Game #1313: Atari 50 - The Anniversary Celebration

  Who are you calling old?

 I'm not gonna lie, Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration wasn't on my list until I learned that Fight for Life was featured in the game. Fight for Life was trash, but that's beside the point, as Atari 50 is something akin to a little piece of history, which compiles over a 100 games, although many are different ports of the same game such as Centipede, throughout the history of Atari, from their Arcade roots to the Jaguar.

 There are wayyyyy too many games for me to cover one by one, so I'll speak in broad terms.... Namely, many of these games are very old, and I mean VERY old, before I was even born... so many of them haven't aged very well. Half of the Atari 2600 game library was nigh unplayable to me, so if you don't have nostalgia attached to the games... you might not get much enjoyment out of it. The cart also features about 5 'new' remakes, such as Breakout and Haunted House 3D, as well as a new fourth part of the Hero Quest saga, and a honestly fun game that's made up of sections inspired by 3 different Atari games.

 The game collection feels very complete, games include flyers and manuals, when available, and it even features unreleased prototype games. The Arcade games could've used options such as Dip switches, but at least we get save states. There are so many games that there are various ways to arrange them, such as by console, by title or by release date.

 Looking outside the games themselves, the game also has an adorably comprehensive timeline, featuring all sorts of trivia bits about the history of Atari, including numerous high quality video mini-interviews of the people involved. This and the presentation itself shows that this was a labor of love.

 Yeah... the Atari games weren't for me, I don't think there's a single game in this collection that I could honestly say I could've enjoyed for more than an hour. But, y'know, if you grew during Atari's heyday, if you're interested in retro games... it's honestly worth a look. Even though I didn't enjoy most of the games, I actually enjoyed taking a peek into the history of videogames themselves.

 8.0

Game #1312: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone(Playstation 2)

 The sequel's prequel. 

 There's something quirky about Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on PS2... namely how it actually released after Chamber of Secrets. Yeah, it's an asset recycling job as they waited for Prisoner of Azkaban. It's also quite expensive.

 This game sticks closer to the movies than previous games, but character models have a decidedly cartoony look that doesn't look half bad. It also sticks closer to the actual plot of the movie than previous games, while still keeping some key sections from the game incarnations of The Sorcerer's Stone, such as gathering ingredients for Snape's potion.

 The game is divided into days and nights, but it does very little, as you are free to explore Hogwarts as your leisure, provided you have the right spells. It's incredibly easy to just get lost exploring around, and you'll inevitably come across obstacles that you just can't clear until you progress through the plot and get the necessary spell. Besides spells, about two thirds into the game you'll get your broomstick, and you'll be able to fly around Hogwarts. Honestly, there's not much stuff to do outside the castle, but flying is decent and it's a neat addition to the game. 

 Exploration is more important in this game than in any other, since all the collectible wizard and witches cards actually amount to extensions to your life bar, so you'd better get exploring. That said, about the only bits I didn't enjoy was finding Snape's ingredients. I wasn't quite sure that every ingredient was in the same area, and the game expects you to go at some point before the second and third Potions class, but since the game directs you towards the first ingredient... I thought it'd be part of the plot and not something you needed to progress but had to be done at your pace.

 The game is a bit like Zelda in that you get three item slots, mapped to Square, Triangle and Circle, and you have to shuffle your spells and items to those buttons. You'll probably have to visit the menus quite frequently, but there's zero load times, so it's not too bad.

 Using your spells to solve puzzles is how you'll deal with 90% of the game, but there is combat involved... it simply isn't very good. Stuff you have to Flipendo is easy enough, but it's ghosts and using Lumos that actually is a pain in the rear. There was nothing I hated more than having to face ghosts, and it's even worse when it comes to ghost dogs. It's as if the collision detection for Lumos doesn't work very well, and ghosts often times will hit you as you hope that the light cone in front of you harms them. Battling Plants, that require using Divindo and Incendio can also be a bit of a hassle, but not as annoying as ghosts.

 Flying is far from perfect but it's the best it has been yet. The first chase against Malfoy was honestly quite exciting, since it's done all around Hogwarts, and the sense of scale and speed was quite impressive.

 Well, as far as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone goes, this one gets the exploration the best. Exploring Hogwarts is fun and using spells to solve puzzles felt quite fitting. Sadly, the combat ranges from annoying to dull, which sucks considering how much battling there actually is in the game. As it stands, I'd say the PS1 game was the one I enjoyed the most, since it did everything well enough, as opposed to this one which excels in one area but did a blunder in another. 

 7.0

Game #1311: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone(Playstation 1)

 All about that PS1 Hagrid, baby!

 Took two games, but now we have our first actually good Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone game! This one takes the form of a 3-D adventure game, and it has often been called Harry Potter under LSD, which, while not quite accurate, but it still gets the point across: This is not Harry Potter like you are used to.

 Like I've mentioned with the previous two incarnations of the Sorcerer's Stone, this game's art design is quite a treat since it barely takes inspiration from the movies. And, unlike the previous games, this one is in 3-D, so it adds a whole new dimension. This one also took... quite a few liberties with plot. For instance, Draco kidnaps Hedgwig at the start of the game, at another time, Hagrid needs you to get Fire Seeds for him, whatever those are, and don't even let me get started on the potato-monsters that grow in size as they eat shrubs. And what about Malfoy's deadly WIZARD FIRECRACKERS? And when visiting Gringotts', midway through the game mind you since you need to buy ingredients for Hagrid, you get to slide all over Gringott's slippery floors. Trust me, this take on Harry Potter is bizarre, and it's all the better for it. It's not quite out there as the GBC version, but it's quite close! That said, weirdness aside, the game is not a decent alternative to the books or even the movies. What is a muggle? Why is Harry Potter called the boy who lived? What is a Voldemort and why can't he be named? It's never conveyed to players.

 And it's not as if this game was an afterthought, as you can tell it had pretty high production values, the game is fully voice acted, and it's quite pretty to look at, at the cost of the framerate, but hey, most of the time it runs decently. Curiously enough, Harry Potter is almost a mute hero, he only talks when casting spells or saying the dorm password. While the game lasts about four hours, there are plenty of secrets to find, even if most of the rewards are rather ho-hum wizard trading cards.... but there's a Flipendo upgrade out there, as well as a Broomstick upgrade...which might, ironically enough, be more of a handicap since it makes you too fast.

 The brunt of the game is platforming and exploration. Every spell you get is context sensitive, so if a wall is in your way, you'll automatically use Incendio when you press X, now, if you need to move something around, Harry will use Wingardium Leviosa when you press X. There's a very rudimentary combat system in place, you can target enemies and charge your Flipendo for a stronger attack, but that's about it. Honestly, in game like this, it gets the job done. The platforming is a bit janky, Harry jumps automatically, much like Link, but Harry's jumps are sometimes a bit too long which might make it a bit tough to aim towards the next platform, but I don't think it ever cost me a jump, it only felt as if it would.

 The game tries to keep things fresh with various minigames, and most of them are about hitting the right buttons, either to a rhythm or as listed on screen. I can't say I was much of a fan, but it wasn't horrible... sans the Incendio minigame. I think it's because of the framerate, but the timing is off, so you are better off pressing the button before it gets to the marker and not when it touches it. I won't lie, Incendio could get a bit annoying. The vault's minigame was a also a bit unnecessary, and if you don't catch enough coins you have to attempt it again. I hope the next game does away with all the nonsense, but, thankfully, it's not too bad. Heck, even flying the broomstick is quite decent, even if not exactly fun. There's a short stealth section early on, and it's rather bad, but at least it's just one time... I still have nightmares from Sorcerer's Stone on the GBA.

 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on the Playstation 1 was a lot of fun. I'll admit, I was a bit nostalgic for it since my sister used to own the game and I remember playing it a few times, although not necessarily enjoying it... not as much as I did now, anyways! Regardless, it's a pretty good game, and a very interesting take on Harry Potter, although I could've done with less mini-games!

 7.0

Game #1310: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone(Gameboy Advance)

 Magic, stealth and stars.

 More bits, means a better game, right? Well, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on the GBA is here to show you why you should stay with the GBC version of the game! Eh, I'm being a bit unfair, as this is a completely different game, taking the form of an over-the-top adventure game.

 Much like the previous game, I have to mention that I really dig this game's art design, as it comes from a place before the movies had actually come out and the developers didn't have the technology, or the material(Photos, etc), to stick close to the movies. It's a bit less whacky than the GBC version, but you'll come across all sort of weird pictures hanging on walls and what not. It's interesting. It's also interesting how it shuffles events around, but hey, who's keeping track?

 While it's presented as an adventure game, and exploration is rewarded with goodies such as permanent health upgrades... you are actually railroaded into going wherever the game wants you to. Got a new spell and want to try opening a chest in the dungeons? Tough luck, you have to wait until the game unlocks that door again. Prefects will regularly block your way, and doors get chained up so that you can't backtrack unless the game wants you to. It made me feel quite bitter actually, what's the point of getting new spells if I can't go back and try them out on places I remember having stuff I couldn't open or reach? It's not as if it's for the players' benefit as not to get lost, since the map clearly tells you where you need to be.

 While you get a bunch of spells, most of the puzzles are about pushing stuff with Flipendo. The other spells basically act as keys to obstacles/doors, so you don't need to spend much brain power figuring out how to proceed. That said, the forbidden forest section is awful, since you need to walk through fake walls and what not. It wasn't challenging, it wasn't fun, it was just... annoying. Lumos gets the prize as the most useless spell in the game, since you need to regularly use it to light up the environment. It's not a puzzle, it's just an inconvenience on the player, and it's not as if you came across dark rooms before that you can now access, oh no, the moment you get Lumos is the moment you start to need to use it. It's so dumb.

 The game is quite repetitive too, every time you learn a spell you need to play dull Simon Says minigames, and after every spell you enter a challenge room in which you have to collect 6 stars. It doesn't make much sense. Another time you need to guide worms using a flute towards Hagrid, which makes no sense story-wise, and it felt like such a tedious chore. And don't even let me get started on moving platforms. There's no jumping, but if you the platform is a pixel away from the floor and you touch that pixel you fall down and you have to restart the entire challenge room again.

 And don't even let me get started on how unwieldy the flight controls are, and the stealth is so annoying. As you play the game you are awarded, or substracted, how points. It's cute, since you can use Flipendo on students, for flavor text, but using it on teachers will cost you house points!... but then, it's so easy to lose House Points to the stupid stealth sections. What's worse, sometimes it's not clear that you are in a stealth section, like when going to rescue Hermione from the troll, there's a single student nearby, and if it touches you... you lose points. To be fair, House Points only change the ending, I think, and it's a lame ending whether you get the House Cup or not, but I still didn't want to lose points to garbage like this.

 I'll tell you this, however, despite how many gripes I have with the game, I still enjoyed walking through Hogwarts. Finding secret stuff and using spells to navigate the environment was enjoyable too, the game has a certain... whimsical quality to it, a certain je ne se quois that made the overall game not be as terrible as some of its parts are. 

 4.0

Game #1309: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone(Gameboy Color)

 This is MY Hogwarts Legacy. 

 There are genres you'd expect a Harry Potter game to be, right? An adventure game, heck, maybe and action game... but Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone on the Gameboy Color is quite different, as it's a Japanese RPG. Sure, it's wasn't made in Japan or by Japanese devs, but hey, turn-based combat? Linear story? It's the Japanese style of RPG, so I'm calling a JRPG. Deal with it.

 After a poor attempt of introducing players to Harry Potter, you are thrust into Diagon Alley with Hagrid as you go get yourself ready for Hogwarts. And here you'll learn to detect random encounters, and how to battle them. Not too long afterwards, the game sticks closely to the source material, as Hagrid and Harry must walk to Harry's Gringott's Vault, but, much like the movie itself, Harry trips and must now find the vault by himself, and then fight the GIANT rat that guards. The rest of the game is pretty similar in that regard, but it also skips many important scenes, and quidditch isn't even mentioned.

 One of the most peculiar thing about the game is it's peculiar art-style, which I think it's actually rather endearing, as this is a Hogwarts that doesn't take after the movies. It's a seven-floor building, and each floor has weird things. There are very weird, cartoonish statues, and there's even a floor with sphinxes. It sounds so alien and wacky, but... keeping in mind how the original book was a children's book... it doesn't feel so out of place. It's a very weird take on Hogwarts, and that makes it endearing. It also has a weird sense of humor? A NPC claims that muggle clothes makes their butt look big, for example, and trying every vault in Gringotts gives a different flavored text. It's weird, endearingly so. On the other hand, character portraits are ugly in an off-brand anime kind of way. You can collect Famous Wizards cards, and each card has flavored text, which once again, charmingly weird, and they come with their own ugly off-brand anime portraits.

 The game is a JRPG-lite, you only play as Harry Potter, and the game's world is reduced to Hogwarts. The gameplay can sometimes be a bit obtuse as well. The very first quest is finding Gryffindor's room, so you go from floor to floor talking with NPCs who give such helpful hints as "Look up, not down", or "It's above this floor". Well, it's on the seventh, and final, floor, which sounds very easy, but when you don't know where anything is, it's not as obvious. Plus, if you explore every nook and cranny, like me, you might take a one-way shortcut below, so now you have to climb back up some floors. But whatever, you get to the seventh floor.... but now you need the door's password, so back to talking with NPCs. Hopefully you didn't take the shortcut to floor 1, because you actually need to get to floor 6 and speak with Gryffindor's ghost who now tasks you... with going back to floor 1. Weirdly enough, the next quest can be tackled in any order, and it's about attending to different classes, but it's a bit more fun this time around. Still, not gonna lie, the game is about 10 hours long, but by hour 7 or so I was getting a bit tired of going up and down through Hogwarts' many floors. It's also weird 'cause few parts of the game actually have fighting, so you are oftentimes encouraged to go out of your way to grind for XP and money and then return to going to-and-fro through Hogwarts.

 Combat is decent and a bit mysterious. For instance, there's no description of what each spell does. To be fair, pretty much every spell is damage oriented, but there's a hidden weakness element, as certain enemies only take damage from specific spells. It doesn't make much sense because it's not like spells have elements, except Incendium which is fire-based, but why turtles only take damage from "Vermilious" doesn't make much sense, but it's how it works, so part of combat is learning how to damage enemies and remembering it. The famous Wizards cards can also be used as "Card Combinations" that may help you in battle... or not. What each combination does is not explained, so you have to try them out and hope for the best... or not. I finished the game without ever using the system since I never cared to gamble!

 The game is not without its issues too. There are plenty of small graphical glitches here and there, but worst of all, one time I got soft-locked in combat. Seems I was mashing A or something, and... the enemies stopped attacking and the combat menu disappeared. At another time, when going into the forbidden forest, if you walk too far from where Hagrid is waiting for you, Harry torpedoes towards the upper right corner of the screen and the game soft locks itself!

 Harry Potter 1 on the Gameboy Color is alright. It offers an interesting look at Harry Potter without the movie's influences on the artstyle, and that alone makes it a neat curiosity, but there's no denying that the game can get a bit dull at times, and I felt it wasn't paced very well. But hey, it's not horrible. I'm hoping that the sequel, which also follows the JRPG format, manages to improve upon it.

5.0

Game #1308: Evil West

 As opposed to the Good East and the Neutral North. 

 Coming straight outta Gungrave Gore.... Evil West was the game I wished Gungrave was. It's a third-person character-action styled game with an emphasis on guns, and it's so GOOD. It's also, thematically and aestheticall, the game Order 1861 and Damnation wished they were.

 The game is set in the wild west era of cowboys, but in a world were zombie-like-vampires called ticks exist, and so humanity had to learn to use the power of electricity and powder to create weapons capable of destroying these baddies. You play as a generic 80's styled gruff macho hero who is so forgettable I can't even remember his name, and his design is too busy to be very memorable. But hey, the good news is... the art-style is, overall, pretty neat, and EVERYONE in the supporting cast has either a colorful design or an interesting personality, the only character that is the exception is the main character, funnily enough. The plot is entirely too predictable, but it gets the job done in game like this.

 Gameplay is where it's at, you get a generic 4-5 melee hit combo with R1, but you can hold down R1 at any moment to pop enemies into the air and try to juggle them. If an enemy glows red you can interrupt them by kicking them, with R3, or you can dodge out of the way with X. You can also parry attacks with L1, with a very generous window of opportunity. All your guns run on cooldown instead of bullets. R2 is used for your revolver, holding down L2 will let you use your more precise weapons, like the crossbow or the rifle, Square uses your shotgun, and you'll also get dynamite, a flamethrower and a minigun as you advance through the game. There are only two ways to heal, using the healing skill, which has the longest cooldown amongst your abilities, or by executing enemies that are shining yellow. Naturally, as with any other game like this one, you get a super mode with L1+R1 when the electricity gauge has enough charges. Oh! And I almost forgot about the electric gauntlet, which you can use to draw enemies towards you or propel yourself towards an enemy.

 The gameplay is a total blast, as you juggle both enemies and your skills to defeat them. Many enemies are introduced as bosses... but then return as common enemies, and the game LOVES pairing ex-bosses together to challenge you. Heck, the bosses themselves usually spawn weaker enemies when they are running low on health! The game's difficulty was quite appropriate on Normal, I died a few times, but came back stronger and more knowledgeable of the enemy types I was dealing with in that encounter, so it evened out. It's a very fun game, your weapons are fun to use and managing your resources felt satisfying. Most of the time the framerate held up, but I did notice that the framerate dips started getting more frequent in the latter parts of the game, but I wouldn't say it got in the way of my enjoyment of the game.

 There weren't many puzzles in the game, but exploring is rewarded with money, white color outfit pieces and, more rarely, upgrades(That you then have to buy). Money is used to upgrade your weapons. Most upgrades are more than basic damage upgrades, as they tend to add functionality to your weapons. For instance, while one of the rifles upgrades IS a damage upgrade, another one immediately restores bullets that hit a weak point, and the other one turns it into an electricity gun, with shots that go through enemies. On the other hand, defeating enemies grant you XP, and with every level up you are granted a skill point that you can spend on another set of abilities.

 Sadly, the game has a few too many glitches. There are a ton of small graphical glitches here and there, particularly when it comes to physics-based objects, such as cloth or chains. Sometimes it has issues loading assets, so you may get into an empty room as it slowly loads the walls and objects. One time it got so bad that even if I reloaded the checkpoint it wouldn't load the room.... I had to completely exit the game in order to get it to load. At another point, after beating a boss the cutscene wouldn't trigger, so I had to reload the checkpoint and defeat the boss again. Not to mention the two hard-crashes I got to. Plus, the game is sometimes too dark to see what's around you.

 Evil West is a brilliant game, but as fun as it is... it's another painful reminder of how busted modern games are released nowadays by companies that aren't Nintendo. It wasn't as broken as God of War, but still, games shouldn't release with these many issues. Still, it's hard to stay angry at the game when the gameplay was so good.

 8.5

Game #1307: Gungrave G.O.R.E.

  Infinite bullets, no bandana required.

 The Gungrave duology wasn't a particularly deep series of games, but they were the epitome of stylish shooting. They were brief action-packed games that never overstayed their welcome, and while I wasn't craving for more, I was over the moon when Gungrave G.O.R.E was first announced. I didn't watch or read any reviews, but I did see the numbers, and they weren't good. As I was playing the game I actually watched some reviews, and I thought they didn't get the game. Some even abandoned the game because of the train stage. Slowly but surely, the game got worse and worse. I'm positive most people that trashed the game didn't finish it, because none of them actually got to mention it's real issues.

 For starters, the story makes no sense. It's no surprise really, the Gungrave games have always had pretty bland storylines, and done a poor job at conveying it, so I won't complain too much. That said... Quartz's character model is hideous, her neck is too long. And at first I enjoyed seeing Mika as a grown lady and taking part in the action.... except she gets put out of commission early on and spends the rest of the game... almost naked floating inside a tube.... yeah, that kinda sucked. They also brought back a dead character for no good reason, except maybe fanservice? And don't even let me get started on the low-budget summary video of the previous two games, it's not even animated.

 The core gameplay is identical to the original games. As Grave you mash R2 to shoot, building up combos builds up your demolition gauge which lets you use super moves. You have a close-range swing with your coffin that can deflect missiles. Grave can also dive and shoot while moving, however, shooting while standing still is faster and builds up the gauge faster. You have a regenerating shield, and once depleted you start taking permanent damage, but you can restore your health using demolition shots.

 So far so good, if anything, the game lacks a bit of oomph. Explosions are boring 2-D sprites, demolition shots feel wonky and unimpressive... but it plays like the original games, and that's good enough... except that the game introduces new mechanics that I actually enjoyed.

 There's a chargeshot, and I actually think OverDosed introduced it, that is used to destroy shields or knock down enemies. You can grapple towards enemies or grapple enemies towards yourself, and then you can use them as meat shields. If an enemy is stunned, you can use the grapple, or walk up to them, and execute them, which instantly recharges you shield a little bit. There are new Triangle attacks that increase your combo gauge by a lot, but can only be used once you reach a combo of 50. And even better, depending on your ranking after a stage, you get DNA(XP) that you can spend to enhance your stats, get more Demolition shots or even new moves. I loved the new mechanics.

 Many people complained about the game being 'too basic', and too repetitive... but that's what this series has always been about: Arcade shooting action. There are no puzzles, screw that noise, it's all about being stylish and kicking butt, while trying to maintain your combo. If you are snazzy enough, you'll realize that the environment is filled with destructible objects, so that you can try to carry over your combo into the next arena. For good, or bad, this game is exactly like the PS2 games.

 ....except worse. For starters, the chargeshot is super wonky. Unless a shot goes out when you start holding down R2, it won't charge. It takes some time getting used to. And then there's the fact that you shoot with R2 and you are expected to mash that bastard, it's impossible for your hand not to hurt. For what it's worth, after a few minutes it stops hurting, but still, playing a videogame shouldn't be painful. In the previous games, at least OD, you could toggle on an option to hold down the shooting button. Another quirk is that if you move when you press the melee button attack you'll initiate a melee combo that doesn't reflect missiles, and when the game is showering you with baddies and you are constantly on the move... this isn't a good design choice.

 The game also has more horrible platforming sections than I would've liked. Your control over the camera is limited, and your jump is very awkward. I hated losing progress to a clunky jump. Some bosses can stun you, but mashing left and right, like the game tells you to, doesn't work... near the end of the game I figured out that mashing up and down worked much better. What gives? At least twice the game glitched and the door forward wouldn't open, so I had to restart the last checkpoint. There was a horrible 'avoid the lasers' section near the end of the game that kills you if you touch the lasers. Instantly. Oh, and there's a bullet-hell type boss which just doesn't work in third person, the red bullets came out of the blue bullets too quickly to be able to react at all. It doesn't work. Oh, and after I defeat the boss, it seems that its attacks kept coming DURING the cutscene, so I died DURING the cutscene and had to do the boss fight again. Fun.

 I'll tell you this, when the game is at its best... it's really fun. You want to try to maintain your combo, execute stunned enemies to recharge your shield, while also using demolition shots to heal any lost health, not to mention keeping track of shielded enemies, so that you can break the shields with a charge shot... while being mindful of the shotgun enemies that usually come with them, trying to knock you down with their shots so that you lose your charge, all the while being mindful of rockets you should be deflecting... it's a lot of chaos, but a lot of fun.

 ... but by stage 20 it becomes unfairly so. It isn't fun when the game just throws ungodly amounts of enemies your way, and it feels as if your upgrades mean absolutely nothing. The only reason I never lowered the difficulty was because I'd miss out on any trophy, but man, I hope Easy is a lot easier, because Normal is unfair, and I really wouldn't subject myself to this hell again. And, y'know what, the original games weren't much different from this one mechanics-wise, but they were shorter, this is an almost 8 hour long game. It stops being fun after a while, it hurts your hand and it's unfair.

 And, y'know, after OD I'd expect more playable characters, and to be fair this game has them, two of them in fact, but they each get a SINGLE stage each. Why? Why can't every stage be played as any character? Why make different playstyles if I only get to play as them for 10 minutes or so each? Absolutely pathetic. And Quartz, one of the playable characters, is fun, since you have to use her projectile to stun enemies so that you can defeat them with your melee attacks... but this shows how janky the game can get, since melee attacks lack power behind them, it all looks... anything but cool.

 Gungrave G.O.R.E. was a game I was very excited about, and the worse part about it was that at first I was enjoying the game. But it takes a nosedive and it takes it fast. What was once challenging but fun, eventually became a drag. At first, learning a boss' pattern and taking it down with ease after they murdered me a few times was SO satisfying, but when you are fighting hordes of bullet spongy enemies that just keep coming and coming and your attack feel so pathetic... Gungrave is a series about looking cool, so why did finishing the game entailed making Grave look like a pansy?

 4.0

Game #1306: Cannon Dancer - Osman

 May the real Strider Hiryu 2 please stand up?

 It's no secret that I really dig these ports of classic games, even though not all of them are done with the same level of care. Well, never would I have guessed that Osman, a fantastic Arcade game I knew thanks to emulation, would get one, but boy, am I glad we this rerelease: Cannon Dancer - Osman.

 As a port, it's excellent, as it knows it's a highly unfair Arcade game, so you get all sorts of goodies. There are optional enhancements, such as a double jump, invincibility during jumps, slides and/or attacking and even autoattacking by holding down the attack button. There are also built-in cheats, such as invulnerability or infinite time. Needless to say, you can make your experience with the game as leisurely as possible, or you can opt to play in Challenge Mode which disables cheats and enhancements(Bah! It lets you pick up to two of these) and enables Achievements. There are also Rewind and Fast Forward options, as well as savestates. The game also packs in both the Japanese version, Cannon Dancer, and Osman, the localization. As far as I could tell, besides the language, the only major difference is that Cannon Dancer has blood.

 The only drawback, maybe, is that there's not much in the way of extras such as official artwork... but I'd rather get tweaks and enhancements to make the game more accessible than window-dressing. Few rereleases have had as many options as this one, which makes it one of the best classic port-jobs I've seen recently.

 Now then, a thing to keep in mind is that this game isn't cheap, but it lasts about half an hour, maybe less if you are skilled. But as brief as it is, it is oh, so sweet. You'll visit a desert, you'll surf waves while ambushed by flying machine gunners, you'll travel dystopic 80's styled cyberpunk locales, you'll fight machines, you'll fight GODS. It's an epic, bombastic game that never lets up.

 And the game plays like Strider, as Kirin can cling on to walls and ceilings, much like Hiryu, but Kirin kicks his enemies to death. Kirin can collect power up that grants him up to three after images, and they stay rooted to the last spot you attacked, for a short while, and while they are in place, you can mash attack to have them attack as well! The game's hook is learning where to place these after images so that you can safely attack bosses. Getting hit takes you back a level in power, so you also have to be careful about not getting hit in order to keep your abilities. It's really fun, and very fast-paced, exactly what I love in a videogame.

 When it comes to Cannon Dancer - Osman, I've absolutely nothing to complain about. The base game is fantastic, and the port is excellent, being packaged with all the bells and whistles to make playing this classic as comfortable as possible. The only thing that keeps it from a full recommendation is the price in relation to how short it is, but hey, being an Arcade game... it's quite replayable.

 9.0

Game #1305: Sleeping Dogs - Definitive Edition

 It is considered a sleeper hit!

 Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition has been on my radar even before it became sort of a cult classic, because it reminded me of True Crime: Streets of LA, and there's a reason for it, as it's sort of an spiritual sequel to that game. The game never sold very well, which is surprising since to this year people still keep pumping out videos singing its praises.

 Well, even though I never played the original, since this was originally a PS3 game... you'd expect it to run smoothly. It doesn't, the framerate can dip surprisingly hard, and throughout my entire run I had mini-freezes every now and then. I thought my copy was busted, so I purchased it again. Turns out, it's because I didn't update the game, and it was trying to connect to compare times and what not. Very annoying anyways. This version also includes every DLC that released, which is mostly made up of costumes, as well as three campaigns. One totally eluded me because it's integrated into the main game, a combat tournament, but Year of the Snake and Nightmare in North Point are accessed via the main menu. They are quite brief and sorta dull, one has you fighting Chinese zombies, and the other one is sort of an epilogue in which you tackle a cult.

 The game is your standard open-world crime themed sand-box action shooter. The twist is that you play as an undercover cop, Wei Shen, and it takes place in Hong Kong. The plot is predictable and cliched, but I'd lie if I wasn't entertained. Even though every plot twist is predictable, it was still executed well enough.

 The city has plenty of the standard stuff you'd expect to find: Optional missions, Racing missions, collectibles(Such as money chests, Shrines that extend your health bar or Jade Statues that grant you new moves), Combat arenas, as well as mini-games, such as Karaoke or hacking cameras. It's pretty by the numbers. You also get different levels, such as Cop level, Triad level and Face level, each has different requirements and gives Wei different perks and bonuses. Triad is increased by defeating enemies efficiently during story missions, Cop level by doing Cop Missions or being cautious when fulfilling story missions, and Face is increased by fulfilling simple side missions or triggering optional events throughout the city. It's a neat system, although I found most perks to be rather mundane.

 The driving is alright, I found people criticizing it, but driving cars works well enough. The camera could be smoother when it comes to turning it, and it should've offered different angles, but it's not half bad. That said, bikes and boats are a hassle to control, so whenever it was possible I avoided driving either. There's a drift button, but it doesn't work very well, and breaking before taking curves gets the job done, so no worries.

 Combat is why most people enjoyed the game so much, but I found it rather mediocre. It takes after Assassin's Creed and the Batman Arkham series, press square to attack, and when enemies shine red press triangle to counter their attacks. Honestly, most enemies either counter your grabs or block most of your attacks, so I found myself playing defensively, waiting for attacks to counter... and it felt boring, since taking the initiative and being aggressive meant spending even MORE time waiting for them to attack so that I could counter them. Wei gets very few combos, there was no reason not to go for the longer attack chain every single time I could.

 The shooting is alright, you don't get to keep firearms, as even the ones you hold will eventually, somehow, make their way out of Wei's hands. Whenever a shootout comes up, there will be weapons nearby for you to pick up. It's cover based, and you can trigger slo-mo when vaulting over cover... and there's no reason not to go back and forth over cover, and why wouldn't you, it's not as if this slo-mo is limited by any gauge and it makes landing headshots so much easier.

 Lastly, the game has a ton of rather annoying minigames. The hacking one is actually rather fun, which is probably why it's the only one they reused in the Year of the Snake DLC expansion. The one when opening safes is cute, since you must roll the dial right and left until you hit the right number, but when 40% of the chests have it... it grows boring. The one in which you must track a signal was a chore, and calibrating bugs was such a waste of time too. Was this a DS game? Why so useless many mini-games, what gives?

 Sleeping Dogs its not bad, it really isn't, but... it felt average, y'know? The setting is original, the plot was entertaining, but the rest of the game was just alright. There's nothing horrible about it, but I don't think it excelled anywhere

 7.0

Game #1304: Fire Emblem - Three Hopes

 I hope that's enough hope.

 Not so long ago, I played my first Fire Emblem game, Three Houses, and it was a banger. Well, Tecmo Koei continues the trend of making Musous out of other franchises instead of their own Dynasty Warriors, so enter Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes. I'd hesistate to call it a sequel to Fire Emblem Warriors since so much has changed, as it's more in-line with Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, as it's set in the world of Three Houses, but much like AoC, it offers an unsatisfying alternate storyline instead of it being a proper sequel or expansion.

 In this one, the main character is Shez, a new character that was killed by Byleth before the original Three Houses, but in this timeline he survives thanks to a mysterious power up. This time around Shez is not a mute hero, thank god, and he is the one who gets to join one of the three houses. Shez is kinda dull to be honest, and he, or she, can't romance any of the characters. The new storyline was a bit lame to be honest, and the fact that it's an 'alternate timeline' makes it all the lamer. I also felt that seeing Byleth become a total nobody, I mean, he is the famed 'Ashen Demon' and he is feared by everyone, but... he barely gets to interact with the characters that could grow so fond of him in the original game.

 While having everyone from Three Houses return is pretty neat, I miss having characters from all around the Fire Emblem universe, plus, since it's an alternate continuity... it's not as if anything that happens in this game really matters in the overall world of Three Houses, now does it? Might as well just pay tribute to the entire series, right? I also felt that having each character having a single promotion, which would change their outfit, was a bit cooler. This game tries to mimic elements from Three Houses, so now you get a shared pool of classes, and true, each character gets their own unique outfit, but they share class-based outfits.

 The game lasts about 25 hours... and that's just a single playthrough. As it tries to borrow as many elements from Three Houses as possible it also has three routes depending on which house you pick at the start, so you actually get three different storylines to follow. And this is its own can of worms, at least in my opinion, making it kind of a hassle to play. Instead of having a simple mission select screen or map, as any other decent Musou game, you get a linear plot and set of missions. You can recruit characters from other houses in certain missions... but if you start a new game plus, you can only use the characters that you recruit on THIS new playthrough. To be fair, after chapter 2 you get a facility that lets you replay missions, and you can actually use any character that had joined you in previous playthroughs, to play these missions, but once again, it's an unnecessary hassle. This also means that starting a new playthrough is a pain in the butt, you get the replay mission facility about an hour into it, and you have to replay the boring and slow paced introductory chapters and tutorial all over again. Yes, the game forces you through the tutorials AGAIN, even though it's a new game plus.

 You only get to play two missions before the timeskip, which is kind of rushed, but hey, everyone gets new timeskip designs. Of course, the new designs are hit or miss, and pretty much all of them are based on their original costumes. I appreciate having new designs, but having the old ones as optional costumes would've been perfect.

 At first the game felt very overwhelming, new mechanics kept being introduced pretty regularly, and each tutorial was at least 3 pages long. And then you find out about all the different character classes, and just how would you know which classes are better? But before long you'll get the gist of it and feel comfortable playing it. Even when it comes to classes, the game highlights which classes fit each character the best. But yeah, it feels too complicated at first, but it really isn't.

 So far, I haven't had many good things to say about the game, but that's about to change! The gameplay is really good. Not only are there a lot of classes, but you are encouraged to try them all because besides the unique passive abilities each class gets, your character also learns skills that they can equip regardless of which class they are using! This allows for an interesting degree of customization on everyone. Each class also has Special Attacks that you can then equip with other classes, although some require an specific weapon type. Characters can equip up to two of these abilities, and they consume weapon durability. Not to worry, weapons don't break, and you can fix durability during battles by finding purple crystals.

  Just as in the original Fire Emblem Warriors, this one tries to give the Musou formula an strategic edge, so you can actually bring up to four characters to each battle, and swap between them at any moment. You are also supposed to regularly pause the game to assign orders to everyone. It sounds annoying, but it's not.

 Stages and Missions are just large enough to be enjoyable, but brief enough as to feel appropriate on a handheld console. There's only so many missions types besides capturing strongholds or defeating specific enemies, but as with the best Musou games, the action is fast, loose and flashy. If anything, I'd complain that the first Class Tiers are a bit dull since they don't have many combo finishers, so if you like to mash buttons... sometimes mashing X will produce nothing and just stop your combo. It's not until the very last Class Tier that classes get full movesets.

 It's not the best Musou Koei has ever made, but at least it's not the worst. Thankfully the gameplay is solid, unlike their previous effort, Touken Ranbu Warriors. That said, I'm getting tired of these wet-blanket 'alternate continuity' plots, either move the plot forward, device a plot that is actually part of the license's world, or go back to just grabbing characters from multiple worlds, pertaining to the license, and writing an excuse plot, because both Age of Calamity and Three Hopes have an excuse plot that limits the characters they can borrow, and that sucks.

 7.5