Tag Archives: PS4

Star Wars: Jedi Survivor Review

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It’s time for the big sequel at long last. Jedi Survivor definitely took a while to come out but at the same time it took me a while to get it as well. It definitely does a great job of following up on the first title. The gameplay is still top notch with a really well developed combat system and way to get stronger. My one qualm would be that it feels like the Force abilities were all nerfed rather hard. There is virtually no reason to use it at all here as you can really just keep on surviving with lightsaber abilities and beat the enemies a lot quicker. Still, it’s possible there were some force strategies that I didn’t get to try which would have been a lot more useful.

The story starts a few years acter the first game with the heroes all splitting up to go their own ways. Cal is pretty upset because he feels like they all should have kept on fighting the Empire alongside him. Instead one created a bar, one went off to focus on data gathering, another to travel the universe, etc. Cal won’t give up though and continues to attack base after base but doesn’t seem to be making much of an impact. Perhaps it is all hopeless. A new recruit named Bode shows up though and has the old fire that Cal once did. Together perhaps they can meet up with the old members and start fighting again. Additionally, an ex Jedi is on the loose and has to be stopped before he causes some real damage.

There’s a lot going on with the story and you can definitely sympathize with Cal not seeing much in the way of results. That is how the main series tends to be as well. I still remember film 7 basically erasing films 4-6 in the intro with the Empire suddenly being back. The heroes need better logistical support or something because when it comes to the combat they really aren’t doing much at all. Even when they destroy thousands of storm troopers, new ones are just created. The Sith are very few in number but just seem to stick around. It really is hopeless to an extent.

The never ending fight against endless hordes makes for good gameplay though. It’s a bit of a shame that we don’t unlock the dark side until the final chapter of the game in this title. It feels great to be mowing through hundreds and hundreds of troopers the whole time. For the most part your level of power is lower so you won’t be doing that until the end. There is also one level where you play as another character and can one shot everybody which is pretty fun. I get why balance wise they can’t do that all the time but it really is a tremendously good way to have a change of pace.

The graphics are really good like I mentioned before. The lightsaber and general special effects all stand out on a pretty high level. The soundtrack is also good although I wouldn’t say there are any memorable tracks. They at least fit the moment while you are playing the game. The base game is close to 20 hours which is really solid and getting all of the collectibles and such will certainly extend the playthrough by a great deal.

The collectibles are generally not hidden too much which is good for at least getting a solid amount during the normal campaign. There are plenty of areas you don’t need to travel in during the story that will probably have a bunch of extra things to get. There are also a lot of side quests to go through and I didn’t actually end up doing any of them while playing through the game. So you can really see that the replay value is high here. There is a whole lot to add to your experience.

Also the parry system is still a lot of fun. You really have to have fast reaction times though because there are so many attacks which cannot be parried. Those tend to really be a hassle to deal with. Especially when they intermix inside of a combo and throw off your timing. I would just end up brute forcing my way through a bunch of the enemies as I got to the later parts of the game. It was easier than waiting for the parry. If you go for this strategy, just make sure to roll a lot. That’s the safest way to dodge an attack if you aren’t going to actively parry.

The game is reasonably difficult so you can definitely be assured that you will have to really concentrate on this one. Sometimes running past an enemy will not be worth it since they will then swarm you from all sides. Also the save points have a fun gimmick where if you choose to rest then all of the enemies you defeated will respawn. So you definitely want to be strategic about how and when you rest. Do it at the wrong time and you are effectively redoing all of the progress that you just made. Something to keep in mind. Also it’s why you should search through as many chests as possible. You should find at least 4 full life power ups during the game and they are permanent. So when you revive each time it’s like you have 5 health bars instead of 2. The game would have been a whole lot harder without those.

Overall, Jedi Survivor is a great game around the board. From the combat to the graphics, soundtrack, etc there is no area where the game is lacking. The length is good and there is a lot of replay value. You will definitely be glad that they decided to continue the series all the way through. There is definitely room for another game I’d say although I’m not sure how close they are to catching up to another big story point. This era with the Jedi is already jam packed but it’s also the most fun era so I get why you want to keep the stories here. It would be nice to see Cal fight Vader next time although Cal may need some serious upgrades first.

Overall 8/10

Final Fantasy XV Review

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Final Fantasy XV got so much hype when it was coming out. It seemed like Square’s push to bring in a bunch of people who had never played the series before along with a bunch of veterans. It seemed super ambitious and the marketing was everywhere. Final Fantasy is one of those games that has always been equipped with a ton of content and really live up to the AAA brand. Well, I was eager to see what this one was like even though the promos for this never looked as interesting as the others. Less fantastical and more realistic. Well, it does have a slower start than some of the Final Fantasies and I dare say that it’s easily the shortest out of the modern titles (VI and up) but it does really turn up in the second half. It’s an elite title even if it loses to a lot of its rivals.

The story follows a prince named Noctis. He is going to be married soon and so for now he is travelling with his body guards/friends for one last ride. Unfortunately, while his country was working on a ceasefire/peace treaty with the opposing nation, they were betrayed. The army never came for peace and so instead they quickly assassinate the King and take over. Noctis is now a wanted man and nobody is safe with the evil empire in charge. Noctis needs to make sure that his fiancé is okay and then head on over to the kingdom to save it. Noctis will need to gather the 15 weapons of power among the various tombs in order to win the day but is he worthy of the title of king?

A lot of the game is about Noctis learning what it means to be royalty. He complains a whole lot at first and never seems to see the cup as half full. To his defense, it feels like the friends are rather harsh on him the whole time too. They are constantly yelling and so this ends up having a ripple effect where everybody is yelling at each other. They are all good friends though, they just bicker a lot. Noctis does mature a lot as the game goes on though, he’s really forced to as the stakes get higher and more people start to be lost.

Like I said before though, the beginning is a bit slow. For a while it’s really like the characters are hanging out. You get to check out the various sites across the country and handle side missions. It’s clear that the game wants you to have fun exploring as you are given a car and get to drive around in real time. This is a mixed bag though. The quick travel system is way too convoluted as you can only warp to different places when you’re in a car and even then it can only be some locations. If you want to drive somewhere, the game will default to the long drive instead of quick travel if the location isn’t exact.

Then they are going for full realism with the drive but because of that some drives can actually take 10-15 minutes in real time. This is a game where you almost want to take out a book midway. Additionally the characters often want to stop to take photos and such. It’s a good idea for extra EXP though. When it’s night time you have to get off the road or you will be hit with encounters every few second and their levels are really high initially. Eventually once you get the ring of power you can one shot all of them but you don’t get that until the very end of the game.

It makes sense though because that ring makes any enemy encounter absolutely trivial except for the few who can resist it. It’s great for grinding at the end of the game though. There are many ways to get EXP outside of battling so feel free to go dishing and help people cross the street. It all adds up and you get the feeling that you will be super OP in the game once you have collected everything. The recommended level to beat the game is in the 40s after all.

The game is reasonably difficult and does scale well. Better make sure you are keeping up with your training or you will be in trouble. The game has a lot of different environments but generally the toughest parts are the underground dungeons. Because of how narrow the passageways are, it’s very difficult to dodge so you better be really good at parrying. When you go into those dungeons you really need to keep your guard up at all times.

As for the gameplay, it’s a real time action title. It reminds me a bit of .Hack, there aren’t breaks but your attacks deal no stun damage. So you and the enemy will be hitting each other at the same time and you have to keep track of your health very carefully. The wrong hit will land you into a real world of hurt. The way death works is a bit complicated but basically you can die tons of times as long as you hit yourself with a potion fast enough. Eventually it runs out though. As a good way to avoid a hit, use an ally skill. You get 2 seconds of invincibility each time which you can exploit real easily.

The graphics are really good as you can expect. The visuals are top notch and the energy blasts are always fun. The fire summon skill is really crazy as it looks like the whole place got hit by a meteor. The cinematics are also on point so the game never slows down. The soundtrack is also pretty good. It’s not quite as solid as something like FFXIII but it holds its own without a doubt. The technicals don’t fail here.

While I may have some issues like with the general travel and the hub world sometimes being more tedious than it should be, I definitely respect the effort put into this one. There are a bunch of games within this game like the Justice Blasters and of course a whole fishing gameplay mode. When checking the trophies online, I see this is the hardest one for people to get aside from the Platinum and I can see why. I only did fishing once so to get that to max level will probably take a very long time.

It’s all fun though so that won’t stop me. So some menus and quality of life features aside, the only real negative I would say is the long loading times. People clown on Sonic 2006 all the time but I would say those loading times were considerably shorter than this one. You get massive loading times every time you fast travel or change regions. Sometimes a cutscene will have two loading screens back to back. Mix that in with all of the driving and it feels like there is a whole lot of idle time. Remove the loading times and without a doubt the game would be more streamlined. Who knows, maybe that’s the case in the deluxe versions that came out later on. I know this game got tons of DLCs so that could be fun some day although realistically I rarely play DLCs. Just not enough time.

Overall, Final Fantasy XV takes some getting used to but as with all titles in the series it does really drive up the intensity as you play through the game. You won’t wan to stop as you just enjoy what is going on all the way through. It could stand to be longer but I won’t use that as a serious knock against the game because of all the extra content. The priority seems to be on the side content this time with well over 100 side missions and an absolutely massive hub world that would even do Breath of the Wild proud. I would recommend checking out this game. It’s definitely a blast.

Overall 9/10

Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn Review

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Shaq Fu is one of those games that ordinarily might not have crossed into my radar but I happened to see it in store for a great price so I decided to take the plunge. How could I not right? The concept is just pretty interesting and the execution ended up being on point. I’m not going to say that it’s an all star or anything but what I can say is that the graphics and controls are on point. The story will also keep you engaged with how fun it is.

The game starts off with introducing us to Shaq who was found inside a purse and nearly drowned. Who would put a baby through such hardship? Well, he got to grow up learning martial arts and now that will come in handy because there are monsters around. It looks like a lot of celebrities can’t be trusted and things get extra personal when Shaq’s master is seemingly murdered in cold blood. He will not stand for this! No sirrrr!

The gameplay is classic 2D beat em up style. Basically you use your punch, kick, and slam moves to take down enemies. There are tons and tons of enemies so get ready for a lot of punching. Generally you can beat most enemies with the punch buttons but there is a little strategy here. Use your kicks for enemies that are holding a shield because they will block normal hits. When you have enough meter you can also do a ground slam to send the enemies away. It’s a strong attack and does the job but use it sparingly since it takes a while to get the energy back.

Meanwhile you’ve also got a few super forms that appear in different levels like cactus Shaq and robot Shaq. Both of these forms are basically unstoppable since you can spam their heavy attacks with no real drawbacks. So in this form don’t overthink things and just keep attacking everybody. Usually to compensate for how overpowered you are, the game will stack the other side with even more minions than needed. So get ready to deal with a whole lot of that. The super forms are fun but it probably would have been a good idea to have still given some kind of a challenge for them.

After all, the main levels are rather difficult to get through at times. I won’t say it’s a hard game as this is easier than most other similar beat em ups in the genre. You still do have to focus though, if you try to just close your eyes and beat this on instinct then you are going to get absolutely demolished. That’s because of how many enemies there are and how they’re all different. You can react quickly enough to shut them all down but if you get overconfident and let them walk all over you then you’re in real trouble.

The graphics are pretty solid here. It’s going for a very drawn out/cartoony look that works well with the themes of the game. Likewise the cutscenes work really well for that reason as well. Not only is the dialogue great but the fact that it’s all voice acted is incredible. As with all comedies, not every joke will land and the game did go for at least one full crude humor boss which was really unnecessary. Still, aside from that the game had been doing pretty good on the humor.

The soundtrack is solid but the main theme song can be a little much. It’s extremely loud and you hear it for the main menu and every loading screen. So you’ll be hearing it a whole lot, particularly since the loading screens themselves are really slow. I like the concept of the song but the lyrics could definitely be a whole lot better.

In terms of replay value, well you could go for the Platinum. I actually haven’t checked how hard that would be but I get the feeling it will be easy. So with the main game being under 4 hours, maybe this can add another 2-3 hours of replay value. You can usually get the game for a pretty low price so all in all I would say it’s a pretty fair deal. You’re partially playing this game for the pure novelty value after all. A good story goes a long way and since the gameplay is also sound then you have a good bargain. If the gameplay was bad then this would be a harder sell but I do think they actually put some effort into this one. It’s not just some random cash-in or anything like that.

Overall, Shaq Fu gets a lot of points for how up front it is. This game knows that the premise is rather silly and so instead of being subtle about this, it just doubles down on absolutely everything. Trust me, you haven’t seen many games that are as shameless as Shaq Fu is. It’s really the full package and while it isn’t a particularly long game, the most important part is that you will have fun playing it. That’s the key here and if they ever make a sequel, I’d be tempted to buy it day 1!

Overall 7/10

Sword Art Online Alicization: Lycoris Review

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It’s time for the next big Sword Art Online game. I’m still behind by a few other titles but this was one of the big story driven ones and the second last title in its continuity. It’s definitely a long one as the average game length for this is over 60 hours. That’s pretty crazy but they really do go in depth on everything. It was well on its way to a great score for most of the run but unfortunately Sword Art Online has certain pitfalls that it tends to be trapped in and it ended up stepping into it here multiple times in fact.

The game roughly covers the first half of the Alicization saga and then also jumps into its own thing. The first chapter covers the whole anime part before the war arc so as you can guess it’s a very long saga. The story is mainly a bunch of cutscenes with a little gameplay in the middle. For that reason you can say this one leans the hardest into being a full on visual novel. Outside of a big difficulty spike near the end, the gameplay is fairly easy. So you tend to beat enemies in seconds and then go to another 30 minutes in cutscenes. That’s why the story plays a big role in how much you will like the game. More so than even the gameplay to be honest because that is the focus.

The story is not good though. My main complaint with it would be how repetitive it could be. The big new heroine for the game is Medina and her character history revolves around how everyone dislikes her family. They call her a defect and everyone is always rushing to gang up on her. It’s really not an easy life that she has at all. The problem is that they effectively repeat the same insults and plot points. Pretty much every 20 minutes you could expect someone to start scolding her while everyone just watches. It gets worse and worse as the game goes on because then you have the whole cast just watching and shaking their heads instead of actually doing something about it. You’d think they would know to just jump in and actually save the day and instead they watch. Yeah you can’t really get much worse than that. It’s absolutely something to be disappointed about.

Medina also takes a lot more than she really needs to. The whole engagement thing was an obvious farce from the start but she still went through with it. Then she gets manipulated by the main villain with ease and it’s all just rough for her. Also we learn the dark history of her family and it ends up getting wayyyyy too grim dark. We didn’t need to know all of that. So between the original edgy parts of Alicization and the new parts added for the game, it’s just way too dark and dreary the whole time. I’d definitely give it a thumbs down all the way as far as the story is concerned. There are cool parts to be sure but whoever was in charge of doing the writing for the game did not properly understand it and as a result they made a whole lot of mistakes.

Outside of the story, the gameplay was good but the menus are not always very clear. It is really hard to navigate and nothing is particularly well explained. You do have quick travel which is good but at the same time you can’t see any quests or locations until you use the quick travel. So that would mean memorizing all of the 20+ locations in your head because otherwise the only way to know what is there is to travel. Then when you pause you see the locations but it’s really odd that they couldn’t pre load this.

You can’t really see your equipment without going through a bunch of menus and your skills are all locked behind hidden side quests that do not even appear on the map. The hub world is huge so I’ll give the game credit there but of course that makes it even harder to find the places that you want to go. Not a very good idea if you ask me. It’s a world of difference from the other games I’ve been playing which have really clear menus at all times. The game feels way too hard to use on all of the technical aspects which is unfortunate.

The core gameplay itself is good at least. It feels good wielding the sword and you can play as over 20 characters here so there is a lot of variety in combat. I basically stuck to Kirito unless I was knocked out though. You are always in a party of 4 so you don’t lose unless they are all knocked out. It’s important to note that your party is disbanded after every chapter so if you forget to reform them then you will go into battle alone and be crushed. This happened to me a few times which was definitely rough. Hopefully you saved your progress.

The final chapter is close to 4 hours long and has a lot of different boss battles in it. Make sure you save when possible, but there aren’t many opportunities to leave the tower. So definitely don’t click past the dialogue too quickly or you will miss out on your big chance and that would be rough. At least you can skip the cutscenes the second time around so it won’t feel quite as long but that’s still something you should probably avoid if you can help it.

As far as the graphics go, I would say they have aged pretty well. The game is colorful and has a lot of detail all the way through. I am glad to see so many cutscenes even if the story was not really able to do them justice. The fact that the game is this long is definitely a testament to the developers’ skills the whole way through. The soundtrack is also pretty good. Not as amazing as you would expect for a Sword Art Online game to be honest but still good enough in the end. We did get a lyrical song for the final boss which was pretty fun.

I can also say there is a ton of replay value. If you want to get all of the trophies and clear every quest then I expect you will be here for at least another 30-40 hours. There are an insanely high number of quests to explore and the trophies look really long. Not particularly difficult mind you, but just a huge time investment. So if you’re a Sword Art Online mega fan then this should help you.

Overall, Alicization has got to take the title of worst Sword Art Online title. It’s extremely rare for me to dock points from a game for the story being no good but ultimately that’s what happened here. The story was bad enough that it actually dragged the whole thing down which is pretty crazy. It just goes for way too many edgy themes the whole time and it always feels no unnecessary. If you’re going to go for the visual novel format I would also say that you definitely need a more complete story at the ready. What we got was clearly not ready for this kind of length and so it had to be extremely stretched out over and over again in order to make the distance. As the player it is very noticeable the whole time. I have much higher hopes for the new game that just came out.

Overall 4/10

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake Review

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It’s time for some Spongebob action! Spongebob is one of those tv shows that I never really watched even as a kid but I have always enjoyed the memes. It’s a series that seems to always provide good wholesome fun so I can appreciate that. The characters are generally funny and the games are well made. In the end I would say this is a pretty fun title all the way around and another worthy entry in the series. The platforming is very effective the whole time.

The game starts with Spongebob and Patrick messing around as always when they accidentally shake up the cosmos with a wishing artifact. A mysterious witch offers to help them but deep down she aims to capitalize on the madness and make things worse. Spongebob and Patrick will have to find their friends across all of the different worlds and put things back to normal. If anyone can pull off such an ambitious rescue, it would definitely be Spongebob. He’s always the man with a plan and has been through pretty much everything by this point.

Right away one of the very solid things about the game is the gameplay itself. I would say Spongebob is one of those games that understands the core fundamentals of what it means to be a good platformer. It’s not adding a bunch of gimmicks or anything like that. It’s a game where you are actually jumping over a lot of obstacles and defeating enemies. What it lacks in difficulty, it makes up for in creativity. I would go as far as saying it has some of the better 3D environments in terms of being fun to play. There is something to be said for being able to just run through a level without many big difficulty spikes.

I love good difficulty as much as the next guy but this game put fun as the top priority and it shows. I really enjoyed the various levels and minigames like the racing portions. You can spin as Spongebob to defeat enemies as well as ground pounding and shooting bubbles. Then you’ve got a double jump and a little gliding going on. So you have basically all of the gameplay options at your fingertips right out of the gate. Most impressive if I do say so myself. Each world is fairly short so you’ll likely beat this game in around 4 hours or so but there is a reasonable amount of replay value.

You can go back to get different items and collectibles so that you can eventually platinum the game. It’s a fairly easy platinum so it’s definitely one that is worth pursuing if you want to continue with the experience a bit more. Additionally, you can probably get the game for a reasonable price at this point compared to when it first launched. That’s definitely something for you to consider when getting the game. At the end of the day it’s one that you should have a lot of fun with. It’s a basic game and that’s not a bad thing.

As for the story, it’s a comedy first and foremost so you’re not playing this for a serious look at the fall of the multiverse. Instead, you get to enjoy a lot of good puns and wordplay. I was kept really well entertained the whole time at least. It’s the kind of cheesy dialogue that just leaves you grinning the whole time. It’s just very effective so I give the script writer a thumbs up. You definitely have to embrace the silliness but it did a good job of never being cringey so I would say it handled this perfectly.

Some of the lines are even rather clever. Meanwhile every world is completely different so you don’t have to worry about reused assets the whole time. The graphics are really good as well. It’s all very bright and vibrant the whole time which helps make all of the stages even more fun to watch. Meanwhile the soundtrack is more on the forgettable side, I can’t say there are any tunes I can remember off the top of my head. I suppose that is definitely something that the series could work on for future installments.

There isn’t a ton more to say about the game due to its simple approach. I would even say this is a game you could easily point to for anybody who is wondering what a platformer is like. It’s not worried about a deep plot, innovative gimmicks or anything like that. It may sound like a backhanded compliment but in a lot of ways I actually think that’s really impressive. It’s important to know your own identity and as I’ve said many times in the past, it’s important for a video game to be fun. Spongebob is fun the whole time and you never have any doubts about that. I could easily play this game for hours and hours at a time. So it may not be Great, but it is very good and never drags on.

Overall, Spongebob definitely has another winner here. This is a fun game all around with quality platforming and it’s clear that they put a lot of effort into this one. It wasn’t just another random Spongebob game, this was one with a lot of heart. As long as you enjoy a good platformer then you will have fun with this game whether you have seen the show or not. That’s definitely the hallmark of a good game right there. It is fully accessible for everybody.

Overall 7/10

One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows Review

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It’s time for one of those games that looked just enough like a tie in where people had some reservations about it. The good news is that because of that you can get this game for dirt cheap nowadays. I always enjoy some good One Punch Man action so I was definitely eager to see how this one turned out. Fortunately they really held nothing back here. It’s a great title and one that is even carried a bit by the technical aspects. The combat isn’t the most fine tuned 3D title that you’ve ever seen but the menus and layouts are all just really solid and smooth. You’re constantly impressed as just how easy everything is to navigate. This is probably the kind of game I would point to when explaining to people why menus are so important.

The game roughly follows the story of season 1 but has you playing as a brand new hero. You are recruited into the hero’s association and work on rising up the ranks by saving people and crushing monsters. Along the way you run into Saitama and Genos. This results in your constantly showing up to fight off the big villains but typically Saitama is the one who will actually put a stop to the madness. It would be more effective if you actually talked during the cutscenes though. During gameplay your original character talks and even has some great lines so I don’t know why they didn’t keep that energy up.

Either way the story is a pretty reasonable length. It should take you around 6-7 hours to clear it and there is a lot of replay value aside from that. This is a fighting game title after all so you can have fun in multiplayer mode for many hours. Additionally in single player mode you have a ton of bonus missions and level ups to work on. You will want to max out each of the fighting styles for more trophies as well. The platinum trophy looks like it will take a while to unlock but at the same time it looks very achievable. So put in enough effort and you will definitely be able to complete this one.

When you level up you get to choose which stats to increase so I recommend putting everything in attack power. Trust me, that’s what you will be using the most by far. Use two quick hits, a low hit, and then your standard combo. It does a good amount of damage and you can recycle that comb for the entire game. A pretty tempting strategy to use if I do say so myself! You don’t really need to get fancy here. It is good to make sure you have a super attack that breaks through guards though. That is really handy for when they start blocking.

Ultimately I went with the power type for the whole game. Then my super attack was a grab so if the opponent blocked the opening moves of my combo, I would immediately use the grab and would deal the damage. It’s a really good way to cheese the opponent and so I kept up a win rate of over 90%. The tough levels tend to be ones where stage hazards show up. I died once because a meteorite was slamming me into the ground and it did massive amounts of damage. The hazards could probably be dialed back a little to be honest.

I could never figure out how to get up quickly though. This is the toughest part of the game by far as a result since the enemy only has to knock you to the ground once and then after that they can keep comboing you to oblivion. It meant that I would either crush an opponent without getting hit or just barely win because one hit has such a massive effect to it. I’m assuming there is something you can do but I just couldn’t figure it out.

Back to the technical elements, the map is super detailed and has icons for every kind of content around. There is an arrow always pointing you to where you need to go within the story and there is also quick travel. All of the menus have super fast loading times and really look natural. There is really no downside to be found here. Then the graphics are also really good. The game models look sharp and there was just a whole lot of effort put into this one. I have to give the soundtrack props next as the tunes are really good. It felt like everyone was proud to work on this game. It may not be a AAA title by any stretch but the technical elements wouldn’t be out of place in one.

Just touch up the story and gameplay a bit and this could have been the next big thing. Ultimately that wasn’t really part of the plan but it’s still a game that any fighting fan can really enjoy. I always love playing through a great fighting title and this one is really no exception. Anime fighters can get real immersive and I dare say this game feels like it had a much higher budget than even something like Jump Force which is crazy when you think about it.

Overall, One Punch Man really delivered with this game. I definitely had a blast here. The whole game definitely goes by real quick but it’s also one that I could feel like picking back up and playing at any time. I left a whole lot of content on the table as well so there would be a lot for me to do when I get back into the game. The fact that the whole game is dubbed and contains a ton of voice acting is also super impressive. It’s something I never take for granted because even nowadays games will come out without voice acting like this. So when it does appear, that’s just really awesome. If they ever come up with a sequel to this one then I can safely say that I will be there day 1. I definitely won’t be missing out on this and I recommend picking up One Punch Man whenever you can. It’s that good.

Overall 8/10

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

Batman: Return to Arkham Review

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It’s time to return to the world of Batman games. Yes, this collection absolutely lives up to the hype and it’s been great playing so many elite games back to back! It’s really hard to see how DC can top this Batman series in the future because of just how well it nailed the mythos and atmosphere. Not to say we’re done with the Arkham series as there are still two games left to get but this was a fantastic start all around.

The first game in the collection is Arkham Asylum. Batman was undergoing a normal operation where he took down the Joker and arrested him but unfortunately the jail isn’t as secure as it should be. Joker ends up breaking out and takes over Arkham Asylum real quick. The inmates all answer to him now and they are united in their drive to destroy Batman. Batman will really have to call upon all of his knowledge and gadgets in order to take these guys down. Batman is heavily outnumbered by tons of opponents after all so this won’t be easy.

The game does a terrific job of embracing the combat elements of Batman along with his detective’s nature. It’s all really handled quite spectacularly and whenever you lose, you do feel like you deserved the death. The infiltration missions for example are difficult but never unfair. You have to watch the opponents carefully and if you are caught, take down the opponent as soon as possible. Often times I would get into a gunfight and die but sometimes I would pull off the win. The game felt very open with how many options you had and it was ultimately up to you to use them in the right ways. If you made a mistake then the game would punish you quite harshly for it and I didn’t really see any problem with that. It’s all on you after all.

For example the parry system is quite incredible here. The timing is tight but you always have a visual sign that someone is going to make a move. It’s possible to fight whole scores of enemies and not take a hit or you might have your timing thrown off by getting hit and then suddenly you’re panicking and taking a lot of blows. It feels a lot like a real fight due to this which adds a real layer of realism to the whole thing. I was definitely real impressed and it’s not something that you would see in a lower tier game. It’s all these things that add up.

The gameplay is something I could take about for ages. You have tons of gadgets in the game that allow you to strike at an enemy in a variety of ways. You can just keep on going and really overwhelm them by freezing them, stunning, using a batarang, normal blows, etc. The gadgets are mainly the same across both games but do change up a little bit. I liked each variation and they both ultimately do the same kinds of things. The gameplay is incredibly smooth in both titles so I wouldn’t really change anything. I played them back to back and had no complaints. The games have aged extremely well in either case.

Naturally this goes for the graphics as well. It all looks really HD and crisp. They have all of the little things like the cape fluttering and all of the textures. The artstyle is one that will age really well I’d say so even 10 years from now it will look great. The sequel also went all out in allowing you to change into a bunch of different costumes so I really had fun with that. They all work rather seamlessly into the gameplay.

Arkham City has Hugo Strange show up to take over the city. It was pretty cool to be playing as Bruce Wayne temporarily since he doesn’t appear very much in the video games. It was also the natural follow up with having the whole city being taken over this time around. It really helped to change up the scenery as well. I really liked the Asylum and the whole atmosphere there, but being able to be outside with all of the different environments was great! It may have been a bit easier to get lost at times but that’s just how it goes. It was absolutely worth the trade off.

Getting sniped by randoms on the roof could get a little tricky at times but hey…skill issue. Like I said, you are always really in control so if you lose then it’s on you. The only time where it felt like it would be hard for you to reasonable guess what to do was in the boss fight with Mr. Freeze where you have to use every gadget once in order to take out his health. You basically couldn’t injure him the same way twice. Now that was a super hard boss fight to win. It was extremely difficult but still fun. I also thought it was creative how he would foil any follow up attempts.

It goes back to the game feeling really vibrant and alive. The A.I. is years ahead of many other titles around. The grunts will actually team up and come up with plans to stop you. They’re not just wandering around and wondering what to do. They’re getting out there and doing what has to be done. If you make a wrong move they all gang up on you and cover all exits. It’s really fun and the reason I don’t mind dying a ton of times is how many checkpoints there are. You never lose a significant amount of time for dying which I extremely appreciate. These are the quality of life features that I absolutely live for. Nobody’s walking around talking about why check points make a game amazing but boy do they feel good!

It was also cool to actually play as Catwoman for a few levels in the second game. While the majority of gameplay should always be with Batman, I do think switching it up a bit to other fighters is not a bad thing. Emphasis on fighters of course, I don’t want to be playing as any civilians. Next time Robin should be playable as well. It was cool seeing his cameo and everything and I think they could really do a lot with his gameplay options.

Overall, These two Batman games are absolutely elite! The stories are real interesting and while the campaigns aren’t super long, there is a considerable amount of replay value here. Certainly enough to keep you really engaged. They didn’t rush any part of the experience here and so I can easily recommend this to anyone. This is AAA gaming at its finest and definitely one of the best superhero games out there. You owe it to yourself to play through this collection. There’s really nothing bad to say about the game, it is an absolute masterpiece in every sense of the word. The developers clearly knew what they were doing and had a lot of passion for the product.

Overall 9/10

Tales of Arise Review

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Whenever someone says “Arise” it’s always in a very dramatic kind of way which makes you think and this game is no different. It’s a really intense RPG that has a good length. This allows time for all of the characters to get proper development and everything. I tend to play these games for fairly long batches of time and even then it took me a while to knock this one out. It definitely speaks to how much content is in the title. Granted, I did beat virtually all of the side missions but even then there was still more to do and extra content to be covered.

The game starts by introducing us to the world. There are two races of people. The Renans, who live in the sky and subjugate the Dahnans, the people who live on the ground. The Renans have incredible powers and so they took over easily 300 years ago. Ever since then, they have continued to dominate and there is really no way for the Dahnans to rise up. That is, until one slave named Alphen meets up with a Renan girl named Shionne. She has decided to murder the 5 Renan lords who have enslaved everyone and Alphen agrees to help. Along the way they make a lot of friends and fight off powerful monsters. The closer they get to the end of this journey, the more uncomfortable truths they find out. Will these revelations end up destroying their will to fight??

One thing about a game that is 40+ hours like this is that the plot will change a lot. So this plot summary I gave will be outdated very quickly but at the same time you don’t want to go into those plot details from the jump because they are filled with twists. The more surprised you are the better. All in all I would say the twists are all handled very well. It may get a little long for a bit there where you are sitting through 40 minute cutscenes of everything being broken down for you. At the same time it’s probably a good idea though because otherwise I do think you’d have people saying it was all too complicated.

The gameplay is a 3D fighter where you have your standard attacks and then you can also launch your power moves. They take longer to load and you have to have enough energy to use them. As the game goes on you can use upgrades and power ups to help replenish energy more. The level up system is pretty interesting here. Of course you have the standard level up system for the characters but in addition to that you also have the SP upgrades that you can use to unlock new skills or stat bonuses. You get points from every battle but very few of them. Most of your points are from completing side quests which is why you want to complete as many of them as possible. Then some of the sections with upgrades aren’t unlocked until you have completed specific tasks like eaten a specific food or completed a certain side quest. You can see what you need to do from the level up board so I recommend checking up on these from time to time so you know where to go. These upgrades are all fairly minor but really start to add up as you unlock more and more.

The game is surprisingly difficult at times. I can say with reasonable confidence that if you just try to barrel through and fight the final boss it is not going to end well for you. Go complete some side quests, get some good armors, etc. Load yourself up and then you will be fine. Items are extremely handy in this game and for that reason, earning money is a very slow process. It’s another instance where you need to complete side missions as often as possible. These will always get you a lot of money which you can then use to buy items like revives or potions that give you cure points.

The cure point system is something fairly unique compared to other RPGs. Basically, healing your allies takes energy from this system rather than your special meter. So if you run out, then you can’t use any of your healing spells. This means you often need to keep an eye on that and replenish it as needed. Without these items, you’d get crushed by a ton of the bosses. Grinding for level ups is still super important of course but another big thing is really just getting funds for the extra items.

I will also give the game heavy credit for the solid romance plots here. Not all 3 of the romance plots work but 2/3 is still really good. Especially considering that one of those is the main pairing. There’s a lot of development here and the two were through a lot. We even got a time skip of several months. So this game hardly took place over a few days. I thought it was all handled most excellently. The writing is really top tier here. Outside of the main story, there are over 300 skit cutscenes which you can have fun playing when you are at the campfire or live as you walk through the areas. I did like 100 of those but still had a lot to go.

The sheer amount of content here is breathtaking. Then of course you have the soundtrack which is really solid. Both theme songs in the game were really good and I also enjoyed the general battle themes and boss battles. The animation is top tier of course and the game even has some fully animated scenes as well. That was really cool. You can tell that this game got the top level budget and it was all worth it. People call this a top tier RPG and they are absolutely right in every way.

Overall, Tales of Arise is a top tier game. The characters are excellent and the story is great. The gameplay is executed incredibly well with smooth gameplay and even some solid platforming. It’s got every quality of life feature that you can think of and of course the story mode is already super long. Then you have a ton of replay value that can likely double your play time. If you somehow don’t own this one yet, then you should definitely check it out. It will forever be known as one of the top RPGs.

Overall 9/10

Scarlet Nexus Review

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Scarlet Nexus is one of those games that was really huge when it was first announced. It was going to be a game that really changed everything. It would be the big RPG that people would be talking about for many years to come. Well, I can definitely say that is succeeds in those areas. This is definitely a game that I highly recommend checking out. It is an elite title all the way through and you will be having a good time here.

You get to choose from two characters when you start the game. Each one has a sizable campaign of around 20 hours and then you can play the second campaign. I stuck to 1 character this time around and went for the guy. He wants to be a great OSF agent and live up to the family’s powerful reputation. Along the way he makes several friends and everything seems good until he begins bumping into some very dark conspiracies. The OSF is about stopping aliens and protecting people but it looks like they may have gone a little beyond that in their pursuit of justice. It may be time to take them down but it’s important to not lose sight of who the big villains are. Tough choices will have to be made.

The game tackles a lot of big sci-fi themes like time travel, clones, alternate pasts, etc. So right away I can tell you that this is up my alley. Of course that does take a while to appear in the story but you’re pretty engaged with everything else happening the whole time. The game is mainly working within the context of there being a ton of organizations and all of them are reasonably corrupt and evil for different reasons. These are guys you would no want to bump into. Of course you can try to stay on their good side but that can be difficult in and of itself. That also does mean there isn’t a true main villain for most of the game.

The game does a great job of establishing the villain’s motivation even without a ton of screen time though. Out of the game’s 12 chapters, he probably only appears in 3-4 of them and usually only for a brief moment or two. Yet by the end you really understand why he is so desperate. I’m not by any means saying that you will end up rooting for him or anything like that but I am saying that you will be able to see his motive clearly which is important. It separates him from the average villain who is just trying to destroy the world or something.

The graphics here are definitely top tier. You have full cinematic type cutscenes and even the basic ones generally all have voice acting. There are some slight exceptions of course but those are small exceptions. I always like when a game has extensive voice acting like this. It takes the whole experience to the next level and shows that this is a real AAA game. Voice acting is often what can turn a very good game into a great one. It heavily buffs so many aspects of the game and so yes, Scarlet Nexus was a complete success here. The kind of game that you can really admire and respect. It was most impressive.

Meanwhile the soundtrack was also really good. Definitely another classic W for the title. There are a good amount of battle themes here, both for the normal encounters and for the bosses. There’s a good amount of variety in this title and it fits in well with the general sci-fi theme that the title is going for. There were definitely no issues on a technical level for this game. As an RPG i also goes without saying that there is a ton of content here. Beating the game with both characters will take around 40 hours easy. Then there is also completing all of the bond missions and getting the Platinum trophy. Definitely not going to be an easy task right there. So I was definitely satisfied with the length all the way around.

I do recommend doing a ton of the bond missions as you play through the game. The power ups you get with each partner are rather substantial. There are a ton of these missions so it can feel a bit intimidating but as long as you do all the ones that are available in each chapter as you move forward then it won’t feel like a crazy onslaught the way that it would once you are closer to the end of the game. It’s all about pacing yourself after all.

Now I didn’t talk much about the gameplay yet and that’s part of what’s unique about the game. You have your usual close quarter combat skills but you can also use telekinesis to throw blocks and objects around. It’s a pretty fun style of gameplay and this often helps you attack an opponent’s weak point. Once you have the villain down to a low enough amount of health and you have broken their mind gauge, you can defeat them with a brain crush. It’s a super handy technique.

You can also activate brain mode which makes you temporarily invincible so long as you’ve gotten the right upgrades. Definitely super handy but make sure you turn it off before the meter falls all the way down. If you forget to do this then it’s an automatic game over. It’s actually a really interesting mechanic because it ties into the story where his mind is slowly shattering So it makes sense that you would lose if you stay in this experimental mode for too long. My big tip is to use your materials to buy brain gears whenever possible. Brain crush mode makes even the final boss trivial since you can skip most of the craziness. I made sure to grab every material I could throughout the game so I was really in a good spot here. The game could get reasonably tough and I did die a few times but often it was because I underestimated the enemies. You always have enough items to keep on healing and moving forward.

Overall, Scarlet Nexus was really a blast. Waiting for this game was totally worth it. It definitely lived up to the hype all the way around. It would be great to see a sequel to this show up at some point even if the ending was rather definitive. The game’s ending lands on its feet so there really were not any issues here. You really got your money’s worth with this one. Even more so for me since the game was on sale for a crazy $10 amount. You really can’t get any more of a steal than that right? It’s the one benefit of waiting so long before getting a game although I can tell you when the second comes out that will be a day 1. Definitely no waiting this time.

Overall 9/10