Category Archives: Game Reviews

Marvel Midnight Suns Review

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I remember thinking Midnight Suns looked like a really odd Marvel game when it first came out. The whole strategy card game just didn’t seem like something you’d expect for a superhero game. It was also known as a super long game so I figured I ought to wait until I had some time. Well, that time was now and this definitely ended up being a really fun game. I’ve been loving this kind of strategy gameplay and it is really satisfying to play through. Mix it in with a really detailed story and this is a winner all the way.

The game starts off with an ancient evil awakening and so the Caretaker wakes up The Hunter. The Hunter is the son of the ancient witch who has returned to destroy the world. He’s not really much of a people person but he does get results. The Hunter will be working with the Midnight Suns as well as the Avengers to save the world. It won’t be easy but he will have to step up and work as the leader here. Can he bring all of these heroes together?

A big part of the game is about how nobody really gets along. Iron-Man is used to leading the Avengers after all and doesn’t want to be taking a backseat to the Midnight Suns. Additionally, the Midnight Suns are resentful for being put to the side when they are the experts on the supernatural side of things. Hunter isn’t used to working with others and so that ties into the relationship mechanics in the game. As the story goes on you will be trying to increase your friendship ranking with the various characters.

That said, you can also choose the meaner options to increase your dark energy. It’s not completely linear though where some dark options will increase your friendship depending on who you’re talking to. For that reason it can sometimes be difficult to tell which is the right option but I focused on increasing my dark energy because there was a trophy for getting 200 dark energy decisions. I ended up completing the game before I could get it fully maxed out but I was awful close.

A lot of times those awkward responses felt more in character for Hunter anyway. I didn’t really go out of my way to use a lot of the social aspects of the game but it is impressive just how much content is here. It’s like a whole other game within a game. The structure is formulaic. Each morning you get to start a research, send a hero on a research mission, and talk to your friends. You then select your story mission for the day. After the mission is complete it is the evening so you can hang out with your friends or attend a book club. Go to bed and you repeat the adventure again.

There are only 21 story missions in the game but each one usually requires you to do a filler day in the middle so the story will still take you a while. I believe my playtime was over 30 hours by the end which shows just how much there is to do here. I haven’t even touched upon the training dojo, collecting all of the cards, etc. There is also DLC that you can buy to continue the adventure and fight more battles.

So lets talk about the gameplay. It’s a strategy game where you have your playable characters and can move them across the board based on how many turn points you have. You can perform 3 card actions, move once, and use up to 3 items per battle. You can do free environmental attacks where you blow up objects to injure enemies but it costs you some action points. Action points are how you use the stronger cards in your disposal.

I appreciated that the game really explains these mechanics to you very gradually so you’re not scrambling from the start. If the game had launched all of the mechanics immediately then trust me you would end up lost very quickly. There are just so many mechanics that it would feel overwhelming otherwise. The final level is essentially a pop quiz on all of these mechanics at once as you launch into the longest mission yet where you end up using every character in the game.

The game is reasonably difficult without being overbearing. I died twice in the game but for the most part I was taking care of business. There are harder difficulty options available though and they increase the rewards you get when completing the level. That’s definitely a good incentive right there. This is also a game where you can level up your characters but the enemies scale up to them so it’s not immediately helpful. The level cap is 25 and after that you just increase stats which don’t scale to the enemies so that is when you will really see the benefits. I was only able to max out the Hunter in the game but level ups come pretty fast so it wouldn’t take long to do that with the rest of them.

The graphics are definitely pretty solid. The art style may not be my favorite but on the whole I thought they did a good job here. It does have a bit of a supernatural feel and you can tell that this isn’t the normal superhero adventure. I also enjoyed the different gameplay effects in terms of visuals. The soundtrack is a bit more on the boring side though. The tunes aren’t bad but none of them really stand out. As for the writing, as long as you like it when all of the characters are constantly being ironic and cracking jokes then you’re good. I had a fun time chuckling at most of the dialogue here. I’d say it works out well enough.

It’s rare to have so much dialogue in a Marvel game like this so I was really just enjoying getting to see all of the characters talking to each other. There is a lot of great opportunity for banter in this kind of setup. They should really make more Marvel RPGs, I would definitely be there ready to have fun with the tactical gameplay. Or if they just want to go with a classic Final Fantasy turn based kind of gameplay, I’d definitely be there for that as well.

Overall, Marvel Midnight Suns is a really great game. I’m super impressed by how much content is in this game. There is a whole lot to do and you’ve almost got 3 different games here between the story, the relationships, and the card collecting. You could easily spend 100 hours here just trying to complete everything. It does mean that I won’t be getting the Platinum trophy here any time soon but the game has a ton of bang for your buck which I appreciate. I’d recommend picking it up.

Overall 8/10

Madden 27 Review

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It’s time to check out the latest Madden! This time I didn’t order it day 1 since I got my fill with the last title but fortunately this one was got a full game trial across all consoles so I got to give it a go. I can definitely say that the series is still as elite as ever. It’s very familiar and for that reason I absolutely understand when people criticize EA but that doesn’t take away from just how amazing the game is. At least not if you ask me.

I jumped right into the main games with my Cowboys and everything is really streamlined. The gameplay is incredibly satisfying and the graphics are basically like looking at real life by this point. I figure I should jump into whatever differences I notice first off. I guess one would be that the coaching pop ups are a lot more frequent. This is essentially your coach making a recommendation and you can click yes which will have your players move the way he wants them to move. So far the recommendations were pretty accurate so I have no complains there.

And…well yeah that’s basically it for differences. Still, the gameplay is excellent like I’ve already said a bunch so that’s not a real problem. The tackling feels very satisfying on every play as well as the overall presentation. It’s nice to see the stats being shown live on the screen as well as the player records from previous years. The whole thing makes it feel like you are playing a real Football game, particularly when you choose not to skip any of these cinematics. They are all skippable of course as that would wear thin eventually but in the moment it’s a blast.

Each team has a ton of play options for you to call and of course no two games will be the same. You can always bet on different possibilities and options as the teams go at it. I also feel like the other team adjusts pretty quickly on the A.I. Humans can only control one player at a time so the rest are up to the CPU and they actually do a good job of covering all the exits and making sure that this isn’t easy for you. Often times I could cheese any team with a bunch of slants up the middle and that wasn’t working very well this time. So what I gotta say to the Madden devs is…well played.

There are a bunch of modes outside of the classic games of course. You can do the franchise where you create a player and just play as him throughout the league. You can live a whole life in the game and then retire after a number of seasons. You can also do online franchises and play against a bunch of real people on your way to the Super Bowl. Finally there are practice modes, minigames, etc. There is a lot of content here which is impressive and I’d argue that it’s another way to show that EA isn’t completely lazy. They are a bit lazy, I’ll admit that but it could be worse.

As always I do prefer being on offense to defense though. It may be a skill issue but I seriously can’t stop anyone. I basically just have to hope for an interception or some other form of RNG to get my opponents. I know how to jump and make the play if it goes towards me but I’m never able to apply pressure or anything like that. The other team is essentially just having their way with me the whole time and one day I have to figure out how to make a proper counter attack. Until I can pull that off, I’ll always be on the back foot for half of the game which is not good.

On offense though, I just feel like I have limitless chances. What I really appreciate compared to other sport titles is that there is a minimal amount of RNG on the offensive side of the ball. If you throw a bad pass, that’s on you. When running you often have to decide which hole to go through. Now there are times where coverage will break down or you get stopped behind the line. Those moments can come down to RNG but it’s a lot rarer. For the most part you’re in complete control and that’s what I like about this game. You just have to continuously work on finding the best plays for each setup and knowing how to audible as needed. Keeping an eye on the opponent is absolutely crucial because any play can be stopped, but any defense can be broken through. It’s a continuous game of cat and mouse.

Overall, How much you enjoy this game will depend on how much you have enjoyed Madden for the last 20 years. It really hasn’t changed much at all and you can think of that as an insult or just a complement to how strong the core gameplay is. There is no need to change the system because it just works. The games sell amazing every year and while sales are obviously not a full way to gauge quality, a lot of people are really satisfied with it. I’m one of them, I just think these games are absolutely elite all the way.

Overall 9/10

R.C. Pro-Am II Review

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R.C. Pro-Am II is one of those games that I hadn’t really thought about before but it’s a pretty decent game. There isn’t a whole lot of extra content to play around with here but this is a fairly old game. The overhead style works well enough although I much prefer full 3D so I can see where I’m going. Every time I miss a turn or a hit an obstacle I inevitably end up blaming the game. Probably not the best move but hey…it made sense to me at least.

The main mode here is the grand prix. You race in a bunch of levels against the other cars and can keep on moving forward as long as you’re in the top 3. Every time you fall to last then you lose a life but the grand prix continues forward. The mode stops once you have lost 3 times. I got as far as level 8 but then the RNG starts to hit hard. There is some kind of a thunder cloud that blasts you when you get too close and bumping into other cars becomes a real threat.

Additionally there are tons of little boost cans and boost arrows all along the track. Falling into any of those will help you out but the computers have them memorized while you will have to figure them out one at a time. This is definitely one of those times where the computer just has an inherent advantage and I’m not really sure how you would remove that. To an extent all racing games will run into this issue.

It’s why this kind of title is just a lot more fun when you’re playing against other people. Against the computer it is going to get old quickly. The core gameplay is still solid enough where I would give this one a positive score but it’s certainly not knocking you out of the park. It’s a solid racing game with good gameplay controls and that’s about as much credit as I’d be giving it right from the jump. That’s still a pretty good amount of credit though.

The game succeeds on fundamentals even if it has long since been surpassed by newer racing games. There is not much reason to play it in 2026 but that doesn’t take away from this game since I don’t score on a sliding scale. If you have the Nintendo Switch Online then you should check this one out. It can at least be a good way to test out your reaction speeds with all of the obstacles. Maybe you could even play this as a memory type of game because technically the obstacles don’t change places during the level. You can try to memorize them and then ace your second lap.

In theory that doesn’t even sound so hard because it’s not like the levels are all that big. You’re talking about having to memorize 1 minute of screentime to ace the second lap. For some speedrunners who have to memorize hours of content, this would be a no brainer. Still, I didn’t find it to be an easy task. Perhaps I need to work on those skills but I would just fall for the same obstacle more than once.

The graphics aren’t bad here. They’re fairly bright and have a good amount of character behind them. That soundtrack is more on the bland side so you won’t be remembering any of the tunes. That’s fine, it would have been a nice bonus but I don’t think anyone was expecting anything too fancy out of this title. Everything passes the bar of being “good enough” which for this title is satisfactory.

Overall, I’d say to check this one out. There isn’t a whole lot to it but sometimes it’s nice to check out a retro game and see just how much the genre has changed. I’m sure that a modern remake to this title would look and feel completely different. That isn’t necessarily always a good thing but in this case I do think the modern quality of life features could make a world of difference. This one may have gone as hard as it could for the NES but it will be a world of difference on the Switch 2.

Overall 6/10

Wild Arms Review

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It’s time for a really old school RPG. I’ve owned Wild Arms 3 for many years and hadn’t ever gotten around to it before. Well, now I’m one step closer to checking that game out. This one’s a whole lot of fun so I can only imagine how much they continue polishing the gameplay mechanics from here on out. Wild Arms is considerably long and it’s also quite challenging. If you’re looking for a great game to play, then you’ve just found one!

The game starts off by introducing us to 3 main characters. The first is a man who was cursed with the power of ARMS which some consider to be a sign of bad luck. The second is a bounty hunter who travels with his sidekick who looks like a rat in search of great treasures while also being on a quest of vengeance. Finally you have the priestess who has ties to royalty. The three of them are all brought together as an evil force seeks to resurrect all of the golems and destroy the planet. These 3 unlikely teammates will have to foil these plans but it won’t be easy.

Now this is a game that is well over 20 hours so you can bet that there will be a lot of twists and turns along the way. The game gets real cosmic by the end and just never stopped impressing me all the way. The story is really engaging and the cast actually gets rather large. The villains are also a lot of fun as we get a formal villain group. I always enjoy seeing that and each of the villains really got some time to shine. The main leader of the group in particular just kept getting up over and over again. He’s not someone who would be giving up very easily.

One of the phases to the final boss fight even got me good. He had me locked into an unwinnable situation where he attacked first with a teamwide KO move. So I had to rewind to the previous phase and adjust my strategy. Without rewind this would even be crazier. I would have definitely had to do a lot of extra grinding but it’s safe to say that this is one of the tougher RPGs. I’m curious if the next one will be quite as difficult as this game was.

The gameplay is a classic turn based style. Each of your characters get to use their attacks and then the opponents strike. The turn order is based on your speed. You can use normal attacks, magic, super attacks, and summons. You learn magic at the local shop by using talismans but can reroll your spells at any time. Buying the latest equipment is also very important here. As a result money is a premium currency throughout the game. You really can’t do much of anything without money. You’ll be left without items or weapons to survive the encounters with.

Generally I prioritize getting the weapons first and then the shields. It’s also important to note that you cannot buy MP items in this game. Meaning if you run out of magic meter then you have to go find an inn. For that reason I saved just about all of my MP items for the final boss. As the meme goes, that meant I beat the game while still having a lot of MP items left. Ah well, I still thought that was worth it. Better safe than sorry right?

The wild encounters are fairly aggressive in this game. You can expect to be fighting minions a whole lot and they don’t let you run away unless you are vastly overleveled. That’s something that I think the game could have toned down quit a bit. Towards the end of the game you learn a spell to reduce encounters but the catch is that it costs quite a bit of magic that you will need for the bosses. The final dungeons in general are really long and detailed so you can expect to be using a whole lot of magic left and right.

It also feels absolutely amazing to finally have quick travel by the end of the game. Trust me when I say that this title really makes you work for it though. You don’t get it for the longest time which means a lot of running everywhere straight into more minions to defeat. The enemies are always going to be tough enough to deal some damage and their curses can be tough to brush off. Make sure you buy some of every kind of medicine.

The game’s puzzles can be a bit difficult at times too. This is one of those titles that is just old enough where it can be hard to know where to go next at different points. There aren’t always obvious markers of where to go. So in those times just be prepared to visit each town over and over until you have a lead. I’m not the biggest fan of puzzles in general but I couldn’t say that any of these were unfair.

Meanwhile the graphics for the game are definitely ahead of their time. I enjoyed all of the effects and the colorful backgrounds. Additionally after the credits we see a bunch of hand drawn illustrations of what the characters would have looked like. That was definitely neat and I also thought that the soundtrack was pretty good. There may not have been any tunes that made it to my playlist but I was still satisfied all the way through.

Overall, This is the kind of game where you get a ton of bang for your buck. There may not be much in the way of replay value but RPGs really don’t have to rely on that. You get to just go in and have a bunch of fun all around. The story is really good and I always enjoy turn based combat. Mix those two elements together and you have all the makings of a great game. Wild Arms does not disappoint! I eagerly look forward to playing the second one.

Overall 8/10

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed Review

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TMNT has come a long way. It used to have video games back on the old arcade machines and now it has made it all the way to the PS5. It’s a franchise that never goes away and you can always count on there being a new generation for the kids to follow along with. While this may be the weakest iteration of the characters, I have to praise the efforts the devs made on this game. It really has a whole lot of content and is easily one of the most expansive games I’ve played for the franchise. It may even get number 1 in that respect.

The title starts with a bunch of mutants all showing up in New York. The turtles are cool with this on principle but then a lot of them start causing destruction and giving everyone a bad name. The turtles quickly figure out that this isn’t natural and there is a mastermind behind the scenes. Taking this mastermind down is not going to be easy but the turtles know that they are NYC’s final hope. They must use teamwork to win here!

The main gameplay here is that of a 3D beat em up. You have to beat waves of enemies in each level and then move onto the next one. Typically a level will have 3-4 mob encounters. You will also need to use some platforming in between the fights as you move forward. You can’t let your guard down for a minute and the platforming can actually be rather tricky with the fan obstacles. They will try to blow you away. You also have to watch out for the level barriers because it can actually get a bit glitchy there. I got stuck once and watched an enemy get stuck multiple times.

You can pick any of the turtles to use and then summon the ones you didn’t pick as assists. I decided to use Leonardo for my whole playthrough. His swords deal a ton of damage and he’s just fun to play as. I ended up using Donatello as my assist because he summons two item boxes, one of which usually has a health item. Enemies deal a massive amount of damage in this game so trust me when I say that you’ll be glad to have them around.

The game uses a parry system where you can block and counter but the timing is extremely precise. For that reason…I straight up didn’t use it. After the tutorial levels I focused on landing hits instead. It just feels more efficient and the goal is to wipe out the opponents before they can land their counter hits. As far as I’m concerned that is easily the best way to fight. Just dodge when you see an opponent about to counter. I still did die a few times though so I have to give the game credit there. It has some actual difficulty.

Unfortunately the game does use a calendar system which means that most events and trophies are missable. You are almost guaranteed to need 2 playthroughs to do everything and it may take 3. The game is longer than you’d expect too with the main story taking around 10 hours. That may not sound crazy but it was longer than I was expecting. So I have to give the company some credit there as well, it’s clear that they put a lot of effort into this one. Side content includes trying to max out your friendship with everyone, maxing out your skill tree, etc. This allows you to unlock the true ending of the game as well and then you can try for the Platinum trophy.

The turtles each have a whole lot of different attack combos to use so the gameplay stays fresh. It also adds in new minions every few levels right up through to the end of the game. The final boss even has a few different phases at the ready. In some ways it is most efficient to just use your basic attack combination but at least you have options. The most key gameplay component here is about dodging your opponent’s attacks. A single hit can knock out almost half of your health bar. Also you should always be on the lookout for boxes to get some health back.

The graphics are reasonably good. They’re nothing amazing and do get held back by the character designs/artstyle though. On the whole it looks good enough but it’s not exactly PS5 level. The soundtrack is also more on the forgettable side. Really the only weak part here is the writing. This just comes down to this generation of the TMNT but they tend to be incredibly unfunny the whole time. You’ll only enjoy them in an ironic sense as they can’t take anything seriously for a moment. They are joking the entire time and talk a whole lot. I guess now I know what the anti-fans of Spider-Man Edge of Time were talking about.

It’s not like the dialogue here ever gets terrible though. Just annoying during the adventure but I wouldn’t take it any farther than that. You’re ultimately still here for the gameplay which is the important part. When I completed the game I only had a D rank in terms of trophies so I may need to start that second playthrough sooner than expected. I may still make that wait for a little while but we’ll see how it goes.

Overall, I can recommend this game higher than I was initially expecting. The gameplay has some real quality to it and I do like how much content there was. If the game was only around 4-5 hours then it would be different but this one is 10 hours without doing any of the optional content. You can easily get this to almost 15 hours which is impressive. I wish that the side missions weren’t missable but you can’t win them all. There are still plenty of TMNT games that I don’t own so I’ll have to work on that but this is a good one to add to your list.

Overall 7/10

Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom Review

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Ninja Gaiden has consistently been a really fun platforming title. It’s one of the rare NES titles to go all the way with actually having a really fun plot. A lot of these old games keep that to the booklets but Ninja Gaiden dared to be different! This one really gets out there with a lot of sci-fi and supernatural elements all coming together. Without the rewind feature the difficulty in this game would be absolutely crazy though. It’s impressive how anybody could complete this game back in the day.

The story starts off with “Ryu” seemingly murdering a lady. The real Ryu finds out about this and swears to clear his name. It won’t be easy though as this conspiracy runs deep and he will have to risk his life across many trials in order to come away victorious. Still, if anyone can pull this off, Ryu can. He has been through a whole lot over the years and has been training to defeat all opponents. This game also has at least 2-3 fake-outs where you think the game is ending and then it keeps on going. You’re getting quite a lot of content here.

The 2D gameplay is classic as you try to slice away at the opponents in front of you. You have to use a whole lot of your platforming skills to stay one step ahead as well. One wrong jump and you will fall to your doom. Additionally there is a heavy emphasis on speed since you will be one step too slow and hit the spikes if you aren’t careful. Then you have all of the enemies to deal with and your health will go down real fast as they strike. Technically most of them go down in a single hit but it’s still tough to knock them all out of the sky before you get hit. In a way that’s where most of your damage is going to come from. Even more than the obstacles, the enemies are what will be the end of you.

Naturally the bosses aren’t about to be outdone without a fight. They have health bars which is nice to see since you can pace yourself. That said, it can still be a bit misleading. Their health goes down extremely quickly but they also deal massive amounts of damage. You have to have incredible reaction times in order to properly dodge their attacks. The final boss also has several phases with each one being crazier than the last.

The entire game is really meant to show you just how crazy strong Ryu is to be able to deal with all of this. It’s definitely not something that just any ninja could handle. The graphics and soundtrack are both really solid as well. The stages have a lot of great variety and the music is fitting for the levels. The game really succeeds across the board. Really the only issue you can have is the difficulty. I don’t think I would have really tried to complete the game if I had played the whole thing live back in the day. I would have badly needed some quality of life features at the bare minimum. Little things like save points across each level for starters.

There also isn’t much in the way of replay value here. The game is really meant for a full playthrough and that’s about it. You’re not really playing for a high score or anything like that after all. Just beating the game should take you a long enough period where that’s not a big factor though. Trust me we’re talking hours and hours here at minimum.

As far as gameplay tips go I would say to just think about which power you prefer to use. You can only hold one power at a time. I liked the one that would send shockwaves above and below you. It’s great for hitting those hard to reach enemies. You also have the classic ninja stars which are strong but shoot in front of you which is the direction of your normal sword anyway. So it doesn’t feel like as much of a big deal. I could see a modern sequel really expanding this into 15-20 powers. The series really has less games than you would expect considering how popular it is.

Overall, Ninja Gaiden III is a pretty solid game. I really enjoyed the story and the whole game feels really creative. It’s easy to see why the series got a lot of popularity right away because it would have definitely stood out from the average title. The concept is also very sound so if you have the Switch Online then you should be checking this one out. It really ends the original 3 game saga with a bang.

Overall 7/10

Ikari Warriors Review

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It’s time for one of those really old NES games. This one wasn’t all that good though and feels very dated in the wrong ways. Some retro games have a real charm to them so you just want to go through as many levels as possible. This one doesn’t quite match up to that and the gameplay just isn’t fun enough to keep you going. It’s sort of like an old school bullet hell.

The games starts with your chopper crashing so the main character has to now get past a whole army with his gun. It won’t be easy though as the opponents have tanks and other powerful weapons at their disposal. Additionally the main character can run out of bullets while the enemies have unlimited ammo. That doesn’t sound very fair right? Well, that’s just how it goes here and it shows you just how difficult it would be for one man to beat a whole army.

You are able to commandeer any tanks you come across though which is handy. The catch is that you will lose a life if the tank is destroyed while you are in it. That is fair I suppose though. I would say the toughest part of the game is how one hit from any attack will defeat you. There are bullets everywhere and they move awful fast. You have to try and stay out of firing range while blasting the enemy but this takes a ton of precision. You get 3 lives per playthrough but you will have a hard time even making it past the first level. This is not a game for the faint of heart by any means. This game is meant to really bring you to the brink of destruction with each fight.

The graphics are pretty decent though. This is a very bright game and the villain sprites really stand out. It doesn’t feel low budget in that respect so I appreciate that. The soundtrack is more on the forgettable side. It’s the kind of classic themes you might expect so they aren’t bad but you won’t remember them by the time you have completed the game. There is also a good amount of replay value here since you can keep playing the game over and over again to try and improve your score.

That’s the angle this game is going for but the gameplay was still lacking too much to make this fun. I like when I can play a game long enough to really test my skills and feel the progression. In a game like this, you may die extremely early on if you take a wrong bullet and then that’s it. I’m not necessarily saying that the game should have been easier but that the style should have been different. Bring in some objects that you can use to block the bullets or a good old fashioned shield. That would really go a long way here. It would let you actually play the game more instead of constantly having to dodge.

The other big issue with the game is the fact that you can actually run out of bullets. There is seemingly no way to reload your ammo either until you get to the next level which is no fun. That means you now have to measure your ammo and be careful when you fire. This stuff all starts to really add up and just becomes annoying instead of fun. I’m trying to just have fun playing an arcade type of game. This turns the game too much into a simulation instead of focusing on just being a fun game.

I’ve said it before but the top priority for any game is to be fun. Everything else is absolutely secondary and so this game forgot that rule. You could have the best technical elements in the world but if the gameplay isn’t fun then that will be game over. This one ends up being well below average as a result because it’s just too unrelenting in a way that feels like it is partially RNG. Good luck reacting to every hit at least.

Overall, Ikari Warriors was really not my kind of title. I tend to like overhead beat em ups. I liked Black Hawk Stryker from back in the day on PC. That one had unlimited ammo and a ton of fun power ups though. It remembered to be a game first and foremost. I’ve played many other titles like that which were just a whole lot of fun. It’s too bad that this one couldn’t match up but I suppose some titles inevitably have to fall short at some point. If you have the Nintendo Switch Online then you should probably check this one out at some point. It’s effectively free at that point so why not right?

Overall 3/10

Splatoon 2 Review

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Splatoon 2 is one of those games that I didn’t think I would be buying for a long time. Still, it’s hard to turn down a great deal and so now I can say that I’m a bit deeper into the franchise. It makes for a pretty decent sequel. I still wish the games had a bit more aura to them and more compelling story elements but the title itself isn’t bad. I’ve got my nitpicks here and there but on the whole it is a good game.

The general plot revolves around a famous singer going missing. The prime suspects are those Octo fighters that are always causing a whole lot of trouble. They will need to be dealt with but it won’t be easy. These guys have been behind the scenes for years and the original Splatoon agent from the first game is busy on another mission. As a result the agency is forced to hire a new guy to take charge. Is he ready for this?

One thing about the mute main characters is you can always let them get right down to business. There is no hesitation or anything like that as he leaps right into action. The game has 5 worlds which each have around 4-7 levels in them. You use your variety of weapons to complete each level but in most cases you will be forced to use a specific one. I figured the final boss would be a level where you could pick any weapon so imagine my surprise when they forced me to use a weapon that I had not upgraded at all? It actually made for a reasonably challenging final boss as a result since I had to make the best of it. I even lost once which is pretty impressive for a Splatoon title. The boss also had 3 phases which was pretty detailed.

The core gameplay here is that of a 3D shooter. You can’t move very quickly on land so you shoot paint on the ground so that you can submerge in it and then zip around the level. You have to do some platforming to get past obstacles and then you shoot down any opponents who get too close. This will take a lot of practice and timing to master as you just feel very sluggish at first. I don’t think the controls are amazing but this game is built for online play. In theory since everyone has to deal with the same limitations then it works well enough.

You can shoot bombs which takes up a significant amount of ink and then of course you have all the guns I mentioned earlier. I personally prefer the dual guns which is why I maxed them out. It was just too bad that I couldn’t use them for any of the bosses past that point. You have to find bonus fish throughout the levels as well as orange orbs in order to level up each weapon. They can be a little difficult to find but granted I was prioritizing the story above all so I wasn’t searching a whole lot.

I do think that one thing which would immediately make the gameplay better would be to increase the default movement speed. It feels like you’re moving through molasses half the time unless you’re swimming and I think that can be a bit much. Just make the running speed around 20% faster and it would make an absolutely massive amount of difference. Trust me that would be a really good thing all around. It would automatically make the gameplay feel a whole lot more intense.

The graphics aren’t bad. They are going for a very colorful look with this one as the characters are very cartoony. It’s aged well and that’s definitely not an area where I would take fire at the game. The soundtrack is much weaker, it’s just not really my style. They even try to add a big song at the end since the game is about finding a singer and it did not really work. The made up squid language just isn’t all that engaging and so it ends up bringing everything down around it. Not a good idea if you ask me. They should just have them all talk normally and that would be better.

In terms of replay value, well it depends if the servers are still up. I’m actually not sure if they are and either way they probably won’t have a lot of traffic since everyone would be playing the newer titles. The story doesn’t have any real replay value. I guess you could find more fishes but there’s no real reason to do so. No more bosses to defeat or levels to unlock so that basically defeats the purpose there.

Overall, Splatoon 2 is a good game but not one that I would feel the need to pick up again. I commend it for having an actual story and even providing a decent amount of levels though. A lot of times nowadays you will see online games completely forsake the offline portion of the adventures which is not a good idea. You want to have some balance and this game would have been much weaker if there was no story. If you see it around for an easy $10 then I would definitely recommend this one. We don’t have a ton of third person shooter titles out there so you have to take what you can get. The game may not be hype but the actual gameplay is fun enough.

Overall 6/10

Armored Core Review

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After all these years I’ve gotten to play the original Armored Core now. The series has been known as the most difficult mech series for a long time now. If Madden is a football simulation, this would be known as a robotic simulation series. You actually have to craft your mech and add in the new parts that you want to use. At the same time there are strict weight requirements for each part that you have to keep in mind. Unlike most games you cannot just equip whatever you want. That’s not how this works and each part has around 10-12 stats as well. You better start studying!

The story follows a group named Raven that are basically terrorists for hire. The main character is a new recruit to the gang and so he just follows orders. The orders come from two competing companies that are always trying to one up the other and destroy the opposition. In a way that means you are destroying each corporation a little bit at a time. Throughout all of this you have people saying cryptic stuff and trying to get the lead to leave Raven. Raven might actually be the mastermind behind all of this.

I have to say that the main character isn’t very heroic either way. He willingly says yes to missions like murdering squatters and resisters all the time without batting an eye. So even if he starts to get wary once the threat comes close to home, it’s a bit late for that. This guy is completely complicit and it’s definitely interesting to be playing a full villain like this. It’s not like it is the only time that it has happened but it is still rare overall.

The gameplay is a little more complicated than usual just like the rest of the game. You shouldn’t expect to just run in and start blasting. For starters there isn’t a traditional lock on so you have to try and face the opponent. This is difficult because they are always boosting around you so you have to boost, strafe, and fire at the same time. You must keep an eye on your engine throughout this process as well or you will overheat.

It is really tough to keep all of this in mind at all times and the enemies are frankly super fast. It’s incredibly difficult to get a bead on them for long so you should expect to be on the back foot most of the time here. You do have a close combat sword that you can use but it has a long startup time and will leave you vulnerable if you miss. To make up for that it does have devastating attack power so sometimes it is worth the risk.

Without the PS5 built in rewind system this would have been even more difficult. It’s definitely not the kind of game that you can just walk in and conquer at any time. The levels are also high stakes because there is no way to go backwards. If you lose a level then you pay a fine and there is no way to go backwards. So now you have lost money which means you have less time to buy an upgrade and get prepared before the final boss. Lost enough levels and you will be in a really difficult spot. Some levels are quick but others are really long so this will keep you unbalanced the whole time.

I also could never figure out which weapons and engines to buy. Ultimately I had to run through a ton of different setups before I could beat the final boss. That one was incredibly tough even with rewind. Yeah this game is definitely not for the faint of heart at all and the difficulty lives up to the hype. There isn’t really much replay value when you beat the game but it does unlock the ability to play levels that you may have skipped earlier. There won’t be a lot of them but there are a few that you don’t get to play based on the levels that you do select.

I am looking forward to the more story based games in the future though. Games like this where you can absorb the lore from the background are fun too of course but it’s still not quite the same as actually getting out there and just being able to enjoy the cutscenes. They just need to have a good lore reason for why you can get to the garage and begin your repairs after each round but you can always just say that the main character has a secret cave for when things get dodgy.

Overall, Armored Core is not one of the greatest games out there. It is a good title but doesn’t really have the simplicity that makes a lot of other titles good. It will never be on Gundam’s level for example but I totally get the need for at least one really realistic mecha series. For people who really love customization then this will really hit home. I definitely intend to play the other Armored Core titles at some point, perhaps sooner than you may expect. In the meantime you can pick this one up for $10 from PSN so I’d definitely recommend doing so. It’s hard to go wrong for that price and you want to experience an armored core at least once so you can see just how intense it is.

Overall 6/10

Mega Man Legends 2 Review

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Mega Man Legends 2 is the longest of the 3 titles in this sub series so I was expecting things to end off with a bang. It is definitely a fun title and one that I recommend checking out. It still feels surreal to finally be checking out these games from way back in the day. Hopefully one day w will get the elusive Legends 3, but I suppose that would probably be far in the future.

The title kicks off with Mega Man and Roll attending a conference when a group of villains show up. They are seemingly led by Roll’s mother and they will be reawakening a powerful threat that may end the world. This seems to tie into Mega Man’s past which was hinted at in the first game but now things are personal. Mega Man will have to take these opponents down while trying to find out why Roll’s mother would join the dark side like this. Tron still tries to get Mega Man to notice her but perhaps they are doomed to always be on opposing sides.

Right away there are a few improvements you can see compared to the first game. The general gameplay is smoother, particularly with turning. The dungeons are also bigger as the very first one was about as big as the final dungeon from the first game. This does mean that some dungeons are going to have gimmicks though. For example I did not care for the underwater dungeon as Mega Man moved way too slowly for me. It was not nearly as fun as any of the others. The final dungeon also had these weird leech things that felt a bit overpowered. When they touch you, you are unable to move for a decently long period of time while they drain your energy. Falling into any lava will deal massive damage as well.

So the stage hazards in general got a big buff here. There is also an ice dungeon where everything is very slippery. I get the feeling that the game was just trying to show off all the cool stuff it can do since none of that was in the first game. This one is really bigger in every way and has so many power ups to buy. Earning money is not that hard in this game which I appreciated. If you want to buy anything then you just need to save up for it.

The ole strafe and blast strategy still works really well on almost every boss. The game did manage to make a few exceptions to that at least so you aren’t totally mowing down every challenge in the game. You will occasionally need to jump and use some strategy. That said, the game feels a bit easier than the first because I was able to make it through the whole game with my mega buster. I just never got the blueprints for the missiles or any of the other sub weapons. Without those you can’t unlock any sub weapons which makes that process much more involved than the first game.

They are likely in the optional dungeons. The game has quite a few of those, I only did the first optional dungeon personally. We can chalk this up to more replay value though. The most important thing is having the 3 buster part upgrades. With that your mega buster is absolutely busted anyway and deals a ton of damage. Almost any opponent will go down in a few shots to that thing. So for bosses it was really busted as well.

There are a lot of upgrades to buy in the game so I recommend focusing on the health potion and making it as big as possible. It is often cheaper than buffing up your actual health bar and has the same real effect anyway. Of course buy as much as you can effort but if money is tight, go for the potion. With that you can just keep healing as needed. The last boss required me to heal 4-5 different times to the point where my bottle had run out. It really came down to the wire there.

Since this is a PS3, PSN game there is no rewind either. So that’s something to really keep in mind here. You will have to complete this game the old fashioned way but that’s how you will get more satisfaction in there. The graphics are really good as you’d expect. The PS1 artstyle works well and all of the energy blasts look good. The combat is good as well and I enjoyed all of the cinematics. The soundtrack is a bit more on the forgettable side, nothing you’ll really be putting on the ole Youtube playlist.

Then we have the story which was a lot more interesting than the first one. The first story was good too but this one is going a lot more into the cosmology of the verse. We learn a lot of twists about the humans, the robots, and he motivations of everyone involved. It all gets a bit convoluted but in a fun way. It’s the kind of series where you can probably have a lot of fun watching lore videos on Youtube. There are still questions left for the next game as well although I would say that the ending here is still mainly conclusive enough. We also get one last look at the eternal rivalry between Tron and Roll.

Overall, This was definitely a really fun game. There are a few ways where the game’s age starts to show itself but on the whole it goes really smoothly. This is basically what I pictured a 3D Mega Man title would be like. I still can’t believe that they haven’t done more since then. Capcom really has let Mega Man fans down ove the years. I would say that it does beat the original Legends as well as the spinoff. There is just a whole lot to enjoy here so if you haven’t bought the game yet, you should hurry and do so! The PS3 version of PSN won’t be up forever and once that goes down, there won’t be an official way to play the game anymore.

Overall 8/10