Now Playing: Shinobido 2 - Revenge of Zen

 Tenchu much?

 I've a test tomorrow, so what's a better idea than starting a new game?!

 See the lass on the cover? She dies on the opening cutscene. And then you have to work for three different daimyo's fighting to rule the land... which sounds decent, except that you are told jack about any of them, so judging from their appearances, two of them are evil and the other one is incompetent. Fun.

 That said the game is decent, it's a decent stealth game, I think. I do feel like the controls are a bit constricting, or the grappling hook, which sounds like a great idea, except that it automatically makes your character jump on arrival, instead of hanging from the ledge. Also, why no corner stealth insta-kills?

 And what about the basic three hit combo? 1 slash and then two kicks. WHY WOULD YOU KICK TWICE IF YOU HAVE A FRIGGIN' SWORD, LIKE, WHERE'RE YOUR PRIORITIES AT?! And the third hit-dash-second kick always tends to miss or get blocked, as a matter of fact, the training grunts would choke me after the second kick, even if the first two hits connected, 'the hell!?

 All in all, it feels like a lackluster Tenchu. But then again, I only played Tenchu 3, and it's been ages ago, so it might be nostalgia talking.

Review #251: Tearaway

 You could say that I'm a bit torn about it.

 Tearaway is a 3-D platforming game made by the same people that created Little Big Planet, with which it shares some themes and ideas, however, it's a completely different affair. It also happens to be one of those games that tries to make the most of the system it's on.

 The game makes you play as yourself, yes, you. and Iota, a messenger-dash-message, as he tries to make his way towards you. Yes, I meant every word, the game uses the Vita's front Camera to display you face, and it is you who helps Iota, by using your fingers or tilting the system in order to make the trip. You'll also play as Iota by using the traditional buttons and analog stick. Occasionally you'll also get to draw things, like eyes, flames, mustaches or whatever the game asks of you, which basically gives you a small degree of customization over how certain things look! As a whole, it's a very creative concept and they pulled it off very well. It made me smile a couple of times.

 If the game has something, it's variety. Every level introduces something new. For starters, Iota can jump, roll, use a camera to take picture, pick up and throw objects, and later in the game, obtains a vacuum-like weapon that allows him to suck up enemies and use them as weapons. Then there are 'your' abilities, which can only be used on certain terrains. Certain terrains will allow you to use your fingers, by touching the rear touchpad, to move around stuff or kill enemies, you can also pull or push certain paper strings to interact with the environment. Later in the game, you'll also have to tilt the Vita in order to move some platforms!

 Each level has a lot to find, blue-presents, which translate into 'mini quests', hidden red presents and colorless objects that you need to photograph, however, it still manages to be very, very short. The game can easily be finished in 6 hours, and completion might take up to 8. It's also fairly easy, and while some trophies require you to finish some levels without dying, dying comes without any kind of real penalties.

 I also had a couple of gripes, most importantly, the camera. It has a tendency to get stuck on awkward angles whenever you jump off places the game didn't consider you would jump off. It can be very annoying. Secondly, while I loved the whole drawing mechanic, since it makes each playthrough your own. heck, you can customize Iota with premade stickers or make your own( I drew a Sword-sticker for my Iota, which looked adorkable), it lacks precision. The game can be very finicky when it comes to recognizing your swipes, and the area the eraser erases is too large... basically, don't expect to make grandiose or intricately detailed art.

 Speaking of art, the game is gorgeous. The game attempts to make everything look as if it was made out of paper, it's beautiful and very, very cutesy. From water waves, to wind lines.... everything is made out of paper, it looks phenomenal even while in motion. And the hand-drawn stickers that you are to draw makes it even more appealing, even if it looks as if it was made by a three year old(Part of the charm, really). Music is used rather sparsely, but it works to the game's benefits, what music there is is very 'rural' sounding, while not my cup of tea, it's very fitting.

 While I've mostly good things to say about the game, I must also admit that this isn't a game for me. I appreciate the creativity, and I know that there's an audience for this game, but sadly, I'm not part of it. Still, it's a nice showpiece for the Vita's novelties and I am glad I played it... even if I'm sure I won't be coming back to it any time soon.
 6.5 out of 10

Now Playing: Tearaway

 It's aight.

 See? The blog isn't dead. It's on hiatus. Anyways, Tearaway... it's alright. I'm not the biggest fan of these kind of games, y'know, those that try to make the most of a console gimmicks. Not to say that I hate these kind of games, just that they are not the kind of games I tend to love. But then again, Frobisher Says is amazing, but I digress.

 What did I like about Tearaway?
 The visuals, everything looks as if it was made out of paper, even water splashes! It looks really neat.
 Having my face on the sun. Yes, really. Every time I appear on-screen I just start making faces, because why not?
 The creativity. Come on, pressing on the back of the system and having your fingers appear on the screen is pretty original

 What did I not like about Tearaway?
 The slow pace. Maybe it's because I'm very early on the game, but it seems as if every time I take a few steps, a NPC is waiting to talk to me.

 So yeah, there's nothing particularly bad about it, but it's definitely not my cup of tea.

The Hype Machine

 Lately, which I guess it has to do with the fact that gaming has become more mainstream lately and due to the lack of really amazing games on current gen, it seems that people get hyped a lot more easily. Every last 'triple A'(I hate the expression) has been surrounded by 'hype campaigns'. The Witcher 3, Bloodborne, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Batman: Arkham Knight and even Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire. And all these games have another thing in common, which I like to call the 'honeymoon period', which lasts about 2-3 months after release.

 During this time, these games are the 'BEST GAME EVER', or 'GAME OF THE YEAR', any person that expresses any kind of gripe or distaste with the game will be branded a 'troll' or told to 'git good'. Because. hey, it can't possibly be the game's fault. Like how The Witcher 3 had somewhat clunky combat mechanics, but hey, 'it was way worse in The Witcher 2' or maybe 'You should get good', because it can't possibly be the game's fault. Or take Pokemon ORAS, during the last months before its release, suddenly Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, one of the most disliked gens among the fandom, became the best generation ever. Suddenly people loved Ruby and Sapphire. And during the first months after release, it was 'waaaaay better than X and Y', and the 'Too much water' complaint became a meme because it, pardon the pun, held no water. But after the honeymoon period ended, ORAS was quickly forgotten, suddenly X and Y weren't so bad, so on and so forth.

 People need to remember that just because somebody doesn't like a game they love, it doesn't mean that it's a bad game, or that your taste is put into question. But people get too defensive about the games they like, it's as if videogame publishers were paying them to defend their games. And it's one thing to argue about something, but as soon as someone says they dislike a game or an aspect of it, all civility goes out the window: they are wrong, or they are playing it wrong and they are trolling and they should get good! People suck sometimes.

 But I was talking with somebody about Metal Gear Solid V, a game he was rather hyped about, but was feeling a bit let down about it, which prompted me to think about this and how 'Hype' has affected me.... and then I thought about the last time my hype wasn't met with disappointment.

 Last year's 'JoJo's All Star Battle', I couldn't wait for the game, I devoured every single crumb of information that was released, and the end result was everything I wanted. Sure, I had some gripes with it, but as a whole, it didn't disappoint me in the slightest. I got the game that I wanted, and it was fabulous.

 'Gundam Extreme VS Full Boost' was everything I wanted. I followed the Arcade's mobile suit unlocks month by month, I went to as many boards as a I came around, looking for information on a console port or the latest playable unit trailer. My hype was through the roof and was met with aplomb. Sure, the Single Player was a bit lacking, when compared to vanilla Extreme VS anyways, but that's not the game's focus. And, unexpectedly, the 'hype cycle' is still on-going, except that now I'm following Maxi Boost's unlocks and hoping for Console Port news! Namco, get on it.

 'Tekken Tag Tournament 2' was another game that delivered. I'm in love with this game, my only problem being... that all of my friends hate Tekken(because they suck), so I'm stuck playing the CPU.

 But then, there's also the games I've been disappointed with...

 Oh, 'Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS', my hype for this game reached Full Boost's level, not a day would go by without me lurking the boards for potential leaks. Waiting religiously for the next 'Screenshot of the day'... And, to be fair, I know that it's a better game than Brawl 'n all... but there's something missing. I don't know what exactly, I can't put my finger on it... Maybe I just outgrew the series? Thing is, I wanted to love this game, I wanted it to become my favorite 3DS game, but.... it just wasn't meant to be, for as good as it is. It even has Shulk! And Ike, my main, looks even better than he did in Brawl, but... sigh.

 'Dragon Ball Xenoverse'.... sigh. I admit that a huge part of my issue is that I played the terrible PS3 version, which makes 80% of the game nigh unplayable. There's framerate issues on the Hub Town, even if you play offline, and you need to go through the town since there's no traditional menu to select modes. And there's framerate problems if there's ever more than two combatants on screen at the same time... and most of the game is made up of multiple-man fights, and you need to play this mode if you want to unlock everything.

 But even then, there's no forgiving the insane grindy nature of the game. The RNGs' got RNGs!!! Meaning that every Mission has a chance to make a boss appear, who in turn has a small chance to drop items/skills. Even the Dragon Balls are governed by RNGs. To this day, this is the only Dragon Ball game in which I haven't unlocked every character. And what about the missions? You absolutely need to play online if you mean to finish the latter stages, as you CPU allies will become a hindrance. And if you play offline, you'd better not make a melee oriented build, or you are basically screwed.

 For as hyped as I was about Smash for the 3Ds, at least it delivered a good game. I can't say the same about Xenoverse.

 And that's it. Hype is bad, don't ever get caught in the hype. And if you do, don't get so defensive about people disliking it. They are missing out, not you. Plus, the Publishers aren't paying you to defend their games.

Dragon Ball games and I

 I'll repeat what I've said countless times already: While I don't particularly care about Dragon Ball's manga and show, I do love the videogames. Doesn't matter the console, except the Nintendo 64, you can count on Goku and company to make their appearance somewhere, somehow. So, lo and behold, these are the Dragon Ball games I like the most:


10) Dragon Ball Z - Attack of the Saiyans

 Attack of the Saiyans is fairly interesting in that it's both underrated and overrated at the same time. Y'see, those that know of it, consider it to be the second coming of Jesus or something, which it isnt', but the people that do know it are very few! To be fair, it's my favorite Dragon Ball RPG, followed closely behind by the SNES card-based RPG, that also covered the Saiyan Saga(And the Frieza Saga!). But I digress. The combat system is fun, the sprites are gorgeous, and while they did have to pepper the game with 'filler'(It is an RPG after all), it's not too bad. What holds the game back are the reused enemy sprites, the slowness of the combat(I mean, attacks look very cool, but they are also very slow!), the high encounter rate and the slow pace of the dialogue speeches. Were 'emotion bubbles' needed as well?
 The game ends with a teaser for the Frieza Saga, but it never got a sequel.

9) Dragon Ball Z - Hyper Dimension

 Despite what people would have you believe, the SNES Dragon Ball fighting games have aged very, very poorly. Choppy animations, that make for poor gameplay(When it comes to fighting games, having such few frames for each attack actually affects the gameplay) and very shallow mechanics. Super Butoden 3 even lacks a Story Mode, and the character roster is questionable to say the least. Then there's Hyper Dimension, not only is it downright gorgeous, but the gameplay is fairly unique; your life gauge doubles as Ki bar!, then there's Fatal Fury-like background attacks.
 It's the only SNES Dragon Ball fighter I actually go back to every now and then.

8) Dragon Ball Kai - Ultimate Butoden

 Ultimate Butoden isn't a very good fighting game, I'll give you that. There's about 3 'character templates'(Kids, Adults, Heavies) that share Normals, and each character has only three special attacks to set them apart from the rest of the cast. Ultimate Attacks engage in dumb little mini-games, and characters are balanced according to the show instead of seeking balance among every character. But, BUT! it has an excellent Story Mode, even if it lacks voices, has a great character roster, for a first entry AND a DS game, characters have alternate costumes that they wore and that no other game has given them and for the first time in Dragon Ball history, you could customize, somewhat, the appearance of every character.
 When not looking for a serious fighting game, but a Dragon Ball game on the go, Kai is my go-to game.

7) Dragon Ball Z Budokai

 When it was released, it wasn't a particularly deep fighting game, and by today's standards, it's downright terrible. But it has the best Story Mode of any other Dragon Ball game, and among the very best Story Modes in Fighting games, perhaps only behind Mortal Kombat. While I'd never pop this game for casual play, every now and then, even as of 2015, I'll marathon the entire Story Mode in one go. It's that good. And no other Dragon Ball game, beside Ultimate Butoden, has ever come as close to it.
 This is a Fighting game that I play for the Story, and for what it's worth, back in the day, I also played it for its gameplay.

6) Dragon Ball Z Supersonic Warriors

 Supersonic Warriors is among the most original Dragon Ball fighters out there. It takes inspiration from Psychic Force, 1 on 1 battles(Even though you can make teams of up to three fighters and tag them on the fly) on a 2-D plane, but you have free movement over all 8 directions while both fighters face each other automatically. It's fast paced, looks good and the game lends itself to the on-the-go format. Supersonic Warriors would go on to have a sequel on the DS, but while the redrawn sprites and new characters are a great addition, the combo system is busted, it feels slower and the balance is even worse.
 I would go on to clock hours upon hours on this one

5) Dragon Ball Z Tenkaichi Tag Team

 We can all agree in that Dragon Ball Tenkaichi 3 is the most popular Dragon Ball Z game out there, and some would even call it the best. Now, take Tenkaichi 3 and add two-on-two battles and you get Tenkaichi Tag Team. I wasn't expecting a whole lot out of this game, but it manages to have a more than respectable character roster, and they managed to keep the gameplay intact from the PS2's Tenkaichi 3.
 I admit that I didn't play this one as much as I would've liked, but I blame it on how hard it is to take the PSP around!

4) Dragon Ball Raging Blast 2

 When I first tried Raging Blast 2's demo I hated it. They changed the controls, and the game felt weird. But for whatever reason I decided to buy it... and I liked it. Controls are different from Tenkaichi 3, but it doesn't make them worse. There's less characters, but it's understandable. And the story mode? There's none. But for as many things that Tenkaichi 3 did better, Raging Blast also has its merits. It looks gorgeous, there's more unique Ki auras, projectiles have many new and different particle effects, transformations are more detailed. Not to mention that characters have been given more unique animations(Even if a lot are shared between each other), and the controls have been simplified so that it's easier to pick up. Not to mention that it has a couple of characters that no other Dragon Ball game had had at the time, like Tarble.
 A more than admirable reimagining of the Tenkaichi series, it's a shame it ended after Raging Blast 2.

3) Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3

 People still play this game to this day, and there's a reason for it: No other game mimics Dragon Ball as well as this one, nor do any of them have as many different playable characters. Sure, most of them are clones, but in an anime game, does it matter? The game wants to be a Dragon Ball game, not a Fighting game, and in that regards it's the best one there is.
 Back in the day people would argue over which series was better, Budokai or Tenkaichi. And my answer was: Want a Fighting game based on Dragon Ball? Budokai. Want a Dragon Ball game based on Fighting? Tenkaichi.

2) Dragon Ball Z Densetsu

 A Japan exclusive, Dragon Ball Densetsu is a 3-on-3 fighting game of sorts. There's no life bars,well, there are, but the way in which you deal damage is fairly novel. You must hit enemies, and avoid being hit, in order to fill the 'momentum' bar with you color, once it's filled you character will use a Special attack and deal some damage. Rinse and repeat until you defeat your enemies. And you move by holding Up on the directional pad in order to fly towards your targeted enemy, or Down in order to retreat. Sounds simple, even awkward, but it's very fun. Back in the day, it was just amazing watching all 6 characters flying around, duking it out.
 I love Dragon Ball Densetsu, there's been some attempts at borrowing some elements, like Battle of Z and Xenoverse, but none managed to be quite as fun.

1) Super Dragon Ball Z

 I love fighting games, so it's no surprise that this is my favorite Dragon Ball game. It's funny, because most Dragon Ball fans don't 'get' this game. Most complaints lie on the very small character roster, but they don't get that each character, minus the bonus Console characters, are very different from each other, and balanced properly. Yes, Kuririn and Chi-Chi can fight one-on-one with Buu just like that. Then there're the complaints on the few modes, which are valid, but this being a proper fighting game... you don't need fluff. Arcade, Versus and Survival, that's where it's at. Lastly, the graphics have also being a point of contempt, citing how dull it looks... but unlike other Dragon Ball games, this one didn't go for flash, but rather style. It tries to look like the manga, as opposed to the anime, which translates into saturated colors, and the hand-drawn-like stages are beautiful. And Cell? Cell stands in a Muai-Thai stance, he's never looked this badass before.
As for what makes it stand out, as far as I'm concerned, there's the fact that this is, as I've said before, a proper fighting game, with real combos, command special moves and cancels, and it all moves at a very fast speed, which I love. To sweeten the deal, there're never-been-playable-before characters like Z-Sword Gohan and Chi-Chi, and a redesigned Cyber Frieza. Characters can also be customized throughout skill trees and by collecting the Dragon Balls and wishing to inherit special attacks, so that no two custom characters are alike.

Month Overview: August 2015

Games finished in August 2015:

Mega Man Legends                                                                                          7.0

 This Month I played a ton of games. And by 'a ton' I mean 'just Mega Man Legends'. But hey, it was pretty good, even if slightly disappointing, I was expecting a bit... more.

 Game of August:

 Big surprise, the competition was fierce, after all, there's no larger enemy than one himself(Or itself, in this case).

 Runner-up:

 Yep.

Review #250: Mega Man Legends

 Definitely better than the PC port!

 When it was time to make the jump into 3-D, Capcom got ambitious. Not ambitious enough as to make it a numbered sequel, but ambitious enough to make an Adventure game, not unlike the Zelda games, spin-off out of Mega Man.

 You play as Mega Man Volnutt, a 'digger', a spelunker who searches for treasure in old abandoned ruins. He is aided by Barrel, the man who took him in, Roll, the girl he grew up with and Data, a mysterious monkey that was found with Mega Man. As luck would have it, after an expedition, their ship gives out and they are forced to land on Kattelox Island. Fueled by adventure, and the possibility of finding the 'Mother Lode', Mega Man embarks on an adventure throughout the different ruins of the Island. I'm gonna be completely honest here, the story is terrible. I mean, I liked the setting, but the characters are horribly cliched and dull. Their designs might be decent, but as far as personality goes, the Caskets(Barrel, Roll, Mega Man) and the Bonnes, the antagonists, are one-note tracks, with nothing original or interesting about them. The story does get a tiny bit interesting in the last part of the game, but it ends with promises of 'telling you everything later', and a 'To be continued'. Lame.

 Legends is a 3rd Person shooter/adventure game of sorts. While your main objective is the exploration of the different Ruins, you are allowed a certain degree of freedom to explore the town in Kattelox Island, heck, you may come across a few sidequests! Progression in the game is mostly linear, you can't do dungeons out of order, but, you can revisit dungeons to farm money, heck, you may want to revisit them after you get some upgrades, like the Jump upgrade or the drill, in order to access previously unavailable areas. And you will want to explore, since Mega Man Volnutt doesn't earn weapons from his enemies, oh no, weapons are made by finding and bringing specific items to Roll so that she can develop them! There's a rather large amount of side-weapons, however, for some reason they decided that the only way to switch them is by... visiting the car and talking to Roll. I found it unnecessary and tedious even, why not let the player carry all of them and decide what's best for the occasion during a dungeon?

 Still, it's not like side-weapons are really needed, I speak from experience when I tell you that you can clear the game with the basic buster. I mean, I had to choose between extra fire-power or the 'Vacuum' side-weapon. Movement in the game is pretty iffy, as I'll get into later, but the Vacuum arm sucks the money dropped by enemies, which is extremely useful, so the choice was rather easy to make, which meant I spent 80% of the game without another sub-weapon. Anyways, my point is that the game is very easy, and almost every boss can be defeated by strafing and shooting. Strafe 'n shoot, strafe 'n shoot. Sometimes you might need to jump, but otherwise, that's the winning formula. That said, I did enjoy the fact that the Buster can be customized by equipping up to two(or three, if you find the upgrade) items. Still, when it comes down to it, combat as a whole can be pretty repetitive, and a bit boring since it lacks nuance. The sub weapons are a welcome addition, since they are pretty different, there are mines, a laser, a sword(Ain't as cool as it sounds!) and homing missiles, and they can be enhanced for some money, but the Buster works just fine and I needed the Vacuum Arm in order to earn money effectively.

 The game's biggest flaw is, easily, the controls. They are incredibly clunky, plus movement is a bit iffy, couple them together and... it's not a fun time until you adapt to them. To start with, there are to forms of 'side movement', either function can be set to either Left/Right or L1/R1, and they consist of turning and strafing. Personally, I set L1/R1 to strafing, since it worked better for me. Anyways, yes, the other function is 'turning', which means that Mega Man moves like a tank, in a game that demands speed. What where they thinking? This is why gathering money from fallen enemies is such a chore, plus, movement is anything but precise, so gathering all those crystal is a nightmare, which is why the Vacuum side weapon is so useful. Oh, and there's not analog support! Not content with just that, the 'lock-on' feature is terrible, luckily Mega Man soft-locks into nearby enemies, R2 functioning as a sort of 'hard lock', but it disables movement. There are times when you will need to use R2, mostly on flying bosses, and it feels as if the game doesn't take into account that you are rooted to your place while using R2, so get ready to suffer cheap hits, not that he game is any harder for it. Even worse, sometimes Mega Man hard locks into invulnerable parts of enemy bosses, like 'Bruno'(Nope, no spoilers, it ain't an NPC!), holding R2 makes Mega Man hard lock into... his wast? But his weak point is his head!

 On the flip side, the presentations is pretty good. Graphics are beautiful, character models are charming, stylized and very colorful. While lacking variety, Kattelox and its dungeons are nice to look at, as a whole, it's a gorgeous game, if a bit simple. Music is pretty good as well, there's a couple of stand-out tunes as well. However, voice acting ranges from decent to barely passable, but hey,a t least it has voice-acting(It is a PS1 game after all!).

 Mega Man Legends is alright. It has it's fun moments, and I certainly like the idea behind it, but the execution leaves a little to be desired.
 6.0 out of 10