Month Overview: October 2017

 Tally:
Darkwatch                   8.0
Evil Dead - A Fistful of Boomstick 6.5
Evil Dead - Regeneration 5.0
Galerians                              7.5
Galerians - Ash 4.5
Corpse Party - Blood Drive 0.5
Resident Evil 6 8.0
Raw Danger! 8.5
Bloody Roar 2 8.0
Bloody Roar 3 8.5
Bloody Roar Primal Fury 8.5
Bloody Roar 4 4.0
Spartan - Total Warrior 7.5
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas - Oogie's Revenge 6.0


 Finally a proper Halloween! I finally finished Corpse Party and Resident Evil 6, two games I began last year but never finished, either because they were awful or my co-op partner was MIA. Most games were pretty good, which is always a plus, and I finally played the entire Bloody Roar franchise, such a sad ending for a franchise that entertained me so much in my younger years. Galerians too, they were games I played when I was younger but hadn't finished, a thing I corrected this month, which also ends on a low note. Oh well, I guess tragedy is part of Halloween, right?

Game of October:

Hey, guys, you forgot to americanize the characters on the cover too!

 While I haven't found a seller that ships Disaster Report to my country, I couldn't wait to try out Raw Danger!, and I didn't! It was phenomenal, excellent pacing, structure and ambiance. It's a bit lacking in the technical department, but if I'm used to playing brilliant games with clunky mechanics, so the weird movement and poor framerate didn't dampen the experience too much.

 Runner-up:

Even the cover art is similar.

 Bloody Roar 3 and Bloody Roar Primal Fury might as well be the same game, for all intents and purposes. Honestly, I loved all the little tweaks Primal Fury made, sadly, some of the redesigns are a bit or miss. Whichever the case, both games are brilliant button mashers that deserved much better than Hudson's low budget and low effort Bloody Roar 4.

Now Playing: Final Fantasy XII

 Why is everyone wearing so little clothes!?

Everyone loves floating heads.

 No, seriously, not only are characters wearing few clothes, what little they wear is, well, little. Look at Vaan's pathetic child-size vest. But I digress, my Halloweenesque games are done, so it's time I sink my claws into another JRPG, and one I avoided for a while. The reason I avoided XII was the combat system, it looked dumb. Buuuut Xenoblade showed me that MMORPG-style combat can work, sadly, after playing about an hour, and trying to solo Thextera with Vaan(which proved impossible, I can only manage to lure one its two guardian wolves!) I simply aren't having much fun with it. Yay, there's Vaan waiting like an idiot to strike because even though we're not going by turns any more we still have the ATS. I dunno, I'm not feeling the combat, at all. But at least it's not XIII.

 That said, as soon as I popped in the disc and the first cinematic played... nobody does grandiose openings like Final Fantasy, be it our first glimpse at Cecil's wrongdoings, Terra's assault on the snow village, Cloud and Barret taking down a Mako Reactor or even Squall and Seifer's duel, Tidus' big game... Square just knows how to make an opening. And this is no exception, I had no idea what was going on, but it looked cool, goddammit.

 As for the game as a whole... I played about two hours, did some desert grinding and... I think it's alright, but nothing remarkable. The combat system is really bland, I mean, I've only had one-man parties so far, but I doubt it'll get as involved as Xenoblade's various statuses and what not. The setting is kinda interesting... but because it reminds me of Rogue Galaxy, truth be told, I'm not very fond of Final Fantasy's Ivalice setting. And the character designs... they are kinda bad. Ashe's outfit makes no sense. Seriously, how is that skirt thing supposed to stay in place? And what the ******** is she wearing over her midriff? And why is she only wearing armor on her legs? Vaan's not too far behind with his silly vest and weird looking musculature. I can't stand Penelo's hairdo either. Balthier is cool though.

 But look at the bright side, my first impressions and overall expectations are relatively low, so maybe, maaaaaaaaaaaaaybe it can surprise me.





....but maybe not.

Review #487: Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas - Oogie's Revenge

 Trick or treat?

That's not a booger.

 If you grew up in the 90s you've surely seen, or at least heard, of The Nightmare Before Christmas a classic Halloween movie. Or is it a Christmas movie? It doesn't matter, what does matter is that about 10 years after its release Disney tasked Capcom with bringing the world of TNBC to the PS2. And if Capcom knows one thing it's fighting games... and action games, which is what this game is: A chapter-based hack-and-slash action game with fixed camera angles. And it kinda works.

 The game takes place one year after the movie, Jack Skellington took a trip to find new ways of making Halloween spookier and in that time Lock, Shock and Barrel, Oogie's underlings, managed to stitch Oogie Boogie back together, and now took over Halloween town. But it's OK, because Jack is now outfitted with the Soul Robber, a green ooze-like-thingie he carries on his right arm which doubles as a whip-blade-mace thingie. The game bring backs a few voice actors from the movie, most notably Jack and Oogie's, and it features remixes with new lyrics from the most popular songs. As far as using the license, Capcom nailed it, everything looks the part and it's amazing seeing TNBC's world in 3-D.... that said, the story does nothing to advance the lore of the franchise, in fact, it reuses many plot devices and situations, which is kinda lame.

The Soul Robber can also take the form of a mace.

 While the game is based on chapters, and each chapter has a goal, the game takes place in a cohesive world, so you can backtrack at almost any time if you so wish it, as a matter of fact, Jack can carry up to four bottles that can heal him, and these can only be refilled on the hub-world's fountain, heck, the witch's hut, the place where you buy upgrades, can only be found in the hub. As much freedom as you're given, the game is pretty linear but exploration will be rewarded, be it with health upgrades, bonus coins or crystal skulls, which can be merged into one of the previously mentioned bottles. Although sometimes it's a bit annoying, for instance, 'Hidden Place 5' must be visited 3 times: First to get a collectible figurine(Bragging rights), then later on in a secret mission to get a herb and then, finally, on chapter 17-18 to get a crystal skull. There's no way to know which 'Hidden Place's hide more than one rewards, or that said reward would change a few chapters later, which is kinda dumb.

 As for combat, Jack can attack with the square button or grab enemies, and then throw them or smack them, with the triangle button. There's also a spin attack, by doing a 360 motion on the analog stick before pressing square that both attacks enemies and draws in coins left by fallen enemies The circle button performs a graceful dodge, which looks so neat it feels good to mash the button. Taunts can be performed with the directional pad, which makes enemies stronger but gives you a free charge attack. While it sounds cool and people usually compare it to Devil May Cry... it's anything but. Jack doesn't get any cool new moves besides the square button combo, which starts at a pathetic two-hit combo until you buy the next two upgrades. and dammit, make it your priority to get these upgrades, as playing with the two-hit combo is very boring. And even after you get them, that's all you'll be doing in the game, because the triangle button rarely is as effective as the square attacks, so get ready to repeat the same, single combo over and over and over again, although, frankly, it sounds worse than it really is.

Capcom managed to capture the world of Halloween Town perfectly.

 About 2-3 hours into the game, Jack is reminded that he is the Pumpkin King, so now he gains access to the Pumpkin King transformation, by pressing L1. I know what you're thinking: Devil Trigger. But it's not, Pumpkin King runs on a limited fire-soul ammunition, and can either spit fire or, well, cause an explosion around him. It's pretty powerful, but it's useless for comboing, which is rather disappointing. I only used the Pumpkin King to burn down barriers... And then, later on, you get the Sandy Claws transformation, by pressing R1, and you'll only use it to defeat concealed enemies, as its uses for comboing are nil.

 Bosses offer an interesting change of pace: As you deal damage they drop musical notes, grab a bunch of them and you'll initiate a dancing mini-game. It's a neat idea, and probably the gameplay element that makes the most sense for The Nightmare Before Christmas, but... you'll be so busy looking at the incoming button prompts that you'll be missing out on the cool animations!

You'll be fighting a lot of skeletons. A lot of them. The Belmonts would be proud.

 While Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas - Oogie's Revenge is not bad by any means... it's a very by the numbers game, and it's simple to a fault. Honestly, the entire combat system feels like a wasted opportunity to make it more like Devil May Cry and less like a one-button pony. The story was nothing special, and while it feels like a retread of the movie, one that teases players with the other Holiday Worlds but doesn't do anything with them, it's still nice getting to see all the familiar characters from the movie, and kudos for managing to put the ever-important songs into the game.
 6.0 out of 10

Now Playing: Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas - Oogie's Revenge

 Devil May Cryoween?

Jack's back baby!

 I've heard a lot about Tim Burt.... Erm, The Nightmare Before Christmas' game, mostly that it played kinda like a dumbed down Devil May Cry. It doesn't. I'm hoping that Jack will get more moves, because at the moment I'm stuck with a silly 2-hit combo and a twirly spin attack as well as a grab... it doesn't exactly lend itself to comboing, even though there's a combo counter.

 As mediocre as the combat is, at least so far, I kinda like the game. Kinda. The atmosphere and setting is a dead ringer for the movie, which makes it very appealing to look at. Hopefully it'll end up being just as fun to play through.

Review #486: Spartan - Total Warrior

 Totally not God of War, but close enough!

The cover is butt, but the game is anything but.

 Spartan: Total Warrior is a hack and slash beat'em up spin off of the Total War real time strategy games. It has some similarities to the God of War games and to Dynasty Warriors, but it's its own beast.

 The game pits you as The Spartan, a spartan(D'oh) aided by Ares to defeat the forces of Crassus and Tiberius while fighting under Leonidas.... yeah, it's a fictional story that mixes a few historical figures with myths and legends, you'll meet Medusa and fight a Minotaur too. There're flamethrowers and ballistas for good measure too. The story is pretty meh, the voice acting is atrocious and the conclusion is given away by the first act's narration. No, you won't be playing this game for its story.

From zero to hero, The Spartan's armor will change as you beat stages.

 As The Spartan you'll be aided by the gods in your enterprise, wielding various weapons and magics. There're two attack buttons(weak and strong) and a jump button, while all four shoulder buttons are used as 'modifiers'. L1 makes The Spartan aim with his bow, L2 is your block button(that can be used with the attack buttons for single or radial shield bashes), R1 lets you use Rage attacks, when the rage bar is full(two varieties too, single target or radial) and R2 is the Magic button(Once again, Single target and radial). It sounds like a handful... and it is, many a time I found myself wasting magic when I wanted to use rage attacks, or aiming with the bow when I wanted to block. It took a while before I got comfortable with it, and even then I messed up occasionally.

 The directional pad can be used to switch between your weapons: Gorgon Shield and Sword, Athena's Blades(No, not those), Achilles' Spear and the Deathbiter(The Hammer). Every weapon has its strengths and weaknesses, as well as their own two unique magic spells. Mind you, while you can swap weapons at any time, you must be standing still, it doesn't matter if you're blocking or not, just don't be touching the left analog stick. Yes, it's a bit annoying, but you can manage. Do be careful with Checkpoints, however, as they'll restore you with the exact same amount of health you had when the game saved, which could potentially leave you in an unwinnable state. It didn't happen to me, but it could happen.

There's plenty of enemies and allies on-screen at the same time

 The game is based on chapters that play out in a very linear fashion, although there's room for exploration if you want some extras, most which affect the Arena mode. There's a little bit of everything in here, there're some very basic puzzles every now and then, there're a few escort missions(One's infamously tough, although I didn't have trouble with it) but most of the time it's all about you and your army against the Romans. Battles can take epic(As far as the PS2 goes!) proportions, with dozens of troops on-screen at once and a very steady framerate to boot. The combat is relatively fun, but sometimes it can get a bit repetitive, with you mashing the shield-bash move until you can get an opening and land some hits. And after each stage you'll be given stat points to even the odds, while you can spend them on Health, Damage or Magic, by the end of the game everything will be maxed, so don't think too hard about the 'perfect build'.

 The game can get VERY tough, but it's always very, very fair. You're given a lot of tools, and as long as you can figure out which ones to use on every occasion, you'll be fine. Sometimes you'll be alone against hundreds of soldiers, so you'll have to make do with the Gorgon Shield's magic and petrify them, and then use Athena's blades to quickly make mince-stone out of them, or perhaps it's better to use Achilles' invulnerability spell and lay waste to the enemy? Assassins can be tough if you go at them with Athena's blades, so equip the Gorgon's Shield and Sword and take them out against the walls. Or maybe the best way to deal with the enemies in the sewers is to bash them down to the abyss with your powerful shield bash. The only weapon that felt useless was the hammer, while it's the only weapon that can ignore shields... it's too slow, so for every hit that you land you'll be receiving three. It's very tough, but make good use of your tools and you'll be A-OK.

The Spear is a fantastic weapon to deal with most constricted enemy-infested areas.

 But the game's biggest offender is... fall damage. WHY?! Since when is fall damage a good thing!? WHY OH WHY IS FALL DAMAGE IN THE GAME?... well, it's not a huge issue, but do be careful when going up-and-down multi-leveled stages. The game is pretty lengthy, probably 6 hours long, and there's an Arena mode if you are so inclined, which tasks you with defeating various waves of enemies.

 Spartan - Total Warrior is a total blast to play. It's got a few technical flaws that keep it from greatness, but most of what it does it does it well. It might be a bit too tough for some, but there's an Easy option and I'm guessing it might be more lenient on players. Regardless, the challenge on Normal is just right and I loved how it made you work with what you had in order to come out victorious.
 7.5 out of 10

Now Playing: Spartan - Total Warrior

 Not a Halloween game, issit?

Say no to photorealistic depictions of people in videogame covers.

 Well then, the Halloween Extravaganza is over, but there're still games to be played! Like Spartan - Total Warrior, of which I just finished the fist missions and it was great.

  The first chapter is done and done with, and I loved it. The combat is simple, but fast, and it feels good. I love the huge amount of troops in the stage, made everything feel epic. And the framerate is pretty smooth despite it! What I didn't like was having fall damage, seriously?! Still, it's so good that I can't wait to play more of it.

Review #485: Bloody Roar 4

 Bloody whimper.

That's not witchblade, it's the newest focus on fanservice!

 Primal Fury's place as a sequel is often contested by people that consider it more of an upgraded port, which is funny considering this game feels even less as a sequel than it... kinda. If you come to BR 4 from BR 3, which would be understandable considering Primal Fury/Extreme were never released on the PS2, this game will feel fresher and newer, but if you come from PR/E... well, it'll feel like a remix or enhanced port of sorts. Yes, Bloody Roar 4 is another lackluster effort from Hudson, but changes made to the core mechanics made this game a blunder.

 Modes in this game are: Arcade, Time Attack, VS Player, Training, Survival, Sparring(VS CPU) and Career. Most modes are self explanatory but Career Mode, which was a good idea on paper. In it you have to travel through a grid, fighting monotonous one-round fights against random opponents in order to earn points with which to customize your characters, with passive abilities(More strength, higher jumps) or even new moves or moves from other fighters. It's also the only mode in which you can unlock the secret fighters.... which are made up of Long(What.), Shina(Why?!), Kohryu(Plays just like he did in 3 and Primal Fury, and is still an unlockable), Uranus(Same deal as Kohryu) and another version of Ryoho. Lame. It boggles the mind as to why the made Long and Shina unlockable now, they look and play just like they did in Primal Fury, and they don't have any special plot relevance or what have you.

Lions and Tigers... there surely were a lot of felines in the franchise, huh?

 Let's start with changes to the gameplay, first of all, as long as you're in beast mode, you won't receive damage but rather lose beast energy. It's a weird change, and one that makes Human form all but useless, and it's hilarious because you start every fight with a full health and beast gauge, and there's no reason as to why you wouldn't morph right then and there, why lose health needlessly? Turning into beast can be done at any time, if you don't have any energy on the beast gauge you'll simply trade a bit of your health. Trading in a certain amount of health will initiate a toned down version of Hyper Beast form from previous games. Lame. These changes also mean that after you lose all your health you'll be forcibly changed into beast form, and a round won't end until both gauges are depleted. It's lame, it's dull, it's boring and it removes a lot of strategy from previous games, just spam that beast form. Beast Drives do much less damage than before and only cost a bit of Beast Gauge, but in turn now deal damage to both health and beast gauges at the same time. The game's engine has been tweaked a bit, and now landing hits doesn't feel quite as good as before and the game, as a whole, feels slower. Lame.

 Ganesha and Chronos(And Fang, if you played Extreme) are gone, alongside their movesets, and characters only have 2 costumes(8 of them have a new third costume though.), movesets haven't changed a bit as far as I noticed. There're a few new stages, but you'll notice that a lot of them are rehashes or asset flips from previous stages. There're some unexplained invisible barriers around stages that make a few arenas very small and cramped until you break them(By smashing your opponent against it) which is... odd? The smaller stages are too small, which makes fighting a bit cumbersome.

The newcomers are not very appealing.

 As for the new characters, we've got Nagi the Spurious, a design that put fanservice first, but she's kinda fun to play as, which is understandable since she is related to Xion, and both are masher-friendly characters that have a lot of flash and simple inputs. There's Reiji the Crow, his beast form is really cool, but his human form looks like a generic enemy NPC Thug. Lastly, Ryoho who comes in two flavors: Ryoho and Mana the Ninetails, which is a bit wonky, circle makes Mana attack while Ryoho fights with punches and kicks, and Ryoho the Dragon in which Ryoho fights by himself and gets a wonky, but kinda neat, dragon form. As for Ryoho, he is a bit dull, gameplay-wise, and looks like a generic Japanese Martial Artist Monk design. Basically, besides Nagi, the other new characters aren't worth it. And Reiji's beast form makes a few stages drop frames like there's no tomorrow, do not use him in the sewers stage, for your sake.

 Finally, let me go in on the Career Mode and its flaws. First of all, fully clearing the entire and needlessly convoluted to explore grid you'll be left off with 96000 points... but you need 100000 in order to unlock Ryoho, problem is... every fight from then on only gives out 50 points. Yes, you have to fight 80 boring rounds to unlock Ryoho. If you equip damage boosts on your character you can finish each fight in two combos(The game pushes you back when a character transforms after losing all its health), so you can probably do this in 30-40 minutes. It's not really all that tedious, but its very boring. Then there's the fact that a savefile only has room for 8 customized characters. 8 out of 18. Brilliant.

There're two Ryohos, two tigers, two moles and Uranus is supposed to be a clone of Uriko....is this rise of the Clones?

 And don't you worry, not only does the game fail at a gameplay level, it also fails in the presentation. I know that the Gamecube was a stronger console, but these character models, which should be the ones from Primal Fury, which should look better than the models from BR3... managed to look even worse than 3. I can't quite put my finger on why the game looks worse, but it does. I think the characters are missing some polygons and worse lighting effects in order to bring back blood particles and make the game run smoothly while providing very short load times. It's just a theory, but BR 3 had rather long load times, which are gone now. Thanks? And then there're the ending cutscenes to Arcade Mode. The dialogue is bad, the subtitles have typos, the stories contradict each other and the voice acting is horrible, the delivery is abysmal and there's no lip synching. Did someone even care?

 And this marks Bloody Roar's end. In a sick twist of fate, no other Bloody Roar game is as hard to find, or expensive, as Bloody Roar 4 and none is as bad as it is. If you're like me you probably want to play as the new characters, but believe me, they aren't worth it. The new mechanics are horrible and only Nagi manages to be fun to play as, you're better off with Chronos and Ganesha in Primal Fury.
 4.0 out of 10