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Armored Core Review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 6/10

Ape Escape Review

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It’s time for another classic title from back in the days. While Ape Escape may not really be around nowadays, it had a good run. It’s a really unique game all the way. I guess it reminds me a bit of Billy Hatcher if I had to compare it to something but the game is ultimately still very different. It’s definitely not one of the longer titles but you’ll be having fun all the way through.

The title starts out with a monkey escaping from the zoo and gaining super intelligence thanks to some sci-fi tech. He decides to liberate all of the other monkeys and travels all the way back in time. The main character is tasked with bringing him back to justice. To this end he will need to master a number of different tools that all have different abilities. You have the classic net which is how you capture the monkeys. You will be using this more than any of your other tools. Each level will ask you to capture several of the monkeys and that will automatically trigger the completion of the level.

You may wonder, what about the monkeys that you don’t grab? Well, there is a level select that you unlock after you complete the first level and that lets you go back. I would recommend not backtracking until you have completed the game though because some monkeys will require tools that you don’t get until the end of the game. So going back may just end up wasting some of your time otherwise. There is also one final weapon that you obtain after the game has been fully completed, which is the super punch.

The levels are pretty generous in that you get to skip a whole lot of the monkeys. This way you can enjoy the levels without stressing out about having to find each one. You have a radar tool which points you in the right direction of where the monkeys can be. It can be a bit of a misleading tool to be honest but can still work at least a little bit. Then you have the wings which is easily the most useful tool in the game. It gives you an extra jump and lets you hover around for a long while. With that at the ready you can breeze through most obstacles. It’s almost hard to go back to your normal jump while you have that.

You can equip 4 items at a time though so that helps with the balancing. You will be required to use every item at some point or another so they all get their time to shine. While the game isn’t particularly difficult, I will say that the monkeys can be really hard to catch. They run quickly and will counter attack if you get too close. This means that you are constantly going to be on the back foot and have to time your moves carefully. Without the rewind I would have gotten hit a bunch of times and just catching them would take longer. So length is something that would go more in the game’s favor without the rewind.

I’d say the most impressive thing about the game may be the technical elements. The graphics are really good. The art style is bright and expressive the whole time which fits the game series well and then you also have a really fun soundtrack. The main themes are all super good and will stay with you. There is just something really nice and catchy about them. The game doesn’t have a large variety but what you do have there is really good.

There is a decent amount of replay value in the game since they actually added trophies to it. This means that you will be able to go back to each of the levels and get the extra monkeys. You can then grab a nice Platinum at the end. This platinum trophy is also super generous because you don’t need to get anywhere near all of the monkeys or coins. I know for some that will feel like a cheap Platinum since you should need 100% in order to obtain it but that’s just not how it went this time.

I’d also end things off by giving the game credit for a lot of quality of life features. I’m not even counting the PS5 ones but the features built into the game. You can enter and exit levels at any time, you can switch gadgets really quickly, and everything is explained very well. Even the fact that you can hold 4 gadgets at once is really nice because otherwise you’d have to pause the game too much. It’s something that would have really helped the Legend of Zelda Oracle of Ages game that I played recently. Mix that in with the fact that the main character moves pretty quickly and you have a winning formula. The levels are also just pretty fun to run around in. They’re large without overdoing it and each one is very distinct.

Overall, Ape Escape is definitely a game that I would recommend. It’s one of those titles that took advantage of the classic PS1 days. It has an absolutely bonkers plot but takes itself very seriously. The voice acting is definitely fun as well and feels really authentic. I suppose in a way the game feels like a passion project and not quite as corporate as you might see in a title that comes out nowadays. So long as you like good platforming then you will enjoy this game. It is well rounded all the way through.

Overall 7/10

inFAMOUS: Second Son Review

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Unlike most fans who had to wait quite a while to play a new Infamous title, the gap was only a few weeks for me. It’s cool to see what the experience would be like on the PS4 and I can safely say that the game holds up incredibly well. In fact….I dare say this is the best Infamous title. While the story isn’t quite as good as the first two, it wins in terms of gameplay which is ultra important and the characters as well. They really grabbed what made the first two games work so well and focused everything into those attributes.

You play as a rebel who wants to defy society. See, there are people with powers running around who are called bio terrorists but the lead believes that the government is spreading division where it isn’t warranted. One day Augustine, the leader of the government faction shows up and stabs all of his friends and family with rock spires. The only way to save them will be to force her to undo this…or to copy her powers. It turns out that he can copy powers by touching someone who has them so now the game is really on. His brother is a police officer who has never liked the powered community though and so he is coming along to basically get in the way for most of the adventure.

Delsin may be a total rebel but he’s just a lot of fun. The guy has a lot of quick wit and is never at a loss for words here. When he sees an opportunity, he takes it. He’s quite aggressive in going after the villains but I really found myself agreeing with him the whole time. This is certainly not a moment for hesitation or holding back. His brother Reggie doesn’t look good in comparison because he isn’t very subtle about how much he dislikes the conduits. Throughout the game the two characters are bickering.

In a way the game deserves some credit for not immediately having Reggie change his mind or anything like that but it can still get real old after a while. You also get two allies as the game goes on. The crazy girl (Which seems to be a staple for the series) and a shy gamer dude. They’re not the greatest supporting characters but they’re okay. The real standout here is the main villain Augustine. She takes charge right away and I like her absolute confidence. Even once Delsin has a bunch of powers, she is still able to square up with him. Conventional wisdom would say that this should be impossible but she always has a trap up her sleeve.

The game has its share of twists and origins for everyone but for the most part this is just a classic action story to have fun with. You have to choose whether you want to be a hero or a villain as you go through the game. I went down the heroic path this time around and didn’t mess with any of the evil choices. I feel like that is a good approach for the first run. If I go back to get the platinum then I’ll do the dark path for the second playthrough.

This is a 3D action game where you can shoot energy blasts and knock people out with hand to hand combat. You start out with one power set and by the end you have 4. Each power set comes with 4-5 abilities. You have to absorb them all manually so you will be seeing the main character gritting his teeth and being stuck in place quite a few times. The graphics definitely get really funny because of how the faces turned out. It looks a whole lot different than the first two games, I can tell you that much.

One thing Infamous does super well is how traversing through the city is super easy. You can move at much higher speeds than in the first two games so no distance feels too great. This makes going after all the collectibles and side missions a lot more fun than it would have been otherwise. They are all very quick so even though there are a ton of them it doesn’t feel too overwhelming. Instead it’s just a lot of fun to try and completely clear each of the districts.

You also have a lot of freedom in choosing how to tackle these challenges. Personally I thought that the neon abilities were easily the best ones. I was using those constantly over all of the other forms. It just felt like the best bet but you may prefer another one while playing. They all have their special perks. You also get to immediately buy a lot of upgrades as you clear the side content so you really feel yourself getting stronger. It all makes a big difference so I recommend doing a few side things as you go around town.

The length of the story isn’t bad although it is a little on the short side. I’d say it’s maybe around 10 hours or so. Throw in the side content and you can probably add around 5-6 more hours. Since the platinum means beating the game twice, now you’re looking at around 20 hours. The game has a good amount of content even if it could have stood to have more. The most important part is absolutely that the game runs very smoothly. The gameplay is top notch. I only encountered two glitches in the game. One where I fell through the ground with no way out and one where the final boss cutscene froze. Otherwise no issues.

Overall, Infamous: Second Son is definitely a great game. You are constantly going to be involved in some really fun, high intensity action battles. You feel yourself growing stronger as you buy the upgrades and so everything about the game was developed well. It’s all the small quality of life stuff like this which adds up. If you haven’t picked this game up yet, then I would recommend changing that. It is the definition of AAA with how fun it is. I just wish they wouldn’t take so long to make new games.

Overall 8/10

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End Review

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It’s time for Nathan Drake to have one last journey. I got to play this one pretty much immediately after the original trilogy so it was fun to see how the gameplay had changed over the years and how it remained consistent. This is a great wrap up to the main series. Naturally I would still like a full Uncharted 5 but the game went out of its way to really wrap everything up nicely so it really does feel like the end.

The game started off by introducing us to Nathan’s brother Sam. Turns out that they were really close as kids but unfortunately a job went sideways one day and Sam seemly died. We fast forward to the present where Nathan has put his adventuring days behind him and married his adventuring buddy Elena. The two of them have agreed to lead quiet lives now but Sam shows up one day and asks Nathan for his help. They need to find a $400 million treasure fast or Sam’s going to get bumped off by the mafia. So Nathan agrees to help and lies to his wife about a quick work trip. Will this come back to bite him and does Nathan still have the physical abilities needed for a mission like this?

Obviously lying to your wife is never a good idea and this game shows you a bunch of great reasons for that. You’re throwing a ton of trust out the window in a single moment and also showing that when the going gets tough you are willing to do your own thing. Elena gives Nathan a hard time about this later and it’s completely justified. Honestly I think she would have ultimately been ready to help Sam even if she wasn’t big on the idea. Sully also stops by so we really have the whole gang together for one last ride.

You could tell that the game wanted to go all out here as we have several gameplay types outside of the main one. You have at least 2 levels where you drive a car around and there are even puzzles bult around the car. You play as Sam in one level which is the first time you’ve played as someone other than Nathan in one of these titles. Then you also have some underwater sections as well as a boat level. The game has much larger levels than the other titles. While the overall game length isn’t much different, you can actually get lost in some of these levels.

As a result I got less collectibles than in the other games as you’re probably supposed to explore these sections. There are also mor kinds of collectibles than in any of the other titles. You’ve got a good amount of replay value built right into the title although it also looks like the hardest platinum since one trophy is about beating the game in 7 hours. I believe it took me at least 4-5 hours over that in my initial run. Knowing the puzzles will help a lot but even then I feel like this would take me a whole lot of practice.

The core gameplay is still built around a lot of parkour and platforming. They actually streamlined this a little bit as you don’t have to worry about jumping into nothing anymore. The game has invisible guard rails that prevent you from taking wrong jumps. Yes, this may make things a bit easier but it’s a nice quality of life approach. Then the shooting gameplay is still around even if it doesn’t feel quite as tight as in the last few games. Shooting is much less of a focus this time around as you are heavily encouraged to use stealth attacks to take down your opponents.

I enjoy hand to hand well enough so it works but part of me did miss going for 1000 headshots for all the trophies. The shooting gameplay is still solid but perhaps it feels a bit more arcade-like. The difficulty is pretty reasonable. I’m sure you’ll die several times during the adventure and usually it’ll be because you just got too aggressive. I’d see two enemies and charge in, only for another 5 to show up out of nowhere and take me out. I did like how the villains would essentially set traps like that.

The game also has an easter egg for another Playstation title which was a lot of fun. It definitely felt nostalgic and I like the idea of being able to play a video game within a video game. More titles should try something like this. You don’t want to overuse the idea but right now it is absolutely underused. The game’s story is also really solid and by the end of the title you will feel like you had a whole lot of different adventures. Sam may only have been around for this one game but the title does a great job of giving him a lot of character. At the end of the day I can’t say that I was a big fan of this guy but I was glad that he was in the game. You need somebody to dislike a bit and there was nothing two dimensional about him. If the series keeps him on as a main character, I’d say that it would make a lot of sense. I would still want Nathan to show up in some capacity though. Maybe he could be the one Sam calls for some of the trickier puzzles?

Overall, Uncharted 4 is definitely a great title. For the record, I’d still say that the second game is the best one but this is a close second. It’s all relative though as all 4 games were really excellent. Uncharted is absolutely a true AAA series and after marathoning all the games, I’m going to miss it. I’ll absolutely be getting the spinoff at some point so that I can say that I really experienced the whole franchise though. That’ll buy Uncharted 5 some more time to get everything in order. If you haven’t played the game after all these years, then you need to change that asap!

Overall 8/10

.Hack//G.U. Last Recode Review

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It’s time to jump into the world of .Hack GU. This series always looked like a blast but I wasn’t able to jump into it for a long while because getting Part 4 of the original series was really tricky. Well, now I’m here and the series lives up to the hype. It does a good job of bringing in the best parts of the old games while dropping the annoying parts (Cores grinding) so the whole thing feels very streamlined. It also has a whole lot of content within the games outside of the story which is already at least 35-40 hours between the 4 games.

The games follow a guy named Haseo who plays an online MMORPG called: The World. This game allows you to have a good time with your friends as you clear various events and get treasure. One day, his teammate is murdered within the game by a mysterious player named Tri-Edge and she falls into a coma in the real world. Haseo spends a lot of time getting all the way to the max level in the game and tracks down Tri-Edge. Unfortunately he is defeated and somehow reset back to level 1. Haseo will need to regain his strength and also find some way to beat this guy. Normal power is not enough, Haseo will need abilities that transcend that of the game itself.

Right away you’ve got some high stakes here. Tri-Edge is somehow able to murder players from within the game and that makes everything scary. He also looks like Kite, the main character of the first 4 games. So something odd is going on and as the games continue you get a lot of plot twists and new events going into this. The story flows rather seamlessly and the collection even brings a mini 4th game that works as an epilogue to the events. It’s technically a really short game compared to the first 3 but is still a lot of fun to play through. The games are all similar but still different so lets break this down a bit.

The first one has your basic 3D action gameplay. You are able to fight enemies at different locations and gradually get stronger. You have a bike that you can use to travel across areas with great speed and ultimately make a lot of headway. Your main weapon can be swapped a lot as you grow stronger and you can seamlessly link combos. The hub world feels pretty large and you will meet a lot of characters. You gain levels rather quickly as well so even if you are underleveled you can fix that without too much trouble. The sheer amount of content can even be a little intimidating with all of the quests outside of the main story missions but that is a good problem to have.

Then we have part 2 which adds some things like the vs battle mode, upgradable bikes, and the ability to equip different weapons at once. The combat is slowed down a little bit as you can’t link cancel your moves anymore. Still really smooth though and the rest of the game is just as intense. The first one’s story had the benefit of the mystery beginnings but this one also throws in the plot of temporarily getting trapped in the game itself. That would have to be a scary thing. Also I should mention that every game has an obligatory tournament which us fun to see. This game may have had the best climax and cliffhanger ending.

In part 3, things are fine tuned even more. There aren’t too many actual additions compared to the first two games though. At this point you are juggling multiple hub worlds in addition to the rest of the content though. It really feels like you are approaching the end of the adventure and there are a whole lot of bosses. It’s also fun to be fighting enemies while being over level 100 though. There aren’t too many RPGs where that is the case after all.

Finally part 4 is a much more scaled down version. You unlock a new form which seals all of your other equipments and most of the bonus content is turned off. It makes sense as this is purely to finish off the story. We get a lot of nice looking cutscenes and a fun epilogue. The boss battle at the end is also reasonably tough. I ended up making it to level 150 and hit the level cap at the end which was cool. In general the giant kaiju fights were definitely pretty fun. I wouldn’t say they were as good as the normal gameplay but they were a fun change of pace too.

So you’ve got a ton of content here. Aside from the story being about 40 hours long, clearing all the content and getting the Platinum trophy would probably add another 15 hours or so to it. It doesn’t look like an unreasonable platinum either but it’s not exactly a top priority for me while I work on games where I have a lower trophy score. If you’re worried about playing this game because of all the grinding from the original then you shouldn’t worry about it. This game has virtually 0 grinding which is a nice change of pace. You may have to get some levels but like I said that part’s pretty fast. I ended up doing a few dedicated level grinding batches and then I would one tap every enemy for the next 5-7 areas.

The graphics are also really good as you’d expect. Everything looked super sharp and the gameplay is on point. The colors are sharp at all times. Meanwhile the soundtrack is also great. It definitely has more of a rock motif to it compared to the old games but the openings to each title feel like classic .Hack. Likewise I enjoyed the endings for each of them. These games really kept The World as a mysterious kind of game which I appreciated. I may not have played “The World” if it were real but I can see the appeal.

Overall, .Hack Gu is definitely an elite title. I also think collections in general tend to be a buff when all the games are good. Individually these games would have all been 8s with the last one being a 7 but when they are all packaged together it becomes a 9 because of the sheer length. This is not the kind of game that you can complete in a weekend and that’s a good thing. I’m definitely eager to see how the next game goes in the saga. The timing of their announcing a new .Hack game now was certainly perfect!

Overall 9/10

Soul Calibur IV Review

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It’s been a while since I played a Soul Calibur game and it was time to take this one out from the backlog. It’s always interesting to play an older fighting game after playing the sequels. Maybe even more so in a fighting game compared to other genres, you can see what mechanics stuck around and which ones were removed. In this case the gameplay feels so similar that I wouldn’t say it was that different. The main change is how the story mode plays out compared to other titles. In the newer installments, the games had a focused story mode while this one is more of the classic arcade mode. Interestingly there is an arcade mode which seems almost identical to the story mode which feels a bit redundant.

So I went through the story mode with a bunch of characters until I unlocked all of the characters and stages that could be unlocked through this mode. There is an extra character and stage through arcade mode but I didn’t go to that level of detail. So I had fun playing as guys like Darth Vader, Nightmare, Siegfried, Astaroth, and more. They each have their own signature control schemes, and the game does a good job of making everyone feel unique.

Story mode has 5 levels within it, typically 2 of those will have you defeat 4 enemies and then the other 3 levels are your classic 1 vs 1 fights. Each character has a unique encounter in the 3rd and 5th rounds with a few exceptions where you just get the generic dialogue. The character roster is actually rather impressive with around 30 characters in there, but I do feel like it shouldn’t have been impossible to have unique dialogue for all of them. It’s the small things like that which can really make a difference.

Still, you’re here for the gameplay and it’s really excellent. For a lot of titles, I may be skeptical of a ring out mechanic but in this one it just works really well. It feels satisfying to throw someone off the ring and make an ultra comeback that way. Each character also has a whole lot of different attack moves to the point where it’s actually a bit hard to keep track of them all. Half the time I would use a move and then be unable to use it again. It seems to be based not just on direction but also on momentum which would take some getting used to for me.

Blocking is a button rather than holding back so you want to be real careful about that as well. The levels where you fight 4 opponents back to back can actually be tough as well since they all have a full health bar. Make sure you don’t take them too lightly or you’re really going to be in trouble. Ultimately there is near limitless replay value here because of the vs mode. I also like how the unlockables are rapidly unlocked just by playing through all of the story modes. I’ve always found that is the best way to have the unlockables set up. There are no PS3 trophies for this game which is unfortunate, but you can still have fun on a local level.

The graphics are definitely really good. The art style has aged well and the characters look sharp. The colors are striking and I really don’t have any issues here. Meanwhile the soundtrack is also good. There are quite a lot of different stage tunes here and of course Darth Vader brings in his own remix from Star Wars.

Outside of the story and arcade modes, you also have a tower climbing mode. I did not try this mode out as of yet but it seems to be a fairly long one. You have to continue defeating opponents as you ascend the tower. This will get tougher and tougher as you go through and of course some unlockables are tied to this mode as well. I appreciate that the game has a lot of full fledged single player options since you don’t always see that nowadays. Sure, fighting games are going to spend the majority of effort on multiplayer but no reason why you can’t put a little budget into single player.

Technically speaking the existence of the sequels means there is less reason to buy this one specifically but it’s worth entering the time bubble here. It’s cool to just see the series evolve and this one still stands out on its own. My nostalgia goggles are strong for Soul Calibur II and V so they won’t be surpassed but this is a very good game and I wouldn’t hesitate to play it at any time. I also appreciate that this game still has the announcer who sets up the confrontation before every fight. He really does a good job of making each fight feel really thematic and epic.

Overall, I would definitely recommend picking this game up. It’s one of those fighting games that is easy to pick up and play while being hard to master. You will want to really hit the lab here in order to be one of the best. If you do put in that time, then I don’t think you will be losing many fights because it is hard to overcome that skill gap. I hope we get a new Soul Calibur game soon, it feels like the series has not been expanding as quickly as it should be. If you don’t have the game yet, then you can get it for a great price right now.

Overall 7/10

Batman: Arkham Origins Review

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The Batman Arkham games have definitely been a blast and so now it’s time to get back in there with another one! Arkham Origins is a great addition to the series and easily has some of the longest cinematic battles within the series. The fights with Deathstroke and Joker were good examples of QTEs mixed in with live combat. It’s all aged incredibly well so this is a game that is very strong on all sides.

The general plot involves Black Mask putting a bounty on Batman’s head. It’s a rather large sum and so now Gotham’s most dangerous villains are all after him. Batman is fairly early in his career and yet he will have to deal with a wide assortment of crazy villains. Finding Black Mask will not be easy, particularly since GCPD is also after him at full speeds. Commissioner Gordan is not exactly impressed with Batman’s approach after all.

Right away the gameplay will feel familiar to Arkham fans. The action is heavily centered around parrying. You want to be dishing out damage but also keeping an eye out for nearby attacks. If you time your parry right, you will block the hit and land a counter. You can also finish off an opponent but it will leave you vulnerable to attack. The benefit is that they will stay down and otherwise they will get up several times during the fight. So there is a lot of strategy here right out of the gate.

You also have an array of gadgets to help you out like smoke bombs and such but honestly they are sometimes more work than they’re worth. I preferred to just jump in each time and start the combos. I did die quite a few times though so perhaps this wasn’t always the right move. The game has a kind of old school level of difficulty. It’s tough enough where you will be dying quite a few times but the checkpoints are fairly close by so you never feel like you have lost a ton of progress. I would say it is really balanced. When you die, it’s always to a very avoidable mistake on your part.

What will really test your creativity are the stealth sections of the game. You often have to find ways to isolate a bunch of the villains and take them down one at a time. At the same time, the game does allow you to go and fight them if you want but the bullets deal massive damage. So this way you have some freedom to challenge the villains in whatever your preferred option is. I like that it’s not the kind of game where you instantly die as soon as the villains see you.

The graphics are really great and have definitely aged well. The art style nails a realistic look without making the mistake of trying to simulate a live action movie. As a result it is still stylistic enough to get the job done. The soundtrack is a bit more on the forgettable side though. I would have liked some kind of fast paced battle theme for some of the battles but that wasn’t really going to be the case in this one.

If I have any slight issue with the game, it’s that the loading times can be a bit long. When you boot up the game, there is no way to skip all of the company announcements. Then when you die, you have to watch a fairly extensive cinematic of the villain making fun of you. It’s not ultra long or anything but when you die a lot, it certainly begins to feel that way. It’s a nice touch that the villain mocking you will change based on the level but I’d prefer a quicker restart.

There is a lot of replay value here in getting the PS3 trophies to aim for a Platinum. It seems like a rather difficult set of trophies to get, or at least a very time intensive endeavor. One day I may go for it but this doesn’t seem like the highest one on my list for that reason. You are definitely getting a lot of bang for your buck here though. You can also unlock different costumes for after you beat the game, although low key I would have liked to have had those sooner.

There is also a progression system where you can use your level ups to unlock moves and such. The EXP system is maybe a little too generous though because you will have all of your moves maxed out before the end of the game. There are gadget upgrades you can do next but not without doing some kind of side mission so I never actually got around to that part.

Each of the boss fights have their own unique mechanics so you will be glad to hear that there are no recycled fights. Each one also incorporates some level of QTE into it. It’s not exactly surprising, the games have always been really good at that. Like I said before, this is a very high quality title that clearly had a lot of effort put into it. The main campaign may be fairly short but that is true for most of the games in this series. The replay value helps to counter balance that with how much more content is available.

Overall, Arkham Origins is a great title that really avoided making any big mistakes. You could tell that some of the platforming could be a bit clunky next to Arkham City but just on a relative level. If you look at the game on its own then it is as smooth as it needs to be. If you don’t own this game yet then you definitely ought to change that. This would also make for a pretty good movie one day. Now there is only one Arkham game left in my marathon adventures so we’ll see how that one ends up playing out.

Overall 8/10

God Eater 3 Review

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It has been a little while since I played the second God Eater but now it is time to finally wrap things up with the third one. I would say this one may be the most cinematic in terms of consistent cutscenes although it is a good deal shorter than the first two games. There is a bit of a post game here but of course the first two had longer post games as well so that’s something to consider. You can get this one for a really good price nowadays which is also nice for the value. If you enjoyed the first two God Eater titles then I bet you will enjoy this one as well.

The game starts off by showing us that humanity is still on the loosing end against the Aragami. They have seized control of most of the planet by this point and the few who can fight back are now treated as slaves by humanity. Why create a caste system when things are so helpless right now? Well, that’s just how toxic humanity is as a whole. They continue to make it easy to root for the aragami when it counts. We follow two God Eaters who manage to escape their captivity during a mission and are taken in by a much more humane group. They aim to help out and gradually get the funds to lead a peaceful life.

It won’t be easy though, the government owns most of what remains of humanity and god eaters are explicitly treated as second class citizens. It’s not as if the heroes can just walk outside either. Most of the world is covered in a fog that is completely poisonous. To get around that, most people live in various bases but of course those are owned by the government as well. Meeting up with a friendly crew was definitely a stroke of good luck. They even meet a humanoid aragami who looks like a little girl. She befriends the characters but everyone wants to murder her so that’s going to be another tricky thing to deal with.

The story itself is pretty fun even if I have some doubts on the logic of it. If you only have around 1000 God Eaters left for humanity and they are the only ones able to fight off the monsters, why would you treat them like slaves? Seems to me like they could easily revolt and finish the extinction of humanity. It’s also hard to see how we got to this point after the events of the first two games. It sems like there was a decently large time skip as the only big returning character from the first two games is the original humanoid aragami. He even goes by a new name now and nobody recognizes him so a lot of time must have gone on for that to have happened.

The story also does go in circles a bit with how many times the villains try to convince the heroes to hand over the little girl. So I can see some faults with the story but overall I was engaged. Just as important is the gameplay of course and fortunately I can say that it was very good. It’s taking a much simpler approach than the first two games. This one almost feels more like an arcade game in that sense. Gone are all of the different god burst abilities and they have de-emphasized the elemental boosts here. In the last games it was very important to switch up your weapon both for element as well as weapon type based on the enemy. Sometimes you would want a sword and sometimes a hammer.

It was based on if you needed striking power, piercing power, and I forget the name of the third one. Well, in this game you can forget about all of that. Just pick one weapon and focus on it until you’ve gone really far. I picked a buster blade from the start and that carried me all the way through to the end. I never switched weapons and just kept upgrading this one the whole way through. That was the best way to go and I have no complaints.

I imagine it would make more of a difference in post game so it’s not like the mechanics have been removed. They’ve simply been de-emphasized which is a big difference. Beyond that, the rest is as you remember it. The game is a 3D slasher where you have to defeat all of the key monsters in each level in order to move forward. The main story has around 70 or so levels in it. You’re given 30-60 minutes to complete each level but most of them should only take around 5 minutes or so. The final levels take a bit longer but even then it’s not by much. So you will end up beating the game in no time compared to the others.

The gun seems a lot weaker in this one so personally I’d say to stick to the sword. The gun is maybe okay at bet for aerial enemies where you will be missing a whole lot. Then it’s worth breaking out the gun. Otherwise, stick to the sword and trust me you won’t regret that. My personal tip is to try and keep your burst mode on at all times even if it just means level 1. That 10% boost really ends up adding up before you know it.

The graphics are pretty good as you’d expect. The PS4 is able to render the cutscenes well and there are a number of full on cinematics outside of the main gameplay cutscenes. The soundtrack is also pretty good with a solid variety of tunes to enjoy. Less lyrical songs than the second game but the ones that we do get definitely hit pretty hard. In general I would also say that the battle osts are good. The menus and various layouts are also handled really well. The game has polished them throughout the years and this one didn’t take a backseat or anything like that.

Overall, God Eater 3 is pretty fun. If you enjoy 3D combat then you have to enjoy this one because the action is basically nonstop. For that reason the gameplay is infinitely important because if you are the type of person to get bored of the same gameplay for too long then this won’t be for you. There are very few bits of variety within the game as you will literally be defeating the same enemies over and over and over in the levels. I just really love the hack and slash gameplay so for me that was a real blast. It all comes down to if you enjoy the style or not. I’d definitely be hyped for a 4th game if they ever did it, hopefully we would actually get a real ending this time though instead of humanity’s endless fight against the Aragami.

Overall 7/10

GI Joe: Wrath of Cobra Review

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It’s been a while since I played a GI Joe game so it was time to change that. Wrath of Cobra is one of those games that never got a physical release so it was time to finally grab it on the PSN. It’s definitely a short game so I would feel bad for anyone who might have gotten it on opening day. The gameplay is fun enough and all but you really feel like they could have put way more effort into this. At least make it a few hours longer right? I don’t think that would have been so unreasonable.

The game starts with Cobra Commander deciding to take over the world but there is also a clone of him and both think that they are the real deal. So they attack the Joes and along the way will have to watch their backs or they will be absolutely dominated. One wrong step and that is game over. So Duke and friends prepare to fight them. There isn’t much more of a story than that but I do appreciate that the game will actually throw in the occasional cutscene. It helped to liven things up and we even get to see a glimpse of the outside world as Cobra Commander tries to get some kids to support his cause. It helps to flesh the world out a tiny bit.

Of course, the whole game is still only around 2 hours so it really goes by in a flash. There are 12 levels and each level tends to be around 7-9 minutes. You have your basic attacks as well as a super move. You have to use these attacks to try and claim total victory. You have 4 lives to play the game with although if you lose them all, you get infinite continues. So that’s pretty handy. There are trophies for beating levels without getting hit or dying which sounds insane to me. I just don’t know how anyone would really be pulling that off.

I suppose with enough practice but this is not a game that I think most people would end up sticking with. I definitely wouldn’t be playing the game more than once. The reason does come down to how basic it is. I prefer 3D beat em ups but the 2D ones can be good too. There just isn’t much to it because the moveset is too low. You only have two main attacks to combo with. Then the enemies don’t have a whole lot of variety to them either. I suppose you could have fun switching characters since you have several options here but even then that is not going to buy you a ton of time.

It was always fun to exploit the occasional glitch though. A few times there would be a boss or an enemy who would not realize that you were standing slightly beneath him so he would keep striking out at empty air. Was a good way to cheese some of these guys who had really large health bars. For my playthrough I decided to play as Snake Eyes because he has incredibly high attack power. I think I made the right choice there. His super attack is that he summons a dog to come in and deal a lot of damage. A bit random but a fun super since even the bosses would take a lot of damage from that.

As far as the graphics go, they look good enough. I liked how colorful everyone is in order to match the old show. The cutscenes we get definitely aren’t very high quality but at least we had cutscenes which was cool. The soundtrack is okay but also not something that I would call really memorable. You’ll have forgotten the tunes real quickly once the game ends.

My main advice when playing is to jump a lot. It’s a great way to clear the distance over to your opponents and of course you get to dodge attacks along the way. Then once you have the enemies in one spot, you can really combo them all to death. Keep on swinging even once they are in the air and usually you can finish each opponent before they had a chance to hit the ground. Pretty sneaky eh? It’s a pretty good way to whittle down the odds.

The game would be really difficult without the infinite continues but since you have them, this one is a true cake walk. While the length is extremely short, the trophies do add a lot of replay value since I think it would be incredibly difficult to get them all. Getting the Platinum for a game like this would really feel like a pipe dream. Not totally impossible or anything like that but not really worth the amount of time it would take. To me at least, maybe you could see it as a badge of honor.

Overall, Wrath of Cobra feels very much like the kind of game you would find on the app store. It’s not particularly high quality and is a very short experience. The gameplay is simple and while it’s not bad, you get the feeling that there wasn’t a ton of time spent on it. This game was just churned out quickly to take advantage of the retro beat em up feeling that everyone has been enjoying. This one loses to most of the other games I’ve played in this genre. If you really like GI Joe though, perhaps the nostalgia alone will make it worth it for you.

Overall 6/10

Marvel Rivals Review

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Marvel Rivals is a game that really got huge. For a while there is seemed like everybody was playing it. I would say it is even still huge right now. They keep on adding new characters and of course the gameplay itself is fun enough. That said, I don’t quite get the appeal the way that most people do. To me the gameplay is fine but not something I would end up being stuck to for a long while.

There isn’t a real story mode here of course so you’re really just thrown right into the mix. I was glad to have a tutorial though and did take advantage of that. Basically you’re in a team battle and either have to protect something or attack it. You win based on which team achieved their objective. Whenever you die you are able to switch characters on the fly. It’s pretty nice that you aren’t locked in so you can constantly be switching. The only real restriction is that you can’t have two people using the same character and that makes sense since it could definitely get real confusing real fast. So this way you sidestep that problem completely. As a result I got to play as numerous characters even over the course of a few matches.

The characters are divided into different classes and all have different ways of playing. My favorite character was easily Human Torch. It felt nice being able to fly around and deal out devastating blows to my opponents. I contributed quite heavily in the first match where I scored over 30 KOs. We won that round and it was the perfect way to start. I doubt Torch is one of the most broken characters or anything like that but his moveset is absolutely solid. Whenever you have a projectile fighter like this, you can bet that I’ll enjoy them.

My second favorite character was Groot. He may not be able to fly but his long reach works great as a main attack. I would say the only real downside is that his special moves are a bit boring. He can summon walls to bock incoming attacks which is pretty nice but it doesn’t actually deal damage the way I would like to see it. At the end of the day you need KOs to win here and you get KOs by dealing damage. Still, I got in my share of KOs with the standard attacks.

I definitely didn’t end up mixing well with the brawlers. For example I died fairly quick when playing as Captain America, Wolverine, and Thor. It was just hard to get in close to the other team before I would be taken down by everyone waving around their lasers all the time. I’m sure there are methods to making those characters work but it was definitely a real tough trick for me. A game like this definitely has a lot of RNG as well of course but I won’t deny the high level of skill too. Good aim will go a long way here. The same goes for memorizing where all the health items are at. I’m guessing they are randomly generated but still limited to a few locations rather than just being anywhere.

The graphics are definitely really good. Some of the character designs will certainly take some getting used to though. They really went quite different with a few of them like Wolverine. That said, it’s a consistent art style and I wouldn’t say the designs are bad. I would definitely get used to them after enough time playing the game. The soundtrack is less noticeable with all of the shooting and everything. It seemed good to me but again I’m not sure with how much confidence I can really say that. Either way I guess it’s not ultra important.

I mentioned a few times that the gameplay isn’t super addicting to me and I’ll quickly explain. There is no single player combat mode here and no individual life system. So this means in the team combats everyone has unlimited lives until the match ends. For me a game like this is always way more fun when you have your own life. I know this doesn’t reflect in sales numbers which is why many games have gone away from that model but I still miss it. I’ve never liked the idea that I could be playing amazing and dealing tons of damage and I can still lose because the rest of my team let me down. It just doesn’t feel like this is the way the game ought to be played.

I would at least like the option of a single player mode here. Start out with 25 fighters or something and no extra lives. If you lose then you lose but that’s it. I would find it all to be way more engaging and challenging. Additionally it would force you to get good. Then if the mode doesn’t do well they can always shut it down later. Still, that’s just what would make me enjoy the game better. At that point I’m basically advocating for a completely different title so it’s not a very reasonable request. Just an explanation on why none of the Overwatch titles have ever stuck with me. I do hope this game continues to be successful though because it’s at least pretty fun to watch.

Overall, Marvel Rivals is pretty good. It’s not really a game that would hold my attention for very long but there is definitely a clear audience. I also imagine it’s the kind of game that gets to be way more fun when you know other people wo play it as well. Once you build up that community spirit then it’s really off to the races. You just want to get in there and have fun. As the character roster continues to grow, the game will only get more and more fun. I’m rather curious just how many characters there will be by the end. It seems like a game that could easily get over 50 characters by the end. The toughest part will probably be picking enough unique moves where nobody feels like a clone character.

Overall 7/10