Penny’s Big Breakaway Review

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It’s time for a wholesome 3D platformer. Penny is a new IP so it’s always impressive to see one of those grow and become the next big thing. It seems like everyone liked this one quite a bit and I can confirm that it’s a good title. It’s the kind of game that is easy to jump into and there is plenty to do after the main campaign is over. There’s no reason to leave this title on the shelf, just play through it and you will see what all the hype is about.

The general plot involves Penny heading to the Gala but unfortunately she ends up messing with the big political figure by mistake. I think he’s the mayor but now he wants her taken down. She must run fast, taking down every boss in her way as well as the proper authorities until she can get back into the gala and clear her name. Does Penny have what it takes to pull this off or is she about to be in for a very rude awakening?

Fortunately Penny is very skilled with a Yo-Yo. The general gameplay is all built around this as you use it to leap over obstacles, directly smash enemies, etc. It’s a fun way to make the gameplay a little different than just being your average 3D title. The game also moves at a pretty fast pace so you are really encouraged to learn the movement options well so that you can keep going at full speeds. The game isn’t all that hard but the real difficulty comes in trying to beat the levels as fast as possible to get the max ranks. I didn’t get a single max rank during my playthrough so it seems like this is definitely something you would need a good amount of practice for.

Additionally each level has several people asking you for help and I can only imagine that they will probably reward you with trophies for completing all of these. The main campaign is probably around 6-7 hours so throw in the bonus content and you’ve got a decent amount of things to do in order to really keep you busy here. You’ll really get to have tested your platforming skills by the end of it. There are also a lot of fun quality of life features here like a game over allowing you to continue but you lose all of your points. So if you actually want a high rank then you better prepare to play the level again while not dying so often.

Once you know the route to go for the goal you shouldn’t have a problem but sometimes it does take a bit of trial and error. Later on you also get invisible platforms so by that point in the game you really want to have mastered how far you can jump. Knowing the different distances by heart will really go a long way here. Without that then you may be in trouble but that’s why you have the option to keep on trying until you have succeeded.

Meanwhile the bright artstyle and graphics works really well here. Each world is distinct and you can tell that a whole lot of effort was put into the game. It’s all very polished and likewise the soundtrack is also super good. There are a lot of really catchy themes here and the soundtrack has a lot of variety to it. No two worlds sound the same at all. The technical elements here are all definitely on point.

The only part that can be confusing at times are the boss battles. It’s not always readily apparent what you have to do. Yes you have the trial and error but sometimes the game could stand to be a little clearer. The main example of this is the big boss where you have to use a magnet to attack him. Dodging his attacks was really hard to understand because of the odd hitboxes and the magnet’s range seemed a bit off.

All small things at the end of the day though. The gameplay itself is definitely a total win either way and I would definitely say that the sequels should stick to this kind of game design. Keep things fast to differentiate from other platformers and that momentum can easily be used to keep this title near the top of its genre. They can also start expanding the main cast a bit. It’s something that is good to begin doing sooner than later so the characters all have time to become fan favorites and everything. There are already some named characters here but none that strike you as the playable type. They seem like supporting characters, not main characters. At least that’s the way I would explain it.

Overall, Penny’s Big Breakthrough is a fun game. It’s fast paced and clever with the various mechanics. It looks and sounds good as well so you’ve really got the complete package here. There’s definitely a lot to take in and there is good room for a sequel. I’d definitely be interested in playing a follow up so lets keep our fingers crossed for that. In the meantime pick this game up and it’s the kind of title that you can really recommend to anyone. A simple but effective title that has no real issues.

Overall 7/10

Yoshi’s Island DS Review

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Yoshi’s Island is one of those games that I would have imagined that I’d have played years ago but it always fell through the cracks. As a result it feels really retro to be playing this one because it’s just from such a different time. This was back when Nintendo really did not hold back on the difficulty. Some of these levels are really quite hard but never in an unfair way. Your platforming skills will simply be tested in ways that you wouldn’t have thought possible.

The story is fairly basic but with one little twist that was nice. Basically babies around the world are being kidnapped and this includes poor Luigi. Fortunately the stork is able to save Mario and quickly locates Yoshi so that they can team up to save the world once again. These two are no strangers to mixing it up with the likes of Bowser and so they quickly get ready for this. What they don’t realize is that King Bowser has come from the future as well to really complicate matters. Dealing with two fierce opponents may be a bit much and then we have Wario as a wild card.

Right off the bat I can appreciate the wide character roster here. At least for a Platformer this feels pretty big. You can use Baby Mario, Peach, Wario, DK, and even Bowser at one point. Each character has their own special abilities while riding on Yoshi and this even affects your running speed. Additionally Mario has the ability to grow his cape while using a power star and you temporarily control him instead of Yoshi. It’s clear that Nintendo was really working hard to ensure there was a whole lot of depth to the gameplay. It’s certainly doing more than the original.

That said, more isn’t always better. How much you enjoy this game will really come down to how much you like playing as all of the characters. If for any reason you do not like playing as them, then you will probably miss the standard Yoshi gameplay. As its core the gameplay still has many of the same elements like running through the levels and getting past all the obstacles but then you use the character specific items like DK’s climbing to get past different barriers in the level.

I mostly stuck with Mario as his basic gameplay is the most comforting but the game does force you to switch on many occasions. So get used to playing as everyone. Like I said before the difficulty is also quite high so don’t think that you will just be sleep walking through this adventure. No, you’re going to have to really put in a lot of effort. Stock up on as many lives as possible in the first few worlds. I nearly didn’t spend enough focus on that since I figured lives wouldn’t be important but the difficulty really spikes starting with world 4. I had around 65 lives by that point and ended up with less than 20 by the end.

There are a lot of check points in the game which is good but some of the jumps and timings are really intense. It’s fun to see how creatively Nintendo added this difficulty while preserving the basic concept of Yoshi not having a health bar. You die if you fall through a pit, touch lava, or let your baby get away from you for a long period of time. The latter is the easiest way to die so just be careful where you’re at when you take damage.

For the most part the bosses are all really easy though as even the final boss moves fairly slow and only has a few different attacks. I suspect that it is harder to balance a boss than it is for a level which explains the huge disparity between them. So at least that’s one part you don’t have to worry about, for the most part you will be blowing the bosses away with ease. For the levels, you just have to keep going at them over and over again until you’ve found a way to win. Over 90% of the challenging parts are just about execution though so you don’t have to worry about solving puzzles or anything like that. Just put your best foot forward and you’ll be fine.

The graphics are pretty solid here. Again it has a very nostalgic kind of vibe to it with the looks and designs really being classic Mario all the way. It’s an easy game to enjoy visually and the soundtrack is also good. A solid array of themes even if I can’t point to any one theme and say that it’s an all star. They all work well within the context that they appear in which is good enough for me. Nintendo typically always does a good job on that front so I’m not surprised.

There is also a formidable amount of replay value here. The main campaign is fairly long with 5 worlds of 8 levels each but then each world has 3-4 bonus levels as well. Then you have the collectibles and there are a ton of those to grab in each level. We’re talking massive Yoshi coins as well as red coins. It will take a very long time to achieve all of those so that will add more than a few hours to your total docket.

Overall, This is a very complete Yoshi game. It holds its own with the classic Mario titles although I will always prefer the Mario gameplay over Yoshi overall. Nothing wrong with Yoshi’s but Mario’s tends to be more fast paced. Here you do often have to wait for things to get set up. The worst are the auto scroller levels but that is true for any platformer title since the movement is so slow. You should definitely check this game out if you are looking for a good challenge. I can definitely guarantee that you will find one here. It’s the kind of game that you really can’t underestimate.

Overall 7/10

Donnie Darko Review

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This review is of the TV-14 edited version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version would be more negative

It’s time for one of those films where the main character is slowly going crazy but you have to determine if this is actually what’s going on or if there’s more to the situation than meets the eye. You’ve got the classic delusions and even a giant 6 foot Rabbit so this film isn’t afraid to get supernatural. Unfortunately the build up is rather large to what I would consider to be a lackluster climax and getting there is rough with the characters all being super annoying and terrible for the most part. There aren’t really many people to root for here and so that’s something sequels will need to try and fix.

The film starts off by introducing us to Donnie who has been having some mental issues for a while now. He takes pills to reduce the effects but sometimes he skips them and starts to crash out. He’s been wandering around the city at night and seeing a large rabbit man named Frank. Frank tells Donnie that the world is going to end in a few days. Donnie might even believe him but officially tells his therapist that he doesn’t think the world will end. Donnie actually has two friends and then even gets a girlfriend in Gretchen but for the most part has trouble connecting to people. Even the famous motivational speaker gets on Donnie’s nerves. Will he be able to stop the world from ending or is Fran really just a figment of his imagination?

This is one of those films where you will definitely need to stay focused because we jump from day to day. There is a timer about how many days are left until the end of the world and so sometimes there are whole weeks left and then there are just a few days in others. So you have to read through these carefully because the film isn’t always linear but the events are normal enough where you might not even notice at times. A engine fell through Donnie’s house but fortunately he wasn’t hurt but the cops are acting a bit weird about the whole thing.

Like I said before the main problem here does come from the characters though. Donnie is extremely hard to root for. He shows up with a bad attitude from the start and never really gets any better. From insulting his sister and mother to crashing out during lessons, he just isn’t a very heroic figure. During his therapy sessions he has a hard time focusing and it doesn’t seem like anything really interests him. He’s very odd the whole time and you can be odd without being a jerk but he never really chooses that option. I would have liked to have seen him resist Frank’s influence more as well.

Donnie seems easy to manipulate and always tends to choose the worst outcomes. Even through to the end I don’t think he made the right call. He basically decides to give up, at least that’s how I would frame it. He could have tried a lot of other paths but he chose the easiest one which doesn’t even guarantee a happy ending. In fact you could say that in some ways this is now the dark ending but it depends on how you interpret it. I’ll go into my interpretation near the end of the film.

For the most part I’d say the film has a generally dark tone. Everyone’s been through a lot and there is another tragedy along each corner. You’ve got Gretchen’s backstory which is naturally dark and then gets even darker with what happens in the present. You have the motivational speaker’s secret which is again super dark and so the town doesn’t seem to have a lot of hope with it. One girl is bullied a whole lot and naturally the main character doesn’t do much about it. Just about everyone is needlessly mean spirited like when a bunch of kids make fun of an old lady.

There’s quite a bit of language here and none of the characters seem like someone you would want to be friends with. Of course the characters are not responsible while the parents are away and throw a big fight as well. People are doing drugs, the romance is rushed, etc. This film definitely takes itself very seriously but this kind of grim title needs a bit more of a hook.

That’s where Frank really should come in. Lets get some more answers out of this guy and learn about the end of the world. Well, for the most part he just talks cryptically the whole time and isn’t very helpful. Sometimes he helps out like when he had Donnie burn down a house that exposed a villain. That was good but is takes him a while to get to that point. Before that Frank just seems generally demonic and it’s still hard to tell what his actual goals are. Is he just here to spread chaos? Because I could definitely believe that.

Okay now to discuss the ending. Skip these next two paragraphs if you haven’t seen the film yet. My main theory here is that there was no real time travel per say and instead we got taken to a new dimension. Throughout the film they talk about time travel by going through a ship and entering a portal to go back. Well, we get to see Donnie arrive back at the start but he chooses to stay in his room so the engine crashes through and murders him. At this point all of the characters across the film wake up, seemingly very startled. Some are panicking, sweating, etc.

It seems like they all regained their memories of the lost time here. So even though it’s the past, the events all seemed to happen. For that reason I would say that Donnie was able to open a portal through dimensions. In this way it’s like a parallel universe where everybody is around but now events are playing out a bit differently. Unfortunately because Donnie won’t be around to burn the house, that means the speaker will still be up to his criminal activities. Then again if everyone remembers, maybe they can shut him down quickly. That’s basically how I interpret the ending and so it’s a pretty sad one since Donnie gave up and just let himself get blasted. He should have gotten out of there and used his advanced knowledge to really make a difference. There are a ton of ways you can change the world when you have an early start like that. It also seems like this kind of thing has happened before with the old lady who wrote a book but Donnie should have checked in with her right away. The whole alternate universe would also tie in with the planet ending like Frank said. In this way it really did end as that universe/timeline no longer exists.

Well, there are a lot of ways to look at the ending. The film is definitely weird enough for it all. Unfortunately it’s just no weird in a good way. You absolutely could have pulled this off if the characters were better but this cast? Yeah they were definitely not even remotely ready for this. A good surreal kind of film needs to have quality characters, a really engaging plot, and of course an interesting climax. Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is an example of a really weird film that works after all.

Overall, Donnie Darko is held back in a lot of ways by Donnie Darko himself. He isn’t quite the lead character that you need to make a film like this succeed. Instead he just keeps the film from reaching its true potential. The rest of the characters don’t really help matters either though. Frank had potential here but the way his character goes out is pretty lame and he lost all of his aura the instant that the mask came off. There just isn’t much that is appealing about this film. I give it some props for trying to have a very unique story but it did not work.

Overall 2/10

DOA: Dead or Alive Review

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Dead or Alive is one of those titles that is always super tragic. The series has amazing characters who got a lot of hype thanks to the fan-animated Dead Fantasy series. Additionally there is a lot of rich lore and world building to be found but instead it is often thrown away in place of fanservice. The same thing happens here. The movie has a fantastic soundtrack, great fights and visuals, not to mention a great cast. Unfortunately the fanservice continues to come in strong and hard which ultimately prevents the film from succeeding the way that it should have. You have to squint your way through to the end which is not the way to go.

The film starts by introducing us to our three leads. You have Princess Kasumi who wants to find her brother Hayate who supposedly died during the Dead or Alive tournament but she doesn’t believe this. When she gets an invite to the tournament, Kasumi gets her chance to find out what’s going on. Tina’s reason for entering the tournament is a bit more mild, she wants to prove to people that she is a true fighter and not a fake wrestler. Finally Christie just wants to make more money and there are millions to be stolen from this island. Who will take the crown?

There are a lot more characters in the tournament but technically speaking most of them do not last very long. It was fun to see a bunch of characters from the games either way though. Tina’s father Bass gets a fight to himself and it’s clear that he is holding back a great deal so when he goes down it’s not like he suddenly had to get nerfed by the plot or anything. Who wants to defeat their kid in a serious fight right? If anything you could say he was mostly used for the comedy which worked really well.

This is the kind of film where you do have to overlook the characters really taking it to each other even when it’s a friendly match though. Christie for example dishes out a ton of pain to her boyfriend Max like hitting him where it hurt and crushing his hands. It was intense enough where I thought he was being set up to be a total villain but in the end it just ended up being their dynamic. Max has one scene where he defeats a fighter accidentally which was taken a bit far as a gag though. In the end I’m surprised he still ended up with Christie but I guess his confident attitude actually worked.

His romance plot is still better than Weatherby’s though. That guy didn’t stand up to help Helena when it counted and so that was a real bad look for him. I give him some points for actually talking to Helena instead of creeping by the computer all day but he still wasn’t really my kind of character.

Another character who looks bad here is Ayane. She is so determined to murder Kasumi that she takes this to a crazy obsessive level. Ayane could have been putting that time towards helping to find Hayate as well. Even if he was dead, just let Kasumi do what she wants for now. There is no reason to be going this aggressive and then by the end she is acting like nothing happened. I tend to like Ayane but she did not look good in this one.

Hayate sadly doesn’t get to do a lot here but he is given a lot of hype as being the strongest warrior on the planet. That was appreciated and he does his best even when he’s outgunned. I have a hard time believing that he would lose but I guess I can ignore that. The point of Victor’s new tech is that he can copy and predict people’s moves but I don’t think the body would be quick enough to counter and also properly execute the move. We can just chalk it up to sci-fi shenanigans.

Victor actually made for a pretty good villain. He’s nice and over the top the whole time with al the laughing and bragging about how strong he is. He’s a villain who is clearly having a good time throughout the movie and seems to actually enjoy being rich. Sometimes you just want a big villain like this who is completely unrepentant and does whatever he feels like. No need for some kind of a fancy character arc here.

Hayabusa does well in taking out a lot of minions here. I also appreciated that he was really protective of Kasumi rather than trying to murder her. The guy was even able to push his feelings aside throughout the movie so that he could properly protect her. He gets big props for not getting distracted. This guy is just a really good hero through and through who is as noble as they come.

Speaking of distractions, I was also pleasantly surprised that the film didn’t have any of the characters try and use their looks to distract the villains. That’s one of the worst tropes and fortunately the movie didn’t have any of them sacrifice their dignity. Now the extreme levels of fanservice in the film do negate this to an extent but at least that’s one thing it avoided. The various romance plots tend to be really weak. The only decent one is with Hayabusa and even then it could probably stand to slow down a bit. The others are definitely more on the annoying side and move too quickly.

Back to the characters, I would say Kasumi is the best one. She goes out of her way to try and save Hayate and puts herself in great risk. She understands what it means to look out for someone even if it puts your whole future at stake. She’s definitely the kind of friend you want to have on your side and her skills are quite impressive. Definitely a really fun character without a doubt. Then we have Christie who is fun as an antagonist. She doesn’t have the moral compass of the others.

Sure she’s not going around murdering everybody but she is a thief and takes whatever she wants. In terms of fighting abilities she may be the strongest heroine out of Kasumi even if it doesn’t seem like her training was as formal. You get the feeling that she just had to learn in a hurry after being a thief for so long which makes a lot of sense. She’s charismatic and a lot of fun to have around the whole time.

Now I have to admit that the final two heroines Tina and Helena look so similar that I was mixing them up the whole time. I generally know them from their storylines as Helena had the Weatherby one while Tina was proving herself but this is where video game costumes would help out to really differentiate them. They’re both fun enough, I probably prefer Helena because she has more of a troll side to her. She was definitely messing with Weatherby intentionally a few times. As far as flirting goes, that’s probably one of the better ways to do it. Tina had to start off with a fake victory to move on forward in the tournament so it didn’t make her look quite as hype.

Still you’ve got a lot of fun characters throughout. I also really liked the tournament style as matches could happen anywhere at any time. That’s just a really cool concept and there were a few homages to the games like how the cameras and UI worked. The soundtrack is awesome like I mentioned before with a ton of rock music. The pacing is really fast and so this film was really firing on all cylinders. The writing is really good with a fairly light tone but still keeping the story serious. You’re super invested in what’s going on the whole time and the fighting choreography is really solid. The film even played the volleyball match very seriously without any fanservice attempts in there.

Alas, like I mentioned before the fanservice still keeps this from being a good movie. I can’t really recommend a title that will have you shaking your head and wincing so often. That just wouldn’t make sense. It’s better than something like Charlie’s Angels which was all flash with no substance since this one has a good film buried beneath that but it has to succeed in spite of those scenes which was too hard of a mission. I would like to see a modern version pull this off while not falling into the usual traps.

Overall, Dead or Alive has a very distinct reputation which is pretty well earned by this point. It’s a shame that it always goes for the easy views when this has the makings of a great franchise. This film is just another example of this tactic. If you can get past all the fanservice then I would recommend checking this film out and seeing what you think. If that sounds like it’ll be a little too difficult then you should just check out the original Moral Kombat instead which is the ultimate tournament film.

Overall 4/10

Pokémon Reburst Review

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Pokemon Reburst is a series that I started many, many years ago. After all of those years it was great to finally be able to read it through to the end. This is a series that really had potential to be one of the all time greatest titles that would become a whole sub franchise in itself. Unfortunately for some reason it never made its way to America and so most people haven’t even heard of it. Let me tell you, that is a huge tragedy. This is a series that has amazing art, dynamic fights, great characters, etc. There is basically nothing to dislike about the series except the fact that it is all over in the blink of an eye. The ending is also a bit on the rushed side but the journey is a very epic one. Only Pokemon Adventures can say that it is a better Pokemon manga than this.

The series centers around a kid named Ryouga who is searching for his father who went missing a long time ago. Fortunately Ryouga quickly gets a lead as to where he is. To reach the destination, Ryouga will need to assemble several Burst Hearts to attach to a radar which will point out the location. He can get these through battling other Burst Hearters and also by winning tournaments. These are very rare though and so villainous fighters are also on the lookout. If Ryouga doesn’t keep his guard up he may end up losing his. Along the way he meets several allies to back him up but will they be enough?

Right away what will stand out to you here is that the fights are all involving the trainers. You don’t have them just stand back and watching the Pokemon fight. No, instead they merge with the Pokemon through the Burst Heart process to become a fusion warrior. Ryouga’s partner for example is Zekrom and together they are a real force to be reckoned with. The fights also become DBZ style as a result with everyone zipping around and firing off energy waves/punishing blows. I really like that style of combat and it helps that the art is really quite good.

You feel each of the impacts and the fights are always very clear. The artist does a good job of emphasizing the speed and force that they are all being hit with. These aren’t light blows that are being thrown around after all but heavy hits. The fights get more and more intense as the series goes on and stronger fighters are used. The series also shows how normal Pokemon can stand up to Legendary fighters through solid tactics. Even an obscure Pokemon will have something up its sleeve. The possibilities are endless with fusions which is why it is a shame that the series ended so quickly. They could have done a lot with this.

The story also jumps into a tournament right away which is always nice to see. Most of the fighters may not have had time to be introduced yet but a good battle is a good battle no matter how you slice it. It was a good way for Ryouga to really show off the fruits of his training as well. Once you get past that, then things have to hurry up a bit as we meet several new characters who have to all be crammed in. So the pacing is really fast at least, that’s probably the positive way of looking at it.

As a main character Ryouga is really solid. He does his best to make a difference and take out all of the villains in his way. Finding his father is a pretty good motivation for a hero and along the way he never takes shortcuts. If someone really wants their Burst Heart then naturally he’s not going to take it. Ryouga always fights with honor throughout the whole match and wouldn’t dream of cheating here. Additionally he loves a good fight so these are all good traits in my book.

The only weak member of the main cast is Yappy and you can tell what kind of character he is right away. The guy is very weak willed, distracted by girls, and dreams of being rich. He’s the kind of guy that you can’t really trust at all. Sure he gets some character development by the end of the series but it’s way too late by then. I just never ended up caring for this guy all that much even if he did have a fusion form. More often than not he was just causing trouble.

Karuta is a much better character and his character arc is similar which if anything just makes Yappy look even worse. Karuta starts off as being rather weak and clumsy but gradually gets really skilled. After a short time skip he even gets a huge growth spurt and can fight well with the rest of the characters. It was really nice to see him go so far and he’s easy to root for. He may still lose his share of battles but he was always doing his best to help out Ryouga in any way that he could. Now that’s team loyalty.

Miruto isn’t really the fighting sort but she is a fun enough heroine. I do wish that she could fight though as being powerless in this world really limits your overall screentime. There’s just not much that she can do against any of these fighters and that holds her back big time. I’ll give her points for being a nice character but that’s about all that I can do for her right now. If this ever did get a sequel I’d definitely like her role to be increased.

Rug starts off as an antagonist but joins up with the crew pretty quickly. Her combat skills aren’t bad although she gets most of her mileage out of tricks. She can use attraction as an ability to work sort of like mind control and take down opponents who don’t have a lot of replay value. Once you get down to the actual fights though, she tends to go down without too much trouble. It’s more due to the power creep than her actually being weak but as the audience that’s the way it looks I’d say. She’s fun and adds to the main cast’s dynamic though.

Rend is a solid training partner for the heroes and you could say he’s the first big mentor. His Pokemon to fuse with is Boldore which is pretty cool since that’s hardly one of the more popular Pokemon. He has good physical stats and is just a fun guy to have around. I suppose my only issue with him is the same for most older characters which is that there is no real reason for them to be hanging back instead of helping the heroes. He may not be s strong as Ryouga by the end but he’s till mega strong and would be able to contribute quite a whole lot.

Garyu is Ryouga’s father so we don’t get to see much of him during the series but eventually we get the flashback of what happened. I’m typically harsh on a lot of the fathers in these titles for just vanishing without a trace but he actually gets a pass since he didn’t have much of a say in it. Seriously the guy got the raw end of the deal no matter how you slice it so I can definitely sympathize with the guy. He did what he had to in order to save the world so he has my respect.

Pauline was a fun announcer which is why it’s a shame that she’s mainly used for fanservice. She had good knowledge of the events and kept on giving the live updates even while things were going crazy. You’ve definitely got to give her a lot of props there. After that we have Carola who is a solid villain even if she isn’t the strongest out there. She’s very young so it’s not like she really has as good an understanding on what’s going on compared to the other characters. Carola really just follows Hariru’s lead and could become a good guy real quickly.

I liked her well enough and she was a good friend for the guy. Hariru didn’t really have anyone else to have his back otherwise. He definitely exceled in the rival spot as well. I still remember the standout scene where he kicked a can so hard that it broke right through a boulder. Now that was crazy impressive, you just don’t see big moments like that often. It really sent a message early in in the series that the fights were going to get more and more out there. He gets several power ups as the series goes on and each form is more impressive than the last. He has the high levels of confidence that you like to see from a rival like this and also has a fairly intense backstory. This is a very complete character and definitely the best one in the whole series.

The main villain Fraud is cool as well though. He loves fighting which is a bit more of a rare trait for a hero compared to the MC and rival so that was nice. The name causes characters to underestimate him before they get absolutely rocked. His power level is also off the charts and the only thing that can stop him is a whole lot of plot armor. Without that then the heroes would have really been in trouble here. When a villain successfully out plans the heroes you know that he is a real one. Fraud is a character you will definitely remember.

Alas, most of the other villains are characters that you won’t remember. Most of Fraud’s 7 enemy commanders are so forgettable that the author got tired of them. He created a new group near the end of the series called the 3 generals that wipe out those guys in an instant. So no need to remember them. As to the commanders, they’re not bad. Amu is the most memorable for his good fight with Ryouga and the guy also seems like the strongest member. He’s got speed and strength on his side which is an absolutely brutal combo. Defeating him took a whole lot of skill.

Ganku and Rovy were strong too but they ultimately had to fight one of the strongest in the verse. So what happened to them was hardly their fault. They just could not handle this opponent but I still liked their characters. They all talk really tough the whole time. I should also note that it’s nice that the Pokemon aren’t mindless either. At one point Ryouga has to go inside a mind scape where he meets up with Zekrom and even gets to train. We get motivational speeches and everything. It’s why it’s always great when the Pokemon can full on talk like that, even if it’s through telepathy. In general the training was good and it was a great way to show Ryouga getting stronger since their bond was stronger now.

As a slight negative, the series does throw in some random fanservice from time to time. Nothing too crazy and considering how good the art was for the battles, I get the feeling that the artist didn’t care much about these scenes because they were not really given any special treatment. It can be a little obnoxious but nothing serious enough to present an actual problem. It certainly gets completely overwhelmed by the characters and the good fights. There are way more positives than negatives here so you will have a blast.

Overall, If you ever wanted to read a Pokemon series with a real heavy emphasis on action then this is definitely the title for you. The battles go really hard and there are a lot of stakes here. The characters are all taking a beating after all and death is not off the table. If they underestimate a character too hard then they will end up paying for it. Even though the series will likely not be getting a sequel, you should definitely check it out. It really is quite the unique experience and not a title that you want to miss.

Overall 8/10

Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Review

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Tomb Raider is one of those franchises that is super well known but I actually have not played most of them. Crazy right? Well it was time to play 3 of the original ones via this collection but unfortunately the games have not aged well. The level designs can be rather brutal and the whole game seems focused on trying to defeat you in the most obnoxious and sudden ways possible. You’ll need to strap yourself in because you’re definitely going to be here for a very long time. The total collection took me over 50 hours to complete it and that’s without playing the 3 separate post/tie-in games that have their own sets of trophies.

Lara Croft is often thrown right into the action in each of the games. Sometimes she doesn’t really have much context on what is happening and other times she is following a lead. Each game has a full story and cinematics but the third game definitely has the largest amount of them which I appreciated. More cutscenes is always a good thing to really get you hyped on what is going on. Each of the games have their strengths as well. The first game has the best main villain and the best final level, the second game has the best combat gameplay, and the third one has the most cutscenes. That said they all do tend to share the same issues which is what really holds the title back.

The first thing I would say is to make sure that you have changed the controls to modern. Immediately you will feel a huge difference here as everything is a lot smoother across the board. You can actually turn without falling and everything. It’s not perfect mind you as Lara runs quickly and you’ll still fall a ton. it’s one of the many reasons why you need to quick save constantly to avoid deaths that set you back a great deal of time. that said, you also have to be careful that you don’t save yourself in an unwinnable position. That happened to me twice which meant I had to restart the whole level. I lost about an hour that way so yeah be careful.

The game keeps track of how many times you’ve saved which is pretty near. The first game I needed around 300 quick saves but in both games 2 and 3 I needed over 600. Shows you just how hard the games were and why it took me 50+ hours. It’s extremely easy to get lost in the games even with modern lighting. I should note now that al of my complaints with the modern version would be 10X worse without modern mode. There are many stages and areas that are extremely dark. You have flares to light things up but I would be going through those really quickly. The game would be virtually unplayable between that and not having quick saves.

Almost every level will have some kind of super unreasonable puzzle that takes you ages and ages to figure out. Then there is also the occasional glitch like bullets not dealing any damage or falling through a wall. They’re very rare but each instance is definitely annoying. If you missed a key anywhere you sometimes have to backtrack a very great distance. The levels are al made to be like mazes that intertwine as well so you can lose your sense of direction right away. Not the spot you want to find yourself in.

All of the instant deaths are rough but the worst is probably fire. If you even touch any fire then you get lit up and the only way to save yourself is to find water. Often times there is no water around so you just have to reset and go back to the previous save state. Also make sure you find all of the big guns because if you don’t have them then you’re in trouble. Particularly in the second game where every enemy hits like a tank. The third game is much easier in that regard as the enemies never appear to be that crazy. You get the legendary desert eagle in the final game which can wipe out virtually any foe right away. Even the final boss was absolutely shredded against this gun.

So in the end the biggest problem that the Tomb Raider game has is that they’re just not fun. Often times you are forcing yourself to get through the level but you just want to put the game down. Too many unrefined parts of the title exist like the gameplay, jumping, level designs, etc. Every time you start to have a little fun you are quickly brought to another annoying section of the level that will have you stumped for at least an hour. Rough stuff all around. Every game has to try and balance the difficulty and puzzle mechanics along with the fun factor and this one did not do the math right. The fun must always heavily outweigh everything else and that was not what happened here. Not even close and that’s why the game gets the rare distinction of being put in the under average category. Being fun is the biggest objective for any game after all.

Despite that, the cutscenes are fun though. The graphics look good for them and I do like all of the witty banter from Lara herself. She is definitely a really fun heroine and it’s fun to see all of the action going on. The first game in particular has the best climax as the enemies invade her home and she has to fight them all off. Now that was really cool. The next two games couldn’t quite top that but it would be difficult to do that for any title.

The soundtrack is okay when it appears but the sound mixing is not great. Often times the music is way lower than the soundtracks and then it vanishes for large parts of the stages as well. The game could have really benefited from having a real soundtrack there the whole time. Music can always enhance and improve different scenes by flaring up the emotions and this one needed that instead of the heavy silence that would often appear. Then you’d need to raise the volume for cutscenes since the dialogue would be low and then lower it again because of how strong the gunshots were.

Well, it goes without saying that there is a ton of replay value here. Over 50 hours of content is absolutely crazy and that will go to around 70+ if you play the expansions for each game. If you end up liking the titles then this would be a complete bargain. It’s rare to be getting any game with that sheer amount of playtime and it’s why people do like collections quite a bit. Just be ready to have to deal with a whole lot of puzzles.

Overall, Tomb Raider is a series that I like the concept of way more than the execution. By all accounts this should be a terrific series with an excellent lead and stories that know how to have a little fun. Lara literally takes on gods, dinosaurs, monsters, and magical beings. All just armed with some guns and her intuition. It’s a great kind of premise here. Unfortunately puzzles are often the Achilles heel of any good game and since the titles are built around not just puzzles but the levels working as interactive ones…there really wasn’t any way to get around that. If you like puzzles then you should check these games out but if not then you should probably skip this title and stay far away.

Overall 4/10

Care Bears: Care Quest Review

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The Care Bears is one of those franchises that makes you smirk whenever it is brought up. However when you think about it just a little bit harder you remember that it is a really moving series that brings tears to your eyes. The kind of title that makes you remember how wonderful the series can really be. Well I knew that I had to buy this game and let me tell you something…..it’s okay. It’s not bad and it’s not that good. It’s the kind of game that you play for a little while and then put down for good. It’s a collection of 12 minigames so it’s not particularly long after all.

There is no story and there are no other modes. The minigames are all that you get and I suppose what you can aim for is to get high scores in all of the minigames as many times as you can. They range from being extremely short games to being fairly long. The first and last minigames were definitely the longest ones I’d say since they went on for at least 5 rounds while most had 3. The games all start to get pretty similar so I’m thinking the devs were running out of ideas by the end.

The best minigame is easily a platformer where you have to run to the goal while trying to dodge the rain drops. It’s definitely not for the faint of heart and you have a health bar so you can actually die. Definitely make sure you take it slow as you go through. The scores are all based on how many stars you collect and none of them are time based. So slow and steady is literally your best option throughout. I liked that you could actually run and jump here.

A few of the minigames have you flying in the air as you drop different things on the Carebears. Sometimes you are putting them to sleep, other times you are making them fall in love, etc. There are a few different remakes of the same minigame here. Considering there are only 12 in total, that may make you raise an eyebrow but at least the gameplay is smooth. The one where you are firing off an energy blast to wake up the Bears was pretty fun.

Then you’ve also got a minigame where you have to match the bears together. It’s a very classic kind of matching puzzle that you would have seen often throughout the free game industry. It’s always fun but my main gripe is that it’s too slow. When you make a match you have to wait for the Bears to slowly walk away before your next attempt and those second really add up. It’s the little things that expose this game for not being an ultimate AAA title. A truly hype Care Bears game would definitely be possible with their flight and energy blast abilities but I guess that might not be in the cards for a while.

The final minigame has gits falling down from the skies and the Carebears need the right ones. So you have to grab them and give to the bear but unfortunately we ended with the worst one. It is completely RNG which gifts rain down and they go slowly. So whether you win or lose…you have no influence on the outcome. The worst part is that when you lose you have 3 lives so the whole game takes an eternity either way. A minigame should be fun and fast. Give me 30 quick minigames over 10 long ones for example. Wario Microgames and Mario Party are two of the best series in terms of balancing that.

The graphics are okay but nothing special. They’re nice and colorful so that helps the GBA title hold up better than most. The soundtrack is more on the nonexistent side but again that does make sense since this wasn’t the highest budget kind of title. It’s not like you would want to go all out on a minigame compilation right? So the technical elements aren’t really doing the game any favors but it didn’t really need them. To move up either way the game would have needed a lot more content. A game this short cannot get a positive score no matter what. It’s just too extreme. Still, it is a fun time and so that’s why it manages to hang in there at the middle.

Overall, The Care Bears may be out there to help make sure that everybody has fun but at the end that’s about all that they are doing. This game isn’t trying to rock the boat in any way and I would have liked for it to have really stretched the boundaries of what a GBA game is capable of. If you can find this one for a few bucks then I’d say to pick it up for the novelty factor. That said, this is the only reason you would get it as there are numerous games that are simply better than this one in every conceivable way. The Care Bears are not going to become the next Mario or Sonic. Not now….and possibly not ever.

Overall 5/10

Godzilla x Kong: Titan Chasers Review

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Games like Genshin Impact and other free to plays get a lot of insults thrown their way over the character designs but when you play a game like this you remember why most titles try to be very colorful. Titan Chasers is a decent game and there’s a lot to do here but the characters are so bland and lifeless that you have no real incentive to keep on. You don’t care about their struggles or what they intend to do about the situation and in a cutscene heavy game like this, it really spells the end rather quickly.

The story involves a bunch of Titan Chasers crashing on monster island. They have no way off of the island now and have to try and survive until people notice that they’re gone. Half of them want to focus on survival and so they set up camp while the other half grow crazy immediately and want to slaughter all the Kaiju. They will also destroy other humans for the lols. You play as the survival folks and are armed with different weapons that will let you destroy Kaiju and other monsters with ease. In this world the Titans may still be powerful but they can also be prey.

Now obviously we’re not talking about someone like Godzilla here. The main characters immediately note that he is too powerful and he actually works as a stage hazard where he just blasts around and you have to make sure not to get hit. I was glad he got some respect there but the fact that these Titan chasers are actually able to beat some monsters is a bit iffy. It’s always a slippery slope here because the instant you show that monsters can be destroyed by a few well placed gunshots, the whole verse starts to lose its intimidation factor. Also the story doesn’t mesh well with the gameplay.

Why is that? Well, we know that a decent amount of people crashed on the island but it wasn’t a whole army. So how come the majority of minion encounters early on are against humans? How are there this many humans running around? Yeah it’s gameplay mechanics but that’s still something they should take into account here. You also fight dinosaurs and such which is interesting but the gameplay doesn’t have much variety. It’s a very classic turn based fighting system. Nothing wrong with that as I like turn based but it does need to be paired with fun characters or a good story. This game has neither and you’ll be sleeping through the cutscenes.

As for the survival element, you use materials to build new houses and level them up. The whole thing works on a time gated mechanic so you could wait for a very long time or you can spend in game currency to speed things up. Naturally that is a trap as it runs out quickly. You also have an energy meter so you can’t play for too long without taking breaks. This is all standard stuff so while it sounds negative, it is to be expected. Ultimately I would just like to have seen the Godzilla game be a little more innovative.

I guess another way to look at it is that 5 years ago I may have stuck around with this one a bit longer. Mayyyybe. There just isn’t much reason to stick with this one for very long because it’s definitely going to be a big time commitment and a game like this needs to hook you in right away. Also there are gatcha elements here but it’s the most pointless that I’ve ever seen. In a Megaman game you can look forward to drawing your favorite character but here? You can roll for a bunch of made up humans and that’s it. No Kaiju or anything like that. I rolled a few times and got some random joes but I don’t care about these guys.

This will be the biggest example I ever use of how a game can underwhelm you because of the characters. Give me the Genshin crowd any day. As far as the graphics themselves go, I would say the game looks pretty good. Sure, the artstyle may be nothing special but we weren’t expecting much out of that anyway. Meanwhile the soundtrack is okay but rather limited so far. You better like the main theme because you will be hearing it a whole lot.

In terms of replay value there is a good amount here. It’s clear that the game launched with a ton of content so that is definitely a good thing. I give them credit for that unlike certain other games which were a bit on the light side when they launched. That said, you have to make sure that the content is interesting too. My biggest negative here is around the story so that means if you do like the story then you can be assured that the gameplay is pretty good. That part won’t let you down at all.

Overall, In a way I want the game to succeed for the Godzilla brand name but it’ll definitely need to do a lot of things quickly to polish the experience or gamers will be bleeding out fast. The mobile market is as tough as it gets with thousands of active games on the store at a time. Most games close up shop within the opening year so this one will have to work hard to make sure that doesn’t happen. I’m rooting for it to do well…but we shall see. In the meantime you’re better off playing some of the older Godzilla mobile games. This one would be around the middle for now, beats some and loses to some.

Overall 6/10

Natsume’s Book of Friends Season 7 Review

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Natsume’s Book of Friends is definitely a pretty impressive adaption but you only had to look at the seasons to know that. It’s pretty much unheard of to get 7 whole seasons and I’m sure we will be getting an 8th some day. It’s a very peaceful franchise where you can watch the episodes at any point. I definitely had a good time with it and while the show isn’t going to knock your socks off, you can always depend on quality writing and good story telling.

If you’re new to the franchise, the general plot is fairly simple. Natsume is a man who can see Yokai and has inherited the “Book of Friends” from his grandmother Reiko. This book contains the names of many Yokai who are effectively forced to do Natsume’s bidding while they are there. He intends to return all of their names back to the Yokai but can only do this when the Yokai is right in front of him. Along the way Natsume helps them all out with their daily problems.

In the first episode we have a Yokai inhabiting the body of a clay form that looks like Nyanko. So a pretty solid way to jump in and a lot of Hijinx play out from there. The yokai itself is one of the calmer ones as it just needs some time and is generally pleasant. Natsume is all too happy to help out while Nyanko is a little grumpy as always. We get a little danger but for the most part this is just a fun little adventure. It’s a pretty solid premiere with a self contained story that worked well.

Following that episode, we have an adventure where somebody is messing up the flower garden every night. Natsume decides to put a stop to this and naturally it turns out to be a bunch of Yokai. They’re trying to take care of a small castle and need the flowers for beauty purposes. Natsume helps them out and ultimately gets to prove that he can be delicate as needed. He really gets to show off his expertise in cleaning. Another low key episode here but I was glad that Natsume got on this right away. He wasn’t about to let anyone mess with his folks.

After that we have our first case with Natori. He and Natsume are helping a guy who is being haunted by scarecrow Yokai. At this point the main factor of interest with these team ups is seeing what will happen with the Book of Friends. By the end Natori is definitely confident that the book is a bad thing and must be taken from Natsumi. Technically I get it because Natsumi is hardly the strongest guy around and is often in lethal danger. He has to be saved on the regular by Nyanko but one day he might be too late. Additionally Natsume’s family will also be in danger but regardless it isn’t likely that Natsume would ever forgive Natori. Natori definitely ends up being one of the most interesting characters as he has to balance this all together.

Natsume is okay but he’s not the most interesting character so you need others to bounce off of him. I still disagree with Natsumi not telling his folks about the book. Additionally Natsume can be too naive and training throughout the show. At least Nyanko always keeps his guard up but then at the same time his big mistake is that he gets drunk on the job and isn’t a very reliable bodyguard. He gets lucky quite often but doesn’t take his job nearly as seriously as he should.

In the 4th episode we have our first really emotional episode. Natsume and Kitamoto pass by an old bookstore where Kitamoto wants to find a book from the old days. He decides to keep visiting this place but is always pressured by the store owner to leave right away. Not a very good feeling for a customer but Kitamoto is not dissuaded. What he doesn’t know is that the girl is a Yokai and Natsume decides not to say anything. I think Natsume was definitely wrong in this one even though the girl said not to say anything. This was the absolute perfect time to finally break the truth to him about the world of supernatural things. So I can’t see this as anything but a massive L tbh. I enjoyed the banter the whole time though and the Yokai was nice. She did a good job of watching after the store.

After that we have a story about a dragon scale falling down onto Earth and Natsume decides to grab it for Chobihigue. It’s okay but this would be the weakest episode up to this point. I still don’t care much for the main Yokai that hang around Natsume. They are just really weak supporting characters all around. Their antics aren’t particularly funny and I don’t find them to be very interesting either. In general Natsume isn’t a funny show anyway, it’s meant to survive on the good stories and these Yokai yet don’t cut it. Even Chobihigue’s big twist doesn’t hit as hard as it should because we just don’t care about that guy.

Next up Matoba appears and I really liked the opening to the episode as we get a mini mystery on if he was punking Natsume about having a Yokai in the bird cage or if he was messing around. The actual story has a focus on Matoba and his team having to face off with a Yokai that is trying to get past the glass traps. I always like Matoba episodes since they focus on the big problems that Natsume is lucky enough to avoid. For the most part, Yokai are very dangerous and while this guy may look like an extremist next to Natsume, he feels like a realist at other points. He is a really good antagonist and one who has a lot of valid points. In a debate he will always beat Natsume but that’s more due to the latter’s inexperience than anything else. I definitely look forward to their inevitable clash over the Book of Friends someday.

Following that up is an episode about a Yokai skeptic. This episode would hit so much harder if Natsume ever actually told people about Yokai though. Since he doesn’t, you don’t have the usual tension here. Fortunately it was a nice Yokai anyway so the whole thing didn’t matter too much but I did like this guy. He seemed reasonable about it without being written to be over the top. I’d probably be skeptical about Yokai myself if I was in the show. I’d need a lot of good old fashioned proof and with the main Yokai guy being intentionally cagey…yeah I wouldn’t suspect a thing.

After that is a pretty interesting episode but it does rely on Nishimura being really slow on the uptake. A Yokai decides to transform into Natsume and visit the guy every night. He gives Nishimura a weird doll finger to hang onto and keeps on coming to check on it. This “Natsume” can barely talk and acts nothing like the real one. Nishimura has a lot of different excuses to himself on why Natsume is so different and so he never actually suspects anything but you feel like he totally should. The whole thing has a happy ending and all plus I enjoyed seeing Nishimura get a bigger role. He may not be the smartest guy around but he’s a good friend.

Then we get our big two part adventure of the season. Natori and Matoba are around as they have to ensure a ceremony goes as planned. If it’s interrupted for any reason then there will be big trouble. So they all have their ways of helping. Natsume wants the pacifist approach, Matoba wants to destroy them all and Natori wants to destroy the bad ones but does try talking a good game about not being too extreme. The episode further shows the gap between the two exorcists as Matoba is clearly a lot stronger and more capable. We already knew this but it’s always fun to have a reminder. Natsume as usual holds them back a bit as he is easily taken out. We do have a good amount of danger here and the ensemble cast really helps to make the episode feel grand. Every season should have a solid two part adventure like this one.

In the second last episode, we get the big emotional episode that should have been the last one. We see how Reiko got her first ever Yokai name and then how she even made a good friend. Unfortunately a big misunderstanding causes them to drift apart which was unfortunate. It’s probably one of the saddest episodes of the series and definitely the saddest one of the season. Reiko may have great powers but she sure went through a whole lot while she was growing up. Not having any friends is already rough in itself and then things never go well when she has the opportunity to make some. The other girl was also sick all the time but really tried hard in order to get better at the various games in order to play against Reiko. It’s easy to get sad about it just remembering the episode.

The final episode goes for a fairly emotional vibe. Natsume helps a origami out so that creature shows him a lot of nice memories. Natsume and the creature bond quickly and it’s a reminder that some Yokai just want a friend and are totally harmless. We get a lot of little cameos and then the season is over. It’s not really a grand finale or anything like that but it does a good job of showing the average tone of the season. So I understand it in terms of being fitting to end the season like that but I would have chosen one of the other episodes to end off on.

The animation is fairly decent as you would expect. Nothing particularly noteworthy but standard is enough for a slice of life title like this. Great animation could possibly help this one jump to the next level but at the same time I understand why you wouldn’t throw a crazy amount of budget at this one. The series doesn’t require a ton of animation and it’s fairly dialogue heavy. So as long as the animation isn’t bad, then the series doesn’t get held back or anything like that.

Likewise the soundtrack isn’t bad. It’s very low key and definitely not the most exciting but it works well enough for what it’s trying to do. I would like the technical aspects to show up one day and really support the writing though. Natsume may be very laidback but you can absolutely still find a way to make the show a little more exciting. This way you’ll attract even more fans and get that higher replay value.

Overall, Natsume’s Book of Friends has a very familiar vibe to it. It’s the kind of show that has remained consistent for its whole run. You always know that you can count on good stories here and that is important. I can easily recommend this to anyone because it’s really inoffensive. You learn a lot of general life lessons about being a good person as well. The characters are all very polite generally and there aren’t too many evil antagonists. So again, feel free to check this one out as a calming experience and you can basically jump in without any context. The series doesn’t seem to be in any rush to actually wrap up the plot so they can keep these stories going for a very long time.

Overall 6/10

Pokemon Go Update

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I finally got both versions of fused Kyurem! Also got my first Corviknight so I’m one step closer to getting that Pokedex all filled up again! Additionally one more Platinum medal for making the achievements screen 500 times. Next up I’ll be aiming for the purifying 1000 Pokemon platinum medal. Slowly but surely they shall all be conquered.