Tag Archives: Sony

Castlevania Anniversary Collection Review

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Castlevania is one of those franchises where I actually hadn’t gotten too involved with yet. There are tons and tons of games but I’ve only played a handful up to now. Well, with this collection I get to jump into 8 games right off the bat which is a huge increase. They’re definitely fun titles and only one of them actually deals with a lot of puzzles and mysteries so I appreciate that. The rest are all direct platformers which is of course the best way to go about things. The games are rather difficult so the access points really come in clutch.

First we have the original Castlevania which is of course very dated in terms of graphics. This is how the saga all started of course so it definitely did well for itself. It’s a very direct game about having to stop Dracula so you fight bosses on each level and then make it to the end. You really have to be perfect in your jumps and attacks in order to really stand a chance though. A single slip up and you are really going to be absolutely doomed here. It’s one of the harder games in the collection to be sure but I had a good time with it. Sometimes you don’t need all the extra frills and such. Just give me some good core gameplay and I am set!

The second game is the worst one so at least we get it over with quickly. This one decides to go the full Metroidvania experience as you have to find items scattered throughout the world. Different items will unlock new pathways so you will continue to travel across each level multiple times. It’s definitely not easy to put it mildly and the game doesn’t do a great job of directing you. The NPCs are definitely not helpful and some of the objectives are so vague that I can’t imagine how you would have ever figured the hint out on your own. Seems to be like it would have been an absolutely futile effort. Mix in the day and night system where you just have to wait the nights out in order to proceed and that’s a mechanic that didn’t work so well. Why should I have to wait? I want to just get in there and progress. I’ve yet to see a game where a day/night system really enhanced it.

The third game goes back to its roots. We have a clean platformer here where you have to destroy all of the monsters. It’s very similar to the first game but you do notice the improvements. They have improved the graphics and the gameplay. You have a bit more freedom here and the game isn’t quite as punishing as the last one where you were absolutely doomed the whole time. So I can definitely appreciate that and of course it’s always fun to take on Dracula again. He really never stands a chance against the power of the Belmonts!

Continuing on, we have the 4th game which has really gotten the style down to an art by this point. You have to go through all of the levels and beat every boss until you get over to Dracula. It may be a story that you’ve seen before but the games all have their little changes. I really like how you get to read the long plot synopsis before entering the game. That way even if you don’t see much of a plot within the story itself, you still know it’s there. That’s a really good design decision if you ask me.

After that we do have one of the weaker ones though. It’s not the game’s fault by any means but we go to the Game Boy so the graphics take a rather large dip. The gameplay speed is also exceptionally slow so you really have a hard time landing hits on the enemies. It just doesn’t feel as lively or energetic and of course it makes the levels feel longer than they actually are. Even with that it ends up being the shortest game though as there are only 4 real levels here. Certainly not enough to keep you here for the long haul or anything like that.

Then we actually have the second game boy game. I’ll give the title credit for fixing some of my biggest issues like the slow speed. In the sequel you can actually move at a reasonable speed which is really good. You also regain some of the more standard abilities from the mainline games like sub weapons. So it’s definitely improving but doesn’t really get up to the level of the main core games.

After that is easily the most impressive game in the collection, Bloodlines. This one looks really modern and has a dramatic improvement in graphics and gameplay. It’s clearly on a completely different level. You have two different characters to choose from so I went with the guy who has a lance to try out this new gameplay style. It’s definitely a lot of fun. His weapon has such a good reach too so you really have the advantage here. I’m not sure what, if any downsides this weapon has vs the whip but the fact that it’s a different/unique option makes the whole thing worth it. I like to shake things up and this character gave me a way to do it. This is definitely going to be the turning point for the series.

The final game shakes things up a bit by bringing in Kid Dracula. You get the feeling that they wanted to end off on a fun note. It’s a chibi style game that plays more like Mega Man as you blast away at every enemy in your way. It’s actually rather fun and the game is not afraid to get really crazy as you go through it. You fight enemies like the Statue of Liberty before you’re all done. That was a pretty fun boss battle. If I had a complaint it’s that you don’t see the boss health meters anymore and there isn’t always a visual indicator to show that they’re taking damage. So for the final boss for example, you’re just not sure if you’re playing the fight in the right way for a while there.

The games all generally have pretty solid soundtracks to go along with the gameplay. The older ones are a bit more limited but the tune that they choose isn’t bad. The gameplay is generally smooth and of course the graphics get better as you go through the title. In general you could tell that they put a good amount of budget behind these games and were really trying for them to be successful. Clearly it worked out since the franchise is a household name right now.

Overall, It was fun to really start getting used to the Castlevania titles. For now I would even say it is better than I expected since I was dreading the more labyrinth style games where you have to run around and find things. This one managed to avoid all of that for the most part. Perhaps that’s just something the latter games have or maybe it’s actually not that frequent and the series just became known for it somehow. I can’t say I really know how this is going to play out but regardless I can definitely recommend this collection. In general collections always give you such great bang for your buck.

Overall 7/10

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion Review

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It was definitely a really hype day when they announced they would be porting over Crisis Core from the PSP. This is an absolutely top tier game that a decent amount of people never got to play. I can definitely assure you that the experience absolutely holds up here and I think they did add a few moments here and there on the PS5 version. I forget if there were any story additions at all or just side stuff, but either way it works perfectly as the lead in to Remake. You should definitely play this one first if possible as it makes your experience through the main game even more intense. Some parts of Cloud’s story don’t really seem to pan out eh? Hmmmmm…

The story starts by introducing us to Zack who is a fairly young member of the Shinra forces. He hopes to become a Soldier First Class and to do that he will need to impress the top brass. Fortunately for him, a lot is going on right now so it looks like he will get his chance. Genesis has gone rogue and now clones of him are showing up all over the planet and they have to be stopped no matter the cost. Along the way Zack begins to learn some troubling secrets about his employer which also have his comrades Sephiroth and Angeal rather frazzled. What was once the most powerful unit of all time is starting to break apart. Zack may be the only one who can keep them all together.

Well, where to even start on this masterpiece right? First up, everything is super modern here from the menus to the hud inside the game. You always know exactly what is happening and it is very easy to navigate all of the menus. Everything has a sci-fi feel to it and of course the graphics are really top notch. The cutscenes are all super good and there is voice acting for pretty much every line in the game. They really do not hold back on the budget at all. It’s great really learning more about the world here and the cast are all able to hold their ends of the story.

Then you have the soundtrack which is incredible. Pretty much every theme is some kind of big rock song which works really well with the vibe they are going for here. It’s just a very fast paced and intense game. Even the way the levels are structured makes sense with this. You usually have a cutscene, a few fights, cutscene, fight, then chapter ends. The game is rather short as a result of this though. I beat it in around 7 hours so this is definitely what I would call a mini game. Certainly nothing like the main FFVII title but it still covers enough. The length isn’t gonna limit this game but it does mean you could easily end up beating it in a day or two if you don’t pace yourself.

There is bonus content to keep you busy though. You can go back and complete all of the missions which is bound to take you some time. You can also try for the Platinum trophy which will be difficult to obtain. I won’t say that it’s a tremendous amount of replay value but every bit helps. It’s not about the length, but the quality of the time you spent after all and this was top quality.

As for the gameplay, this is your classic 3D slasher. The game is a lot easier than the main title for one critical reason though. There is no cooldown on items. So unlike the main game where you have to try and survive for a bit after using an item, you can spam them endlessly here. There’s not much to buy either so you’ll be swimming in cash. I maxed out on potions early on and then I was basically set. Get 100 potions and then get 100 Ethers. You can now spam your most powerful attacks over and over and over again for as long as you need to.

I recommend keeping one slot active for each of the 4 elemental types. Do that and you will be well equipped to deal with any enemy. There are a lot of fights and you may lose some on occasion but usually that will be because you let your guard down and got tackled. You should usually be able to win even with some good spamming. I recommend doing some of the side missions to beef up your summons though. They definitely go a really long way here plus you get cool cutscenes when you attack with them. Blocking is also a super good skill in this game.

A lot of times I completely ignore the button in any video game but it does seem to reduce damage by over 60% and some attacks are basically impossible to dodge so this is the way to go. I applaud the game for actually making the block option viable. Usually it just feels like it’s wasting space. So the devs really thought of everything this time around. I suppose if I had one nitpick it would be that we get the combat stance too late in the game. There’s a meter there so you can try to use it often in battles to build that up but there’s no apparent reason to use it.

It just seems worse than fighting normally. Maybe you unlock a true ending for getting the affinity to 100% of something. It better be a really good reward considering how slow you get the progress up with it whenever you land attacks. I got it up to 0.09% after defeating a bunch of enemies and that’s when I gave up on it. I would need much more of an incentive to use it, but hey more options is never a bad thing. I’m sure some people had a great time with it.

Overall, Crisis Core is an elite title and one that you need to play right away. The game does a tremendous job of showing us what Zack was like and Sephiroth’s fall from grace. It really covers a whole lot and of course you know how the story ends, but seeing it in real time is still crazy. The story was absolutely incredible! They did a good job with how the gameplay works for the final bosses as well. You definitely have to fight hard to make sure you last long enough here. Whether you’ve played the main Final Fantasy game or not, this is a must buy!

Overall 9/10

Tales of Arise Review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 9/10

Scarlet Nexus Review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 9/10

The King of Fighters XII Review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 7/10

King of Fighters 2000 & 2001 Review

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It’s time for some King of Fighters hype! It’s pretty fun to be playing through all of the games in the series. These two start to feel a bit more modern on the PS2 but you’ve still got enough retro elements in the game to make it feel nostalgic. You’ve also got some real stories going on here which is always fun. It would be nice if there was a longer story for everybody but I’m still satisfied. There is basically always a cliffhanger here as well to keep things moving.

In 2000, we get to play as K who is fighting for his memories and to take down the villains like NEST. He enters the King of Fighters tournament to deal some serious damage and along the way the villains make their move as well. Kula also gets involved which is fun because for me she’s one of the more nostalgic characters. I played as her a lot in one of the spinoff games. So to see her with more of a starring role was definitely a lot of fun, her ice abilities also work pretty well in the gameplay.

The game has the striker system active so you can summon assists like in Marvel vs Capcom. It’s pretty fun although it never really works on the bosses all that much. This is the only game where the final boss isn’t too crazy though. You can actually fight him like a normal boss and eventually win as opposed to just being cheesy the whole time and staying in the corner. Hey, you have to win whatever it takes right? So no shame there, you just look forward to actually rushing in and fighting so this was a fun change of pace. Part of King of Fighters’ whole appeal is the insane difficulty though. These final bosses are really made to make you work to find whatever exploit you can in order to win.

2001 adds another extra mechanic to the striker system. This time you can have up to 3 strikers. So you can use all 4 fighters to attack the enemy or only have one. The balance is up to you but one thing to keep in mind is that the final boss will have more health if you opt to go with 4 fighters. I didn’t even realize that so for a while there he was dominating me and had tons of health. Fortunately every time you die you can readjust your team so after a bunch of losses I put everyone into being a striker except my main guy and then I used him to win the day. It was still extremely difficult to be sure and I just barely pulled it off but that does seem like the play. You are basically banking on RNG here to be able to beat the final boss.

You need him to make the wrong choices just a few times on 2001 and then you will be able to finish him off with minimal difficulty. I suppose the one drawback is you will be getting sent to the game over screen a lot quicker this way as your one fighter will keep on going down quickly but at the end of the day it’s still worth it. I still advise going through this way. Also, make sure you do not use your summons. They will never land a hit anyway and only exist to get in your way. Activating them is basically ensuring your own defeat. So definitely make sure that you don’t do that. In the split second it takes to call them out the boss will inevitably use a wide energy wave to take down both of you.

The final boss is also able to use super attacks without using up any magical energy. This means that blocking forever is only worth it if you are aiming for a timeout but otherwise it’s not like you’re going to tire this guy out. So definitely just keep an eye out on that. For most battles you still want to go with the tried and true tactic of an aerial kick into a sweeping kick but you never want to approach these final bosses. Let them come to you and you just stick to punishing their mistakes. Each small hit will eventually add up and then you’re good.

As you would expect the graphics for both games are pretty good. In general you can see the graphics improving s the games go on but it still will take some time before they’re completely up to PS5 level or anything like that. The sprites are very colorful though and that’s why I recommend them as an artstyle. They will never get out of date and will always look very pleasant no matter how many years go by. The soundtrack is another okay one as well. The themes match the stages but aren’t something you would necessarily be looking up on Youtube.

That’s good enough though, at the end of the day this is a fighting game and one that is a lot of fun. I enjoy all of the combos and the big character roster. It’s a game that really never has to stop giving you entertainment since you can have endless vs battles. The replay value is there and since the gameplay itself is really solid, that’s all you need. It’s certainly possible that you won’t need to play this one if you have the sequels but at least this will still work out. Terry is still my favorite character even if I’ve had to play as the other characters lately for the story.

Overall, King of Fighters is a solid series that has certainly had a lot of games. This collection does a good job of bringing two of the games in and they work really well together. I’ve certainly improved my King of Fighter fundamentals even if I would not exactly be tournament ready just yet. I would really need to stud the games for that and get used to the combos. In the meantime, going through story mode is definitely the right amount of investment for me. I don’t really need anything more. Of course if we ever do get a massive cinematic story mode then I would have to really learn the controls because I would not want to miss that!

Overall 7/10

Lost Planet 2 Review

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It’s time for the second Lost Planet title! I played the first one very recently so it’s definitely still top of mind. This one doesn’t quite match up to the first one though either in story or gameplay. Part of what makes this one unique is that the whole game is balanced around the multiplayer aspect. So playing on your own actually puts you at a rather heavy disadvantage. I do think this game would get massively boosted if you had other people to play with but as a solo game it is still good.

The game’s story is anthology style as you play as different factions in each episode. Then by the end you finally get to play as all of them. The context here is that the planet is finally vibrant after the events of the first game so now everyone is fighting for their own interests. Some want money, some want honor, etc. The alien creatures are still around but they’re more of an afterthought at this point. If you see one then you blow it up but otherwise they aren’t exactly a big threat at this stage. Just take them out and keep moving but is it possible that the aliens are planning something big?

The campaign is reasonably long. There are 6 episodes, each episode has around 4 chapters and each chapter has 2-6 missions. The missions themselves can really range in length from some being around 10 minutes to others being over 30. So you never quite know what you’re about to get yourself into so always stay prepared. The objective is usually to get to the end of an area but other times you have to protect some devices, activate towers, or beat all enemies in an area. There is quite a lot of variety here.

The gameplay is that of a 3D shooter so you run around and blast away at everyone. There are a lot of weapons so you will want to see which is your favorite. Personally I feel like the shotgun is easily the best one. It hits almost as hard as the rockets but also fires off rounds much quicker. What this means is you can comfortably beat almost any minion in one hit with it and you also deal powerful damage against the boss. It has more ammo than the rockets as well so it really does feel like the most overpowered weapon in the game. To make up for this, the spawn rate isn’t great. You will go many missions where you don’t even see it.

One thing to remember is that weapons carry over when you beat a mission so just make sure you hang onto it. You can also find mechs to ride. When you jump into a mech you get weapons that are much stronger than normal. Most of them can also hover or fly for a while which is great and the armor is more advanced. They are really necessary for when the enemies bring out their own mechs. If you try to beat one while you are on foot then I guarantee that it is not going to go well. You are going to get absolutely demolished no matter how you look at it. Even run and gun tactics are often not effective because they can move faster than you can. So once you get into range to land a blow it is already too late.

As far as the graphics go, I would say the game ages pretty well. The environments look pretty good and I like the designs of the mech suits. There isn’t a lot of opportunity for the game to really show off in terms of colors since this isn’t a very colorful game but it works well enough. As for the soundtrack, that is a bit more forgettable. I can’t really recall any iconic tunes off the top of my head at least but it does the job well enough.

The A.I. is definitely terrible though. It goes back to the difficulty scale not being meant for single player. There are missions where each player has a task like in the big boss fight where you have to use a ship against it. You need one guy cooling down the ship in the engine room, one using the cannon, and 2 to load the cannon with ammo. The only thing that the computers knew how to do was load the cannon. They couldn’t fire it or cool the ship down so I had to do everything on my own. In normal mode this was effectively impossible as a result so at that point in the game I had to lower the difficulty.

As you can probably expect, this is an issue to an extent in every level though. The allies don’t really do their part in supporting you so you really have be a one man army and that’s not easy. You start to run out of ammo quickly this way as well as energy. The game has an interesting mechanic where you can always regenerate your energy as long as you have some stockpiled but otherwise when you lose health it is just gone. Also, you can be defeated while you are regenerating and you will end up being surrounded by enemies before long. Outside of missions that have a time limit, it can be a fun way to test your skills though. Can you effectively defeat all of the enemies on your own? Due to the energy system you can also die a few times before it runs out so that’s another thing to keep in mind. You don’t have to literally be perfect or anything like that.

One thing I noticed is whenever I would leave the game during a mission, the game data would corrupt. That could just be my copy but keep that in mind. Try to beat as many levels as possible because otherwise it takes a while to rebuild the game each time. I am glad to know about this for the future for other PS3 games though. If you delete the game data without deleting the save data then you can actually continue from where you left off after reinstalling the title. It’s a pretty good trick although hopefully I won’t actually need it later on.

Overall, I had a good time with the game. It definitely had some issues like the A.I. not being very good and the difficulty balancing in general though. They should have worked on the single player experience more even if that wasn’t the focus. The data corruption was rough but that might have been more of a disc thing than the game itself. So I would say to check this game out but maybe start it on easy mode from the jump. You will need to change later on anyway so you might as well enter it this way. At some point I’ll definitely need to check out the third game even if it does seem rather infamous.

Overall 7/10

Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 Review

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It’s time for Xenoverse 2, one of the most well known games in all of Dragon Ball. That alone is a very impressive feat because there have been so many huge games over the years. Basically what happened is that the game has a ton of DLC updates and they have been going on and on for years with no end in sight. So at this point some people have basically grown up alongside the game which is super impressive. With the game being ported over to the PS5, I knew it was time to dive right in!

The basic plot here is that villains have returned to cause a bunch of trouble with the timestream. I’m not talking basic troubles either but end of the world type stuff. Mira and Towa are going to make it so that evil wins the day. Trunks and Terry from the first game are possibly in over their heads so that’s where Terry Jr comes in. He is ready to help save the day and show off the true powers of a Saiyan elite! You have the option to pick from a bunch of different races but of course I was going to go with the Saiyans. They’re always the best after all! There’s a lot of special dialogue you get from the characters too for being a Saiyan although I imagine that’s probably true for the rest of the types as well.

My only issue with the story is that it goes a bit too linearly. This was my slight problem with the first game too. Naturally the villains decide to mess with the Saiyan Saga first, then Namek, then Androids, then Buu, etc. We follow DBZ through the 2 DBZ-Super movies in a row without going out of order once. Considering that the game is about messing with the timeline and everything, it feels like the game jus plays it way too safe. I’m always glad to see Mira show up with the other villains to break things up but it’s really like reliving DBZ with some new elements as opposed to it being a completely new story.

I love all the classic DBZ content as much as the next guy so I still have a blast the whole time but it just feels like a wasted opportunity considering how many expanded villains and scenarios you could pull off with the timeline going crazy. Without a doubt this could have been as crazy as Dragon Ball Heroes. Ah well, I did really appreciate that you get to see the avatar from the first game return. That was a cool attention to detail and a reminder on the strong continuity between the two games.

Naturally the gameplay is a real blast here. It’s a full 3D fighter with a ton of characters and you get to really test out all of their moves. For your avatar you can naturally change the moveset up a ton. So feel free to try out all of the special abilities until you find one that you like. It takes a while to unlock the transformation into a Super Saiyan but in the meantime you still have plenty to work with. There is also a level system so make sure you get those level ups promptly.

The hub world is so huge that you might even find it to be rather intimidating the whole time. There are so many side missions and bonus content to tackle there that you barely know where to start. There’s over 100 Parallel Quests, different instructors, etc. They just keep on coming over and over and over. The trickiest part is when the game randomly makes this part of the story like getting 15 badges. That took a while because I never bothered with that at all. So I would recommend doing some side content early on to start building up your stash and getting that ready. Likewise with the instructor trainings to get Super Saiyan 2 or you will have to do a whole lot at once.

You can tell that the devs really wanted you to go ahead and play through a bunch of the content that they set up. I definitely get it, they worked hard on that. At the same time, it does feel rather forced which I do have to admit here. Just let me continue the battles! The gameplay has dramatically improved from the first title though. The hits link up way better and now there’s an actual reason to use special techniques as opposed to just punching everyone into oblivion. I really appreciated that since in the first game I did find it weird how weak the energy blasts were.

A sequel should always improve upon the original and that’s exactly what Xenoverse 2 did. Naturally the same is true for the graphics which are a bit sharper and look great as you would expect. Then you have the soundtrack which was a big jump up. The ost is incredible with a whole lot of big rock themes around every corner. A good soundtrack can also help to make the story events themselves more impressive as well so that’s a nice ripple effect. I had to Youtube a bunch of the themes right away after hearing them. They were too good to pass up.

Overall, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 is really the complete package. There’s just so much content to play around with here. It’s extremely impressive and the gameplay is top tier. While the story could have been bolder, I definitely still enjoyed it a lot. Whenever the game would switch from a cutscene to a fully hand drawn scene I also felt the extra hype there. You can bet that I would be lining up to buy Xenoverse 3 immediately on day 1 as soon as it comes out. You just can’t miss out on content like this.

Overall 9/10

Asura’s Wrath Review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 9/10

The Last Blade 2 Review

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This is a fighting game that I had definitely never heard of before but it sure is fun. You feel like they put some extra effort into this title relative to the average fighting game. For starters there are some fun illustrations here for the story aspect. There is a real ending when you beat the arcade mode. Not just a quick picture or something but a true story. The opening is good as well and I really liked the vibes here. The characters all have great designs and movesets.

I never played the original Last Blade but the fact that this one continues after the first title is a good thing. You can feel the continuity here all the way through. The lines and twists would hit harder if you had any kind of context for them but I’m still glad to see them around. The game has vs mode aside from arcade of course but there isn’t a ton of content here. So the story that we do get really goes a long way to making the game be more memorable. The genre has a lot of competition and even back in those days there were always a ton of games being churned out left and right. So what that means is that you needed to try hard in order to stay ahead of the curve and that’s not easy.

I’m surprised you don’t see this game series around more nowadays since I feel like the game would do well. It had that anime feel to it and the actual gameplay is fairly fast paced. It’s your classic 2D fighter all the way through and the characters deal a whole lot of damage. So if you take the wrong combo you will be knocked out almost instantly. Of course by the same token that means you just need to land a good hit and you will be the one claiming victory. So definitely don’t give up, if you strike hard and fast then you will always have the ticket for victory. The game is really about proper spacing so you definitely need to be careful when you throw a strike.

I approached the title with my usual button mashing style which I have to admit worked rather well here. Most opponents are just unable to stop my combos but some matches did take me a while. I will always stand by the fact that games were simply way more difficult back in the day than they are now. Games in the present could mostly be blasted through at any point but for the older ones you really had to work at it. Easy mode itself could be a little difficult at times.

The graphics are pretty good like I mentioned earlier with the illustrations. The soundtrack isn’t very memorable but you win some and you lose some. The writing is also where the game really stands out, there are a lot of great lines here. The characters really have no chill and will deliver some of the biggest verbal smackdowns that you have ever seen. Seriously I was impressed but also a bit nervous at just how hard these guy went. It’s the kind of dialogue you won’t see as often nowadays because it can tow the line but I think it works out since these guys are villains. It also gives you an incentive not to lose. If you lose then you’re just going to have to put up with that.

Overall, The Last Blade 2 is a pretty fun game. It’s always cool to find a hidden gem inside the PSN+ like this. It may not be a title that changes everything that I ever knew or anything like that but it’s fun which is the important part. I always enjoy fighting games quite a lot so this is another one that I can then add to the list. If there was to be a new game for the series on PS5 or something I would definitely check it out. This setting with full blown cutscenes and everything would be absolutely intense! I know that’s probably a longshot though but either way I would recommend checking this game out at least. It’s a real blast.

Overall 7/10