by rjayb89
Showing 1-10 of 16 items
As a casual fan of the original, its memory still lingers as not only one of the greatest character action games I’ve ever played but one of the greatest games I’ve ever played. So when a sequel was announced for the Wii U, I made sure to grab that system solely for the purpose of playing this game. It not only carries with it the legacy of its predecessor, literally and figuratively, but refines it, and the weaponry is as varied as ever. While my grasp on enemy types is still fresh and loose, attack tells can range from obvious to subtle gestures calling for the attention of the player and readily rewards them with “Witch Time,” AKA “Bullet Time,” when dodging attacks at the last split second. That, in itself, is Bayonetta’s bread and butter, forsaking the usually awkward jump or simple run away tactic to deal with enemy barrages that come with other character action games, and replacing it with a smooth acrobatic maneuver as simple as a backflip or spin that slows down the action, yet does not hamstring the mind games that also comes with character action games where memory and reflexes are key. 5/5
With absolutely no expectations, this game managed to blow me away. Let me preface this by confessing my deep and seething hatred for Super Paper Mario, possibly the most disappointing game I've ever played considering my love for Paper Mario on the Nintendo 64. It took me a few hours for me to realize that Super Paper Mario wasn't what I was looking for and it would take years for another one just like it, one interesting enough, to gain my attention. I did not expect that it would be this game, in where it mattered - the battle system. “Where was the transition to some stage mock-up and selection of attacks Mario had in the previous games,” I wondered. "It couldn’t just be me jumping onto enemies repeatedly racking up some combo counter in the corner, is it?" Oh, but it was, and the gimmicky nature of switching between two planes of existence in Super Paper Mario. "You’ve got to be fucking kidding me," and so ended (delayed) my desire to purchase a Nintendo Wii, with the sole intention of picking Super Paper Mario along with it, returning my niece’s Wii and copy of Super Paper Mario back to the Blockbuster I rented it from the very same day. Like Paper Mario, South Park was something influential but a forgotten part of my childhood. I’d like to say that my time away was due to my “growing out of it,” but if this game is any indication of the quality of the show now, I guess I’m still a kid (in heart). Fart and racist jokes abound, traditional role-playing game elements are thrown into the world of South Park creating the Paper Mario I didn’t realize I was waiting for. Timing an extra button press upon contact during attacks is the game and the absurdist humor is what keeps you guessing where things will go. As expected, the game explores, nay, lightly touches upon some very mature themes, sometimes combining them, for maximum effect in the hopes to offend the faint-hearted thus nailing down the inner workings of South Park perfectly, and caused a few laughs and nods of approval on my end. Its indiscriminate humor alone is its greatest weapon yet its greatest detriment, people will miss out on its very simple to understand combat system and a once-in-a-lifetime bug-free (in my case, at least) game from Obsidian. Anyway, Odsidian does what Nintendon’t (make real Paper Mario games). 5/5
Note: Smaller entry featured on Ranking of Final Fantasies I'm admittedly very surprised with how much time I've spent with the game and have enjoyed of it, and not groaning about the poorly-written (but very well-acted in specific spots) characters. I suppose I'm used to the near-nonsensical ramblings they can get into sometimes thanks to XIII-2 where you were given numerous chances for Serah to say immensely inane shit, which honestly made that game much easier to stomach considering my irrational distaste with the the idea of Serah being the main character, much like the existence of Vanille. Dialog choices may not be a part of this game to make it enjoyable in that "special" way this time around, but I think they've achieved their most dynamic battle system yet in the XIII trilogy. Rather than taking a more preparatory approach, there is an even greater reliance on timing your guards and attacks during or after specific actions your enemies deliver which makes for more intense and attention-driven battles, unlike previous entries where it was just a matter of holding down one button and shifting paradigms from time to time when the situation called for it. All in all, Lightning Returns is quite fabulous, such as Lightning with her multitude of outfits. It's certainly not without its caveats though. By knowing that there is a time limit, despite being very manageable, you may likely opt to run straight to the next NPC to progress a quest and ignore the ambient dialogue spouting off in every direction, at least during your first run-through. A very different change of pace with how I approach JRPGs in general thanks to it, but forced a play style I usually fall back to once I've gotten to grips with a game since it leads to me being very efficient on dealing with quests, some of which led to some surprisingly very mature themes I don't think many Final Fantasy games have touched upon. 4/5
It wasn’t until I noticed the goodies packed along with the special edition bundle when I finally decided to buy this game despite having no desire to even play it beforehand. Delivery day came along and, what I thought was going to be a huge detriment to my enjoying the game, the map function was above and beyond my expectations. It not only plays a central part to the game itself but sports enough tools to make certain every step taken is completely accounted for. Especially with how the dungeons are designed, it made trekking through for various quests or materials expedited processes. The game overall took me over 50 hours to complete, with Chuck Tunoku on the Safety difficulty, which merely acts as a death safety net as enemies aren't affected in any way and will continue to be the pushovers they are. A large majority of the game is spent in the dungeons, pushing through groups of enemies and solving simple puzzles that may force you to recall simple math you probably learned in high school. In comparison, a small portion of the game is dedicated to the Persona 3 and 4 characters pulled into this ordeal. Many of the elements of the characters’ respective games are not only present but refined, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they were melded into the next main Persona game. While it may be a huge undertaking, I wouldn’t mind if there were more moments between the main persona users dealing with a specific character’s issues with others chiming in rather than relying on the main protagonist to elucidate change. “Strolls” are as close as the game can get to spending time with characters to up their Social Link which allows various characters to hang out and add to the mayhem of Chie’s love for meat, Teddie’s immense pervitude, and Blu Hairman’s apparent lethargy. 4/5
It was nearly one hundred hours passed before I decided to complete the final mission and call it quits. Not that that was what I was waiting for, but there is a plethora of content to consume, whether worth it or not. Expecting a game this large from BioWare is unprecedented, and so called for my usual disposition on how to treat their games unwittingly: check every nook and cranny for loot. That type of ideology became my undoing, as I scrapped my first playthrough wrought with little mistakes that nibbled at me that could have been easily avoided and so stepped away from the game only to come back to it a week later in favor of a less pressured playthrough. Despite that, with the help of the search environment hotkey, I looted what I could, exhausted every conversation with companions, and made sure that everywhere I went that I removed some icon on the map. Unlike the last game, I didn’t hate over two-thirds of the main characters. Coming in, none of the party members looked interesting enough to trot along with, aside from Vivienne and Iron Bull. Surprisingly, I found many of their characters ranging from firm to charming. Rather than sticking to a full set-in-stone party, I ended up having two permanents members due to partially literal novel obligations, Cole for his being in the third Dragon Age novel and Vivienne for being, to put it blunt, black, and a rotating fourth chair with slight discrimination toward the one party member I didn’t like. Well done, BioWare, you just had one party member who sucked this time. What is unfortunate, however, is how many little problems can stack up and make for one disappointing yet good game. The equipment/crafting interface, the deliberately slow run speed (and with the misnamed “Sprint” function that should actually be called “Gallop”), and, most of all, the tactical view. It's tough to really make a case for this considering how obviously consolized the controls are, and how completing the game on Hard never required me to ever rely on it. It could just be how the game was designed to allow any party make up to be effective and not have the player worry about healing but more about defense. A welcome change, in my view. Defining Dragon Age by its gameplay does its universe a huge disservice. The lore and characters are huge time sinks worth jumping into, since there is so much of it. It is not so unfortunate a sacrifice to double down on characters’ backgrounds than developing a deeper and satisfying combat system. 4/5
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call has literally everything the original had content-wise and much more. The game itself, however, remains largely the same with a few tweaks here and there which allow more control options alongside the original’s intended stylus approach with dedicated button inputs or a combination of the two. Nonetheless, I stuck with what I was already comfortable with - using the stylus to tap, swipe, and hold my way to victory. There really isn’t much else to say for a rhythm-based game considering how determinant the quality of the music selection can be. As a late fan of the main series, I’m no stranger to the music of Final Fantasy VII onwards (minus the MMOs), but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been able to appreciate the music from earlier entries and offshoots I haven’t played myself. The size of the selection is staggering and the chances of finding something you’ve heard before is likely included. Unfortunately, Event Music Stages (EMS) make a return despite being complete shit stages. Thankfully, they don’t show up in in this game’s upgraded version of Dark Notes (so far) from the original game, Quest Medleys. This mode carves out a path with seemingly random songs and multiple pathways to reach your goal, to defeat the final boss at the end. This mode puts your chosen characters and given skills to the test, with the final stage being a Battle Music Stage (BMS), my personal favorite type of stage, to procure loot to further your characters’ stats, essentially grinding for better or worse. While I haven’t been spending too much time in this particular mode, the sheer library of songs this game has is immense and won’t be something I’ll shelf anytime soon. 4/5
It’s been awhile since I played Civilization V extensively, but its core mechanics are still what allows me to understand grand turn-based strategy games such as this, which, unsurprisingly, is very similar to it in basic concept and execution. People aren’t wrong when they voice their disappointment with how similar it is to its predecessor, laden with now and forever futuristic hexagons, on the map and even on some leaders’ dress attire, and in how it plays in general. But I feel that’s where the direct comparisons end. As it is now, it bears some elements of a fully expanded Civilization 5, yet it isn’t quite there just yet, but why would you want that, it is in space after all. Despite that, a few renamed units here and there and different colored tile sets, and that’s Beyond Earth for you. But not quite. Beginning with techs you normally have to spend turns researching in a normal Civilization game, your workers come prepared for whatever base terrain your people have landed on, so no researching how to build mines and the like and relying on knowledge of what material swords are composed of. Most war units no longer rely on whatever available resources you have, but your grasp on your people’s attunement level with the given planet, or as they calls it - affinity. If anything, Beyond Earth has made unit maintenance more convenient thanks to affinity, no longer asking for the player to build different and more able-bodied units or call back any obsolete units for an upgrade, as they all upgrade on the spot wherever they may be. Rather than a huge selection of units for you to play war with, they evolve and thus leave behind less menu clutter, so no caravels and triremes and frigates divvying your experience points gained from ravaging the handful of alien lifeforms. What is possibly the biggest loss the game suffers from is its lack of given idiosyncrasies. No longer do you have Gandhi be an atypical aggressive jerk, you now have amalgamations of some general populaces or unions between similar peoples - “Polystralia” and “Slavic Federation,” for example. And with that, the loss of “world music” so to speak. While this game is the perfect podcast game, I, nonetheless, made sure to listen to the music, and after playing through four games, I haven’t really noticed much of a difference between the different sponsors I played as. They all sound like music that could have been in XCOM: Enemy Unknown, but dropped into this since I suppose the inclusion of aliens makes it fit. Even if it’s more Civilization V, the push toward quests and stage-based victories make for a less aimless and more attentive game than it does its predecessor, and with that it creates a flawed near-soulless experience that does enough differently to keep my attention. 3/5
Pushmo World goes back to the basics while introducing new types of blocks to play with without over-complicating things like Crashmo did. Not much else can be said about the game otherwise, however, this time it's easier to find others' Pushmo online by allowing player creations to be downloaded upfront rather than having to find QR codes to scan of various pixel art posted on different forums. As of the time of this writing, the game has stumped me a number of times and so, hopefully, once I come back to those puzzles something in my mind will just click and it'll all make sense and I'll think myself a fool for missing something so obvious the first time. Such is the life with Pushmo, where even the most simplest-looking puzzles can create a fervent confusion that I cannot comprehend. 4/5
The impact this franchise has mustered on me since the first one I'd played extensively, Mario Kart 64, has been very little. It feels like dozens have been released since then, with the last I've played of was Mario Kart Wii and winning a single race against a self-proclaimed Nintendo fanboy through what seems like sheer luck. Perhaps its biggest rib is how the game can be based on just that, luck, which is especially infuriating when you're on the last leg of a track and the AI decides to fuck you just before the finish line and you end up getting second or third place. I suppose it's something veteran players have to or have already gotten used to, and having that clouded over my mind was never going to clear the way for me. Despite that lingering on my mind, after completing 10 or so cups across two different engine classes, this has only happened to me twice. Each very, very close to the finish line thus making me lose my front-of-the-pack placement, which surprisingly didn't make me lose my mind. The game plays very well, good timing and a loose grasp on the basics is enough to make me feel like any mistake I make is completely my fault but also something that can be rectified in the next lap. Kart customization feels like it can account for many different play styles, having utilized a different kart (and character) in each cup I've played so far, noticing the difference between hops and the time before they lean into a turn make for a surprisingly engrossing experience. 4/5
Despite the preconception that Lara Croft would be leading a set of adventurers this go around, I chose to play this game completely by my lonesome. It made for some awkward moments when Croft would caution others of contraptions she’d disabled when it was just her cartwheeling and jumping around like a maniac. Other than that, the game tested my grasp of its simple mechanics by slowly mixing them up as I got further along this game, which lasted me about four hours. It was as fleeting as it was enjoyable. The types of scenarios visited are overly custom to noted fictional archaeologists: beautiful, yet drab. They, of course, were pertinent to the types of puzzles at hand bringing back old favorites such as spike traps, ancient machinery, and gusts of fire slowing your advances. Each boss implemented these contraptions very well and kept me on my feet; simple, yet clever. 4/5