoyed the gameplay a lot so it would have been fun to have gotten to play some more. I was really enjoying how the fights let you play around with the counter attack/quick time action features and of course there was a lot of fun to be had in just bashing the enemies with your standard attacks. The battles ending when you unlocked your rage mode was also a pretty cool approach. The game had a fun gimmick there that was original without being annoying or anything like that.

In the end a lot of the hype around this game is also thanks to the story being so good. It’s a really compelling story that just drags you in and you’re always at the edge of your seat. It’s a shame that some of the chapters are hidden behind DLC since that would help with the length issue but the ending is really intense. Definitely one of those cliffhangers that you are unlikely to forget. Having to replay the whole last level to see the extra cutscene you unlock is a bit much but like I said, the levels are short so it wasn’t all that bad.

Overall, Asura’s Wrath is an elite game to be sure. The gameplay is really out of this world and the quick time events are so much fun. They definitely take up most of the game so it ends up being like an interactive movie at times but when the story is this good you don’t need anything else. I highly recommend checking this game out. It really is a very unique experience and you aren’t likely to forget it anytime soon. Hopefully one day it is old enough to be nostalgic and we get a full blown sequel.

Overall 9/10

Spider-Man 2 Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time to continue the Spider-Man run. This time we’re at the full on sequel that takes place after Miles. If you skipped the middle game then you definitely don’t have much context on some of the Miles’ sub plots but for the most part you should be able to follow along from the main game either way. It’s definitely another excellent title that slightly switches up the gameplay in a few ways. Some of them positive and some of them negative which is how things always go but in the end I would definitely give it a thumbs up either way.

The story starts off with Harry finally feeling better thanks to the experimental symbiote that was put on him. He no longer has to be confined to his bed or a stasis tube so that’s great and he’s even ready to help Spider-Man on his journey. The tricky part here is that a new villain is in town though. His name is Kraven and he is slowly hunting all of Spider-Man’s most dangerous opponents. Once he is done with them then it may be time to go after Spider-Man himself. This guy has to be stopped but can Peter really juggle being Spider-Man and Peter Parker?

So lets start off with all of the positives first. The hub world is still huge with a whole lot to do. You can swing through the buildings really quickly so it never feels like a burden though. Instead it’s just a lot of fun and so you will likely find yourself very quickly going through the bonus content even as you complete the story. It’s the kind of game that really rewards this by increasing your stats and abilities accordingly. You actually do feel a lot stronger as you level up and that’s a good thing. The side quests also have a good amount of variety so if you’re bored of beating up on the enemies then this will help to reset your gameplay. Some missions involve controlling a robot, zipping around, and even playing as Peter Parker and using your bike.

The gameplay is also really smooth as you would expect. You have a lot of great hand to hand combat skills up your arsenal along with the web abilities. You get much stronger special abilities here than in either of the first two games so that definitely helps you to really pack up the enemies. If anything you may start to get sloppy as you rely on them so be careful about that. They do take a long time to load so when you’re up against big bosses then things can be tricky. You also have 4 different web abilities that you will want to throw into the mix as well. Everything can be leveled up and of course there are different customizations possible.

One change to the gameplay that I didn’t care for is the new parry system. Basically this is a mechanic so that you can’t dodge some attacks. Your spider sense simply isn’t good enough and in these moments you have to just block as best you can. So what’s the problem with this? The symbol for parrying is the same as the symbol for command grabs and if you try to block one of those then you take a lot of damage. These grabs can’t be dodged either, you have to jump out of the way. It definitely adds some complexity to the gameplay but it was in more of an annoying way. I didn’t think that it ended up helping the experience.

This is still a top tier gameplay style of course but it makes the system a bit weaker than the last two games. I bet if I hadn’t played them back to back it would feel more natural since I would be used to parrying already but that just wasn’t the case here. You can still choose to heal or use a special attack but in this game it’s almost always worth healing instead since the super attacks don’t do enough damage to justify their use. Keep the heal ready instead and just use a special move as soon as you are able to do so. Also once you have symbiote powers, you will be hard pressed to ever want to use anything else. They’re just way too good.

The story here is definitely a lot of fun as well. It’s nice to see all of the villains showing up although you have a hard time believing that Kraven would do nearly as well as he did. That’s a stretch. The beginning can be a little slow as we get flashbacks to Peter’s old days but once the story really starts you are all set. Even though I am not a Black Cat fan I will say that her role was really underwhelming here. The game seemed to be setting up a big role for her only to stop that short. Maybe it’s a subversion but not one that helped the story out. Ah well, at least we have a bonus story of sorts involving the Flame cult which is real interesting.

There are a bunch of different side quests but for the most part they’re a bit on the dull side otherwise. You have to find an old man who is lost in the park, you share memories with someone else, take photos, etc. There is just one mission that I would say was really downright bad though where you have to help someone set up a prom date. The problem is that the game goes rather PC on this one and the whole thing feels rigged because not only is it easily one of the longer missions but you can’t look away at any part of it or the mission stops. So that’s really the game forcing you to watch the terrible dialogue and saying that you cannot escape. It’s the only mission like this at least from the ones I’ve completed and I’ve done most. It’s just way too forced so the whole time you know exactly what they are doing which is rather iffy at best. The other elements of this present in the game tend to be more subtle and at least aren’t stuffed in your face.

The graphics are naturally top tier. Some of the character models may not be as good as older ones but there’s nothing that will take you out of the experience. It is still as if you are watching a movie and even if the game isn’t quite 20 hours, it feels like you’re playing this for a really long time because of just how much dedication they put into the project. This is clearly not just your average title. The soundtrack is also really good, I have to give the Kraven some credit here. The ominous music that plays whenever he is on screen is really great.

So naturally there is a ton of replay value here due to the content I mentioned before. After the story mode itself which is already reasonably long, you have a lot of different bonus missions to complete and collectibles to accomplish. The Platinum trophy itself should be rather easy to get from what I’ve heard but it will still take time. So you definitely shouldn’t underestimate it. There’s a lot of bang for your buck here and this still sets the standard of what a AAA game should play like. They pull out all the stops for this one.

Overall, Spider-Man 2 is definitely another great game. It’s really cinematic and has a ton of content within it. This is not a game that you will just knock out in a day or two. You will definitely be here for the long haul and there are a lot of fun memories to create. It’s a game you won’t forget anytime soon. While the ending may not be the best, I am interested in the Flame plot for the next game. I’m also interested in what Osborn will do next. The guy writing the final chapter? I really don’t care about that. As for Peter, I still hope he has a big role in the next game. We have to see how that goes but it wouldn’t feel in character for him to not be doing much, no matter what the ending implies. Hey, we’ll just have to see how it goes I suppose.

Overall 9/10

Spider-Man: Miles Morales Review

Posted on by
1


Time to look at the big spinoff to that iconic Spider-Man game. This one’s definitely quite a bit shorter and so it feels like a lean version. Gone are all of the science minigames and civilian levels. Instead you are really Spider-Man the whole time and some of the map navigation has changed a little. Some of these are positive changes while others are not but it works really well in this pocket setting. Ultimately I would say that it’s another top tier game and really does a great job of continuing the saga. I may not have been as thrilled if I paid $60 for it but otherwise it definitely does the job.

The game starts off with Spider-Man being defeated by the Rhino so Miles has to save him. Peter figures it’s about time for a good vacation so he heads off to be with Mary Jane for a while as Miles takes center stage to fill in. He doesn’t just want to fill in though, he wants to prove that he has what it takes to be the true Spider-Man and he may get his chance now. The new villain group known as the Underground is so powerful that they took out the Demons gang and they are planning something big that could destroy the city. Can Miles stop them even if it means taking on some former friends?

The story is around 6-8 hours give or take although it can be a bit longer if you spend more time on side quests. I didn’t do as many as in the first Spider-Man game in part because there were less of them so I wouldn’t pass them by in pursuit of the story mission. Also in part because in this game the crimes are endless compared to the first Spider-Man game where they would end. So as a result I didn’t feel like there was much of an incentive to working on those. Eventually there is a trophy that is crime related but that will be showing up later on. The trophies for this game don’t look all that hard and actually seem easier than the first Spider-Man title but the one that will take a while is beating the game again on New Game+. I suppose not that it’ll take a super long while or anything but noticeably more intense than the rest of them.

It gives you some good replay value though. I mentioned some changes earlier so of course the endless crimes was one so what about the others? Well, now you can turn invisible which is super helpful for getting the drop on enemies and landing more stealth takedowns. I will admit that it makes the game much easier as well. You can turn invisible mid combo to confuse the enemies and then keep on beating them up. Additionally Miles comes with his electric abilities which all land a real big punch. It makes for a satisfying way to beat down the enemies of course but it’s also another way to get yourself out of a tight spot.

So you should really be breezing through this game. That said, it’s a worthy trade off because I really like the venom abilities. They help to make the combos flashier and it’s like having special attacks in addition to the standard moves. The upgrade tree has been simplified so there aren’t as many upgrades. With far less collectibles as well, cleaning up the city has never been easier. I doubt it will take all that long after completing the game all the way through.

The combat speed itself feels faster with all of the combos but that might just be more of a feel and less of a fact. It’s hard to say for sure but I was definitely racking up the blows. Navigating the map is more or less the same as in the first game and moving the side missions to a separate screen feels about the same even if the location is different. The game has removed the quick time events which is too bad but I can’t say that I missed the human stealth missions. You don’t have a camera or anything like that this time which I’m also fine with.

These are things that show how this game is more like a mini version of the first but the important thing is that it still has a lot of content. It has less costumes for example but it still has a good amount of them. So there’s less of everything but compare this to another big game and it probably still comes out favorably. So I would say that’s pretty impressive. Meanwhile the graphics are still really good. It’s likely using the same engine which makes sense. Some costumes don’t always work as well in the cinematics like the cartoon one I wore but that’s to be expected since the art style is so different. I just chose it anyway because I like that costume a lot.

The soundtrack is more on the forgettable side. It’s good and all for the moment but there are no tunes that you would actually go and look up. I would have liked some rock themes or at least one when you fought the Prowler. That may be the best boss fight yet in these two Spiderman games. I like how you had to really rely on your spider sense. It’s something that hasn’t been utilized a whole lot yet so that was really nice. You had to trust in your reaction times and get the job done. Yes, the timing isn’t super tight so it’s a little on the easy side, but regardless the concept was really cool.

Naturally the game does lead into the big sequel with the ending so that’s definitely real exciting. As a whole the story did a good job of setting Miles up for the big leagues since he will need the experience here. At times the drama with Tinkerer could feel a little forced perhaps but all in all you were engaged the whole time. The stakes may not have been Earth shattering but that’s for the main games, not the spinoffs per say. It also will help and make Spider-Man 2 feel more like a crossover now that both characters have had their own games. I assume each one will keep their respective combat systems but we’ll see if that is really the case. I’m also curious on how switching between the characters will go.

Overall, Miles Morales really delivers with a superb game here. The original game set up the groundwork and this one took it all the way. I love these kinds of games with massive free roam over the city. It’s handled so well even to the basic things like movement. I actually want to go and grab the collectibles because the game is so fun. You’re encouraged to just get out there and have a good time which I appreciate. The more I play through these games, the more I’m curious to check out the final outstanding ones that I haven’t played like Web of Shadows or the home console version of Spider-Man 3. All in good time I suppose.

Overall 9/10

Dragon Ball Xenoverse Review

Posted on by
Reply


Xenoverse quickly became a sensation around the globe for all of the cool time travel antics and I can absolutely see why. It’s a really fun game even if I have some questions about the gameplay itself. It’s cool to see all of the characters around and in general it’s a fighting game with a lot of effort put into it. Definitely a game that you won’t soon forget and I’m eager to see how the second game goes.

The basic plot is that Terry ends up getting recruited into the time patrol. Trunks desperately needs his help in order to correct the timestream and stop a bunch of nefarious villains from doing whatever they want with the world. It won’t be easy but he is ready to do what needs to be done. The villains have plans of their own though and all it takes is for us to slip up once and then it’s all over. Time as we know it will be finished! While there are some gameplay mechanics at work, it is funny how Trunks has the main character doing all the work though. He almost never steps in to help even though that’s his entire job. Like what is he even doing? I don’t really get it, it just seems like an oversight. I would have put him in to do something at least.

The actual story is really fun though. I do wish they would go a bit more out there with the story though. Think of it as less of a what if and more like the villains just power up the iconic DBZ villains in critical moments. So you beat them up and then things go as planned. The only exceptions to this are when you battle Mira and Towa which are always a lot of fun. You should ignore the power levels for these things like the main character holding his own here when they’re at least SSJ3 level but you are still having trouble with Saibamen. One head canon I’ve always had is that your strength scales to the era that you’re in. I actually think this would make perfect sense and be rather brilliant.

Then we have the gameplay which on its surface looks like the Budokai Tenkaichi series but it’s actually quite different. It’s hard to describe but there’s not much hit stun on the attacks and your special moves have less build up. So it’s all in real time without the quick animations to halt progress. That works well enough but it does mean that they feel a bit less special. I also feel like I was not playing the game properly because I would pretty much never use special attacks. I mainly focused on hand to hand the whole time all the way through the whole game. I had to stop several times to grind out level ups but that’s how I played the entire campaign. I know there is no way the game intends for your standard punches to be the most effective attack so something went wrong there.

It definitely made for a lot of tense battles though since all it takes is for the enemy to land a surprise hit once and you lose half your health bar. So definitely keep that in mind the whole time because things can get very ugly very quickly. Make sure you buy the latest equipment to increase your stats and always have some potions equipped. When you level up you get 3 attribute points as well so I recommend putting it all into one stat. If you split it up then it doesn’t make enough of a difference to be worth it. You really just have to commit and go all in on something. Trust me, it’s really the only way to make any of this work for you. You can certainly still win of course but it’ll be tougher and you will need more skill.

In team fights, make good use of your teammate as a distraction and then hit the opponent from behind. This helped me a whole lot in some of the fights. Another thing to note is that you shouldn’t go too fast. At times I would take the enemy’s health all the way down but I couldn’t win until the heroes finished their speech and so the villain had time to land lots of extra blows. Be careful about that and in general the super armor is hard to deal with. The toughest levels are when you are outnumbered since it is really hard to hit an enemy without someone else hitting you. So for these moments I recommend a lot of run and gun tactics.

The graphics are definitely really good here. The game actually looks significantly better than Jump Force and yes that is a bit of a direct shot on my end. What really impressed me though was the soundtrack. There are so many incredible themes here, I have to Youtube more of them later on. It holds its own against Budokai Tenkaichi 3 in that area and I never thought I would be saying that. There are a lot of good rock themes and danger type tracks that fit in perfectly with the series. Trust me, you’re in good hands with this one.

It goes without saying that there are tons of modes for replay value here. The multiplayer mode is obviously a huge one with limitless content but then you’ve also got dozens and dozens of parallel quests to work through with other story scenarios. You don’t want to miss out on those and there’s also a lot of DLC type quests if you’re interested in that. Basically, this game has dozens and dozens of hour of fun and is the kind of game you will keep on picking up from time to time.

Overall, Dragon Ball Xenoverse is definitely an elite game. The gameplay is top tier and there are tons of villains and opponents to take out. I didn’t even touch on most of the bonus content during my playthrough so it’ll be fun to go back to all of that at some point. The game really pays solid homage to all DBZ fans and you will not be disappointed here. It’s a high quality game through and through. I am definitely looking forward to seeing how the second game fares. From what I’ve heard it is one of the definitive titles in all of Dragon Ball so I’ve got to see this!

Overall 9/10

Spider-Man Review

Posted on by
Reply


After all these years I have finally played the big Spider-Man game that came out many years ago. This one really made a whole lot of waves and it’s easy to see why. They clearly put a lot of budget into it and the world is very expansive. There are so many different collectibles and side missions to go through. I guarantee you will be playing this game for a very long time, you can trust me on that.

The game starts off with introducing us to a very experienced Spider-Man. He’s been at the game for a very long time and has saved the world more times than we can count. Well, he’s going to be up at bat once more because the Demons have shown up to take control of the city now that the Kingpin is behind bars. This new gang is absolutely ruthless and they have dangerous plans for the city. They have a beef with Norman Osborne and its one that threatens to destroy even the innocent civilians who have nothing to do with this. Can Spider-Man save everyone this time?

It’s really nice to see an older Peter Parker who already has a handle on things. The game puts a lot of emphasis on his scientific knowledge as well so you can definitely expect to see him inventing a lot of things and generally being a handy guy. The game works these in as minigames which are fun enough. Admittedly I was always ready to just go out there and enjoy the combat some more but the minigames are fairly short so it’s not a big deal. The story itself is definitely excellent and you are going to have a good time here. It’s a fairly sizable campaign too so you won’t be completing it too quickly.

Then you have the primary gameplay which is definitely really solid. The game makes incredible use of the spider sense as you weave in and out of attacks. It’s all very fast paced and you can approach the game in many different ways. The combat just gives you a lot of freedom and of course you can imagine that I tend to go for a more hyper aggressive style. I just want to take down every enemy in my way and that’s sometimes going to be more of a challenge. The game does want you to opt for stealth sometimes and I try but I usually get spotted anyway. Most of the levels are about being Spider-Man and generally dominating but you do have the occasional level as Mary Jane or Miles which are complete stealth missions.

I didn’t mind them but I’m sure I would have gotten more tired of them if these levels popped up too often. As it is, they were a solid change of pace. Each level can be beaten quickly if you want to get to the end or you can explore a bit and pick up a lot of easter eggs/foreshadowing for the future. I’m impressed at how interactive every part of the game is. This is exactly the kind of title you think about when you hear the words “AAA game”. It’s a term that has gotten a bit watered down over the years but this is a great example of a title that had a lot of effort and care put into it.

It goes without saying that the graphics are excellent here. It is going for a more movie/cinematic type of artstyle so it may not quite look as sharp as the more colorful titles but it still works really well. It’s always fun to see New York City in a big game like this as well. They got in so many different landmarks and it’s really impressive. The soundtrack is a bit less noticeable. It’s good and all but not great so I wouldn’t expect it to be knocking you out of the park or anything. It performs its job well and that’s what counts though.

In terms of replay value, well where should I even start? There are tons of suits and powers to unlock. You can upgrade your tech, and of course gather all of the trophies associated with the game. It’ll take a while to really do all of that even if the trophies themselves aren’t super difficult. I imagine you’ll be playing for 30 hours minimum so you’re getting a whole lot of bang for your buck. The game has aged really well so it’s still not too late if you want to purchase it now.

Probably the area I’d give the most credit to within the game is how seamless the whole hub world is. You can be on your way to fight the next story mission when a crime breaks out a few blocks away. You can choose to ignore it or go over there and fight. I decided not to ignore crimes early on since they would help for trophies down the road and it’s just really smooth. After I stop the criminals I go to where I was supposed to go. On the way to objectives I would stop by to pick up backpacks and other collectibles as well. No loading times or anything like that to break up the flow. You also get faster as you level up which makes going through the city a breeze. So I rarely ever used the quick travel except for the trophy associated with it although I am glad that it is an option. It is easily one of the best hub worlds I’ve ever seen.

Overall, Spider-Man is an elite game. It’s definitely the kind of title that you think about when you are expecting a top tier comic book game. Fans of the character should be very pleased and I will be back in the world of spiders very quickly since I got the Miles Morales and Spider-Man 2 games in the same batch. So 3 big titles all in a row. We’ll see how they stack up to the original here. It’s definitely a tall act to follow after all.

Overall 9/10