Review #267: Soul Sacrifice

 It's good for the soul.

 I'm gonna call a spade a spade and tell it like it is, this is a Monster Hunter clone. There's a very vocal minority that gets angry at the term, mostly Vita users, and likely because they can't stand the Monster Hunter franchise not gracing the system. Mind you, 'Monster Hunter clone' is not a derogatory term in any way, but I digress. Soul Sacrifice puts a very original spin on the formula, that might not appeal to everyone, but you can't blame it for trying.

 Here's the gist of it, the world has been destroyed by a tyrant named Magusar, and you are next on his sacrifice list. As you lay inside your cage, a talking book presents itself to you, offering to share the story written on its pages about someone that used to know Magusar. But relieving these stories, or rather memories, you will become stronger in the real world, until you feel confident enough to challenge Magusar and earn your freedom, and maybe, just maybe save the world. For a game of this genre, there's a lot of very intricate, deep lore, if you are into it, and the story offers quite a few surprises. That said, all three endings are kind of a downer, which kinda fits the game's theme. Or you could get the updated rerelease, Soul Sacrifice Delta, which adds a few happy endings.

 The game functions a bit differently than most Monster Hunter clones, for instance, instead of using weapons, you use spells, but you don't earn them by slaying monsters, technically. Y'see, spells are tied to the quests and not the monster, so if you want a particular spell, you have to fulfill a particular mission, and sometimes earn a particular rank on said quest. You don't harvest enemy parts, instead, in order to upgrade your spells you need to fuse multiple copies of the same spell. Sadly, I found out that this makes the game a bit more grindy than its peers. Sure, sometimes waiting for that particular rare drop to materialize is a pain in the butt, but here you'll need a ton of copies of the same spell if you want to upgrade the damage output.

 You also have to be careful in how you use your spells, as they have limited uses per fight. You can, however, restore a few uses by using certain elements in the environment or by sacrificing monsters, boss fights usually have a surplus of smaller baddies so that you can restore your spells. If you use up a spell, it will 'break', requiring 'lacrima', which is earned after completing quests, to restore. A plus to the spell system is that you can bring up to six spells with you, so you can be pretty flexible on how you go about fights. For as many spells as the game offers, most of them are different element clones of others, so there's not quite as many as they seem to be. Then there are the 'rites', which are extremely powerful spells that can only be used in dire straits, in which you must pay some kind of prince(Hence the game's title), maybe you sight, which prevents you from seeing which spells you have assigned to each slot, or your skin, which halves your defense. There's only a few of these, about eight, and their side effects can only be 'cured' by using Lacrima.

 The game's title also alludes to sacrificing your enemies. After you defeat an enemy, you can either Save them, and restore a little health, or sacrifice them and restore your spells. There's also two different gauges, a blue one that fills while saving enemies and a red one that fills while sacrificing enemies, these gauges are your 'experience points', raising your Sacrifice levels make you stronger, while raising your Save levels enhance your defense. There's a combined maximum level of 100, so you can customize your character in a way. Want a glass cannon? Go 1/99, but maybe you want some defense as well, so 25/75 might be the way to go.

 Missions are divided in two: Story Missions and Side Missions. Story Missions can only be played in Single player, and you are usually aided by a CPU ally. Side Missions can be played online with other players, or you can take up to two CPU allies. They are pretty dumb, but they can divert the enemy's attention, so it ain't all that bad, plus, they can revive you if you fall in battle. All in all, there's a ton of missions, and they can get pretty hard later down the road. There's also a bunch of free downloadable content, which I'd praise, except for the fact that it weights 100 kbs or so. Why have cart-locked content is beyond me.

 I found Soul Sacrifice to be a great alternative to Monster Hunter, even if I, personally, would rather play a more traditional hunting game, like MH itself or God Eater. While I'm sure some people will love it, I just didn't care for the spell system, and as many different spells there are, there weren't quite as many that fit my playstyle. And I appreciated the work that went into the story, while the story itself isn't particularly mind blowing, quite a bit of care went into crafting the lore behind it creature, and I can respect that. That said, you are probably better of getting the updated rerelease, Soul Sacrifice Delta.
 7.0 out of 10

Now Playing: Bioshock

 Would you kindly?

 Better late than never, right? Right?... Maybe I should be studying for today's exam. I mean, I could, but then again, I'm as ready as I'll ever get, so...

 Bioshock, it's good. It is, it's the right amount of arcadey, with the shoot outs and movement feeling very loosey goosey, which I really like, and very easy to get into and do stuff. But then there's the whole narrative that drives the game forward, very un-arcadelike, which I don't really mind.

 What I liked:
 The overall feel of the game, it's the kind of physics/controls I enjoy the most
 The setting is kinda cool. I might, or might not, have jumped a few times I got sucker punched by the enemies.

 What I didn't like:
Wallet limit. Seriously, there's a limit to how much money I can carry? Like, SERIOUSLY??
Big Daddies. It's impossible not to have heard about the game by now, and the 'deadly' Big Daddies. You get to experience their strength secondhand, yet you are expected to defeat one the very first time you come directly across one. I was expecting something... tougher. And then I exited and re-entered the area, which made the Big Daddy respawn... and I killed him again. I was expecting something tougher!

Review #266: LocoRoco 2

 It's SOOOO cute!

 Did you like LocoRoco? Well, you are in luck, as LocoRoco 2 is pretty much LocoRoco 1.

 Everything I said about LocoRoco 1 still holds water as far as the sequel is concerned, but for a refresher course: A LocoRoco is a singing colorful blob that you must guide throughout a level. But you don't play as the LocoRoco, not directly anyways, Instead you tilt the world by holding the L or R button, or make your blob jump by holding both triggers together and letting go. You can also collect orange fruit in order to grow bigger, and if you press the circle button you'll divide into little LocoRocos, or hold circle to fuse them back into a single entity. In the previous game, sometimes you'd come across certain barriers that required a certain amount of LocoRocos to open, and if you met the required amount, the LocoRocos would sing... this time around, the song has been turned into a simple rhythm mini-game that has you tapping circle over certain notes. Speaking of songs, the soundtrack is nothing short of stellar.

 As you go through the game you'll earn new abilities, like sinking underwater, holding onto branches, pulling creatures from the ceiling or the very cumbersome Super Jump. I'm gonna be honest, none of these 'abilities' are game changers or add any more depth to the game. They feel like window-dressing, 'hey, look! Now you can do this and this!', but when it comes down to it, none of them feel like they have any huge impact on the overall game.

Other new features are a new purple LocoRoco and the addition of multiple mini-games. They aren't half bad, even if they are little more than a diversion, and they add incentive to collecting the pink collectibles, as they are turned into currency in order to play these mini-games. The Mui-Mui house has been altered, so that now you have to collect materials in order to build furniture and new rooms, then there's the 'Stamps', which you can collect and then have to fill stamp pages with the appropriate stamps.

 Surprisingly, when it comes down to it, the game is actually shorter than the first game! They made up for that by forcing you to replay stages. For instance, there are secret levels that can only be unlocked by completing the Mui-Mui house, which translates into redoing stages for materials. Then there are a few levels that are unlocked by clearing the Moja smog from each level, and since some areas on some stages are inaccessible until you earn a new ability at a later stage.... well, you'll find yourself replaying most of the 10-minute long stages in order to unlock everything.

While it is technically a better game than the first one. There's more variety in the levels, there's more abilities, and one more LocoRoco, I just can't condone forcing the player to replay old levels. Mind you, it probably has to do with the fact that LocoRoco just isn't my kind of game, so while the idea of having to replay levels doesn't appeal to me, maybe it won't bother others.
 7.0 out of 10

Review #265: Senran Kagura - Shinovi Versus

 Well, it ain't trash.

 As someone who dislikes fanservice, I've been pretty vocal on my distaste for the Senran Kagura games and their ilk. But baseless judgment is, well, baseless, so I decided to give it a try.

 The story.... I'm gonna be completely honest, I didn't care about it. I gave it a chance, I gave it several chances, especially after reading about how it was 'surprisingly dark' and characters held 'hidden depth' and.... Nope, sorry. There's this blonde gal who is always trying to grope the other gals, and you want me to take it seriously? Then there's this gun-tooting lass that, for some reason, has a breast cup increase when she transforms, and her whole story mode is filled with breast puns... Yeah, sorry, I just couldn't take it seriously enough for me to care. For what it's worth, people say that the story is surprisingly deep... but you gotta get through the silly first, and I just couldn't.

 As far as gameplay goes, levels either have you fighting a boss, clearing an area full of enemies so that the boss appears and you fight her or fighting enemies, move forward through the stage a bit, fight more enemies, advance a bit further, beat the enemies and beat the boss. It's like a small-scale Dynasty Warriors game, although stages last anywhere between 1 minute to 6, tops. The fighting is similar to Dynasty Warriors as well, you have your basic Weak attack string and a Strong attack that can be used to end your combos... kinda, while DW gives you a different 'finisher' depending on when you press the strong attack, you only have about three different finishers here. Girls also have two super attacks and an extra desperation attack that can only be used when running low on health. Lastly, there's two modes: Yang, which changes your attack strings and gives you small damage boosts, which you engage by pressing L once you fill your energy gauge, and Yin/Frantic, which can be used at any time, and gives you a huge attack boost... and a huge defense drop, plus, your girl is stripped down to her underwear.

 There's a lot to do, each individual girl has 5 exclusive missions to her name, plus, a 25 mission-story for each of the four 'schools', each school having 5 characters, for a total of 100(And a bonus epilogue fight) story missions and 100 'individual' missions. The individual missions can only be played by the respective character, but once you clear a Story Mission, you can then replay them with any of the other 5 girls from the school. I would've liked some kind of 'Free Mode' to replay any stage with any character, instead of having Story Missions locked to each school. Regardless, at the end of the day, it feels like a poor man's Dynasty Warriors game. Is it fan? Yes, at times, but it's very, very repetitive, and grows old faster than any 'Warriors' game.

 If you like fanservice, this is your game. Breasts bounce all over the place, all the time, using special attacks on bosses shreds their clothes, while being on the receiving end of one will damage yours. There's also a decent variety of fetish costumes, like Cheerleader, Chinese Dress, Kinder Gardener, etc. and you can accessorize each girl with pacifiers, animal ears or tails, etc. And over 100 types of underwear. OVER. A. HUNDRED. TYPES. OF. UNDERWEAR. Although many of them are recolors. Oh, and while on the 'Dressing Room' you can tap a girls breasts to fondle them, or tap their privates for flustered reactions.

 And that's that. The game is not absolute trash, but the gameplay lacks soul. Maybe they thought the huge amount of fanservice made up for it, maybe it does, if you are into it, but as far as I'm concerned, this is just an average game. Functional? Yes. Fun? At times. Ridiculous? Completely.
 5.0 out of 10

Month Overview: November 2015

 Games finished in November 2015:

Saint Seiya - Soldiers' Soul                                6.0
Dynasty Warriors 8                                            9.0
Guilty Gear Xrd Sign                                         7.5

Ride to Hell: Retribution                                    2.5

Inuyasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale                          4.5

Threads of Fate                                                   6.0

Game of November: Dynasty Warriors 8

 The best Dynasty Warriors yet, the most characters, the most movesets, the best redesigns, some of the best stages yet. The movesets are very flashy, particularly the new ones, and the new mechanics makes it so easy and satisfying to score kills! It's also got a ton of stuff to do, and the cutscenes are amazing.

Runner-up: Guilty Gear Xrd Sign

 I wish I had had more fun with this one, as I was incredibly hyped. I think I might have gotten burned out from all the different, yet similar, ArkSys fighters. And the way they handle DLC is downright disgusting.

Now Playing: Senran Kagura - Shinovi Versus

 Keep your friends close, your enemies closer.

 It's no secret that I'm not particularly fond of fanservice, as a matter of fact, I downright hate it. Senran Kagura was one of those franchises that usually took the brunt of my mockery and disdain, but.... It's a bit silly to judge something just by its cover, right? So I decided if I am gonna criticize it so, might as well get some hands on experience with it, right?

 Well, it's actually a fairly competent game. I hesitate to call it a Dynasty Warriors clone, since it seems to be a bit more focused in baddy-clearing arenas rather than large battlefields. Still, the combat gets old rather fast, and the special attacks having unskippable cutscenes doesn't help. Also, there's a ton of fanservice, you can shred the enemies' clothes, or have yours torn as well, there's a ton of 'sexy lingerie' to buy and have your characters wear, as well as fetish costumes.

 When it comes down to it, it's a fairly average game, not terrible by any means, but it's not a particularly great game either,

Review #264: Threads of Fate

 Squaresoft has always been one for presumptuous titles!

 Threads of Fate is one of Squaresoft's lesser known titles. It's not an obscure game by any means, just one that most people tend to forget about. An action rpg in the same vein of Square's own Brave Fencer Musashi, Threads of Fate was a little game that came and went without people noticing.

 You can play as either Rue, a mysterious white haired boy that can transform into monsters and is seeking a Relic to revive his friend, or Mint, an spoiled princess versed in magic that seeks the Relic for world domination. Both scenarios slightly contradict each other, but you need to play both if you want to see the true ending. That said, if you only plan on playing one, Rue is the way to go, as he has the meatier, more serious story, while Mint is mostly comic relief. Each character also gets an exclusive dungeon and a couple of unique boss fights, but nothing major.

 This is a 3D action game with a few RPG elements. There's no levels perse, but you can raise your hitpoints by being hit, magicpoints by using magic, and your defense and strength by buying equipment or potions. Rue and Mint also play differently, Rue has basic weak attacks and a strong attack, but he can also turn into any of the last four different monster types that he defeated, which is often times used to solve puzzles, as Rue himself is the way to go when it comes to fighting most of the time. Mint only has weak attacks, but she can use magic. There's about 6 different 'Magic types', that can be used with different spells, which translates into a LOT of spells. In practice, Rue's game starts off way easier, but his shortcomings catch up to him by the end of the game, while Mint will have a tough time at the start of the game, but end up as a powerhouse by the end.

 The worst part about the game is, easily, level design. Stages are uninspired and boring, the 'Underground Ruins' being the worst of the bunch, being made up of copy pasted rooms over and over again. An NPC will comment on it 'This maze is so confusing' or something like that, as if making a joke about it somehow makes it OK! Also, keep in mind that inside dungeons you can't turn the camera around, so sometimes stuff will hit you from outside your range of vision, heck, it's easy for bosses to get outside the range of your view, so battles now turn into a matter of keeping the boss inside your range of vision AND dodging their attacks, Some enemies also respawn infinitely, which will probably get on the nerves of some. And raising your stats is a pain in the butt, either waste time getting hit, or grind money and buy the stat ups, either way, a time sink. Not that the game is hard enough to justify it anyways!

 Threads of Fate is a decent, but flawed, game. The idea behind the two characters is respectable, and they managed to make both characters feel different enough, although there's not enough exclusive content  to justify a second playthrough, unless your really, really want to see the bonus ending.
6.0 out of 10