Tag Archives: Playstation

Castlevania Advance Collection Review

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Time for the next Castlevania collection! This time we’re entering a more modern era with a bunch of GBA titles and I gotta say this works out pretty well. You can feel the quality of life updates oozing out of each title and all in all they do feel a lot more fun. I would also say generally speaking they do improve as they go on. Sometimes not unanimously in every regard but generally speaking they feel stronger. The games also increasingly have more story which always works out well.

So we kick things off with Circle of the Moon. Dracula is returning once again and he must be stopped but how do you beat a foe so powerful that he has the whole world on its knees? Well, Nathan will have to figure that out. This game has the classic Metroidvania type style here as you wander around a labyrinth gaining new powers and abilities in the rooms. With each new ability comes new opportunities and so you work to find out which areas have opened up for you to crack. It makes for some good fun in exploring but this is the critical make or break point for any game in the genre.

Here’s the balancing act. Naturally you want a lot of dead ends and such to encourage players to return later once they are stronger. However, the rooms can be quite large so what you don’t want to do is make the journey feel like a chore. The way to prevent this is by having fast travel in a lot of different areas so you can hop on that right away. It removes all of the excess running. Now, there is a level up system so beating the enemies gets easier with time. That is a good idea since proper progression is always a plus. It means that if you’re stuck at any point, you are given clear direction on how to get past that point which is really cool. Not just any game will do that.

So this one did it better than some of the other titles. Not perfectly mind you, but it’s a fairly good showing of the genre. I never quite understood the card gimmick though. You could use cards in different combinations to unleash powerful elemental attacks and such but I could never get any of them to work. You can still win without this but I imagine that the game might have been a whole lot easier otherwise. So I definitely did not make things easy on myself here. The graphics are solid and I liked all of the boss battles. There are quite a lot of them here so you really get to go all out.

Then in the second game Juste shows up to put an end to Dracula’s reign of terror. Defeating the king of the vampires won’t be easy but this guy is ready. It picks up a lot of the gameplay details and abilities from the previous game while also throwing in some new wrinkles. Gone are the cards (Which I’m 100% down with) and replacing them are magical super attacks. You are invincible while using these abilities which is extremely handy and the techniques themselves vary based on what sub weapon you have equipped. I chose one that let me shoot energy waves and I made sure to never pick any other sub weapons after that. This one was just way too useful but I can’t remember which one it was. I think the sub weapon looked like a book of sorts but I’m not sure of the name.

Either way there are a ton of sub weapons everywhere so it should not be hard to find these. Just keep searching and you will get them fairly quick. Meanwhile you still have the level up system so make sure you get those right away. If you beat all of the enemies you will get the level ups normally but especially securing some of them early on is an incredible help for you later on. You want to be able to easily dispatch all of the zombies and creatures that head your way to save health for the bosses. The bosses definitely do not hold back and really dish a whole lot of damage out.

The game loses some steam near the very end though as it does fall into the trap of the journey being a little too monotonous. As you approach the end game, there will only be a few passages left to check but they are in completely different sides of the map. So even though you have quick travel, it takes forever to get anywhere which is really the issue. This only really applies to the end game as it’s possible to miss power ups and then this cascades quite a bit as they are all linked. So just watch out here because missing things is really high stakes.

Then we have the third game, Aria of Sorrow. This one felt like it had a pretty good technological jump right off the bat. The graphics are extra clear, we have a whole new setting, and all of the gameplay mechanics are very sharp. You still have the level ups but now you have a soul system. Instead of finding the power ups for the most part, you gain the abilities through souls. It’s a fun way to go although there is a mild issue of having to pause and cycle through your abilities to keep on switching powers. That part’s a little dicey you know. Still, it’s a mild annoyance at worst, not something that will really be giving you a hard time here.

I liked the plot of several people being suspicious and you have to try and figure out who will be Dracula’s new vessel. It’s almost like a mystery game of sorts there so that was a fun angle. I think another way to put it is that the game had a whole lot of personality. It felt like the devs could have fun taking things in a new direction and it worked really well. It even felt like there was some true replay value here as you could clear the game while still leaving a lot left to be done. It’s the right balance of being a completionist vs just wanting to finish the game. Additionally, you gain powers like flight that make each room a breeze so that addresses my issue of moving through the map too slowly from the last game. This was definitely super solid.

Finally we have Dracula X. Well, Dracula is back and we have to take him down. Lesss goooooooo. The plot is super basic/nonexistent and the game feels like a super simplified version of the old ones. The fact that you can no longer jiggle your whip around or use magic attacks feels like a massive step back. It just went too far into being super retro. It’s not bad, the whole game is super short but very linear. It just doesn’t hold up compared to the big full fledged game titles. It was kind of funny to go back to this one.

The graphics for all of the games are pretty solid. Dracula X looks rather dated but all of the GBA ones hold their own. The soundtracks definitely vary from game to game but as a whole there are a ton of good tunes to listen to so you definitely won’t be getting bored at all. The variety is definitely here to stay and you might even recognize one or two from Super Smash Bros. There is a good amount of replay in trying to get all trophies and really ace each of the games as well. You will definitely need to tap into your inner Castlevania fan to pull that off but it will add some extra hours without a doubt.

Overall, Castlevania Advance Collection is definitely pretty fun. All 3 of the game boy advance titles are pretty solid and generally speaking are a step up from the retro styled ones. They all feel like complete games and I do think adding a full fledged level up system to the vania games is a real good way of keeping things from being too repetitive. Even if you get lost, at least you know you are making progress. I may still not be a huge fan of the sub genre but I can say this is on the higher levels in terms of quality. It’s certainly miles away from certain other titles that just feel like a grind. The final game may not hold up as much but I consider that to be more of a bonus title so either way there was no real pressure there.

Overall 7/10

Asura’s Wrath Review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 9/10

My Hero: One’s Justice Review

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My Hero Academia is a pretty huge franchise so it was only a matter of time before it got a big fighting game like this one. I was glad to finally get it, but it is safe to say that the game isn’t super high budget. So it delivers on getting you a fun fighting experience but you aren’t likely to be picking this one up over its rivals anytime soon.

The game starts off with Deku being trained by Gran Torino. He has to use his One for All abilities more efficiently and this is the way to do it. He will have to move very quickly though because the villains are on the move. They aim to kidnap one of the students and then destroy All Might. If the Symbol of Peace goes down then we could be entering a new era of darkness. Can Deku really stop the madness??

So the gameplay is your classic 3D fighter type. You have your standard attacks, power moves, unblockable moves, super attacks, and your assist moves. There are a decent amount of moves but most tend to just be worse than the basic combo. There’s not much need to ever touch some of those attacks but granted I’m not sure how things look at the highest levels of competition. It could be very different there. The balancing just seems a bit off. Like Deku’s standard combo is close to 10 hits long and does a ton of damage while Bakugo’s just lands like 5 hits without nearly as much damage. It’s an odd combination to be sure.

As far as the graphics go, this is one where I think the game did pretty good. I like how bright the colors are and in particular All Might really stands out. They aced his costume here and the guy feels powerful to play as. He’s basically a stronger version of Deku here. There are a lot of fun special effects to the environment and buildings as you fight and there are even some fighting cutscenes where we see the fighters go at it. Again it’s not what I’d call a very high budget title but it looks good enough.

The soundtrack may be limited but the tunes are really good. I definitely liked the main danger theme quite a lot and fortunately it plays a ton of times. In terms of replay value, there is a good amount here. The actual story mode is only about 2 hours long, but there are a ton of side stories. Over double that of the main campaign in terms of levels since you have the villain story on top of that. So all together you’re probably looking at 5-6 hours for completing all of the story mode missions and then after that you still have mission mode and the classic vs mode. Certainly a good amount of stuff considering that the game is super cheap.

I think the game should have been dubbed since that would have made things more exciting but I was glad that the story mode was fully voice acted at least. That was a pretty nice decision. Instead of the comic panel format though, I would have preferred full cutscenes all the way, even if it meant just showing scenes from the anime or something. I’ll be curious just how similar the second game looks. If it’s almost identical to this one or if it goes for something a lot different.

Either way though, finally getting a big video game is an important step. Of course it has quite a few mobile titles and the free to play online one but a console fighter is always a good idea. A lot of titles don’t necessarily start out with the best one out of the gate and things should only get better from here. 3D fighters may not always be the most popular form of gameplay but I’ve played a ton of really great ones so I can definitely tell you that it’s possible.

In a way this game will take you back to a more nostalgic time of the Gamecube/PS2 fighters. A fairly simple fighting game with a limited roster but one you can have a good time with. At the end of the day you want a game that is entertaining and this one definitely does achieve its goal there. You’ll get an extra bump of excitement if you’re a huge MHA fan but as long as you like a good fighting game then you’re set either way.

Overall, One’s Justice is a pretty good game. It’s definitely not great though. The combat itself is a bit sluggish and more limited than the average 3D fighter. You wind up spamming the same moves over and over again. After all, why bother risking your chance at an ultimate move when your standard hit combo does around the same damage with far less risk? Still, I always enjoy a good fighter and there is a decent amount of side content here. That’s definitely something to keep in mind. I look forward to seeing how the sequel goes.

Overall 7/10

My Hero Ultra Rumble Review

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It’s always cool to see another free to play game on the market. You’ve really got a lot of potential with those to make a super long running game with a huge cast. Of course because it is such a tempting option, it means that there is a ton of competition and the average game will be forgotten about almost immediately. Such is the battle that these games have to go through. That being said, My Hero is a solid one among the pack. I may not be keeping it around for long as I go back to other games but it does certainly have a good amount of potential.

As with most online games there isn’t really a story so you will be jumping right into the action from the jump. You can do team battles with computers, other players, unranked and ranked. There is one main issue that you may have already guessed here though and that is that there is no single player mode. Cmon that doesn’t quite seem right shouldn’t single player mode be a guarantee? I want to test my luck in surviving the map. Hopefully this is a mode that is added soon.

Regardless the general gameplay is that of a 3D fighter. You can run, jump, and use your standard attacks as well as projectiles and supers to try and take the other opponents down. I believe the match starts with 25 teams of 3 and you will see the numbers dwindling down as the fight goes on. Interestingly they hide the number of fighters left once you’ve reached a certain amount of teams. I’d prefer to see the number at all times but I guess it’s to add some tension.

I wasn’t able to get a win yet but I did come in 3rd once which was pretty neat. As with Fortnite a good strategy can be to avoid the fighting and hide in the buildings or bushes gathering weapons and armor until the end. The only tricky thing is that in a team battle your teammates often won’t want to do this so at the end it’s you against 3 fighters and you’re really not winning that. At that point even a pro would have trouble since the game is made to reinforce teamwork. 3 on 1 is an incredible disadvantage for you.

During the match there are item cards which will appear and you can use them to level up your super attacks. Naturally there are health and armor potions as well. Additionally there are civilians all over the map and if you heal one they will drop a bunch of power ups too. The level ups are really handy so I recommend grabbing a bunch. From there it’s really just about taking your opponent down.

One thing the game does well to differentiate itself from other survival games is how this one has so many buildings. In some stages you are really spending your time jumping around and doing all kinds of acrobatics rather than running through the forest. The downside is it can make it much easier to dodge attacks and prolong a battle for a while but the shrinking field will take care of that eventually.

The graphics are pretty solid too. Naturally this won’t look quite as solid as a AAA game targeted for single player campaigns and things like that but the game is very colorful and I’d say it works really well. There isn’t much of a soundtrack but in a game like this I can see how that would be distracting. You really want to be able to see the other characters after all and hear their approach. Optional music would still be cool though.

It can be a little hard to see the opponents closing in on you with how busy the maps are but i think that’s likely intentional. It means that you always have to keep your guard up or it’s all over and I’m definitely cool with that tension. While it can feel like a button masher when the opponent gets near, you can quickly tell the difference in skill when two characters are going at it. Personally I’d like the game to let teammates play the same character though. I always wanted to play as Deku because he has the best moveset but a teammate would grab him and so you aren’t able to proceed with the match until one player changes characters. In the end I would change just so I didn’t hold up the match for too long.

Overall, This is a pretty fun game with a lot of replay value due to the online system. I do think it’s a game that will be many times more fun if you have some friends to play with rather than the randoms for the online matches. You can activate voice chat which helps but for the most part you’ll feel like you are on your own otherwise. The gameplay is fun but can probably feel a bit repetitive after a while so I would recommend playing in lots of short bursts as opposed to long marathon styled play.

Overall 7/10

Astria Ascending Review

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This is one of those RPGs I hadn’t really heard of until I happened to see it online during a sale. Why not pick it up right? More times than not any RPG will end up being a fun game since you get used to the characters and have a fun time with them. In general this isn’t one of the strongest ones in terms of story but it did have full voice acting which I appreciated and makes for a fun experience. It took me over 25 hours to complete so the size is fairly good too.

The game starts off with a bunch of people being chosen as the 333rd generation of demi gods. This is seen as a great honor as you defend the planet. The catch is that you are now fated to die very shortly. I forget if you have 3 months to live or 3 years but once your term is up then you die. Definitely a rotten deal most would agree but you gotta do what you gotta do. The world is usually in harmony so this is an easy task but not this year. A villain group seeks to disrupt the current state of things by granting people free will but with dangerous methods. The heroes must stop the villains…but do they have a point?

This is where the story doesn’t really go as far as it should. The theme of the villains potentially being right isn’t really explored at all. Lets look at the context here though. In the current world everyone has to keep on heating this fruit called the harmony fruit. The more you eat it, the more you fall in line and so all of the different races are kept apart and everyone is happy. The villains believe that this is a false happiness and one that is actually enslaving them so they have decided not to eat the fruits.

The main characters disagree with this but it does seem like the fruit is actually hurting the heroes. Of course the game wasn’t tryin to get too morally gray so the villains start murdering people and so they have to be stopped. I would have liked an ending where the characters agree to stop having people eat the fruits or something. At least address it, but that doesn’t end up happening this time. Ah well, the story we get is still good with a lot of different villains and even a bit of a body count. The situation is definitely very serious right from the jump.

As for the gameplay, it’s effectively your classic turn based system. You can use 4 party members at a time. If they lose during battle but you still have one member out, you can swap them out for your other allies in storage. It’s a pretty cool idea in theory but the health points in this game can be low so using up a turn to summon these guys would usually have them down in an instant. I would recommend just buffing up your main four fighters as much as possible.

You do this through level ups but also by using your earned special points to unlock new moves and power ups. this part can be tricky because you don’t get much SP during normal battles. So there is one helpful thing to do and that is to go back to the colosseum and defeat the boss all over again. You can beat him in 2-3 turns as you get stronger and he will always get you 25SP. That’s like completing 10 normal battles which take a lot longer than this boss. So that’s what I did for many hours and finally powered up enough circles to beat the final boss. Without that I would have definitely not had a chance. Those guys hit like a truck.

Personally I advise using almost every upgrade on health, just one or two on MP will be enough. That’s because later on you will learn skills that cut MP consumption in half which is absolutely crucial. You will be glad you had the health later on since it helps you survive the powerful blows later on. Additionally if you use Kress in your party, she has an attack that converts your health points into pure magic power. Trust me that is also really good in a pinch. Each character has some really strong attacks so use them wisely. Especially since some bosses are immune to a bunch of different attacks so you just have to figure out what to hit him with.

You’ve also got super attacks, summons and such so this is just the tip of the iceberg. The gameplay is reasonably deep which is why I recommend playing around with the characters and finding out what your style is. There’s also some basic platforming here but for the most part it’s just around for kicks so you don’t need to practice for it or anything. There’s a very random dice game of sorts that is in but there’s only one battle required for story mode and you can skip the rest of them.

The graphics are definitely solid here. It’s going for a bit of a retro feel but the illustrations are on point and I like all of the designs. The soundtrack is more on the forgettable side though. I couldn’t really tell you any of the tunes at this point. They all just go in one ear and out the other. I feel like a lot more effort could have been put into those. The rest of the effort could have gone into balancing the EXP and SP gained. It just didn’t feel very well balanced at all and the fact that I grinded for hours and hours but never got close to filling out the tree isn’t a great sign. At least it does feel satisfying to see yourself getting stronger and stronger.

Overall, Astria Ascending is definitely a pretty fun game. The story is good even if a whole lot of meat is left on the bone. You still get to enjoy the big battles and of course the gameplay is really solid which helps as well. It could use a little balancing but ultimately you have the freedom to go in a whole lot of different routes on your own which is good. No two battles will end up being the same as a result. The voice acting is still a really big plus as well and you’re getting a lot of bang for your buck so there’s a lot to enjoy here. Definitely worth a purchase.

Overall 7/10

Super Bomberman R Review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 7/10

Fifa 19 Review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 6/10

The Lego Movie 2 Review

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It’s time to dive into the Lego Movie game. I haven’t played a whole lot of Lego games. They’re fairly safe platformers that don’t try to be too ambitious and give you a good time but at the same time they never seem to really be able to match the big titles. There are so many of them that it could make for a good theme someday but as it is this would be the weakest one that I’ve played. It’s not bad by any means, but as I said it’s just rather basic.

The game starts off with the Lego world being invaded by all kinds of crazy enemies. Only the two main characters from the first movie can try to save the day since Batman and the rest of the heroes have all been scattered to different planets. They must be found and assembled before taking the fight to the villains but it won’t be easy. Do they really have what it takes this time? The game doesn’t go much more into the plot than that though and most of the story only appears very suddenly during the final cutscene which was an interesting move. I can tell you that I had not seen this before but ultimately it felt a bit lazy. They could have easily tried to throw in some more cinematics and a plot to this. The main character doesn’t even get to speak outside of grunts because there isn’t much to say although the heroine talks a lot.

Let me jump into my first main issue with the game which are the unskippable cutscenes. Right when you boot up the game you are greeted with a very long intro that can not be skipped and this happens every time you turn the game on. Then during the game whenever there is a tutorial you have to listen to a full speech and there are a lot of tutorials. This is an easy quality of life miss for the game since in this day and age there should never be so many moments that are unskippable. You should always give the player some way to get around that because if you don’t then that’s just going to be annoying.

It was a rough first impression. When it comes to the gameplay I can’t say that I have very many issues though. You use the legos to create objects and move through the stage. It’s all rather easy to understand and there are less characters with specific abilities than in other Lego games so that helps in keeping track of things. There are even some boss fights here which can be fun as you have to create specific objects to defeat them. They don’t always explain everything so get ready for some guessing but on the whole it’s handled well. I would have liked more bosses though.

The game is very short. You should be able to beat it in a few hours, maybe 4-5. There is some replay value in trying to get the Platinum trophy though. I’m not sure exactly what that entails just yet but I think I’m going to aim for that one. It seems like it would be a fun little thing to do that wouldn’t take very long. It does help to make the game a bit more worth it and the price is fairly low so you also have that to consider. If this was full price then I would be a little harsher but for the price it’s a decent value.

It’s hard to really gauge the graphics since the Lego style will never look amazing or anything like that but it’s clear enough. I was able to always know what was going on and keep moving from there. The soundtrack is more on the generic side and I don’t think that you will really love any of the tracks or even remember them to be honest. It’s very by the numbers in that respect and you can tell that the game is just playing it safe on every turn. Nothing wrong with that but you’ll never be a great game by doing that. You have to go a little farther and try something dynamic.

That sums up the game in a nutshell. You’ll have a good amount of fun the whole time if you just want a fun little platformer to play but there are so many better ones out there that you will never quite feel like this one is a title you would search out. For some things the game does well, I like the map/compass. It always tells you where you should be going and I appreciate that. The collectibles are clearly labeled and all of the menus are very easy to understand. You could put this game down for years and I bet you would still understand exactly what was going on after that. This is absolutely one of those games and some of the level designs are also decent. I actually liked the DC world where it’s just a bunch of houses and roads. It felt like something out of a classic Gamecube game which was great but other levels were more on the generic side.

Overall, The Lego Movie 2 is a decent game but it just doesn’t do anything special enough for me to call it very good. It ends up being stuck right on the edge instead of really going anywhere. If you’re looking for a little game to keep you entertained then you can’t go wrong here. That being said, you can do better so keep that in mind. Buying one of the main Lego games like Batman or Star Wars would also end up giving you a lot more content but hey maybe you should go and check them all out. The prices for the Lego games actually aren’t that bad nowadays.

Overall 6/10

Monkey King: Hero is Back Review

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This game was definitely one of the more random ones that I ended up grabbing from Gamestop but when a title is just a few bucks you’re inclined to take a few risks right? Odds are that this would be worth the few bucks and naturally that was the case in the end. This is the kind of game that may not be great but it’s good fun and by the end you realize you had a good time with it. I’d definitely be down with a sequel to this one someday.

The game starts off with the Monkey King getting taken down by the gods so his powers have been sealed. A kid unseals him and the hero, Sun saved him but a girl gets kidnapped by the villains. The kid begs Sun to help out and at first this Monkey King can’t be bothered but as the adventure goes on he realizes that it is finally time to step up and be a hero. Without his famous powers will he really be able to win though? Only time will tell! One thing’s for sure, he will need to eventually find a way to remove those chains before it’s too late.

The story of the Monkey King is a classic one and this adaption does a good job of going through the motions. He gradually learns about empathy, kindness, and humility as the days go on. At first he is very gruff but gradually becomes a team player. It’s all handled rather well here even if it may come across as just a little generic. The story is fairly barebones as it is. Even the trio of characters have a fairly old dynamic with Sun being the gruff one, you have the guy who talks tough but is actually weak, and finally the kid who means well and is super cheerful but isn’t really cut out for tangling with the others even if he has the heart for it.

So you’re playing this one more for the gameplay which is fortunately pretty good. It’s a 3D action game where you take out enemies with hand to hand skills or use one of your attack powers. I highly recommend using a bench to fight most of your battles. Yes, you heard me right…. a normal bench. It’s surprisingly effective the whole time. It has a longer reach than your normal blows and also deals more damage so it’s kind of a no brainer right? Once you get hooked on it then you won’t want to use anything else. The only exception is a staff that you should unlock by the very end of the game. Once you have it, it is an immediate upgrade over the bench so you’ll never use it again.

You can upgrade all of your special abilities as you play through the game so choose the ones that you want to max out carefully since by the end of the game you won’t have enough points to max everything. Mainly if you go with a maxed out bench and staff then you should be okay. There are other fun abilities like your projectiles but they all just feel a whole lot weaker. Also, the game is more fun with those items because otherwise the game can feel a little too slow and clunky the whole time. I do have to say it’s a pretty valid complaint against the game. The core combat doesn’t feel super balanced or organic at times. Mix that in with how the game can actually be rather difficult and you can have a rough time here.

I only barely beat the final boss after a lot of cheesing and was nearly out of magic meter. Just one or two more hits and I would have lost. It makes for a spectacular story down the road of course and you feel good when winning a real nail biter like that but I can’t help but feel that I would have done better if the game was just a bit more polished. At times it can feel like you dodged an attack when you get hit or an opponent launches an attack with no real way to dodge it. The enemies also have a whole lot of health at their disposal and you feel like they would have calmed down on that a bit.

The free roaming parts of the game where you pick up collectibles and find things is okay but I wouldn’t say there’s a lot of effort put into that. The focus is definitely more on the combat. I do give the game a lot of props for making the final, final boss a blast though. There is a whole different gameplay style created just for that fight and it ends up making a real big difference. See, you can actually feel the power and high stakes behind the final boss due to this. It is worlds different from every other boss fight and that’s exactly the kind of feel and atmosphere you’re supposed to be going for with this. The game understood the assignment here.

Overall, The Monkey King is a fun game. I’ll admit that it gets off to a rocky start and you have to get used to the game so initially it was leading up to more of a 6 star slot but by the end the game came into its own and really surprised me. It’s still a fairly short game so you’ll likely have it beat in around 10 hours or less but it’s a complete title. It also helps that I got the game for around $5-10 which is a fair price for this title. If you see it for a price like that then I recommend grabbing it. There’s not a lot of replay value here beyond aiming for the platinum so I’d say to just enjoy the gameplay/experience and call it a day. At the end of the day that’s really all that you need/want here. The wii Monkey King game I played was more fun but this one still gave me a good time.

Overall 7/10