Tag Archives: PS3

Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit Review

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It’s time to jump back into the world of DBZ. Things definitely get rather intense there so you can be sure that this would be another great game. While I do think it is completely inexcusable to not have the Buu saga, the rest of the game is still really good. It’s interesting to see which fights were made into stages and which weren’t. The game is fairly short so it definitely won’t last very long but you will have a good time throughout the adventure.

This story mode is definitely made with DBZ veterans in mind more than the average DBZ game. While it has more battles than the original Budokai, this one rarely gives you any real context to the battles. You’re thrown right in, sort of like a best hits kind of compilation to the title rather than a true story mode. Each arc has around 20 levels in it. There are also alternate paths/stories where you can relive the Broly movie, the Bardock special, and then a few random fights thrown inside. That does help extend the story play time a little bit although it’s still fairly short in the end.

Most of your playing time here will likely be in the vs mode which makes sense. This is a fighting game after all so that is mainly why you are here. The character roster is fairly small but all of the core characters are here which is what counts. It is interesting to hear Cell’s first form with his Perfect voice since they seem to share a character slot though. In the cutscenes he sounds normal so I’m surprised they couldn’t set it up that way in gameplay. Unless maybe it is and this is just a glitch in the story mode. I can’t say that I went into the vs mode myself to test this out.

The graphics are really good. I like the dynamic designs and artstyle used for the characters. The game places a heavy emphasis on the aura that each character admits, so you should get ready to see a lot of bright colors. I imagine this might be tough if you have any vision issues so keep that in mind. It can be a bit overdone at times but all in all I would say it ages pretty well. I don’t always get the point of spiking up my aura but I’m sure that’s more of an advanced gameplay mechanic.

As for the soundtrack, it’s fairly decent. There aren’t many memorable tracks here so I can’t give it a higher rating than that. It works well for the scenes that it is in but the whole time you do feel like they could have some richer tunes. Something more along the lines of Xenoverse 2 which sounds amazing in all of the levels. DBZ on average should be leaning towards hard rock music that really gets you into the match.

One thing this game does which is fun is throw in a quick fight that is pre rendered before every story battle. You quickly see how there are only 3-4 variations that are looped to each character model but I still liked the effort. I always like seeing the characters mix it up before the actual battle starts and it adds more of a cinematic flair to the fights. These are battles that all DBZ fans will be super familiar with since every game has them so this helps the game to stand out a little more than it would otherwise.

There are no PS3 trophies to add to the replay value for single player content but you could try to unlock all of the special conditions in each fight. There are a bunch of them based on different techniques or actions that you need to take. I’d say that would be a fun way to test your limits and everything. Ultimately the unlimited replay value is in the vs mode but it’s still important that there is some more single player content to have past the initial hours. How long it takes to get the complete requirements in each level will likely vary dramatically with your skill level but for even the best of players this should at least double the run time.

I will take one last shot at not having the Buu saga though. This is something that you absolutely need to have. To say that there wasn’t enough space or budget in a PS3 game is something that I would have a hard time with. Saving it for the sequel is also not a good enough excuse because that is the devs getting really greedy. I could see this absolutely lowering the hype for a lot of people because cutting out one of the biggest arcs like that is crazy. I still can’t get over that part. I’d still be playing the game right now if there was a whole other big arc of battles left to play like that.

Overall, Burst Limit is definitely a great game. It is one that feels like it was made with a rather narrow budget at times but all in all it’s still a lot of fun which is the important thing. The gameplay is rather advanced so it is difficult to craft the combos that you want. You will really have to study up in this game and learn all of the moves if you want to pull that off. It’s not an easy feat by any means. I suppose in that way it is definitely a lot more like a true 2D fighting game. You can have endless fun with friends here which definitely keeps the title at a high level.

Overall 8/10

The King of Fighters XII Review

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It’s time for another big King of Fighters game! This time around there’s not really much of a story but to try and make up for that we do have a pretty big cast of characters. The visuals have noticeably improved and so the whole thing works out pretty well. It’s definitely a game that you can’t afford to miss out on if you want to own the whole collection. If you don’t care about owning everything….well then I guess you’ll be okay but it’s still a quality game either way.

With no story you’ll probably want to start off by clearing an arcade mode. The arcade mode is a lot shorter than usual as it’s only 5 levels long and there are no bonus levels or bosses this time. It’s really just you seeing how fast you can beat all of the opponents. In fact they call it a time trial arcade mode so that really was the intent right from the jump. It definitely does work to make the game stand out there but it’s still no substitute for a full on story. I was really surprised that there wasn’t at least a secret boss at the end. Something to really test your might you know?

I did appreciate the jump in graphics though. Like I mentioned before, the graphics look really sharp this time around. The controls feel a bit different and you really feel like this is the next generation of KOF. There are a whole lot of details thrown in here and so you you can really appreciate all of the super attacks. I also think they did make the special techniques easier to use this time around. I was cranking them out like nobody’s business for a while there while in the old games it was really hard. There was a simple vs technical mode option so I did go with simple which may help with that.

The soundtrack isn’t super noticeable this time around. King of Fighters seems to be on/off in that regard. You’re here for the gameplay first and foremost though and that is solid as always. It’s pretty fast paced and you can really use a whole lot of combos. It’s a game that really pays off your hard work and dedication by letting you deal out more damage. The better your combo skills, the more you are going to absolutely dominate the competition when the going gets tough. It’s a very satisfying circle in that regard.

There is unlimited replay in the vs modes of course and this time you even have trophies that you can earn by playing the game. So if you aim for the Platinum trophy that will add a lot of time into the mix as well since fighting game platinums are always extremely intense. Hopefully none of them are online based though or you could be in a lot of trouble there. I still think they need some kind of fix for games where there are online trophies but you want to get the Platinum. It’ll likely never happen but it’s nice to think about.

I ran with Terry’s crew for the arcade mode but feel free to switch up your teams and try as many characters as you can. They all have very distinct movesets and nobody feels too similar to anyone else. The developers did a good job with all of the characters there. The fact that we have several different fire users at this point and none of them feel like clones of each other is definitely impressive. This game knows how to really craft a moveset that fits every character’s playstyle.

Since there’s no story mode here there’s a little less to talk about compared to the other titles. You sort of get the drift after all since a fighting game is very direct. You either enjoy the combat style or you don’t and whether you like the game or not really comes down to that one trait. Gameplay is mega important for any game obviously but if you’re a fighting game then that rises up even further. If you don’t have fun with the combat then that automatically means the game is no fun either. There’s just no way to get around that after all.

Overall, King of Fighters continues to be a really solid fighting game series. While I miss the story, the gameplay is solid enough to hold its own here. Fans of the franchise will have a good time as always and I can definitely recommend this to any fighting game fan. Sometimes you just want to sit down and have a few matches and in that case this game has you covered. You can explore all of the characters and see which fighting style works the best for you. As always I like playing as Terry Bogard quite a bit and he has the old design back which is great.

Overall 7/10

Blazblue: Calamity Trigger Review

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After all these years it feels good to finally be playing the Blazblue series. I always knew it as a super cool anime fighting game with nice cutscenes and great gameplay. It definitely lives up to the hype and the story is even more convoluted than you may expect. It makes for a great time all around and I’m definitely looking forward to seeing how the sequels go.

The general plot is that Ragna is trying to destroy all of the Library installations for some reason. This group is corrupt to downright evil, but what if that’s not the case? Their best operatives will be doing their best to stop Ragna, but commander Jin seems rather crazy himself. Meanwhile a bunch of other characters are running around trying to fulfill their own destinies and they’re all in the same area so they keep on meeting up. The game has a unique gimmick where the only way to get each character’s story to 100% is to win and lose each fight. This would mean a lot of restarts so I didn’t bother with that. Fortunately you still unlock the true ending by playing everyone’s stories which is cool.

It does feel like a bit of a forced way to add replay value though since you have to play so many stories. Additionally the true story is mainly a mix of Ragna and Noel’s stories except this time we’re seeing what really happened so in some ways you were playing some fake stories before. I suppose to an extent this is usually true for games with a lot of stories as most of them end up being fake but I think the game could have handled this in a bit of a more straight forward manner. The convoluted part was really intentional but granted, it was still very engaging the whole time.

This is a game where you either love the crazy aspect of it or you just think it’s trying a bit too hard. The series is always famous for its top tier soundtracks and this game definitely had that all the way. Each of the themes sounded fantastic and the game never lost any of its steam. It just kept on going with no end in sight. That’s absolutely what I like to see. I enjoyed almost all of the themes. Then the graphics look really good. Obviously it’s super impressive that we had fully hand drawn cutscenes right from the jump but in game the graphics were also really good. Lots of vibrant colors for the special attacks and all of the costumes were good. The stages had great backgrounds as well.

This is one of those games that was really ahead of its time. The sci-fi type menus and visuals were really excellent all the way through. Blazblue definitely did not disappoint me in any way. Then the gameplay is very fast paced. It can be difficult to really get the hang of though. I never figured out how to use any of the special moves but granted, I didn’t exactly check out any of the training/tutorial modes. For the most part the game isn’t very difficult but there is one boss fight near the end that really ramps up the difficulty all of a sudden. Now that is an absolutely insane boss fight that took me a whole lot of tries to complete. Don’t expect to defeat it too easily.

As a small quality of life update, it would be nice if you could directly replay a fight. When you lose you have to go back to the main menu and then manually load your previous save file. It’s a bit much if you ask me. It’s not like this takes a very long time but it’s an odd approach since most games would just let you directly retry the match. It makes more sense to retry directly because why would you just give up after one try right? That’s really my only slight issue. Beyond that the gameplay is really a lot of fun and the game really has enough content to keep you busy the whole time.

Overall, Blazblue: Calamity Trigger is a really fun game. I definitely had a blast with it. The character roster may be a tad small for a PS3 game but I may be a little spoiled by Super Smash Bros. Regardless, all of the characters have very distinct gameplay styles which work well with the game. You will have a lot of fun choosing who your main is going to be. There is a ton of replay value here in terms of getting trophies and of course endless replay value with the multiplayer mode. This is the kind of game that just keeps on giving. I highly recommend checking it out as soon as possible.

Overall 8/10

Lost Planet: Extreme Condition Review

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The Lost Planet is a game I wasn’t super familiar with for a while there but I own the sequel so now was a good time to try this one out. It’s a 3D sci-fi shooter which is always a recipe for success. The story is good and the game has a decent length so in the end I would say that this is a good title. Definitely not one that you should miss out on.

The game starts with Wayne getting buried under some ice and many years later he now has amnesia. Everyone has to wear suits in order to move through this endless ice age while Wayne has some kind of energy device on his arm. As long as he has energy then he can move but if it ever runs out then it is game over for him. Fortunately Wayne is one of those guys who is very stoic and always ready for a challenge. No matter how close he may be to death at any point, he doesn’t let it get to him. In the meantime he’ll help the people who found him as they try to stop the aliens and bring the green back to the world.

The fact that the planet is covered in ice makes for a pretty unique level design. Every level is absolutely covered in snow and ice which is pretty cool. The way the levels play out, you often have to just keep moving forward until you’ve gotten past all of the enemies and obstacles. So that means scaling the icy mountains and such. You have a grappling hook that helps with this. So there is some platforming but for the most part this is really all about the shooting gameplay. So get your guns ready because you’ll be doing a lot of blasting.

You can only hold 2 guns at once which often means that you will need to make a lot of difficult calls. The stronger weapons tend to be very low on ammo so you probably want to go with one weak weapon and one strong one. Typically I would go for the machine gun and the missile. Those two were a really good combo pack that would have you set up well against any enemy. You also have robot suits that you could climb into which had even stronger weapons. Definitely handy in a lot of different areas. Basically if you see a robot suit, make sure you get into it. It’s extremely handy and basically necessary for most of the stronger threats.

Most ordinary enemies can be defeated in 2 hits. The enemy robots will pretty much take up all of your ammo if you’re on foot or several hits if you’re in the robot suit. These things scale pretty high but it makes sense. I approve of this because there’s no way a human should be able to do much against a mech suit. I should also explain that the health system is a bit different here. Your health goes down as you get hit of course but it will quickly regenerate as long as you have energy.

You obtain energy from defeating enemies or pulling up towers. Once you run out of energy, you can no longer regenerate and even worse, you start to actively lose health. The conditions on this planet are such that you are actively dying without the energy protecting you. So at that point it becomes like a time trial because your health goes down very quickly. Fortunately it is rare that you run out of energy. Just make sure you attack enemies strategically and that you don’t skip the energy that they drop. Now that would get you into a bit of a pickle.

The graphics are pretty good as you’d expect. The alien designs are all pretty good and I could usually understand the terrain pretty well even with all of it being under snow. So the devs did a good job of keeping the balance there since that could have gone sideways. The soundtrack was okay. A good theme here and there although for the most part it’s not one that I would end up remembering after a while. You’re mainly here for the solid story and gameplay though so that’s fine.

The gameplay is just a lot of fun and really hits the right balance of arcade style where you just pick up weapons and blast away with enough detail so you always aim your weapons carefully. It reminds me of Star Fox Assault and that’s always a good complement. Yeah definitely keep on sending me third person shooters like this and we’re really going to be in a good spot!

Overall, Lost Planet is a pretty good game. It has strong fundamentals and was a lot of fun all the way through. It’s definitely what I would consider to be a hidden gem on the PS3. I’m looking forward to seeing how the sequel plays out in comparison to this one. If you like shooters or enjoy a good sci-fi plot then you should have a good time here. 3D, third person shooters are always the way to go. I’ve yet to meet any game that can mess up this genre. It’s just way too good and will always be fun.

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

Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 Review

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It’s time for the next big Naruto adventure! I do have to add one quick disclaimer here though which is that I wasn’t able to finish the final chapter. Due to an error with the disc, the final chapter just cut out midway which was unfortunate. I tried a bunch of restoration methods but no dice but this review still covers over 90% of the game which is close enough. As always the Ninja Storm games go in hard with an absolutely elite title.

This game covers the events after the Pain arc into fairly deep into the war. It’s definitely cool to be seeing all of this classic Naruto content once again. It really picks up right where the last game left off in terms of having a ton of content and lots of things to do around every corner. The story mode itself is fairly long at over 10 hours in length. The first chapter may have you scared for a moment with how long it is but the rest of the chapters are shorter to compensate.

Of course outside of the story mode there are a lot of other content options to go through as well. You have missions side content, unlockables, trophies to obtain, etc. You should be kept pretty busy here and while the Platinum is one of those that feels very achievable, it will still take a long while to actually finish. The game goes for a fairly low price right now though so you’ve really got a bargain here in terms of replay value. The biggest mode for replay value of course is vs mode though.

There are so many characters to play as here and they all feel fairly unique. The game did a really good job of not just copy and pasting the techniques. The final smashes for each character are rock solid and feel very grand in scope. There were no corners cut in this title and the gameplay itself is very deep with the attacks, ninjutsu, quick dodges, etc. There is a ton of strategy here and you can even add another dynamic to think about if you equip items.

I could go on and on just about the gameplay. Then in story mode you also have a lot of quick time events. Noticeably there are less than in the second game so I was a little surprised about that but I know that not everyone loves that kind of sequence. So at least I still had enough to have fun with so I was satisfied here. Then you also have the aerial boss battles which are fun. They play out like Kaiju type battles where you have to time your attacks well since neither opponent will be going too fast. Take the strategic high ground and you should be good. You also have some Dynasty Warrior type setups when you have to fight multiple opponents at once. That was really cool.

It shows how much range these developers have since they were able to have successful gameplay for so many styles. Each part felt very high budget and they could have made even more levels with them. Mix that in with how detailed the story mode is and they definitely went above and beyond the call of duty. I would argue that the bar is set up so high that any non Storm game is unlikely to come close to these. Of course I have one more mainline game coming up so I’m eager to see how that goes.

The soundtrack doesn’t seem to have introduced too many new themes this time but there are still a lot of fun ones here. I’d say the Storm series tends to be very good in a subtle way. It’s not necessarily blowing your mind with a ton of rock themes but it ends up fitting the scenes very well. Ultimately that’s what this game does really well, it’s loads of fun at all times. The production values are incredible and this feels like a PS4 game. The sheer amount of cinematics would be hard for any other PS3 games to match. Then throw in the secret conditions, bonus cinematics, etc. It feels like the kind of game where you could keep on finding new secrets and bonuses the more you play through it.

Pure gameplay-wise I would say my favorite character is definitely Nine Tails-Cloaked Naruto. They use a different sound effect for each blow when you’re playing in that mode and it shows just how strong he is. You’re moving at incredible speeds the whole time and the only catch is that he doesn’t have a final smash. Seems like a fair trade-off to me. I’m not sure if you’re able to select him as his own character in vs mode or if he’s treated purely as an awakening there, but if you can choose him then that’s the guy to play as. It can be easy to dodge a lot of final smashes after all so you don’t really want to rely on those. Even in story mode it can be hard to land the final smash sometimes because of how much wind-up there is.

This is especially true for characters like Tsunade and Kakashi who have to rely on you staying still. If you move just about at all then you’re basically out of luck. At least some final smashes like Naruto’s have you running after the opponent. I should probably look up some high level tournament play to see how it goes there. I’m betting they don’t spam final smashes all that much.

Overall, Ninja Storm 3 continues the series on an extremely high level. It’s got tons of great action scenes and story content whether you are a big Naruto fan or not. It’s the kind of story you can just jump into without any regrets. There are a ton of characters to choose from so you should not have a problem finding someone to main and the stage variety is solid as well. So I definitely recommend buying the game as soon as possible and just hope your copy lets you play through the final chapter. What are the odds of that though right? That glitch feels like it has to be a million to 1 or something.

Overall 9/10

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 Review

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The Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm games are some of the greatest titles of all time. The amount of dedication and work that went into these is absolutely crazy. The developers clearly had a lot of passion for the series and it shows in the attention to detail here. You’ve got extra gameplay styles that appear briefly to switch things up even if just for one level and then you’ve got a ton of cinematics and quick time events. It’s been great reliving the Naruto adventures and it also serves as a reminder for why Naruto will always be one of the Big 3.

This game covers the start of Shippuden all the way through the Pain arc which is a pretty impressive amount of content to go through. Each chapter has a big boss battle at the end with full quick time events and everything. You really see Naruto get stronger and improve his craft with every boss battle. While they can’t quite cover everything, a ton of events are covered to the point where you could really play through the game as a newcomer and get what’s going on. I haven’t seen a story this detailed since DBZ Budokai Tenkaichi 3 which is still in the hall of fame for story adaptions like this.

I really enjoy the quick time events because you don’t see those quite as often in games anymore. They help add that cinematic feel to the game and also put your skills to the absolute test. You have to be able to hold your own here or it’s all over. You also get a bonus for doing really well at the quick time events. If you get the maximum star rating then you unlock a little secret cutscene. It’s only a few seconds long but it feels good to get this. It’s like a feather in your cap for really focusing up and doing what had to be done. I felt really good about it at least.

The actual game is fairly long so you should be satisfied with the content. It’s at least 10 hours to complete the story and there is a post game/many side missions to complete as well. Throw in the trophy hunting and you will be busy here for a very long time. There’s a good amount of replay value and the Platinum is very achieveable so it gives you something to really work for. Then of course there is the fact that this is a fighting game so you can have fun playing against other opponents for hours and hours as long as you want. There is no real reason to stop after all. Each battle is unique and the gameplay system is a lot of fun.

I didn’t talk much about that but this is your classic 3D combat style. It goes into more detail than other fighting games though. Each character has up to 4 different normal combo based on which way you hold the control stick. Then you have all of their Ninjutsu, some can use aerial ninjutsu and of course you have the final smashes as well. They’re all very cinematic while not taking too much time away from the gameplay. You also have your awakening mode and of course a lot of ways to use shuriken and other projectiles to your advantage.

Yeah the gameplay holds up exceptionally well here. I also can’t forget to talk about the graphics which are excellent. The fact that it looks better than a PS5 game like Jujutsu Kaisen says a lot. The character models are on point and so this helps to enhance the fights that you are seeing in the cutscenes. A lot of the time it’s like you are watching a movie here. Then you also have the futile battles like Jiraiya fighting against all of the Pains and the gameplay intentionally makes you helpless there. I thought that was a really good way to handle that.

So if you’re a long time Naruto fan then you will get an extra kick out of the game but any non fan can see the dedication as well. The soundtrack is also really good and there is a lot of variety here from the various level themes, stage themes, etc. Every aspect of the game is absolutely exceptional. With the game being this good you may expect this to be a super long review but in a way that’s why it’s short. I feel like it’s easier to go on and on when a game is bad but when it’s excellent there are only so many ways to say that it’s amazing you know?

Like after a while it would almost be like I’m talking in circles. The character cast is super large, there are a ton of stages, a ton of content, etc. The quality of life features are great, the only thing it is missing is quick travel and that’s a super minor thing in the grand scheme of things. I really can’t come up with any negatives here because the game is so much fun. There’s no way to do it justice without just going in and playing it. You will quickly see how much heart it has. It’s like the anime version of Super Smash Bros with how much is fit into this game. It really is one of the gold standards for video games in general and I can see why the series is so well respected.

Overall, Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 is an absolutely incredible game. It goes the extra mile in every way possible and will be known as one of the definitive Naruto experiences. Of course it has sequels which will likely keep up that same level of quality so I look forward to playing those soon. I’ve even started one of them already so you can tell that the hype got to me. I had to be ready for that marathon! If you don’t own this game yet then you should absolutely change that as soon as possible!

Overall 9/10

Hellboy: The Science of Evil Review

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It’s time to jump into the world of Hellboy! This is one of those games that I sort of forgot existed but it’s a pretty fun beat em up. The gameplay is solid and there are a good amount of cutscenes in here. So while there aren’t a lot of frills around the game, it does really do the job of being a fun title that keeps you entertained all the way through. The combos are tight and while you will be spamming a lot, it’s just fun.

The story is kind of all over the place since you keep jumping from the past to the present. There’s an evil witch who is causing trouble so you have to destroy her in the past and then in the present you’re dealing with an evil scientist who is probably trying to take over the world. You feel like Hellboy himself is probably overwhelmed too because it feels like every level involves him getting beat up and thrown around over and over again. Like he seriously can’t catch a break and he’s fed up at this point. Fortunately he does have super durability so he can handle himself.

Hellboy’s a fun lead because he has a very sarcastic air about him. No matter what happens, he’s got to have the last word on it and I can respect that. The guy is also a total tank with how he can just keep taking shots and walking them off. It doesn’t always translate into full attack power which his opponents take advantage of but he wins in the end which is what counts. The gameplay is mainly beat em up style so you go around crushing enemies with your fists or using your gun. For 99% of the game I recommend sticking to your fists but one world has a light gun which one shots all opponent so I definitely recommend using that one.

There is no level up system or any kind of power ups so what that means is you should only fight the enemies that you have to. I would just keep on running until a barrier stopped me and then I would fight the enemies. After all, why fight when there’s no benefit right? Occasionally there are a few puzzles that you have to solve like moving a lever or breaking something but the game keeps them fairly simple so I wouldn’t worry about that too much. You’ll typically be able to notice that the object or wall look a bit different.

One mechanic that makes the game a whole lot easier is that you are able to absorb health from enemies. This attack is petty much broken to be honest. You just grab the enemy and thrown him in the air for a slam. Do this and you get half of your health back. You also have high speed health regeneration if you can dodge attacks for around 5 seconds. So with very few exceptions, you should not typically be in any danger. It is possible to get overwhelmed if you let your guard down though. Also, the final boss did finish me off the first time. The laser basically covers the screen and is tough to deal with. I very nearly lost a second time but hung on with the last bit of my health. That seems to happen to me in a lot of games to be honest.

The game has constant checkpoints which is a great quality of life feature. As I mentioned the gameplay is also just fun because it’s nice and flashy all the way through. You may be using the same moves over and over but they’re still fun because of this. The platforming is a bit clunky but there are only a few sections in the game where you have to jump so this tends to be rare. The graphics are also fairly decent. It’s not a high end PS3 game but it is still PS3 level and so you have full cinematics and a lot of different backgrounds. I felt like the game had a reasonable budget. The soundtrack is more on the forgettable side.

There isn’t a ton of replay value to be had here. You can try to find all of the collectibles scattered throughout the game but aside from barely charging the power up meter that you never use anyway, I’m not sure if there is much of a point to it. The main playthrough here will really be for the story all the way through and that works for me. It’s short but there’s enough levels here. The ending also leaves room for that hype sequel even if you know that it’s just not going to happen at this point. We did get an unrelated Hellboy game recently though so it’ll be fun to compare that one at some point.

Overall, Hellboy is a pretty fun game. It brings you back to the simpler days of movie-tie ins where they had basic gameplay styles and just took you through the events. Some would be about the same as the movie and some would diverge immediately but you didn’t have to worry about advanced mechanics or anything like that. This is a very simple plug and play that I think works really well. I’m not going to call it a great game but it was never trying for that. It’s a game that you can get for cheap and will last you for a few hours so there’s no real downside to that right? I’d say to pick this one up as long as you like the beat em up genre.

Overall 7/10

Rayman Legends Review

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Rayman is one of those titles where I’ve played quite a few of the games but I haven’t found it to be as memorable as most of the other big titles. Well, it’s fair to say that Legends is definitely a game changer for the series and it is by far the best installment. It handles the collectathon aspect of the title very well and makes more use of the platforming genre than almost any other title I’ve seen. Ultimately the gameplay is so strong that it does help to make up for the lack of a story here.

The game starts off with some evil magicians deciding to make a mess of things. They’re kidnapping people and so Rayman will have to free everyone and save the world. All in a days work for someone like this though. Rayman has dealt with his share of threats over the years after all. Unfortunately that’s pretty much it for the story. There’s not much of an ending and each world just has the same recycled cutscenes over and over. You don’t expect a whole lot more from a platformer and yet I do think they really could have done a better job here. At least give me new cutscenes for each world. The story is absolutely the weakest part of the game by far.

Fortunately we are here for the gameplay at the end of the day. The lack of a story would hurt its chances of my getting the game on opening day compared to other franchises but at least once I do get around to it, I’m always happy to see solid gameplay. At its core the gameplay is fairly simple, you run and jump your way past obstacles as you try to get to the goal. Occasionally there will be a boss battle for you to go up against.

Where the game shines is in taking this simple gameplay and making a lot of intricate levels out of it. In a way it reminds me of Mario Maker a bit. For example after every boss battle, each world ends with a music themed level where you have to run quickly and hit enemies at the right time to follow the beat. This is used in a subtle way to let you know when to make a move as well as making the level fun to listen to. Likewise in the normal levels there are always a lot of visual and audio cues to let you know when to make a move.

The game allows you to jump between worlds at will so because of that every level even has tutorials at the ready through on screen prompts which are nice. They aren’t intrusive but are a great idea particularly if you’re going back to play the game after putting it down for a long while. You won’t really need it while playing through the game but I can absolutely see it coming in handy a year from now.

The game has a ton of replay value through unlockable characters (Basically costumes though tbh since they play the same) and extra levels that you unlock by getting more of the blue orbs. The best part though is that you can still beat the game without getting them all. There are 700 in the game and you need around 300 to complete the story. That’s a good ratio if you ask me because you can have a good time enjoying the levels without being stressed about the missing collectibles. The level designs are really good so you will find a lot of them naturally but if you want all of them you will have to work for it.

A solid quality of life feature here is that you have unlimited lives and the checkpoints are very consistent. So even when you lose you don’t end up getting sent too far back. That’s perfect and I can’t stress enough just how important that is. These levels could very easily turn from awesome to annoying if you had to start from scratch every time. This way you can appreciate the difficulty and creativity without any annoyance setting in.

Make no mistake, the game can be rather difficult at times. I died quite a number of times but I was always ready to revive just as quickly. I ended up blasting through the game rather quickly as a result. It’s a bit on the short side to be honest but I can’t even remotely consider that as a negative because of how the game handles it. There are tons of levels but the game just doesn’t force you to play them all and I can respect that. Each level is also so unique and filled with fun features that I’ll take this over a ton of standard levels.

The game even has a gimmick with a little frog moving things around that somehow doesn’t get annoying. I was prepared for this to be super annoying but it’s actually a really fun mechanic. In terms of pure platforming I dare say the game even has more life than some Mario titles and that’s saying something. If we’re only looking at gameplay this is one of the best games to ever do it.

Meanwhile the graphics and soundtrack are definitely impressive. The soundtrack in particular is awesome with a ton of different songs everywhere and remixes of popular ones. Then the graphics have aged really well with a colorful style all the way through. The character designs are on point and the levels all stand out.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised at just how good the game was. Of course I was expecting it to be pretty good but to be great on this level? That was a surprise. The story holds it back a little bit considering this game has some of the best platforming I’ve ever seen. Imagine pairing this with a big budget story? It could have really made history and so I do eagerly await seeing what the Rayman franchise does next. This will be a tough title to top but of course there’s always a chance. If you haven’t played this game yet then you should definitely fix that!

Overall 8/10