Tag Archives: Sony

GI Joe: Operation Blackout Review

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The GI Joes have returned and you could say that his game is definitely a lot more intense than the previous one. I wouldn’t call it super high budget or anything but I appreciated that it was trying to be a full adventure. The third person shooter action works really well as you’d guess because that genre is one of the best. It’s a game that is reasonably short but not super short and since you can get the game for a good price, it doesn’t feel bad. I would definitely be recommending this one.

The main story sees the GI Joes going up against Cobra once more. Cobra had been quiet for a while but it turns out that they were just biding their time and they launch an all out offensive against the heroes. This results in most of the Joes being captured so the last remaining ones have to find a way to launch a counter attack. Meanwhile everything is not well within the Cobra household as 4 different members are all betraying the commander and working on their own plans. He will have to try and deal with them before it’s too late.

I’m not the biggest expert on GI Joe so based on the vibes in this game, it definitely looks like the Commander could use some more loyal allies. If he has to be constantly watching his back all while fighting with the Joes, then that’s not going to be a good combination for him. To be sure, he doesn’t end up looking good in this game and that’s impressive since part of the whole premise is that his side won for once. That’s why you can’t get overconfident.

The game was definitely made with a multiplayer mode in mind. Easch level has two playable characters, the second will be controlled by the AI when playing single player mode. You typically have to defeat all enemies in an area, proceed to a checkpoint, or stay inside of a circle to conquer it like in Overwatch. There are 17 missions in the game and each one tends to range from around 8-10 minutes. The default difficulty also gives you a mild challenge in some areas.

I died quite a few times but it never feels bad because the game has a really excellent checkpoint system. You will see respawn points constantly so you never lose more than a few minutes of progress. Some characters have better weapons than others so you really want to be careful who you pick on the character selection screen. That said, just try enough times and you’ll be fine. It’s one of those games where you just have to brute force it. Also sometimes when the mission is about getting to a checkpoint, the best thing to do is just run through the enemies without fighting.

Sometimes their aim isn’t that great and you will make it without any real issues. Other times you will end up dying and then you have to play it the traditional way. The different kinds of weapons vary between standard guns, explosives, and lasers. Generally lasers are the best. Yes, they deal the least amount of damage but the ammo and nonstop firing makes it worth it. They are on a completely different level. The enemies are always moving around so quickly that it’s just easier to follow them with an endless stream as opposed to trying to time the bullets perfectly.

Meanwhile the graphics are pretty good. The cutscenes don’t have a lot of movement to them but I’m just glad for the fact that we have cutscenes in general. That’s something you wouldn’t have expected too much of for a cheaper game. It would have been dialogue based or something. The voice acting is fun and the graphics within the gameplay as also on point. You definitely won’t see any complaints from me in that area. Unfortunately there isn’t much of a soundtrack so I guess you can’t win them all. I would have liked some fun rock themes or something there.

There are also a few vehicle levels. These tend to be pretty easy and seem to just be around as a change of pace. You have to try and dodge land mines and defeat opponents while racing to the goal. It’s essentially a straight road as you get to the end of the game. You just have to keep on driving and driving until you get there. There are a lot of health containers in these levels that are hard to miss which is why the levels feel so much easier.

One last gameplay tip for the standard levels, your close quarters attack is really good against most bosses. Don’t try it on Storm Shadow since his sword will slice your health bar apart but on the other bosses it is the best way to whittle down their health. I was able to complete the final boss way quicker than most of the others in the game because of that. I just went in swinging and they went down extremely quickly. This is because your close quarters attack cuts through the shield and straight to their health bar but of course the same is true of theirs so watch out for the counter attack.

Overall, Operation Blackout is a pretty fun game. It’s nothing fancy, you’re not going to find a lot of fancy gameplay mechanics or anything like that. At the same time, the fundamentals are sound enough to where this is the kind of game you could really recommend. It takes you back to a simpler time of gaming where you only needed a few buttons to play through a game. You can pick this one up and play it at any point without worrying about what the advanced combos were or how you’re supposed to be playing it. Not bad eh? Hopefully more GI Joe games come out in the future.

Overall 7/10

GI Joe: Wrath of Cobra Review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 6/10

Gravity Rush 2 Review

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It’s been many years since I played the original Gravity Rush so it was definitely fun to continue the story here. The sequel definitely brings in a whole lot of the mechanics from the first game along with a bunch of spy missions and a much bigger hub world. There is a lot to do within the game and the story is also at a solid length overall. You’ll be satisfied with how the game goes.

The story starts with Kat in a whole new dimension. She ended up going through a portal at some point but has lost track of where Raven is. Ah well, she will keep on saving the day as normal in the meantime but she definitely needs a way out. Additionally her old world now has a new protector and for some reason a lot of people no longer remember Kat even though it’s not like it has been 10+ years…or has it? Kat will need to find out a lot of info and find it out quickly or she will be in a rough spot.

Right away the gravity controls will feel nostalgic here. Basically you can alter gravity at will and then soar through the skies. The more you play, the more you will get really good at constantly shifting gravity and then going in for the attack. If you ever lose track of which direction you’re going, you can use L1 to stabilize yourself. Trust me I had to do that many times so don’t worry about it. The battles definitely get chaotic after all.

The trickiest level to navigate in is near the climax of the game when you are flying inside a very long mountain. Because all sides of the mountain look the same, it can really mess with your instincts. As always just plunge forward as best you can and eventually you will get near the end. The game has you learn new gravity styles which also come into play here like a power mode which lets you break through walls. The power mode is pretty good and I definitely used it a lot near the end. You also have a mode that is more speed based but honestly there isn’t a whole lot of reason to use it. The main mode is still stronger and almost as fast.

You do get a final smash form that you can use temporarily near the end but I couldn’t figure out how to use it at will. No worries, it’ll happen automatically for the really important climax fights anyway. So there is a lot to get used to in terms of the gameplay but the game walks you through it really well. I don’t expect that you will feel overwhelmed or anything. If anything, they may have underestimated how much EXP you could earn. I had Kat fully maxed out rather early in the game at which point the EXP meter just disappears. I was pretty surprised to see that.

Aside from the story missions, there are tons of side missions scattered throughout the hub world. Completing those will help you get more points if you aren’t maxed out yet as well as online trophies. If you want to get the Platinum for this game you will definitely have to put in a lot of work after all. It’s definitely worth it though and adds to that replay value.

While the story goes a bit slowly at first, it immediately gets more lively once Raven shows up. She’s always good to remind you of how serious the stakes are and then we also get a lot of twists about Kat. We finally see her origin here and it goes further back than you might expect. The gameplay itself even changes for a little while there as you have to inspect things and walk around as if this was a Telltale game. It was definitely not what I had been expecting that’s for sure but it really worked and made things ominous.

There is even a long sequence of levels where you switch over to puzzle gameplay with cubes. They even got rather difficult towards the end. Admittedly if the puzzles went on for too long then I would have had a problem with them but for just being the climax, I was able to deal with it. The stealth levels were not as much fun though. There are several through the game and the AI is very picky with it. If they so much as turn around while you’re in the area then you are cooked. There were a few of these I basically had to brute force through and I’m still not sure if I technically did it the right way.

Stealth missions can be fun depending on the implementation, but for the most part they’re usually not my favorite. I find that they only really work if you are allowed to be spotted if you can quickly defeat the opponent like in Gotham Knights. Otherwise if you lose instantly then I don’t usually think they are worth the hassle. Especially since you usually have to start from the beginning of the mission and each stealth takedown takes time.

The soundtrack in the game is pretty good. I enjoyed the victory themes as well as the general battle music. They tend to be fast paced while still having a bit of a calm vibe that matches the rest of the game. The graphics are also really good. I liked the designs and the various enemy designs. The technicals definitely hold their own with the gameplay.

Overall, Gravity Rush 2 is a pretty fun game. While the story does take a little bit to get going, we eventually head towards the big climax that you would expect. The gameplay is both fun and unique with the character cast being easy to root for. I think there is a whole lot more they could do with the series so hopefully we get a third game at some point in the future. Until then, you should definitely play this one if you have not already done so.

Overall 7/10

Heavenly Sword Review

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It’s time for a game with a really iconic cover but I admit that I completely forgot it existed for a while there. Heavenly Sword is one of those rare 3D beat em ups that isn’t a warriors title. I love the beat em up genre so this was definitely fun although the game is very short. So keep that in mind because you will have this game done in under 6 hours easy and there are no PS3 trophies in terms of replay value. The initial playthrough needs to be enough for you to get all your enjoyment in.

The game starts off in the climax with Nariko fighting off legions of warriors but the cursed blade is draining her life force. Her battle is at an end but then we cut back to 5 days earlier. Nariko always grew up as someone that everybody disliked and she wasn’t treated particularly well. People wanted a boy, not a girl. Well Nariko did her best to get strong either way and it turns out that she is the one destined to use the Heaven’s Sword. Now she will have to fight off the enemies for a people who don’t even respect her. She only has one friend in the world, a girl named Kai. Perhaps that will be all the inspiration that Nariko needs.

Honestly if Kai wasn’t around I would not blame Nariko if she just up and left. Even up through the end when she’s saving lives you still have the NPCs being rude for no reason. Nariko is basically a one woman army and without her the main fighters would have died out ages ago. The whole thing is just so absurd that you get annoyed when thinking about it. Her own father was tempted to murder her several times and just doesn’t seem like a good guy. I know the game tries to redeem him to an extent but it’s all just too late and he nearly convinces Kai not to help Nariko near the climax.

Kai is the only solid heroine here to help out. She may not be nearly as strong as Nariko but her bow and arrow skills are really good. While most of the gameplay is your classic 3D slasher, her levels are more motion based. You shoot arrows and then control them by tilting your controller to hit the soldiers from the opposing side. While I am not a fan of motion controls and this was the weakest point of the game, I did really like the concept they were going for here. An archer or any kind of sniper is always a huge asset on the battlefield because of how many people they can take out.

Due to the game’s war setting it’s fun to see her taking people out even while the main fights are occurring elsewhere. So that was pretty cool but of course the best part is playing as Nariko. You have light, normal, and heavy attacks. You switch them up to cancel the opponent’s moves and then keep attacking to land damage. It is like a game of rock paper scissors with the 3 elements and it can be tough to memorize them. The game has a lot more depth than the average beat em up. I was actually button mashing for a good chunk of time towards the end of the game because it was hard to land the hits perfectly.

My biggest piece of advice is to roll a lot because that allows you to get out of the line of fire and start some counter attacks. Especially with the final boss who has a huge health bar you need to do this. Any time he lands a hit on you, that’s going to set you back big time. So keep that in mind here. There is some motion control elements with the platforming but not too many. You also have a lot of quick time events which are fun but the timing is incredibly fast. I wasn’t able to react to almost any of those and just had to memorize them for the second run through. Fortunately there are constant check points in this game.

The graphics are definitely pretty solid. It’s going for a big of a realistic vibe but the effects have aged well. The characters do tend to look rather ugly though and while that is the point, I wouldn’t mind a more stylized version for a sequel. The soundtrack is also pretty solid. Nothing out of this world but it works well within what the game is trying to do. You can easily picture this being a movie so I’ll be curious to check that out at some point.

The story ends with some interesting directions they could go in although I would need them to undo one decision near the end of the game. You need certain characters to make this a success. I’m cool with a whole new cast of villains though as none of the bosses you fight in the game are particularly impressive. I enjoy them more for the banter than for their actual characters. I also give Nariko a lot of credit here for her own tough lines of dialogue which bring out the best in her opponents. The shadow bird is really our best hope of a big villain for a new game.

Overall, Heavenly Sword is a short game but it is a hype experience. So how much you enjoy the game will really come down to how well that balance works for you. If you don’t think that’s good enough then you may end up skipping it but at the same time the going price for it isn’t all that bad nowadays. So to me there isn’t really a downside anymore. I would also say the high quality of the hours that we do get is more than enough to keep you going here. The levels will even give you a reasonable challenge. So I’d definitely be hyped for a sequel.

Overall 8/10

Castlevania Dominus Collection Review

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It’s time to look at the next Castlevania title. This collection brings 3 more main games as well as a revisited version of one of the classics. So you’ve got quite a lot of content in here, especially considering that the main games all allow you to play through them a second time with another character. Effectively a whole second story mode so that’s pretty crazy. It’s definitely one of the fun things about collections because you really get your money’s worth with them.

First up lets talk about the Order of Ecclesia. In this game you don’t play as one of the Belmonts and instead you are a spellcaster who is charged with absorbing 3 legendary spells inside her. If she can do this then she will prevent Dracula from coming back to murder everyone but she is betrayed by her good friend and gets amnesia. Now she has to regain all of her skills and get the spells but can she really stand a chance? It’s a very different kind of Castlevania game when it comes to the gameplay. You have to use a ton of spells and continually switch between them.

It’s a pretty interesting idea but one immediate drawback here is that because of how you actively need to switch abilities to use the new ones, you probably won’t even touch about half of them. Once you get the good abilities that you want then there is really no need to try out any of the others. They can be fun to switch around with but for the most part you just don’t need them. Still it does mean everyone’s playthrough will probably be a little different as you pick the play style that suits your needs the best.

The layout of the map is pretty smooth as you would expect and I also like the fact that they have little sub quests in the hub world. The missions are never anything that really puts you out of your way so it’s easy to complete a lot of them while exploring. It gives you extra incentive to look around thoroughly and the quests give you little rewards. I ended up completing a whole lot of them on my way to beating the game. As always I got the bad ending first but that also helps you appreciate the level of detail they put into the game. Putting in more than one ending definitely has to be difficult considering most titles don’t do that.

This is a very fun game and the story is engaging. Castlevania has really come a long way from the 2D platformer titles into the very iconic vania styled ones. As always I can also give the games a whole lot of credit for making this part fun as well. You really feel stronger as you absorb more abilities and level up. There are a few rooms that don’t appear on the map which feels like cheating to me but most of it makes a lot of sense as you just play through the game normally. The layouts are food and there are enough quick travel rooms to keep anything from being tedious.

Then we have Portrait of Ruin which is a little more traditional. You play as a guy who is distantly related to the Belmonts but has never been able to use the iconic whip. He’s still been able to defeat every vampire that he needed to though. Now he faces one of the most powerful vampires alive and may need some help. Will he be able to face up to his destiny and use the whip or will he fall? I also hadn’t been using the whip very often so this game definitely encourages you to do so. By the end of the game it ends up being one of the most powerful weapons even if you will probably be using the sword for most of the early game.

The game’s main difference from the last one is that there are a lot of little worlds instead of one big one. You jump into paintings which become their own worlds like Super Mario 64. It’s a fun idea and if anything it probably makes the game easier since all of the individual worlds are a lot smaller. The game also becomes a lot more linear this way since you very rarely have to go back to an old world. It is technically still a vania as there are optional power ups and such but don’t expect to get lost or anything.

It definitely makes things really calm the whole time. The bosses are all fun and getting good enough to beat them all is a real feat. This time you actually fight Dracula and Death as a combined tag team which made for a cool boss fight. I thought that was a really nice way to spice things up since that had never happened before. It’s a really smooth experience and it can hold its own as one of the stronger titles in the franchise. At this point it’s safe to say that the modern games all hold their own on a high level.

After that is Dawn of Sorrow which is a direct sequel to one of the prior games. Dracula is surprisingly still gone but a lady named Cecil has decided to work on destroying Soma so one of her proteges can become the new Dracula. Soma decides to stop her before she can hurt anyone but will he be able to resist the powers of darkness? The Belmont of this generation thinks this is definitely a bad idea and Alucard agrees but nobody is going to stop Soma. He figures this threat is too big to be ignored and must be dealt with effective immediately.

In this game you absorb the souls of enemies when you defeat them although it is part RNG. You have to defeat some enemies numerous times in order to absorb their soul while other ones will drop it on the first try. I didn’t really care about the souls initially but for the rue ending you have to absorb a specific three and this led to me having to enter and exit a room over and over and over as I farmed the same enemy until he dropped the soul. It actually took quite a bit longer than I expected so that surprised me. The actual final boss for the true ending is also quite difficult. I believe I went in rather under leveed which did not help. Still, those attacks were completely crazy. Dodging them is hard.

See, the final boss spams an infinite amount of minions at you while walking around the place. You have to destroy him in two different areas to win while not getting hit by anything else. Your best bet is to beat the minions as they come while also landing his on the weak points. Of course that’s way easier said than done. I recommend using Death’s scythe as your ongoing support attack since all of the weapons that it summons are enough to keep all of the foes busy at times. It doesn’t always work though, it’s a bit of give and take.

Finally you also have the arcade style remake. It’s a fairly short game with only 5-6 levels but this time you can’t rewind or use access points. The game does save what level you are on at least until you exit the game. So basically you gotta make sure you have a lot of time to invest and then do everything at once. If you can’t do that then it’s basically about time for you to throw in the towel. This is the one game I could not conquer.

The Castlevania games are really no walk in the park and beating it all without true save points would just be asking for a tad too much. With no way to grind EXP or anything, it forces you to try and just get really good. An admirable goal to be sure but one that would probably take too much time without much reward. For example there are no PS5 trophies for beating this one. I do aim to get the Platinum though as there are only 3 trophies left and apparently none of them are particularly long.

Of course the soundtrack is really good across the whole collection. All of the games sound really good and the graphics are also solid for all of the titles. These are all clearly well made games with solid fundamentals, stories, and gameplay. Now all we need is a big budget modern day PS5 title for the series and we would really be off to the races. There is just a lot of potential here and you have to assume that all of these collections are to build up hype for a new game. Hopefully that is the case at least.

Overall, This is a collection that was really fun to play through. I think that’s probably even the best word I would use for the collection. You really have a blast going through each title and exploring the maze. If every vania styled game was like this then I would be a huge fan of the genre. The level up system was handled very well and there is a whole lot of replay value to be found here. Whether you are a fan of the franchise or not you will definitely enjoy your stay here.

Overall 8/10

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Review

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Prince of Persia is one of those titles that seems to vanish for long periods of time but when it returns, it returns with a vengeance! The Gamecube titles may have gone a little too into edgy territory but I remember the soundtracks being used for DBZ AMVs because of how intense they were. Then you had the PS3 title which was absolutely top tier. Even the movie was quite excellent and so the franchise really operates at a high level. Well after playing this game I can safely say that it is the best game in the series. It is absolutely elite at every level and should be used as a teaching moment for all other Metroid-vania titles. This is absolutely how you make a game like this.

The story starts by introducing us to the immortals who are a powerful group of fighters who protect the royal family such as the prince. They are all very skilled and good at what they do but one day the prince is captured by the main hero’s mentor. The immortals all follow her into a weird realm where time seems to work differently. They now exist in the past, present, and future with branching timelines. They meet people who have been in here for decades despite only jumping into the realm a few hours before us. Then you even have kid versions of the characters. Something weird is going on but saving the prince comes first!

The story really uses time manipulation in a fresh way and it’s definitely a great approach. It reminds me a bit of the Blame! series where time seems to be a very flexible concept. The main character must even tackle various other versions of himself, some who have been corrupted by power and others who have given up. You also have various gods and other immortal creatures who seem amused by this and others who have just grown used to the whole thing. It’s a pretty big world with a lot of concepts to accept but they all work pretty well.

The gameplay is a 2D brawler type. You have your blade to land solid combos with and then you have your evasion techniques and counter moves. There are over 15 different tutorials for how to play the game but most of it is very intuitive. I only did the tutorials near the end for some more currency to buy unlockables with. You’ll quickly understand the system and then it really comes down to your reaction times for the parry mechanics. If you aren’t good at timing blows then this will really help you get to that high comfort level.

Now when it comes to the Metroid-Vania part, you have a large map that fills in as you explore it. You can also buy maps which show the all of the treasure within a certain location. These don’t fill the dots on collectibles or side mission content though so you will have to find those on your own. Still the treasure is where you get most of your big power ups and currency to buy others. There are many different collectibles here which could have been overwhelming in a different game but in this one it is all handled exceptionally well.

You can equip amulets with different properties, choose which super attacks you want at the ready, and you can even leave little spy pictures when you notice a collectible that you can’t reach just yet. You can store quite a few of those and it’s a good idea because otherwise you will probably forget them. You can use quick travel between any portals you have unlocked but then right before the final boss you also get the ability to warp to any save point. This is a game changer because there are constant save points almost everywhere.

The reason I really liked this is because it rewards you for playing the game. Now in the post game if you want to get everything, you have an easy means to do this as opposed to running everywhere. There is no reason not to make that part a bit easier on the players by this point so I was completely on board with it. The more you explore, the stronger you get which makes exploring even easier. A proper vania title should always make you feel stronger as you play and that definitely happened here.

Meanwhile I really enjoyed the general atmosphere of the game. We had DBZ type interactions as the various immortals fought and all showed off their abilities. It’s not something I would expect to see here as it’s a very specific type of approach. The story was super compelling and cinematic the whole time as a result. I really liked the energy effects as well. This game had really good graphics which also helped a great deal. It feels like a big PS5 game the whole time.

Of course the soundtrack is not far behind either with a number of really good tracks. I’ll need to seek those out at some point to hear them again. The bosses all have different mechanics and due to the wide upgrade selection, your gameplay will likely be very different compared to the next person’s playthrough. There is a ton of freedom here and the gameplay style allows for that. There is a ton of replay value here in exploring the map because you’ll just have a great time doing so. It’s not the longest title but at over 10 hours, it’s long enough to justify the purchase. The value here is pretty good without a doubt.

Overall, Prince of Persia is a top tier game and I recommend playing it as soon as possible. The gameplay and exploration elements are extremely rewarding and there are just so many things to uncover here. I’d definitely like to Platinum this game someday because it just feels that fulfilling to explore and see what else the devs have hidden. The game has a fair amount of difficulty as well so you will have a good challenge here and need to really understand the gameplay mechanics. Hopefully the next game uses a lot of the mechanics from this title, then the series will definitely be in a good position to keep on dominating.

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

Tekken 8 Review

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This is it, it’s time for the final entry in the Tekken saga! Of course the series will keep going at some point but this finally got us to the end of the saga that’s been building up since the beginning. It’s an absolute masterpiece and I highly recommend it. It’s not simply a fighting game, it’s a full on adventure with a great plot and lots of fun characters. Every part of this game was polished to perfection and you get a real rush while playing through it. It’s the kind of game that you just can’t put down!

The game starts off with Kazuya and Jin fighting in the city. Jin is wrecked as per usual and seems to have lost most of his abilities. He will need to regain them quickly because Kazuya has begun his plan to end the world. There will even be one last tournament. The fate of the world rests on Jin’s shoulders and he will have to really contend with his inner darkness in order to measure up to this. Fortunately he is ready, this is what he was born to do. He will be the ones to end the curse once and for all.

If you didn’t play the older games for any reason, there is a whole mode for movies and summaries to recap them all. It even goes far enough to clear up the more ambiguous moments of the first 3 games where everyone had their own arcade mode. So you learn what the true events were. There are also some prequel movies and the first DLC season of stories comes in for free. That’s a ton of story content for a fighting game right? It’s because Tekken’s story is really good so it’s not playing second fiddle to the gameplay. It’s right in the middle of things the whole time.

Throw in the lyrical songs and this is really a cinematic experience. I had to pump the volume up a bit for some of the cutscenes and man do the sound effects go hard. The game also cleverly mixed in a lot of cinematics with the gameplay to show you the character’s thoughts during a fight. It’s all way ahead of its time and I had no complaints here. The story s excellent and the setup for a 9th main installment is handled really well. I’m already hyped for two of the main villains who seem to be getting a big role coming up.

Meanwhile the graphics are naturally top tier here. The energy effects for each of the attacks are great and the characters have never looked more lifelike. It’s not super realistic in the kind of way where it won’t age well later on though. We still have all of the fantastical elements here as well. You never forget that this is a supernatural world and the character outfits are all very dynamic. As another attention to detail, during one of the final fights, the two characters keep changing across the games. The battle lasts for around 5-7 rounds and your moveset will suddenly change from Tekken 8 to Tekken 5, etc. There’s even a quick blink and you’ll miss it easter egg where one character changes his hairstyle to the old look.

I wouldn’t have caught that myself but ages ago when the game came out I remember people raving about it. The game is really an ultimate homage to how far the whole adventure has gone. Everything about the game is actively celebrated here and it’s really nice to see that. That’s never a guarantee after all and it can be difficult to put in easter eggs without them being forced. Well, I can say that this game didn’t have any problem in that department.

Then of course the soundtrack is absolutely top tier. The main theme of the game is excellent but so are all of the stage themes. It’s one of the most complete fighting game tracks that you are likely to see. Then there is really unlimited replay value here. Aside from the story which is already a reasonable length, you can do everyone’s arcade modes and the story dlc. Then you have normal battling, online matchups, etc. You should be here a very long while if you really enjoy the Tekken gameplay and won’t have to stop anytime soon. It is the best game in the franchise and that is always an honor since it can be difficult to keep on climbing to new heights after a while.

Honestly the bar is so high that I don’t expect Tekken 9 to beat this one. Even just because story wise it’ll be hard to surpass this climax. That said, I do expect it to still be elite which is the main thing. A lot of the pressure will be on Reina and how well she can take the helms of the story along with the villain at the end of the DLC who is sure to be a big player. There are a ton of characters and plots to explore so the series can go in a lot of directions from here.

I didn’t really talk much about the gameplay but naturally that is elite too. It’s a 2D brawler and each hit does a whole lot of damage. Generally win or lose, the match is over really quickly. Once one of you starts landing combo hits, it’s curtains. You can play using dynamic controls or a simpler style as well. Each has their pros and cons in the end. It always feels very satisfying when you land a copy but you can also see how this game would be ultra difficult at a high level. There are so many different ways to move and attack that trying to dodge will come down to a lot of reaction times and then just plain ole experience.

Overall, Tekken 8 is a game that you should buy immediately. You don’t even need any prior experience to enjoy this one, just watch all the recaps after you buy this game. It’s the kind of title that you really should not leave to the sidelines. You have to be there and really experience it because it’s rare to see a game at this elite level. Whenever Tekken 9 comes out, I can definitely tell you that I will be getting it day 1. The series absolutely deserves that treatment at this point. It’s just too good to hold off on.

Overall 9/10