Tag Archives: PS4

Batman: Return to Arkham Review

Posted on by
Reply


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

Posted on by
Reply


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

Posted on by
3


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

The King of Fighters XIII: Global Match Review

Posted on by
Reply


King of Fighters XIII definitely surpassed my expectations here. The instant it had a real story mode and not just throwing cutscenes into arcade mode, I knew it was quite literally built different. This was a game that was putting the story first and I was all here for it. There are even branching paths so you can see different versions of the story and more added context as you play through the game. I ended up getting 60% of the cinematics on my first run.

The story concludes the big saga of the villains trying to revive Orochi and using their cosmic powers to get in everyone’s way. Ash gets a big role in here as he stole Iori’s powers last time and is working on getting Kyo’s now. If the old lead isn’t careful then he is going to be taken down. It’s a really good premise to get you pumped up and I greatly enjoyed the intro. We got to see all of the old leads like K and Kyo and then it ends with the lead being attacked. This game just has the most focus on story by a longshot and it was an excellent idea. I always feel like this is the perfect way to really get you focused up for what is about to happen.

The story definitely doesn’t disappoint. We get a lot of fun illustrations the whole time as the plot moves forward and a ton of dialogue. I didn’t even see all of the paths as I mentioned before so they added a ton of content here. It almost felt like a visual novel at times here. I should also mention that there is another King of Fighters tournament going on here of course. That’s always got to be a factor here of course. Why would there not be a tournament?

It should come as no surprise that the gameplay is great as always. The graphics look really sharp here once again and the movement speed is really good. I felt like the bosses were also designed better so you got to actually play against them. It wasn’t a matter of abusing loopholes or cheesing the opponent out. Instead you were actually fighting them mano a mano the whole time and that was a much better idea. So I was really glad to see that, it’s definitely the way to go.

You feel more of a sense of triumph when you win as opposed to just exhaustion and wondering if the boss is still more skilled than you are. Here, the boss is still rather difficult but it’s nothing crazy. The boss is way aggressive and like a real player will leave openings for you to attack with. I will say that the second to last boss had such long animation cycles though. When he grabbed you, you could basically close your eyes and rest a bit because then he keeps on punching you in the stomach and taking forever to get on with it. He’s a very dramatic fighter to be sure. I feel like it would probably be funny to see anyone using those combos in a competitive tournament assuming that the character has these moves when you play as him.

In terms of the paths in the game, usually you will have a choice for example to see what’s happening at the tournament or what Ash is doing meanwhile. Typically I went with the Ash plot since I figured it would be more intense but you’ll probably want to try them all. When I googled how to get the true ending, there seemed to be quite a few requirements to even get the chance so good luck. Definitely not a pushover by any means but that adds to the ever expansive replay value of the game.

You have the endless vs fights, getting all story mode paths, and of course getting the Platinum trophy in the game. By the time you’re done with that I’m sure you will have spent a ton of time on the game. Additionally, here are a lot of characters to play around with so you’ll want to test them all out and see which character you are best with. I’m actually starting to like the grappler characters in this game. It feels so satisfying when you land a command grab out of nowhere and it deals a ton of damage. A super throw is what won me the final match after all. I was about to lose otherwise.

Overall, King of Fighters XIII is a great game. I dare say that it is easily the best of the early games although calling it an early game is probably misleading. I think XV is probably still the best overall but I’d need to think about it. Either way the latest 3 games are the top 3 overall which is cool because it shows that the series is in its peak right now. They need to bring us some more games but bring back this expansive kind of story mode. It really does help the series go to the next level and doesn’t feel like it should be a giant ask. If there’s any King of Fighters game that you should get, this may even be my first recommendation because of the story.

Overall 8/10

Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs. Maxiboost On Review

Posted on by
Reply


Gundam is one of those series that has so many games and shows and movies that it’s hard to know where to start. I’ve played a few of the games back in my day though and they were always fun. So I figured I could expect a similar level of entertainment from this game. I do wish it had a real story mode but the gameplay is fun and overall it’s extremely impressive how many characters are present here. It’s truly an ultimate collection for Gundam fans.

The main gameplay style here is that of a 2 vs 2 brawler. It’s in 3D and you use your blasters and occasional energy sword to take your opponents down. The first team to lose all of their lives will suffer defeat in the match. You have around 6 lives split between you and your teammate and depending on how strong your machine is will determine how many lives you lose when your robot is destroyed. At the end of the day though your strategy will remain the same. Just don’t get hit and you will be fine. Of course when the levels are this chaotic that can be a little difficult.

So there are well over 100 robot suits to choose from here. The game breaks up the roster based on series which is pretty cool. It does mean you have a lot of scrolling to do but it’s a clear way to identify each Gundam. Then when you choose the Gundam you can choose out of 3 different modes you want to fight as. By the end I usually went for balanced since it seems like the best bet but long range and short range can be fun too. You just need to master the gameplay a lot more before you can pull that off. Otherwise you’re just going to get absolutely obliterated the instant you head into the fray.

This game doesn’t have a tutorial or training mode at the ready though which is too bad. This is one of the few games where I would have appreciated that. There’s just a whole lot that you have to sift through here from various weapons and special abilities. So if you’re not constantly on your A game then you’re gonna be in some real trouble here. I was mostly just button mashing and I can tell you that this doesn’t fly in the Gundam games. Unless you know what you are doing you will ultimately be crushed. That’s just the way that it is. So I couldn’t really get to enjoy the gameplay mechanics to their fullest extent but I still had fun.

The graphics are naturally very solid here. The robots all look on point and the level designs have a lot of detail to them Everything is very vibrant at all times and each level stands out. The soundtrack is a bit more forgettable but there were a lot of tracks in the music menu so I’m guessing there are some really solid ones in there that I just didn’t come across yet. Once you factor those in then I’m sure the soundtrack is probably good overall.

In the end this game is definitely going to have the most value for true Gundam fans. The online scene already seems dead from when I was trying to find a match so you better have someone that you can play it offline with. Technically you have unlimited replay value with the vs mode but that is all assuming that you really love the gameplay. It needs to be a top tier fighting game for you or the whole thing will just not be worth your while. For me, it’s a fun game but not one I’d be clamoring to pick up again in the future.

Overall, Gundam makes for a good robot combat title. It’s always been solid in the past and I don’t see that changing in the future either. It’s really quite impressive. That being said, not having a story mode will always be a blow against it. Some fighting game titles like Super Smash Bros can get away with this but most cannot. Even if it’s a really basic arcade mode type setup, I want a character ending and some interactions. It helps to make the whole thing more real. This one is satisfied to be a super basic fighting game. Albeit, one with an absolutely huge roster which I give them full credit for. It’s extremely impressive and I’ll probably look at the game more fondly once I know more of the Gundam fighters.

Overall 7/10

Spider-Man: Miles Morales Review

Posted on by
1


Time to look at the big spinoff to that iconic Spider-Man game. This one’s definitely quite a bit shorter and so it feels like a lean version. Gone are all of the science minigames and civilian levels. Instead you are really Spider-Man the whole time and some of the map navigation has changed a little. Some of these are positive changes while others are not but it works really well in this pocket setting. Ultimately I would say that it’s another top tier game and really does a great job of continuing the saga. I may not have been as thrilled if I paid $60 for it but otherwise it definitely does the job.

The game starts off with Spider-Man being defeated by the Rhino so Miles has to save him. Peter figures it’s about time for a good vacation so he heads off to be with Mary Jane for a while as Miles takes center stage to fill in. He doesn’t just want to fill in though, he wants to prove that he has what it takes to be the true Spider-Man and he may get his chance now. The new villain group known as the Underground is so powerful that they took out the Demons gang and they are planning something big that could destroy the city. Can Miles stop them even if it means taking on some former friends?

The story is around 6-8 hours give or take although it can be a bit longer if you spend more time on side quests. I didn’t do as many as in the first Spider-Man game in part because there were less of them so I wouldn’t pass them by in pursuit of the story mission. Also in part because in this game the crimes are endless compared to the first Spider-Man game where they would end. So as a result I didn’t feel like there was much of an incentive to working on those. Eventually there is a trophy that is crime related but that will be showing up later on. The trophies for this game don’t look all that hard and actually seem easier than the first Spider-Man title but the one that will take a while is beating the game again on New Game+. I suppose not that it’ll take a super long while or anything but noticeably more intense than the rest of them.

It gives you some good replay value though. I mentioned some changes earlier so of course the endless crimes was one so what about the others? Well, now you can turn invisible which is super helpful for getting the drop on enemies and landing more stealth takedowns. I will admit that it makes the game much easier as well. You can turn invisible mid combo to confuse the enemies and then keep on beating them up. Additionally Miles comes with his electric abilities which all land a real big punch. It makes for a satisfying way to beat down the enemies of course but it’s also another way to get yourself out of a tight spot.

So you should really be breezing through this game. That said, it’s a worthy trade off because I really like the venom abilities. They help to make the combos flashier and it’s like having special attacks in addition to the standard moves. The upgrade tree has been simplified so there aren’t as many upgrades. With far less collectibles as well, cleaning up the city has never been easier. I doubt it will take all that long after completing the game all the way through.

The combat speed itself feels faster with all of the combos but that might just be more of a feel and less of a fact. It’s hard to say for sure but I was definitely racking up the blows. Navigating the map is more or less the same as in the first game and moving the side missions to a separate screen feels about the same even if the location is different. The game has removed the quick time events which is too bad but I can’t say that I missed the human stealth missions. You don’t have a camera or anything like that this time which I’m also fine with.

These are things that show how this game is more like a mini version of the first but the important thing is that it still has a lot of content. It has less costumes for example but it still has a good amount of them. So there’s less of everything but compare this to another big game and it probably still comes out favorably. So I would say that’s pretty impressive. Meanwhile the graphics are still really good. It’s likely using the same engine which makes sense. Some costumes don’t always work as well in the cinematics like the cartoon one I wore but that’s to be expected since the art style is so different. I just chose it anyway because I like that costume a lot.

The soundtrack is more on the forgettable side. It’s good and all for the moment but there are no tunes that you would actually go and look up. I would have liked some rock themes or at least one when you fought the Prowler. That may be the best boss fight yet in these two Spiderman games. I like how you had to really rely on your spider sense. It’s something that hasn’t been utilized a whole lot yet so that was really nice. You had to trust in your reaction times and get the job done. Yes, the timing isn’t super tight so it’s a little on the easy side, but regardless the concept was really cool.

Naturally the game does lead into the big sequel with the ending so that’s definitely real exciting. As a whole the story did a good job of setting Miles up for the big leagues since he will need the experience here. At times the drama with Tinkerer could feel a little forced perhaps but all in all you were engaged the whole time. The stakes may not have been Earth shattering but that’s for the main games, not the spinoffs per say. It also will help and make Spider-Man 2 feel more like a crossover now that both characters have had their own games. I assume each one will keep their respective combat systems but we’ll see if that is really the case. I’m also curious on how switching between the characters will go.

Overall, Miles Morales really delivers with a superb game here. The original game set up the groundwork and this one took it all the way. I love these kinds of games with massive free roam over the city. It’s handled so well even to the basic things like movement. I actually want to go and grab the collectibles because the game is so fun. You’re encouraged to just get out there and have a good time which I appreciate. The more I play through these games, the more I’m curious to check out the final outstanding ones that I haven’t played like Web of Shadows or the home console version of Spider-Man 3. All in good time I suppose.

Overall 9/10

Spider-Man Review

Posted on by
Reply


After all these years I have finally played the big Spider-Man game that came out many years ago. This one really made a whole lot of waves and it’s easy to see why. They clearly put a lot of budget into it and the world is very expansive. There are so many different collectibles and side missions to go through. I guarantee you will be playing this game for a very long time, you can trust me on that.

The game starts off with introducing us to a very experienced Spider-Man. He’s been at the game for a very long time and has saved the world more times than we can count. Well, he’s going to be up at bat once more because the Demons have shown up to take control of the city now that the Kingpin is behind bars. This new gang is absolutely ruthless and they have dangerous plans for the city. They have a beef with Norman Osborne and its one that threatens to destroy even the innocent civilians who have nothing to do with this. Can Spider-Man save everyone this time?

It’s really nice to see an older Peter Parker who already has a handle on things. The game puts a lot of emphasis on his scientific knowledge as well so you can definitely expect to see him inventing a lot of things and generally being a handy guy. The game works these in as minigames which are fun enough. Admittedly I was always ready to just go out there and enjoy the combat some more but the minigames are fairly short so it’s not a big deal. The story itself is definitely excellent and you are going to have a good time here. It’s a fairly sizable campaign too so you won’t be completing it too quickly.

Then you have the primary gameplay which is definitely really solid. The game makes incredible use of the spider sense as you weave in and out of attacks. It’s all very fast paced and you can approach the game in many different ways. The combat just gives you a lot of freedom and of course you can imagine that I tend to go for a more hyper aggressive style. I just want to take down every enemy in my way and that’s sometimes going to be more of a challenge. The game does want you to opt for stealth sometimes and I try but I usually get spotted anyway. Most of the levels are about being Spider-Man and generally dominating but you do have the occasional level as Mary Jane or Miles which are complete stealth missions.

I didn’t mind them but I’m sure I would have gotten more tired of them if these levels popped up too often. As it is, they were a solid change of pace. Each level can be beaten quickly if you want to get to the end or you can explore a bit and pick up a lot of easter eggs/foreshadowing for the future. I’m impressed at how interactive every part of the game is. This is exactly the kind of title you think about when you hear the words “AAA game”. It’s a term that has gotten a bit watered down over the years but this is a great example of a title that had a lot of effort and care put into it.

It goes without saying that the graphics are excellent here. It is going for a more movie/cinematic type of artstyle so it may not quite look as sharp as the more colorful titles but it still works really well. It’s always fun to see New York City in a big game like this as well. They got in so many different landmarks and it’s really impressive. The soundtrack is a bit less noticeable. It’s good and all but not great so I wouldn’t expect it to be knocking you out of the park or anything. It performs its job well and that’s what counts though.

In terms of replay value, well where should I even start? There are tons of suits and powers to unlock. You can upgrade your tech, and of course gather all of the trophies associated with the game. It’ll take a while to really do all of that even if the trophies themselves aren’t super difficult. I imagine you’ll be playing for 30 hours minimum so you’re getting a whole lot of bang for your buck. The game has aged really well so it’s still not too late if you want to purchase it now.

Probably the area I’d give the most credit to within the game is how seamless the whole hub world is. You can be on your way to fight the next story mission when a crime breaks out a few blocks away. You can choose to ignore it or go over there and fight. I decided not to ignore crimes early on since they would help for trophies down the road and it’s just really smooth. After I stop the criminals I go to where I was supposed to go. On the way to objectives I would stop by to pick up backpacks and other collectibles as well. No loading times or anything like that to break up the flow. You also get faster as you level up which makes going through the city a breeze. So I rarely ever used the quick travel except for the trophy associated with it although I am glad that it is an option. It is easily one of the best hub worlds I’ve ever seen.

Overall, Spider-Man is an elite game. It’s definitely the kind of title that you think about when you are expecting a top tier comic book game. Fans of the character should be very pleased and I will be back in the world of spiders very quickly since I got the Miles Morales and Spider-Man 2 games in the same batch. So 3 big titles all in a row. We’ll see how they stack up to the original here. It’s definitely a tall act to follow after all.

Overall 9/10

Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 4: Road to Boruto Review

Posted on by
Reply


The Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm series has always been one of the top tier, elite video games of our generation. The amount of playable characters and attention to detail is absolutely uncanny! I don’t think we’ll ever see another Naruto game that can quite compete on this one’s level. It’s really the full package and a perfect end to the Ultimate Ninja Storm series. Way I see it, all other games are spinoffs until they announce a Ninja Storm 5. If you’ve been playing the series already then you know what to expect but if not, lets just say that it’s about to blow your mind!

The game picks up with the war and takes you through the rest of the series up through the first sequel movie. So it covers quite a lot of content. For the first time the series does take a few shortcuts with more anime type clips rather than doing all of the cell shaded cinematics. As you get deeper into the game it goes back to normal though. They’re both good of course but seeing the whole thing in the game’s animation style does get you a little more invested so I loved seeing that style. The story is a bit shorter than the last title but when you through in the Boruto part I would say it’s about the same length. I liked the way the story also diverges with both the Naruto and Sasuke paths. I had fun alternating to try and keep it all as chronological as possible.

The gameplay is that of a 3D fighter. You pick 3 fighters and then try to dominate your opponent in close quarters combat. You can switch fighters at will or use them as assists. The characters all have great combos and the final smashes are as cinematic as ever. Each fight is very fast paced and fluid. It’s some of the cleanest 3D fighting you will ever see. We also have the quick time events for the story mode battles and even a few alternate gameplay type moments like the Kaiju type fights. Those are always fun as well although I’m not nearly as good at those. Getting S ranks there feels like an extremely difficult task if you ask me.

So you can expect to spend at least 10-15 hours on the story. After that there is also an Adventure mode with tons of content and also good ole survival mode. Don’t expect this to be easy either. The survival mode actually gives you a good run for your money and the intimidating thing is how long it can be. For example one trophy is to defeat 30 opponents in a row so if you get sloppy or make a mistake 25 opponents deep, get ready to start from scratch. The trophies here definitely look very difficult. Certainly achievable as long as you train your skills though but I imagine you will be here for a very long time before you are able to knock it out.

It almost goes without saying but the graphics here are absolutely top notch. It’s great to see Naruto and the gang on the PS4. It’s really night and day compared to other games where Naruto has appeared in like Jump Force. The colors here are so vibrant and there are a ton of cool animations that aren’t just recycled among characters. The soundtrack is also pretty good. I tend to like all of the themes even if there isn’t any singular track that really stood out for me.

In terms of character balance the game seems to do a pretty good job. Some characters just seem to have final smash animations that are too long. Like you should be able to dodge or block their final smashes every single time. Rock Lee and Might Guy are two examples of this. Meanwhile some characters like Sasuke in his End of Series version are extremely useful and will hit the opponent almost every time. It’s pretty much a cheatcode in survival mode and I highly recommend using him. You can just keep on using the final smash over and over again for quick victories. Of course that does mean watching the cinematic over and over again so I hope you really enjoy it.

I’d also like to note that the fact that there are so many unique dialogue quotes for the final smash depending on your opponent is really cool. Again, it’s all the little things that help to really make this game stand out. If they could squeeze in an easter egg then that’s exactly what they do. I’m sure there are a bunch of little things that I haven’t even noticed yet. In fact, that’s a guarantee since there are a bunch of bonus missions and side quests that I haven’t even stepped into yet. So yeah this is the game that just keeps on delivering.

Overall, Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 is definitely an elite game. One that should not be underestimated at any cost. I highly recommend picking this game up immediately if you don’t already have it. It’s really the gold standard of what an anime fighting game should be like. Any series would certainly be super proud to have a title with this amount of professional development behind it. The content justifies the price many times over as well. Naruto will always be remembered as one of the most iconic and influential series of all time and titles like this do the legacy justice.

Overall 9/10

Jump Force Review

Posted on by
3


I remember how disappointed everyone was after this game came out. Everyone was super hyped for the initial trailer and everything but the actual game sort of fell flat. I get it because the game could and should have been so much better. That said, I would still call it a great game. You get to have your favorite Jump heroes all teaming up and interacting in the story and the combat works well for the fighting aspect. Ultimately, I’m glad we got this game and I’m confident that a new one would be vastly improved since they can build off of their mistakes.

The basic story is that all of the Jump Worlds are converging with the real world. The heroes are all rather confused about what’s going on so they turn to a random organization where the head is confident that he can fix this. Goku, Naruto, and Luffy lead the 3 main teams and together they have to recruit the rest of the jump heroes and save the day. The new villains have these mysterious cubes and a dark book that allow them to make fully functional clones of all the heroes. Things are going crazy real quick so they have to be stopped.

The first thing I would note off the bat is to completely ignore the power levels here. Trust me, they make absolutely no sense here anyway. Goku, Naruto, Kenshin, etc. Everyone is portrayed to be at about the same strength and the same goes for the villains. This is all just to get all of the characters together but I do think that they should have tried a little harder to make the plot make sense. It really wouldn’t have been that hard you know? So the writing is pretty bad here but it’s still fun to see the characters around. The script makes them all sound a bit generic at times so you don’t get to see their character personalities shine through, but again it’s all just an excuse to see them running around. The story is rather weak but at least it has one. A lot of fighting games don’t even have that.

The gameplay is naturally what you are really here for and no worries, that part is really solid. It’s a 3D title like the Ultimate Ninja Storm games although it isn’t quite as polished as those since those are the golden standard across the video game industry. You use quick combos, power moves, and ultimate attacks to take down your opponents. You can freely change between characters mid combat and a big focus here is on timing. You can dodge and even counter attacks by clicking the escape button at the right time. When you do this, the enemy is always allowed to respond as well so then it becomes a back and forth game until one of you messes the timing up. This is pretty easy to do since the window you have it smaller each time. All it takes is a slight hesitation and you are out of luck.

In terms of graphics, the art style hasn’t aged all that well but the game still looks good. It was going for a hyper realistic style which as you can expect doesn’t translate very well for all of these colorful characters. It was definitely a very questionable design idea. The attacks all tend to look very flashy though although that is a double edged sword. The one weakness to the gameplay is that the cinematics all last just a smidge too long which adds up as you are playing each match. They should have cut the timing on those.

Speaking of time, get ready to see the loading screen a whole lot. I haven’t seen loading screens this long in a very long time. It’s sort of like Sonic 2006 for PS3. There are loading times after every battle and between every cutscene. For some reason the cutscenes are often broken up into multiple chunks so you will play 30 seconds, loading screen, next 30 seconds, loading screen, etc. It just keeps on happening which really keeps you busy. You want to have something on hand to multi task with during the load times.

That aside, the story is fairly lengthy though. It’ll definitely take you upwards of 15 hours to clear the campaign and aside from that there is a ton of replay value with all of the bonus missions. There are tons and tons of those to a super impressive degree. There is also a level up system so getting all of your characters to level 99 will take some time. It actually does make a difference in your stats so I recommend grinding those levels up as much as possible. Getting the Platinum trophy looks like it would be exceptionally difficult so good luck if you are aiming for that one.

Overall, Jump Force is a great game but one that is carried almost entirely by the gameplay. The modes around it can be rather lackluster and really don’t do justice to the overall premise of the game. This should have been one of those games that really wow’d you, you know? I should have still been talking about this game for years and years to come. Instead, there isn’t much reason to play it while better fighting games exist. The best you can say for it is that the game has a really fun cast of characters. That is certainly true and it will always be the main hook here but it also shows you how incredible this would have been if they had tried a little harder. So this may sound like the harshest 8 star review I’ve written but that just speaks to how much promise was here.

Overall 8/10

Override 2: Super Mech League Review

Posted on by
Reply


Override 2 is a pretty fun game. It really keeps the same gameplay style of the first game although in this case it does remove the story mode entirely which is too bad. Instead you just play through a lot of tournaments and stand alone battles. It’s more like what you would find in a Tennis game where your career mode is really just about racking up wins. It works well enough in a sports context but in a fighting game like this you definitely want to see a little more. Particularly since the first game had the whole invasion plot. Ah well, at the end of the day the gameplay is the true make or break point here.

It’s a classic 3D brawler where you can use standard attacks and power moves to deliver damage to your opponents. You can also use different items from the environment to deal damage as well so you always have a lot of options. That being said, your best option is usually to watch for the glowing circle on the map and get to it. The longer you are under the light, the more you can charge up your final smash meter. That ends up coming in a whole lot of use when you’re dealing with multiple opponents. There are different rulesets you can switch between in this game. You have the classic 1 vs 1, 2 vs 2, 4 player free for all, then you have tournaments which are 3 battles in a row, battles where you fight a ton of mini robots, and also a 4 player stay in the ring challenge.

The last one feels like it was inspired by Fortnite since you start taking a whole lot of damage if you leave the ring. Your normal attacks also don’t really deal damage in this mode so you mainly want to focus on grabs. Throwing your opponent out of the circle is a great way to win. In general the game is fairly easy on most of the lower ranks but I imagine that the more I play the game, the harder it will get. For the 4 way battles I would usually hide and let them knock each other out before jumping in. In the 1 on 1 battles I found it easiest to just keep using combos and they wouldn’t fight back much.

Ranking up in the mode is rather weird. You can actually move backwards if you aren’t careful by playing the same mode on a lower rank. This tricked me a bit on the way the mode works but if you’re careful you actually can continue to go up. I got stuck on D rank for most of the modes and it just wouldn’t let me go up though. I suppose I just have to keep on winning over and over until it sticks though. Ultimately I wasn’t sticking around quite long enough for that to do the trick.

The graphics for the game are pretty solid. They’re not out of this world or anything but I thought they were pretty good. The character models are nice and I liked the attack animations. The soundtrack is more on the bland side, I wouldn’t count on seeing any tunes that you really love. They’re more the basic type all around. At least in terms of content there is a whole lot here. You have to win tons of battles to get all the way to the top in career mode which will take many hours. The game tends to go for a fairly cheap price as well so that’s something to consider as well.

You do get a lot of value here. You will have the most fun if you have someone to play with of course but the 1 player experience isn’t bad either. The gameplay is good after all which is ultimately the main thing that counts. My version brought the Ultraman characters with it which was definitely a lot of fun as well. If the gameplay was just a little faster and more intense then that would have really helped the game out. I think part of the problem is the matches can take a little while and it’s not very cinematic either.

So it’s like you’re playing more of a retro fighting game as opposed to a PS4 title. Don’t let that scare you away though. If it was $60 then that would be spooky but that’s not the price at all so it really works out here. Aside from adding a Story Mode the other main change I would add is to give all of the characters more impressive final smash attacks. The current ones don’t even have cinematics or anything like that and those really add o the experience. Not having them just doesn’t make sense. It just feels like another power attack.

Overall, This is a pretty good fighting game. While there is a lot of content, I would say it still feels rather barebones compared to other modern fighting games though. The difference in quality is night and day between this and something like Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm or Tekken. Still, if you don’t compare it to other titles then it does hold its own. The gameplay is a bit different from those after all and there is always room for more 3D brawlers around the bend. I wouldn’t exactly be pre ordering a third game if it came out but I’m still glad to be playing this one. There was enough effort put in to make this one worth it.

Overall 7/10