Game #1086: BloodRayne

  This vampire doesn't suck.

 Ah, BloodRayne, now this is a game I used to play a lot back when I was younger. The game looked amazing, things such as being able to sever cloth, even if in pre-selected areas, felt so next-gen, as well as the way in which this very same cloth would sway as you walked under it, as well as the huge amount of vampire-y stuff Rayne could pull off made for a bloody good time for a kid that enjoyed horror.

 This is a third-person shooter hybrid thing. Guns are part of Rayne's arsenal to be sure, and she can dual wield different set of weapons as well as shoot at two different targets at the same time, which was super cool back then. However, Rayne's repertoire of abilities goes beyond that, she has two blades on her wrists which she can use in conjunction with kicks to shred her enemies to bits. You can also use a hook to bring down enemies to your level for an easy feed, because you can feed on enemies to replenish your health.... while using their body as a bullet shield. You can even shoot while feeding. Hit enough enemies with your melee attacks and you'll fill your Rage gauge, which you can then use to turn super powerful, increasing your strength, durability and limb-tearing potential for a short while. It's super satisfying.

 Playing the game is pretty darn fun because the game does a great job at making you feel like an overpowered vampire. Not only do you have all these different tools, but the control scheme is easy to get used to and Rayne is very responsive to your inputs.

 Most of the game is pretty straightforward, find and kill certain targets or get to a certain spot. You can turn on vamp-vision to highlight where your objective is in order to aid you. That said, I'd lie if I claimed I didn't get stumped a few times. The game is not exceedingly hard, but a few times it can be tough to figure out ho to proceed. Heck, the final boss is unfairly hard, both to figure out and to actually defeat, heck, I wasn't able to.

 There's a funny PS2 bug, where upon reaching the game's third act a cutscene plays out... and the game freezes. Even the guide I consulted every now and then suggested to watch the cutscene, restart your PS2 and then skip the cutscene!

 I'm happy to report that BloodRayne holds up really well nowadays. Yeah, sure female characters are dressed in very exploitative late 90's early 00's designs, but Rayne is just the right amount of sexy without reaching cringe levels, plus, she's a vampire and vampires are supposed to be sexy and seductive, so it kinda fits. When all's said and done, I definitely think BloodRayne is a great game, and I had a blast revisiting this one.

 8.5

Game #1085: Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga

  Luigi really gets no respect, huh?

 Mario RPG birthed Paper Mario, which in turn, birthed Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, another RPG game featuring Mario, and interestingly enough, just like Paper Mario's combat system borrow a lot from Mario RPG while moving the plot into an entirely different direction, so does Mario & Luigi in regards to its antecessors. 

 As with any other Mario RPG I've played before the story isn't really something worth writing about, keeping things light-hearted and with no real character development to speak of. That said, this game's setting REALLY won me over, as the entire game is set in world in which its inhabitants are sentient BEANS. Like, Coffee beans. You'll be battling evil beans and interacting with good beans, even a fat queen bean lady or the tiny bean kids or the fabulous bean prince. I really liked this new world we get to visit, and the amazing spritework really brings everything to life, as the graphics are very colorful and well animated, with special mentioning having to go towards how expressive some of the facial animations are! Oh, and I also liked the game sense of humor.... which relies on making fun of Luigi from the very beginning!

 The Mario RPG series have always done interesting things with their combat systems in order to keep player invested in its turn-based battles, and this game is no exception. To make things simple, Mario is tied to the A button and Luigi to the B button, which is pure genius, and you'll actively take part in offensive and defensive actions. As you go through the game each brother will gain access to three main forms of attack: Jump, Hammer and Hand. Jump is the most basic attack and you must press jump right before hitting an enemy for bonus damage, jumps won't work on some enemies, mostly of the spiky variety. For the hammer, the in-game explanation is worthless, just press the A/B button as soon as you see Mario and Luigi shake, else the attack will fail. Hand is much easier to use, just press the button as soon as you see the fire(Mario) or thunder(Luigi) sphere fully charged, these latter two can be tricky since some enemies absorb fire or thunder.... but they take extra damage from the opposite element. As for defense, you'll have to figure out if the attack is coming towards Mario or Luigi. A symbol on the left of the screen will tell you if your defense will be jumping or using the hammer, and thus you must time the method of defense alongside the incoming attack, and if you're really good, instead of evading the incoming attack, you'll actually perform a counterattack. There are also super moves that involve both brothers and pressing the correct button at the right time.

 This combat system is a double edged sword. On one hand, combat is very fun, it really is, but on the other hand... it can drag on for a bit too long and every fight can last longer than it should. The game lasts about 15 hours, but the final dungeon felt like a drag because combat against basic enemies was so slow, both in pacing and in how much damage some of these enemies could tank. And maybe I just suck, but the game could get a bit challenging at times because there are no Inns to restore your health and BP(MP).. at least until you realize that the game throws a ton of healing items your way, for free. Plus, be careful where you wander off, as trying to explore BEFORE the equipment shop opens up will spell DEATH for you, and if you haven't saved in a while.... good grief.

 Speaking of a double-edged sword, exploration too has its ups and downs. On the plus side, jumping, hammering and hand powers help you explore the environment, alongside a unique jumping ability... depending on how you align the brothers. With Mario in the lead, Luigi can use a spring-jump to reach high players, he can use the Electricity to move sidesways or backwards(By 'sticking' himself to Mario) or use the Hammer on Mario to shrink him down. Press Start and now Luigi is in the lead, so now Mario can use the spin-jump to travel the air, use fire to burn Luigi's butt and having him dash forwards or use the hammer on Luigi to stake him underground.

 Sounds fun, right? And it can be, at first, but you'll be using the same abilities to retread old ground every time you move from place to place, which quickly goes from fun and engaging to boring and repetitive. Plus, there are too many tools, you have to cycle between Jump, Special Jump, Hammer and Hand with both L and R buttons depending on the brother, plus, switching which brother is in the lead is done with the Start button instead of select, which his super confusing, so you'll be accidentally opening the menu tons of times.

 Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga is an interesting case, because every element that makes the game fun and unique... also brings it down in some form or manner. Fun combat that keeps the player engaged... also can make combat feel slow paced and boring. Having to interact with the environment to explore it makes it fun to find new places and find its secrets... until you have to backtrack and have to cycle between tools and putting the right brother in the lead without opening the menu. If you were to ask me, the highs absolutely overweigh the lows, but your mileage may vary. Still, gameplay aside, I feel like the Bean Bean Kingdom is a very interesting new setting for Mario to explore, and all the slights against Luigi were quite funny, sorry green Mario.

 8.5 

Game #1084: Jaws Unleashed

  Is this The Room of licensed videogames?

 Well, I wanted to sneak in a few more horror games in September, so I went for Jaws Unleashed but it seems like they either turned the license into a comedy or they made an unintentionally funny game, I'm still not quite sure what they were aiming for.

 You play as Jaws, the Shark, and it's your mission to... umm, ruin the town Mayor's reputation and eat people I guess. The game is made up of 11 short missions, but in between missions you are free to explore the Open Seas and take on side missions, if you want some extra points to beef up your stats.

 What makes the game so unintentionally(Or was it intentional?) funny is how ridiculous it can get. Heck, the very first mission tasks you with grabbing a scientist, with your JAWS, and before you eat him or snap him in two, you have to carry his body next to a card reader to use his ID card and open a door. Other times you'll have to grab exploding barrels and SHOOT THEM towards boats. You can also perform tricks, such as juggling people with your tail whips, or even unlock new techniques such as a twirling aerial tackle. And the first boss? An Orca. You are a Shark fighting an Orca. And giant enemy Octopuses, this game's got them. It's ridiculous, for good or bad.

 Sadly, it's a bit janky. The camera can be a mess and actively fight you, and since you are a big, thick shark, moving around can be imprecise. The minefield mission is an absolute pain in the rear. Heck, a lot of missions were downright annoying because it can be so hard to figure out how the game expects you to proceed. What to break or how to break it. One time I was trying to get into a room and the door wouldn't budge, so I checked a guide.... It said so tackle it three times. I had already tackled it three times and it didn't open, but I did it again and it did. There was no special noise, not sign that I was actually dealing damage to the door. It's silly what a poor job the game does at telling you what to do.

 Jaws Unleashed is more of a novelty than anything else, it's very clunky, some missions are poorly designed and it's hard to tell if it was supposed to be a tribute or a parody of the license, however, this mix of things is also what makes the game a bit of a meme, which is and of itself, makes it worth a look, doesn't it?

 4.5

Game #1083: No More Heroes(Switch)

  It's called fashionably late.

 You could say that No More Heroes holds a special place in my heart, as it's the game that introduced me to the one and only, Suda51, and, by proxy, it'd end up introducing me to David Lynch and his wondrous movies. I've since played the game a few more times, for example, during a Suda51 marathon I pulled off one day or the PS3 port. To prepare us for NMHIII, NMH 1 re-released on the Switch, so I took the opportunity to play the game after going through III, giving me an interesting new context to compare this game with.

 Sooo, No More Heroes is a rather simple hack-and-slash game, at least if you look at it from the surface. Grasshopper has never had the biggest budgets, so they compensate with style what it lacks in substance. You get a very interesting narrative told in a very unique way, with a super interesting cast of characters and bosses, even bosses that barely get any scenes are memorable, as well as very stylish and satisfying combat. Few games have ever matched the utter gratification you get after swinging a Wiimote/Joycon when executing enemy.

 Well, first the good news... it's a port of the Wii original and not the PS3 remake. Unlike those other versions, this port targets 60 FPS and runs very smoothly, even the overworld. There are dips here and there, yes, but for the most part, it's buttery smooth. It's also got super short loading times, you can barely play with the Star icon during the loading screens.

 The bad news... there are some graphical bugs here and there, sometimes building textures just glitch out, and Travis' glasses disappear when trying out clothes. Not a bad tradeoff, is it? I feel like some voice lines don't play as often as they should(Like the 'MY SPLEEEEN" line), but I can't say for sure. All in all, not a bad trade off, eh? The performance is so good that these small issues aren't that big of a deal, that said... due to licensing issues, the track 'Heavenly Star' is not here, which sucks, it sucks a lot as it was one of the most memorable songs in the original release... but, if we are being honest, it's not such a big deal considering it only played inside buildings. But still, I miss that song.

 Combat was as fun as I remembered it. High and Low slashes are your bread and butter, and this time around I find myself relying on grappling very little, but they are there to shake thinks up by punching and kicking your enemies until you stun them. Darkside Step is a vital part of the combat, if you press left or right before getting hit, time will slow down allowing you to land some free hits. It feels really good to land these, particularly because if you don't you'll take damage! And of course, executions, when you land the final attack on an enemy, the screen will freeze and you'll get to either use the right analog stick or use motion controls to perform a final slash, that ends with the enemy shooting out blood and money everywhere. It feels SO good.

 That said, there's a bit that hasn't aged well, and that's paying fees before each stage. In order to challenge a boss and his or her stage, you must first pony up some money. The money you get after fighting a boss simply isn't enough, so you'll have to partake on side activities. First you have to complete a silly, simple minigame such as collecting coconuts, catching scorpions, filling cars with fuel... yeah, they are silly, but you only have to do them once, as every boss unlocks a new activity, and every activity unlocks new assassination side missions which are much more fun as they involve actual combat. The thing is... if you're regularly purchasing new clothes, upgrading Travis' stats or buying new beam katanas... you'll have to stop at some point and replay assassination missions in order to grind for money. Even if you don't spend money on anything, at some point you will have to grind for money.

 Look, the combat is really fun, and by the end of the game, mission 18 is rather fun because you get 3 minutes to chop down a ton of enemies... but if you play this mission about 10 times(The final Beam Katana upgrade is super expensive) it will eventually get old. Plus, the game has an open world, and you have to drive from the agency to the mission to the agency again, so it does take some time. Thankfully, mission 18 lies next to the Agency, so it even saves you time that way.

 No More Heroes is still a fantastic game, however, it's not a game for everyone. The dialogue and characters will simply be a bit too weird for some people, the gameplay won't be polished enough for others... but if you like your games weird you'll find something truly special here.

 9.0

Game #1082: Hellblade - Senua's Sacrifice

  I keep calling it Hellua!

 After Heavenly Sword there was only one realm left to conquer, Hell, and thus came Ninja Theory's Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, there attempt at an AA game, a game that feels like a AAA release but running on a smaller budget.

 Hellblade definitely doesn't feel like NT's previous releases, the camera is set closely behind the player, battles are slow-paced and never take to the skies, the dialogue has very little swearing and doesn't feel like it's trying so hard to be edgy... yeah, it's a very different game, which caught me a bit by surprise. While it looks like a hack-and-slash game, and combat does play part in the game, I'd say it only takes up about 30% of the whole game, the rest being made up of walking and puzzle solving.\

 The developers investigated about psychosis, consulting with people that suffer the condition as well as specialists in order to theme the game around it, and they managed to craft a truly harrowing experience. All throughout the game you'll be hearing different voices, some hushing, some shouting, talking about what you're doing or what Senua is or should be feeling. Tied to the grey, although sometimes lush, desolate and very bleak environments, as well as the medieval art-design makes for a very unsettling atmosphere.

 Combat is simple: Strong and weak attacks, a dodge, a block and the ability to slow down time after dodging and landing a few hits. While the camera is fairly close to Senua, voices will warn you about incoming attacks so you can attempt to roll out of the way. It's not very deep, and while it's not super exciting, there's a palpable sense of weight to your attacks, so fighting feels rather satisfying.

 Most puzzles are super simple, consisting on having to find figures hiding on the environment. The game clues you in with floating symbols when you are close to one, so it's not as hard to find them as it sounds.

  Hellblade was a fairly interesting experience, that's for sure, and I think it's an experiment that paid off for Ninja Theory. They tried something different, they tackled a subject that I don't think was ever explored before in a videogame and the results speak for themselves. That said, considering the story this game told... I don't think a direct sequel is the right choice for this brand.

 7.5

Game #1081: Power Rangers Battle for the Grid - Super Edition(Playstation 4)

  So this is like the Power Ranger counterpart to the Switch's Sentai? No?

 Well, I decided to get Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid - Super Edition on Playstation 4 too, and... it's the same game. Sharper graphics, slighly less loading, but it's the same game. Since the game has such a simplified control scheme, the PS4 joystick isn't even such a major advantage over the Switch's Joycons. And... yeah, not much else to say. Oh, and this is totally a Halloween-appropriate game. Playing dress-up, yo!

 7.5

Game #1080: Power Rangers Battle for the Grid - Super Edition(Switch)

 Enough Red Rangers to make up an entire squad.

 I've covered a lot of Battle for the Grid before, so I'll focus on what I haven't and what's new with Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid - Super Edition. This, maybe, final release includes all three seasons of DLC plus pre-order bonus on the cart, which is about time, as the game has had two other physical releases, either missing stuff or having stuff on vouchers.

 The new characters are: The purple Gekiranger(ADORE), Scorpina and the red female Shinkenger. Since Shinkenger and Gekiranger are my favorite sentai series, you can probably guess that I love the new characters. There's also Ryu and Chun-li as rangers, and they look amazing. They also play quite different, with directional inputs for special moves! Ryu gets a helmetless costume, why doesn't Chun-Li get one too? What gives?

 These five new characters have Story-Modes that are more unique than the previous characters had... and I hated them. They go on for way too long, featuring way more than just 8 fights, and they switch your two team mates around, which I hated since I wanted to play with specific characters.

 There were a few changes, now the Zords get their own gauges and you can preform counter attacks with them, they feel weaker than before too, although harder to block. This change works pretty well I think. You can now change the AI settings... but it's worthless, as the AI seems pretty darn random, even on easy they'll perform super lengthy, almost-touch of death combos.

 What hasn't changed: No more modes. And only two colors per character, the secondary costume almost always being black, with red and grey details, making for monotonous and boring recolors. Chun-Li gets the best alternate color, since the blue disappears completely.

 If Battle for the Grid ends like this... I'd be content. It's been a good run. It could've been better, but I'm happy with the end result.

 7.5