Category Archives: Game Reviews

Mission Impossible: Operation Surma Review

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It’s time for a quick look at a Mission Impossible game. You may be wondering why you’ve never heard of this one before right? I guess it sort of just got swept under the rug. It’s actually a decent game but to be honest I wouldn’t call it much more than that. The game is fairly short and some of the mechanics aren’t explained very well so you will have to take a while to get used to them. Throw in more of a story and this could have turned the corner a little better. Still, for a few bucks you could do worse and it’s fun while you’re playing through it.

The game starts off with an evil group causing mayhem and you have to stop them! Ethan will be relying on his support staff to get him through but can they really save the world? Honestly the story’s super forgettable. The main villain here is your average suit and can’t really fight. With only 5 levels it’s not like there’s a lot of time for a big story anyway right? It’s for the GBA so I have to give the game some leeway on the lack of cutscenes but I do think they could have been more imaginative with the character portraits and such.

As for the gameplay, this is mainly an overhead shooter. You run through the levels and blast anyone who gets in your way. Each stage has several objectives for you to complete like hacking a computer or protecting someone. So you have to shoot your way through the levels but also while keeping in mind that sometimes you need stealth. If you hide in the shadows then the guards will often forget about you. They have no peripheral vision either so you can run at them from just out of eyesight and karate chop them into the ground. All stealth moves are 1 hit KO techniques after all.

Then you have gadgets which is where the game gets a bit rough. You can deactivate cameras and mines but I never figured out how to even detect the mines. Felt a bit random the whole time. For the cameras, you had to turn the scanner off and on while running around a lot to get it to work. I suspect this is not the intended method but I couldn’t figure out how to make this work so eh….that’ll do. I got the cameras off which is the important thing. If you don’t do that then you end up being attacked by a whole squad of elite soldiers who are incredibly hard to fight off. Trust me it’s not a situation you want to find yourself in.

With enough experimentation and dying you will eventually get the hang of the game. Because of no tutorials and how the mechanics don’t make sense, the first level will by far be the toughest one you encounter. It also feels like the longest by far. The game is only a few hours long and I want to say level 1 out of 5 probably took about half of the runtime. Yes, level 1 was that serious! One pro tip that the game won’t tell you is that to use the grenades, sniper, and other ranged abilities like the tracker you have to hold R and then aim them out. I died quite a few times while trying to figure that out.

If the game had more polish then I think this really would have gone a long way. Trust me a little dab of polish really does help in every area from graphics to gameplay. This game felt like it was thrown together rather quickly. It doesn’t take away from the fact that the actual shooting part of the gameplay is fun and there are a lot of other positives but you know there are much better games in the same genre. This game just didn’t try to surpass its limits and was content just being good.

There isn’t really any replay value so what you see is what you get. I am glad that the levels had save points so you didn’t have to start from scratch though. That would have been absolutely brutal. Although as a lack of quality of life there is no save point when starting a level so you have to go through level select instead of clicking load game which is a little rough. It doesn’t really make sense but hey it’s not a big deal.

Overall, Mission Impossible definitely deserves better as far as video games go. I think you could really make some incredible titles based on the franchise with the right studio. A mix of action, stealth, and adventure? Yes this would really be a hit. In the meantime if you really want to see how the games go then it’s not a bad idea to jump in and check this one out. The low price helps a lot and I do think you will have some fun here. It just won’t last long and you will be ready for the next adventure in a flash.

Overall 6/10

Star Ocean The Last Hope International Review

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Star Ocean’s a pretty fun franchise so far. I’ve only played a handful of games in the series but each one has been high quality. This one in particular does take a little while for the story to really get going but by the end it is delivering with the high end/explosive climax that you would expect from the series. The Last Hope is a fairly long game too so that’s enough time to really get used to the characters. Ultimately you’re going to want to pick this one up for sure.

The game starts by introducing us to the state of the world. Earth has developed enough to send ships into space in order to explore the universe. Sort of like Star Trek you are not allowed to have excessive contact which can change the course of a planet’s history. The main character here is Edge who finally gets to be the captain for this mission. He may not have a ton of experience but he is ready to do good. Unfortunately he’s in for an adventure with a lot of hurdles that threaten to shatter his confidence entirely. Will he be able to salvage the operation?

This story definitely gets very dramatic. Get ready for a lot of self doubt here as the characters all wrestle with their dilemmas. There are also a ton of cinematics in this game, more than I have seen for most other titles which is pretty impressive. The game is already super long as it is, throw in all of these cinematics and now the game is that much longer. It’s always good to see of course since cutscenes make a game more immersive but as mentioned earlier, the pacing can be a little slow at first.

I would say there isn’t even really a main villain until you’re fairly deep into the game. Once the villain appears more that makes things a bit more interesting. The character cast will also grow on you as you go through the game. Edge makes for a good main character and his comrades are all fairly solid as well. It’s just a shame his rival/friend couldn’t appear more as that guy was a lot of fun. He felt like he would be the hero in most other adventures. The guy always made the right calls and fought hard. Ultimately I would say that Edge has not caught up to him just yet.

The graphics here are definitely sharp. I wouldn’t call it one of the most high end PS3 games but the levels and character designs are always clear. The space backdrops always look good and the attacks have good animations. I definitely had no issues there. The soundtrack can be a little more bland but there are still good tracks to be had here. I may have gotten a bit too used to the hype rock soundtrack from the PS4 title. Regardless there is enough variety here where you will almost certainly like some of the tracks.

The gameplay here is effectively real time action. You have different attacks and supers that you use as you run across the map. Enemies will try to attack you as well and you want to time your attacks just right. Once you start a combo you have to let it play out so make sure that you actually have an opening because if your opponent blocks then you will be wide open. A lot of the enemies are immune to being stunned as well so they will just launch an attack while you are attacking and then you’ll go down.

Part of the learning curve here is knowing when to attack and when to run. The game can actually be rather difficult as a result and I can safely say that I did lose quite a few times. There were many moments where I had to take a step back and start training/prepping to get stronger before replaying the level. There is a full level up system at least so you can always get stronger if you are stuck. That said, one tip I would give is to make sure to check the shop while you can.

For most of the game there are no shops accessible which can be rough if you need better equipment. It’s the first time that resource has felt so scarce in an RPG before. Because of that I was over leveled but underpowered for a while because I still had the basic equipment. Trust me, you absolutely do not want the basic equipment. Ultimately it evens out by the end since more shops will appear but the middle act will go a lot smoother if you are properly prepared before heading out.

As mentioned the game is long so I would expect you will be here for a minimum of 30 hours and likely more. You can’t ask for much more out of an RPG than this. I always like to say that a game over 10 hours is reasonably long so it goes without saying that 30 is most excellent. It’s one of the biggest benefits of RPGs since you always know that you’re getting a lot of bang for your buck.

Overall, Star Ocean brings another fun installment to the franchise. It may not be the best title in the franchise but not everything needs to be the best. The main important thing here is that its fun so I would say to pick it up while you can. The final boss rush is definitely not for the faint of heart so definitely get some good training in beforehand. Nothing worse than losing in the middle of a rush and then having to start again from scratch. It just reminds you that you weren’t ready for this yet.

Overall 7/10

Wonder Boy – Asha In Monster World Review

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This game should give you massive Shantae flashbacks while you’re playing through it. There are just tons and tons of similarities all throughout the game which is pretty cool to see. The Shantae series is a lot of fun after all and there just aren’t a lot of games like that. Well, this one nails the formula and while it is over in a flash, you’ll have a good time here. It’s the kind of game with really strong fundamentals from start to finish.

The game starts off with Asha needing to save the world because the 4 great spirits vanish. She has to use mystical artifacts to unlock the doors to find them. The kingdom knows that they are in good hands with the heroine at the wheel but the queen seems to be acting a little oddly. No matter, the world needs saving and so that’s what is going to happen here! I will say that the plot’s not all that extensive or deep here but that’s fine. You’re playing this adventure for the crisp gameplay and that’s what really seals the deal.

Now I wouldn’t say that the game is particularly difficult but you have to stay sharp. Whenever you take a hit you lose a heart and you’ve got plenty of hearts but on occasion they will run low. As long as you are holding an elixir you will automatically revive…usually. See here’s the part where I tripped up. You only revive automatically as long as your monster buddy is there. If he’s not then you just die and go to the last save point. One of the benefits of this remake version is that you can save anywhere at any time. However, the game was going easy enough where I really didn’t save much at all.

This led to one really rough part where I ended up losing maybe around 3 hours or more of gameplay. Trust me that was really rough. So definitely make sure you save a lot and when you’re low on health feel free to just use the elixir. It’ll be slightly less cost effective but that way you don’t run the risk of dying. Then you can just enjoy the boss battles at your leisure. Each of the bosses are crafted well and fit in with the game. The gameplay is already smooth and the bosses are the cherry on top.

You can play cautiously or aggressively and the gameplay accommodates each style. At its core this is a classic platformer so you will be jumping, dodging, and running through each of the levels. Your moves will get a lot stronger as you buy more upgrades in the shop. You actually don’t earn a lot of money by the time you beat the game though so you can only afford a few power ups. Definitely try to make the most of them and maybe resist the urge to buy the weakest upgrade so you can skip to the second. It’s a better use of your money if you can wait that far. I know it may be hard to wait when you want a stronger weapon.

The graphics here are super solid, everything is bright and shiny. This looks like a modern gen game through and through which may not sound like the best of complements but what I mean is this will hold up for many years. You’ll have a lot of fun there and the soundtrack is also very catchy. So in the end there really aren’t any real big negatives for the game. It has hype and intensity throughout.

The only weak point of the game you could mention is that it is super short. You will be done with it in a matter of hours. So if you can find the game on sale then that would be a good idea because at full price I imagine you may feel like you got ripped off a little. I got this one on Amazon Prime Day so I ended up saving a ton of money. At that price I really had no reservations about the game. I had a good bit of fun and it’s why a short length isn’t usually a deal breaker for me. The most important thing is that I had a good time and I did so no issues there.

There is some replay value here as well like trying to get the Platinum Trophy. It doesn’t look particularly difficult to obtain so it probably won’t add a ton of time to the overall length but every bit helps. You can also try to beat the game on hard mode and see if it changes the ending. The ending just felt like it wasn’t the true one so I suspect there is a way to unlock an alternate one unless that really was just to set up a sequel. It was an intense/sudden way to end that’s for sure but of course that’s the best way to close something out.

Overall, Wonder Boy IV is definitely not a game that you want to miss out on. The title may confuse you since you’re playing as a girl and Wonder Boy is not even referenced but that’s the power of being a spinoff with the game series having an interesting naming convention. I wouldn’t be surprised if this helped the game sell better but at the same time I feel like the difference may be negligible since most people don’t know about Wonder Boy anyway. Ah well, either way the important thing is that you should play the game and hopefully a sequel will come out soon since there’s still a lot more you can do with this series.

Overall 7/10

Super Bomberman R Review

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I remember when this game came out many years ago for the Switch. I always thought it looked fun but I suppose it just wasn’t fun enough to go all the way and buy. Well that all changed now because I finally got to check it out for the PS4. It’s a pretty fun game but also certainly a very short one. You’ll have it conquered within a few hours no sweat. After that there is replay value but I would have liked it if the game could have been a bit longer. There’s a whole lot you can do with the bomb gameplay.

The story starts off with a guy who looks a lot like Dr. Wily deciding that he is going to take over the world. He isn’t going to do it slowly or subtly. No, this guy has hired the Dastardly Bombers to do his bidding. The Bombermen have to rise up to take them down but unfortunately only the main one is ready for action. The others keep slacking off and holding him back. Is there any way for them to come out on top or is this the end of the road?

The story is definitely on the weak side. I appreciate the fact that there are full illustrations and voice acting here but at the same time you can’t help but feel that it could be better. There’s a lot of fun you can have with a plot about the Bombermen but it’s definitely played more for laughs. The character designs are all good though. It may not be the story I had been waiting for but at least it did have a full story and you don’t want to take that for granted.

As for the gameplay, well Bomberman is all about dropping bombs along the map and making sure you don’t step in them. You have to maneuver carefully as you destroy debris and enemies without getting hit in the crossfire. It’s a pretty unique gameplay style that is also a good bit of fun. You have to go through 8 levels in each world before fighting a boss. There are 5 full worlds and then one bonus level. Each world will take you under an hour, maybe half an hour or so. This is a pretty short game as a result so personally I would have doubled the worlds. Alternately split up the levels so each one is a separate level and then do about 100 of those instead of the current number. I thin you could do it since in theory changing the layouts of the level for each mission shouldn’t be too difficult. At least it’s all using the same assets and character models so I feel like it should be really easy. You don’t want to extend the game for no reason but a few more hours helps it to really feel like a full bargain.

Although as mentioned there is replay value here in the form of bonus levels. You also have multiplayer mode and of course you can play as a bunch of different characters as well. All of that helps to really make Bomberman stand out a little more than it would otherwise. The production values all feel really high too. The character models look really sharp and everything is in very high resolution. The soundtrack is mostly forgettable with the exception of the end credits song.

That one definitely does stand out so big props to the game there. the lyrics are also really emotional, that’s the kind of heart you expect for this game. I think a sequel should really try to have the characters take everything at least a little more seriously. Do that and the whole game will absolutely benefit as a result. You already have cool visuals for the villains and a large cast so this is really the next big step. I’d definitely be encouraged to buy the game a lot sooner if that was the case. Seriously count me in there, it would be the right play.

The game can also be rather difficult with the boss battles in particular. You have to figure out how to hurt them while in battle and their attack range is really good. When you die you can revive as long as you have 300 coins left. I always had enough coins so I was good but it’s something to keep an eye out for. Otherwise you may find yourself at the dreaded game over screen and that would definitely be rough.

I recommend taking advantage of the few seconds of invincibility that you get when you first respawn. Trust me this is absolutely massive and helped me a lot with some of the bosses. Otherwise I’d almost say to button mash because it’s hard to really plan things out when you’re going super fast like this. Just throw a lot of bombs around and you should be fine. During the levels you can get upgrades to range and number of bombs as long as your speed. Go for all of them and blow up the negative power ups.

This can mean taking a little longer to complete a level as you blow everything up looking for power ups but it is really worth it for those boss battles. I was quite impressed with how tough those could be. I died several times but fortunately you get 8 lives for each chapter and of course with the continues you’ll usually have enough coins for 4-5. I only needed 1 continue for each chapter except the last one which helped for saving coins. I’m not totally sure how you earn coins. You get them for beating chapters but try not to put yourself in a position where you’re totally out of them or that could be risky.

Overall, Super Bomberman R is definitely a pretty fun game. It may be on the short side and the story wasn’t particularly impressive but at the end of the day I still had a good time. It’s a title that you can get for really cheap nowadays so there’s no reason not to get it. Hopefully Bomberman makes a return to the AAA home console games one of these days. There is a lot more you can do with the premise after all but until then we’ll have this game at the ready.

Overall 7/10

Fifa 19 Review

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Fifa is hardly my favorite sports game by EA but it is impressive how long this one has gone for. At this point it’s definitely here to stay and I’ll continue to pick up the games. I just wish it would go for more of an arcade feel over simulation since scoring is a lot of fun. More high scoring games would equal more excitement all around right? A end score of 2-1 may be fairly realistic to the real game but it’s just not explosive enough. Of course the bigger a fan you are of real soccer, the more you will appreciate this game.

The graphics are on point as always. The game looks really nice and there are a lot of tunes but none that really stand out. You’re here more for the gameplay anyway so that’s fine. As for the gameplay, well it’s very smooth which is good. The controls and rules all mirror the real game and the goalie doesn’t play around. You absolutely cannot just run up to the goal and score, even on easy mode. So I appreciate that as it forces you to use your teammates but I dare say the field doesn’t feel wide enough. Whenever you approach the goal is feels like you are completely stuck and either have to pass back or wait and buy some time until the goal is open.

This is where the game’s pacing ends up dying out because nothing’s really going on. The games would feel rather long as a result and while I wouldn’t want them to add super powers or items to the game, I think it couldn’t hurt to either expand the field or make less players be on the field at once. I want to be able to really test my skills of manipulating the ball in the open field and see what kind of shot I can make.

Part of this is a simple skill issue of course but I’ve seen soccer done masterfully like in Mario Strikers. Now there was a top tier soccer game that really got me pumped about the sport. I could play that game all day and it was always super satisfying. On the bright side you can get this game for cheap and it basically has unlimited replay value. You can keep on playing this game over and over and over again without any issues.

There are online modes, practice, exhibition, franchise, etc. There are quite a lot of modes here so I have to give the game kudos there. Sport games are also built for replay value with how you can challenge someone locally or online and have a lot of fun. It’s one of the great strengths of the genre. While I have my issues with the scoring, I can still see how you would sink in hundreds of hours with this as you learn through the game.

By the same token there isn’t a whole lot to say about this one so my review’s going to be a bit shorter than usual. There are only so many ways you can describe the game of soccer so feel free to check out my reviews of the previous years for a more detailed summary. I’ll just begin to wrap this up by saying that passing is something you should be doing a whole lot of. Trust me, it opens up the goal and generally makes things much easier. If you try scoring on your own…well I doubt you’ll be doing any scoring. The goalie is much too tricky for that and you’ll have the ball stolen real quick if you just try to run for a while.

Overall, Fifa 19 is more of the same just like how each NBA and Madden title are basically the same game over and over. You either like the game by now or you don’t but it’s not introducing any crazy mechanics or anything like that. This is a very straight forward game that knows exactly what it is. It’s not trying to pull the wool over your eyes or be too tricky for its own good. I’d like a fun cinematic story mode about saving the world in one of these titles but I’m not exactly the target audience here. If you want to play some good soccer there aren’t many alternatives right now so I’d say you should pick up this Fifa title.

Overall 6/10

Blossom Tales II: The Minotaur Prince Review

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It’s time for the big sequel to the first Blossom Tales. The original was a pretty fun homage to the Legend of Zelda games and this one follows suit on that. The game is a fairly short adventure but one where you are having fun the whole time. In the end it’s always better to be a short game that was a blast all the way through than one that faltered at different points right? Well Blossom Tales definitely made sure not to miss a beat with that and the gameplay’s just so smooth. It’s clear that a lot of effort was put into this one.

The basic story is the grandpa is still telling the kids about the adventures in the good ole days. One unique part to this game series is that the adventures are not real as they’re just stories and so the events actually tend to change a bit when the kids interrupt him. Regardless within the story the plot is that the heroine was doing well in a tournament until her brother cheated and won in the finals. She then wished that he would be taken away by the demon king and that’s exactly what happened. She blames herself now and rushes in to save him but alas the brother may have been tempted to the dark side. Is there any way to stop the demon king?

The story itself is fun but I would say it does play second fiddle to the gameplay. The fact that the events aren’t really happening does take a big bite out of the tension which is why I would have definitely changed that part and just cut out the fourth wall breaks to the real world. I know that’s part of the game’s charm but to me it jut works better as a straight adventure.

Now for the gameplay it’s like the old Link games where the camera is overhead and you slash away at any enemies who make the mistake of getting in your way. It’s a pretty fun style and the map areas aren’t too large which compensates for the character speed not being too quick. So you’ve got good balance there right off the gate. Now I know what you might be thinking. Those puzzles probably get annoying right? Well fortunately Blossom Tales does a great job at keeping the puzzles balanced and not letting them overload the actual exploring. In fact I would say it is decisively better than Legend of Zelda in this regard which is definitely impressive.

Who says a homage can’t surpass the original in some ways right? I enjoyed all of the puzzles here. In particular I liked the memory matching and one where you have to connect tiles without stepping on any of them twice. They were difficult puzzles to an extent but very straight forward in how you would solve them. They are more direct brain teasers than they are roundabout puzzles and that’s the way I like it. I want to work on solving a puzzle, not on figuring out what the actual puzzle even is. That’s the big difference here.

The graphics are naturally very nice here. It’s all rather colorful and the background effects are good. It’s going for a retro style without intentionally looking retro. So it’s not going to be looking quite like Fire Emblem Engage for example but it’s a game that is very pleasant to look at and you always know exactly what you are looking at. It’s all handled really well which plays a big part into the calm atmosphere of the game.

This is the kind of title that you can easily pick up and play at any time. A big reason as to why that works is because the map is always labeled so you know exactly where you have to go at any given point. That is huge because a lot of games seriously can’t figure out how maps work. This one never has that problem and I definitely appreciate it. It means that the game went the extra mile. The soundtrack is a little more on the forgettable side but it’s pleasant enough while you’re playing.

As mentioned the game is rather short though so don’t expect to be playing this for very long. I’d say it’s probably around 5-7 hours or so. While some of the puzzles can extend the timer a bit, at the end of the day it’s still not like it will turn this into a long game. There doesn’t seem to be a ton of replay value here either so by and large what you see is what you get. Fortunately that product is a lot of fun. I’d hold off if the price is really high but otherwise there’s nothing to regret here.

Overall, Blossom Tales II is a pretty fun game. It’s the definition of a solid title. You’ll play through it and have a good time. It has no weaknesses and while the game may play it safe by not adding any big mechanics or hooks, sometimes that’s the way to go about it. Give me a fundamentally sound game that has a fun story and quality gameplay and you’ll always have a winner there. I’m definitely up for a third Blossom Tales someday to see how that goes. This kind of game could easily have as many sequels as it wants since there are plenty of fun stories that you can tell.

Overall 7/10

Cubix Robots for Everyone: Showdown Review

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It’s time we all talk about the big robot series from back in the day..Cubix. Cubix is one of those titles that I never got to watch while it was airing but the main robot had a very distinct design. After playing the video game I can see how the show would be fun but unfortunately the game itself dropped the ball a bit. I was expecting a lot of fun action gameplay and things like that but instead it’s a timing game. That’s fairly unique since there aren’t many games with this style but it doesn’t have enough depth to pull this off.

The game starts with the main characters realizing that a lot of robots are suddenly going haywire. Their malfunctions are putting everyone at risk so the heroes have to put a stop to this. The villain takes this opportunity to make a move as well so now the heroes really need to watch out. If they don’t handle this perfectly then they are going to be in massive trouble. Fortunately they are up for the task…possibly.

There isn’t much of a story to be honest though. That synopsis is basically it. The heroes go from area to area destroying the robots…well I should say purifying them. Each time you fix a robot you add him to your team and then keep the fighting up from there. Each time the villain runs off and the heroes have to catch him again. There’s definitely not much in the way of variety here, this just isn’t that kind of title. The story shouldn’t take you longer than a few hours to complete.

There are 40 Cubix in the game and you gain one every time you win a fight. Some are obtained through collectibles in the hub world and others must be from a different mode since I completed the game with 32/40. There is platforming elements to the game as you have to solve puzzles like moving blocks and such but ultimately this just felt like filler.

While the timing gameplay wasn’t my favorite, it’s clearly the meat of the game so you should just stick with that. Basically when it’s your turn to attack you have to press A while the wheel is on your color. Then the opponent does the same. This continues on until you have taken all of the opponent’s health away. Of course the timing isn’t very precise which is a huge issue because that’s the point of the game. Another issue here is that there is a whole type system but the in game help screens don’t have the right ones.

For example it says that water is weak against…water as the weakness and when you try to use a water attack it isn’t super effective. The whole chart breaks down very quickly so I recommend just throwing out attacks and keeping track of the type advantages on your own. The system won’t be very helpful this time I’m afraid. Then you also have special abilities to speed up the wheel, reverse its motion, deal double damage, etc. Using each ability strategically is absolutely key if you want to win.

The game can be reasonably challenging and I actually did lose once or twice. There isn’t really anywhere to train either as far as I could tell so if you truly get stuck then that would be tricky. Your robots gain a level up every time you win with one of them but there are no minions in the whole game. So if you have already beaten the boss then there will be nobody to fight. It does force you to get really good at the game though.

As for the graphics, this is definitely more on the movie-tie in level. It doesn’t quite look as good as Mario 64 or the X-men game for SNES. You can tell who the characters are so that much is clear but there is basically 0 effort put into this one. The soundtrack is also extremely forgettable so you won’t be remembering the tunes for very long either. Mix that in with how short the game is and perhaps you will have trouble remembering the game as well. That part I don’t think is as much of a risk just because the timing system alone makes it fairly unique and easy to remember but not for the best of reasons.

There was potential here to be sure with the voice acting and gameplay but there isn’t enough to keep you here. You will be ready to leave right away since no aspect of the game is particularly strong. I should emphasize that the game isn’t bad but without anything particularly good about it, it is stuck right in the middle. You can get the game for very cheap which is good but if you haven’t played this title before, you aren’t missing much. You can absolutely just let it be forgotten to the years of time.

Overall, Cubix just isn’t the kind of game that is going to win a bunch of awards. I basically bought this game on a whim so it’s not like I expected a whole lot but even I thought it would be better than what we had here. It just could have done a whole lot more with the robot concept. Why didn’t this play out as a robot fighting game right? Give it the Gundam gameplay and I’m sure it would have been good. Ultimately this wasn’t how it was meant to be though. If they ever make a new Cubix game someday I would keep an eye out for it but otherwise I suppose this might be it for my Cubix adventures.

Overall 5/10

Shadowverse: Champion’s Battle Review

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Shadowverse is one of those games that always looked pretty fun but I can’t say that I knew a whole lot about it. It was a hype game with a fun color scheme but yeah that’s the extent of it. Well after playing through it I can safely say that this is a great game and one that you should definitely check out. There was a whole lot of effort put into this one and you can feel it in all of the small details.

The game follows the adventure of Terry (Or whatever else you name him) as he learns about the game of Shadowverse. It turns out that he is actually quite the prodigy at it and starts winning tournaments quickly. He joins up with a local club at school and that’s good because they desperately need him. If one of their members does not win the national championships then the club will be disbanded. This sounds like a job for Terry and trust me, he’s up for the task!

One aspect that was impressive right out of the gate was the full voice acting. Yes this game has every line read out loud which is great. It really makes this feel like a true AAA game all the way through. It enhances the story since you really feel the stakes this way and the fact that even side quests have voice acting and everything is cool. It works as an extra incentive for you to really play through the adventure. Either way it’s long as the game’s story is well over 40 hours. After that you enter the post game and I haven’t started that one so I can’t say how long it is but I bet it’s another 5+ hours in there.

So you don’t have to worry about replay value. Even outside of all story content there are in-game trophies to obtain and a lot of side quests to complete. You can also work on obtaining all of the cards in the game which is actually more achievable than usual. I came super close to getting them all myself after all. The character cast is likable and the story is strong. It’s not going for an end of the world kind of vibe to be sure but it still brings the tension since your club is at stake.

Now for the gameplay, with so many different card games out there I’m sure the creators had to think carefully to make this one stand out. Well, they definitely succeeded. First off, you can only own 3 of a card so that makes it feel less infinite since after you’ve obtained around 1900 total then that means you’ll have them all. You build your deck with monsters and spell cards so there are two base types. You each start the battle with one energy and it goes up to 10 by the end of the battle. You each have 20 life points and the first one to hit 0 loses.

Beyond that it will take a lot of trial and error but the game really gives you the tutorials in a way that is very easy to understand. The explanations were definitely high quality and you can view them again at any time. There are also over 200 duel puzzles which help you understand more of the specific mechanics built into each clan. Each of the different types of cards have very different strategies and by the end you will want to have more than one deck. For example I had a shadowcraft deck for attack and a havencraft one for defense. What do I mean by that?

Well, when playing a blood deck that is built on damaging the user, I’d go for Shadow which is based around dealing damage to the enemy quickly. It’s a perfect counter so it works well. Then if an opponent is using a slow burn deck like Royal, I would bring in Havencraft. It has a card that basically works like Exodia, if you summon it then you win the duel by default no matter how many life points your opponent has. That part was really cool, I built a deck around that and it helped me win a ton of battles that would have been really tough otherwise.

The game is very friendly when it comes to setting up decks. For example whenever you defeat someone then you get a copy of their deck recipe. You have to get the cards yourself but once you do, then you can set that up as a deck. It revolutionizes deck building which can take hours and hours in a Yugioh game since it’s all manual. This one actually gives you some help which was nice and it’s an incentive to find every duelist and take them down. I ended up only having a little over 30 deck codes out of over 100 so you can tell that I didn’t fight as many as I could have. Once I had my 1-2 punch setup I just figured I didn’t need them.

Meanwhile the graphics here are really solid. The characters are all very colorful and we actually get fully animated cutscenes in addition to the CG ones. That was really cool and also made the game feel more special. Finally there’s the soundtrack which is also really good. There are quite a few really epic tunes in here that get you into the flow of the duel. The game spared no expense.

Overall, Shadowverse is a great game and one that I definitely recommend. It also serves its purpose in getting you more hyped to watch the show since the game was so engaging. I dare say even the Yugioh games can pick up a few things from this one like the deck creation enhancements which do make it a lot more fun. At the end of the day it’s too strong to call this the best card game out there but it did exceed my expectations and I was definitely satisfied by the end.

Overall 8/10

Crystal Ortha Review

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It’s time for another Kemco RPG but this one is a shared production so it’s a bit different. Most of the mechanics from Asdivine Hearts aren’t here for example and this is a game that’s fairly unique in a lot of respects. For example one big change is that there are no consumable items. Yes that’s right there are no potions, revives, ethers, etc. I don’t think I’ve played an RPG without items before so that was interesting.

The game follows a bounty hunter/treasure hunter of sorts. He used to be a soldier within the government but left that to go free lance. He runs into a lady who is looking for the Crystal Ortha, a lake of unimaginable riches. Most people don’t believe that this thing even exists but she is determined to find it. Our hero is a bit of a softie so he agrees to help for a percentage of the profits which even he doesn’t totally believe in. Together they will find the money and in the meantime they’ll assist in saving the world.

That’s another way in which this game is a bit different. The main characters aren’t a bunch of superheroes trying to make the world a better place or anything like that. They are serving their own interests all the way and just so happen to be helping out in the process. They’re not bad people or anything so they help people out along the way but yeah they’re after the treasure first and foremost. Even at the very end of the game the main heroine uses that as the justification for taking all of the gold from the cave although I’d say none is necessary. If it’s in the cave then it’s finders keepers right?

That said, the main characters are some of the more forgettable ones to be sure. Ross is your classic tough guy with a mysterious past who can fight. It’s a solid character type so he’s good enough as the lead but doesn’t really have anyone to bounce off of. You have the heroine who has her gun and isn’t afraid to use it but there’s not much to her beyond that. Then you have the cowboy who is constantly flirting and making a fool of himself. There’s also a kid in a dragon costume but not much to say about him.

All you need to know about this group of characters is that they all just watch as the main heroine’s corrupt fiancé grabs her and starts to drag her away. They don’t jump up to help out or anything which made them fraudulent to me personally. Still, even without a dynamic cast I would still say that overall the story was good. It kept me engaged the whole time which was the important part and the game is fairly long. I beat it ahead of schedule compared to the play-time length it’s supposed to be but it was still around 15 hours or so. I’m even going for the Platinum which I should have soon.

The Platinum hunting is always a good sign for a game because that means it was fun enough to keep playing to the end like that. At the very least it means I didn’t want to put the game down and that’s definitely accurate. I had a lot of fun with the gameplay. So aside from the items there is another really unique thing about it. Each character has normal attacks and then special attacks. Special attacks take up MP meter which naturally grows in every turn. So you can use a basic super every turn or wait and do more powerful ones.

You unlock new skills are you progress through the story, level up, and some through side quests. The best abilities are naturally near the end but with the meter constantly moving it adds a nice strategy aspect to the title. There are also collectibles scattered throughout the game which are incredibly handy. They boost your stats permanently like “+3% health to the party” and they all stack so getting those collectibles can often be even more important than getting the traditional level ups. Trust me you absolutely need these or you’re going to be in for a very rough time. I ended up grabbing almost all of them in the whole game and the final boss was still extremely difficult. I was also at level 99 with all of the characters.

This game is absolutely difficult and so you really have to plan out your attacks carefully. This is one of those games where your health restores completely after every match though which helps a lot with grinding. If you stayed injured then that would have been more difficult particularly with how frequent the enemy spawn rate is, they probably could have toned that down a bit.

The graphics are pretty solid here. We don’t get the really fun illustrations in the style of Asdivine Hearts but everything still looks solid. Likewise the soundtrack isn’t quite as dynamic but in the end it’s still solid all the way through. There are a good variety of action tunes to enjoy. The game’s length is also good and while the post game isn’t very extensive, there’s enough for about 2-3 hours before you end up Platinuming the game. In part because it can be difficult to find the last skills Ross needs for that final trophy.

Overall, This is a bit of a more low stakes game compared to other RPGs but it’s still fun. At the end of the day the story is good and the gameplay is very solid. When both of those aspects are good then the other parts don’t matter as much. I’d like to see more games try this approach of no items. I would bring money back as the currency instead of using materials though, that was just more on the odd side and made it more difficult to buy everything. Still, this is the kind of experimenting that I enjoy. The gimmicks aren’t bad and you will end up remembering this game very well since it was so unique. I look forward to the next RPG either of these companies churns out.

Overall 7/10

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Review

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It’s time to sit down and have a difficult discussion about Tears of the Kingdom. I know that you’ve heard from just about every source how this is the game of the year, one of the best games of all time, etc. Well I’m here to let you down gently because it did not reach those heights. I would argue that the first game actually defeats it overall. Tears of the Kingdom ultimately tried to be too ambitious and tried too many things with a lot of them not working out. That’s the big problem here and I say this as someone who has always been a big Legend of Zelda fan. It just wasn’t ready for this and I think the series should go back to the really big story based titles like Skyward Sword. The open world format is cool but it needs extensive fixes.

Well first off the story starts with Zelda and Link exploring some ruins. Unfortunately this does go very well and Zelda goes missing, lost into the winds. Link wakes up on the sky islands and needs to find a way to get going. He must save Princess Zelda from Ganondorf who has returned to destroy the world. Link will need to meet up with various friends and allies as he reawakens the Master Sword and saves the day but can he do this?

Lets talk about some of my issues with the game. First up, they kept the whole breakable weapons mechanic. So every few swings your weapons are going to keep on shattering. Over and over and over again. Yes you now have the ability to fuse weapons with objects which is a new mechanic to the game but this only delays the inevitable as they will both be destroyed before long. The only exception is the Master Sword which still breaks but it will eventually regenerate. This is a mechanic that should have been removed by now because all it really does is force some extra length into the game instead of just letting you have fun. I don’t know about you but I want to have fun and I want to have fun now!!

Then there is the new Ultrahand mechanic to which a large part of the game is built around. With this you can lift up almost any object in the game. This helps a lot with puzzles and such as you jump from platform to platform. The thing is, it’s not a mechanic that is super fun to use. I think it could have been in small doses like using it once in a while but having to do it constantly is something else. Building objects and such is good fun at time but the game is too focused on having you do it all the time. As it is you don’t have much time to just play the game.

You maybe fight someone once every few hours but for the mot part you’re doing a lot of running and map exploring. I managed to scope out almost the whole Depths can a fairly early period in the game and likewise opened up the lighthouses. It is really good to be able to see the map at least and they didn’t exaggerate about the overall size of the kingdom. The game is absolutely massive and it would take forever to run from one side to the other. It is absolutely impressive and I’ll give the egame credit there. They just should have skipped the overall gimmicks so all of the different styles would be gone and you’re just having fun with combat.

The actual combat is smooth but it feels like that is rarely something you need to do. Aside from the occasional boss you don’t have much incentive to take down the minions. You can get some material for beating them but not much. So you’re just going to be doing a lot of running instead and probably getting stuck at some point by those puzzles. I certainly got stuck plenty of times. In the end it took me 55 hours to complete the game and I feel like a good chunk of that was running around in circles because I didn’t know where to go.

There are a ton of sidequests and bonus content to access but most of them are behind puzzles as well so get ready to try and figure those out. Additionally don’t forget that you have to complete a bunch of shrines to get the stars needed to level up your health and stamina. The game may try to present itself as a rue open world where you can make any choices you want but that isn’t always the case. For example there is one boss that you can’t reach unless you get past a stamina door and to do that you had to buy at least 5 stamina upgrades. I wanted to max out hearts and that’s what I had been doing but this forced me to change gears.

Also I believe the open world is to blame for this game not having much in the story. After each temple they play the same cutscene over and over again and just zoom in on a different character depending on the temple. It means that the game froze the progression right here and that’s no good. By the time you get to the end of the game it really doesn’t feel like there was a ton of story that you got through.

At least the climax was a lot of fun though. Lin’s battle stance where he gets ready and the Master Sword lights up was brilliant. That was a great moment all around and is exactly what you like to see in a AAA title. Link has been through a lot but when the going gets tough he is always ready to hang in there. The battle involves a lot of dodging and parrying so you do need to really be on point here. Especially since I had used up all of my hearts earlier thanks to the gloom. I had to beat the final boss and the various phases without taking any hits to my hearts. It took me over 2 hours of trying over and over again but eventually I did manage to succeed.

That was easily the highlight of the game for me because I did feel good in conquering that challenge. I’d argue that the game design wasn’t the best to put you in such a rough circumstance since I feel like most wouldn’t be able to pull that off. Of course there is extra gear and food that you could have gotten to avoid that which is worth noting. The game really wants you to stick around and try all of the content so you can go into the final boss well prepared. It’s a noble goal and I know there is a lot to the game but at the end of the day there just isn’t enough to keep you here. Once you complete the game then you are likely out.

The soundtrack is definitely more on the forgettable side but I suppose I wouldn’t say that it’s bad. You just don’t feel like you will need to Youtube the themes afterwards. The graphics are definitely great here. I would have liked to have had Link’s classic green tunic throughout the game though. Lately it feels like that costume doesn’t appear enough even though it’s the best one. I’m sure it’s out there somewhere in the mode but I was hoping I would get it for the final boss.

Nobody can say that the game is short though. 55 hours just to complete the campaign is really impressive and in terms of overall content I wouldn’t be surprised if this is around 100-150 hours. There is so much to do here. The game can also be fun when you are just relaxing and not having to do anything. The problem is that the game reminds you of what’s coming all the time. Just when you’re unwinding the game throws another puzzle at you or some kind of cryptic clue. You simply can’t escape it.

This all sounds pretty negative so just for the record the reason why I would still call the game good is because the gameplay itself is good. The combat is on point and I enjoy the parrying system. The characters are good and the story is solid when it appears with a cinematic once in a while. You will get real annoyed on many occasions and will need to put the game down for a while since long batches can hurt the experience but at the end of the day it’s a game that you won’t regret buying.

Overall, Tears of the Kingdom is one of the weaker Legend of Zelda games for me but I will applaud it on really trying to be as ambitious as possible. It is a huge game but the gimmicks just ended up bringing the experience down. Sometimes less is more and just letting me fight the enemies without having to worry about things would have been great. I want more story and more action next time. Throw those things into the game and I would enjoy it a whole lot more. I would still recommend the game if you want to travel through the kingdom and have fun. I’m confident that you will have a good time here but you will also get irritated at times so definitely keep that in mind. The game is very much a rollercoaster.

Overall 6/10