I flippin' adore Orcs & Elves

 This little gem deserves way more exposure than it gets.

 Let me take you back in time, circa 2009ish, back then Mobile games were a tad more rudimentary than they are today, but at least they didn't have microtransactions. Back then we didn't have fancy touchscreens on our cells, or weren't as widespread, so games suffered due to poor controls, so mobile games were little more than novelties or diversions.

 And then I discovered Doom RPG. Hot. Damn. The game was amazing, not in small part due to how it made the most of its medium. You couldn't have games that required twitch reflexes back then, there were some, but they sucked. Doom RPG dealt with this by making the entire game turn based. The world of Doom RPG was divided into an invisible grid, every time you moved from square to square a turn would pass. It sounds very slow paced, but the game never felt slow. And it was a blast to play, there were dozens of weapons, enemies and secrets to find!

 The game could last you anywhere near 10 hours, and it was glorious, I must have played through the game countless times, and back then I already grew out of replaying games I would've beaten recently. Life was good.

 And then came Doom RPG II. And... I don't have many memories of it, for whatever reason. But there was another game released by ID Software that used the same engine: Orcs & Elves. It had everything that made Doom RPG so good, but transported to a fantastic medieval setting. And the game benefited from it. Having flaming swords over pistols, a bow over a shot gun, a warhammer over a bazooka made it much more exciting. And Doom's enemies might be cool, but the new monsters were badass.

 And almost as soon as I found out about Orcs & Elves, a Nintendo DS port was announced, I remember watching the reveal trailer over and over again on Gametrailers.com. And I eventually bought the game on the day it was released. And there's no two ways about it, Orcs & Elves on the DS makes the Mobile version completely obsolete. That said, I would eventually return to this version, since I kinda never leave my home without my phone, while the DS usually stays at home.

 Orcs & Elves on the DS is everything Orcs & Elves was on the Mobile phone but better. The additional screen helps to make the interface friendlier, although to be honest, it takes a bit of time to get used to it, but once it clicks, you'll be using potions and toggling the map on and off with ease. The entire graphics were remade, the various environments now pack even more detail than before, and it looks glorious, not to mention the new enemy sprites; I thought the sprites on the mobile version were badass, but I was awestruck the moment I saw an Orc on the DS version for the first time.

 This port was a faithful remake of the Mobile game, but they didn't stop there, as this port features two new areas. I'm not gonna lie, the cavernous labyrinth area is a bit of a drag, but the new underground cave was a fantastic addition.

 Eventually, Orcs & Elves II would be released, and it was a step up from the first game in every single way. New enemies, new weapons, a longer storyline. It was also a bit ambitious, featuring towns and friendly NPCs. While I was a bit apprehensive of the game at first, since I didn't like the new protagonist: Valin, a Thief who stole the talking wand from the first game's hero, but the interactions between him and Ellon the wand eventually won me over. It was fun how Ellon would refuse to attack at first, but eventually warmed up to Valin, while Valin grew into a hero himself.

 Ah! How I remained hopeful that O&E2 would receive an enhanced DS port as well! But sadly that never came to be. And it's a shame, since the franchise died after that. I think there was a third entry on the Doom RPG series, and there was also a Wolfenstein RPG, but by then my phone was too outdated to play them... and nowadays, the games are so outdated for my phone that they are incompatible!

 Here's to you, Orcs & Elves, you were a fantastic two-game franchise that made the most of its platform to deliver an excellent game that worked perfectly around the limitations of its medium.

Review #330: Danganronpa Another Episode - Ultra Despair Girls

 Because just one Monokuma wasn't enough,

 After two Phoenix Wright-like visual novels, there was only one direction in which Spike Chunsoft could take the franchise: Third person shooter. The genre shift makes sense, considering you can't really move the story forwards through 'killing games', but the end result is a bit mixed.

 The game takes place before Danganronpa 2, but after the first one, and while it'd make sense to play it before DR 2, it kinda gives away the answer to one of its mysteries. Regardless, the game sees you as Komaru Naegi, Makoto Naegi's sister, as she allies herself with Danganronpa 1's survivor Toko Fukawa. Both girl must survive Towa City's children's rule of terror. At the outset, this feels like a much more brutal take on  'Children of the Corn', with children massacring adults in gruesome ways, one of them even turns them into puppets by nailing their corpses to wood planks. The physical violence is dealt with simplified, undetailed monochromatic 3D models for the adults, so most of the violence is implied. But it doesn't stop there, this might be the darkest Danganronpa yet, dealing with themes of child abuse, mental and physical, spliced with the usual Danganronpa humor. It's a mixed result. Some of the scenes are fantastic, having the kids relieve their traumas can be heartwrenching, but this, being a Japanese game, couldn't contain themselves from gratuitous panty shots, particularly on the rape victim. On the child rape victim. Like, seriously, Japan? Seriously? This game actually suffers due to the unnecessary fanservice, bordering into the unsavory at times. As for the rest of the plot, watching Komaru and Toko become friends can be endearing, finding collectibles, in the form of Manga and Books, initiates conversations between both of them and their different tastes. It's a great idea, on paper, and helps fleshing them out. Overall, the story is really good, and I love how it delves into darker themes that few games would dare, but they took a few missteps with a few of the characters.

 You'll be controlling Komaru and her trusty hack-gun-megaphone weapon, which is operated by shouting 'word bullets' through it. There's 8 different bullets, 2 of them(Move/Detect) used to solve puzzles or activate certain interactive elements, and the other 6 used for combat. There's plenty of variety, 'Burn' works like a machine gun, 'Knockback' works like a Shotgun, that deals no damage, but can deflect certain projectiles and destroy shields, 'Paralyze' which works as advertised and can be used on water for added effect, 'Link', that lets you control an enemy, and 'Dance' which makes an enemy dance. But your main means of offence will be 'Break', the 'peagun' so to speak, but it has a nifty little perk: Landing a hit on a weakpoint, the different Monokumas' red eyes, you'll deal extra damage, and your next 'Break' shot will be stronger as well. Bullets can also be enhanced with 'Bling Bullets', bought at different vendors spread throughout Towa city, in order to enhance them in various ways. Komaru herself levels up, and you can equip a ton of different skills on her, from extra hit points, to letting you run while aiming.

 But Komaru isn't alone, pressing triangle will have Toko use a stungun to her temples(Seriously) and switch into Genocider Jack. Toko doesn't take damage, but she runs on an energy meter, so you could consider her Komaru's 'super powered mode'. She fights with her scissors in close combat, and she can be enhanced as well, although instead of equipping skills on her, you buy the enhancements at the same vendors that sell bling bullets.

 The way the game plays out is a bit weird. For instance, while it is a third person shooter, this is more of an adventure game. Initially, Komaru can only take three hits(Up to five through skills), but it's not much of a liability since most enemies are really slow. Not to say that the game is a cakewalk, since I played in normal and I died a couple of times, but a high octane action game this is not. There's also a ton of 'puzzle rooms'(About 6 per chapter, for a total of 30) that require skillful use of your Bullets to solve. Another thing to keep in mind is that the is very story heavy. So much so that there's a lot of reading and cutscenes. I'm talking about Metal Gear Solid-like ratios of cutscene-to-gameplay, you might get 4 minutes of gameplay before the next cutscene or event starts, to the point of annoyance at times, since you don't really need cutscenes to tell you that yes, effectively you are on the right track. As a matter of fact, and as I mentioned previously, some of the collectibles initiate conversations, bringing yet another stop to the gameplay. What I mean to say with all this long diatribe is that this game will, more likely than not, not appeal to fans of traditional third person shooters.

 Not that the gameplay itself is brilliant either. I felt like the behind-the-back camera was a bit too close to Komaru and Toko, and, maybe it was just me, but I felt aiming was a bit tough. And I'm talking about aiming at slow moving enemies! There's a few skills that tighten the reticule's speed, which helps a bit, but still. And then there's the framerate which isn't very smooth. Heck, the game's easy mode grants you regenerating battery gauge, for Toko, so that you can just tear your way through the game, in case the story is everything that you are interested in. And the huge amount of cutscenes will get in the way of replaying the game, since skipping them is a bit of a hassle. Firstly, you have to wait 1-2 seconds before the start button becomes responsive during a cutscene, secondly, pressing start gives you the option to skip the cutscene, instead of directly skipping it, and thirdly you might get 3-5 cutscenes straight, which translates into a lot of waiting before you can finally play the game. Being someone that got the Platinum Trophies on both previous Danganronpas, I was gonna do the same for this one, but after spending about 10 seconds skipping cutscenes on Chapter 1 I gave up on it. Too boring.

 I've a bit of mixed feelings with Ultra Despair Girls. As a third person shooter, it's not very competent, but I had fun with the game. And while, eventually, I was grumbling every time I grabbed a collectible that triggered a conversation, I still read them, since they were endearing. It's as if you really want to play the game, but the game doesn't want you to play it, it wants you to read it. And don't get me wrong, the story is good, the gameplay, despite its technical flaws, is fun, but the frequent stops and halts throughout the game can be fairly annoying.

 I guess you could say that Danganronpa Another Episode is not good at what it is, a third person shooter, but is good at what it wants to be: A third-person shooter that Danganronpa fans can enjoy. If you are into the franchise, by all means indulge in Another Episode, otherwise abstain.
6.5 out of 10

Review #329: Danganronpa 2 - Goodbye Despair

 Don't despair, Danganronpa is back!

 Danganronpa 1 was fantastic, while I wasn't much of a fan of the Trials, the story caught me by the hook and didn't let go. So of course, I had to get my hands on the sequel, and, now, having played it, I've a bit of mixed feelings about it.

 So, what's Danganronpa about? It's a visual-novel styled adventure game. Taking place from Hajime Hinata's point of view, he, alongside 15 other teenagers find themselves stranded on an Island, where a Bunny named Usami kinda forces them to make friends and gather hope fragments. And then Monokuma, a half-black half-white cartoonesque bear takes over and forces the 16 students to kill each other. When not reading dozens upon dozens of lines of text that advance the story in a mostly linear fashion, you'll sometimes be allowed to explore the Island and chatter with the other students. At least until disaster strikes and one of the students decides to murder one of his peers, then you'll have to investigate and gather clues, in order to solve the mystery surrounding the murder and finding out the culprit... or perish. The story can be very bleak sometimes, but it's also pretty humorous in tone, it's a weird mixture that works relatively well, and the game's art direction works wonders with the game's themes.

 I kinda liked the story, but... I've to compare it with Danganronpa 1's, because there's things I preferred, and others I felt it took a step back. For instance, on the outset, the new characters are kinda lame. Danganronpa had funny, quirky characters that played around tropes. Sure, there were a few predictable and generic stereotypes. but they were the minority. Now the game has gone full Japan, most of the girls fall under one or more waifu stereotypes, there's the girl that's always apologizing, the girl that always talks about what 'boys have to do', the little girl that hides a perverse side, the girl that know nothing of the world, etc. It tries to pander to the Otaku culture, and it loses a lot of originality due to it. The male cast doesn't fare much better either. There's the mandatory pervert(who actually has a speck of originality, being bisexual, for a change), then there's the pervert with a crush, and there's also a guy that constantly mentions how he 'has to take a shit', because that's supposed to be funny somehow? The game doesn't stop there when trying to pander to the Otaku culture, there's a whole lot more of fanservice in the game, they actually go out of their way to put as many erotic CG as they can. I was rolling my eyes most of the time...

 ...until I finished chapter 3. Then the fanservice stops. And by that time, you've probably made more advances, during your free time, on the individual character's stories. Turns out the second half of the game is phenomenal, the twist at the end is excellent, and I'd say that everything that happens on this second half is even better than Danganronpa 1's story. That said, you will probably find a lot of parallels between this characters and the ones from the previous game, some praised it, since they did it to 'play with the players expectations'. I call it a waste. This kind of twist would be neat on a third or fourth entry, not in the second game. I mean, even the murders share similarities with the ones from the previous game, and it's done on purpose, and while I think the new murders panned out much better than the previous one's, I still think I would've preferred more originality on a sequel. Word of warning: This game reaveals the plot twists from the previous game as if they were nothing, so you'd probably want to play the first game first.

 And then we have the trials. It's no exaggeration to say that I didn't really like these gameplay segments before, and now I like them even less. For instance, previously you only had to 'shoot' your evidence at contradictory statements, now you'll also come across blue statements, on which evidence is used to agree with. It adds more nuance to an already convoluted game. Hangman's gambits have been 'improved'. or so the game claims, now you have to go through a minigame, in which you must form a word out of moving letters that appear on the screen. Problem is, words are rather long, letter must be picked up in order, and you'll spend a lot of time waiting for the letters you need to appear. Plus, you need two of the same letter in order to 'get' it, but if two different letters collide, you lose health... and I found myself losing health due to offscreen crashes a lot. It can be both unfair and tedious. Panic Talk Actions, the rhythm minigame, has been tweaked a bit, it's a bit simpler now, since you don't need to press the buttons in time every time, but just hold on a beat, and then let go on another.

 But there's even more new elements. There's the Logic Dives, which are a skateboarding-sort-of minigame, where you must jump and pick the correct roads for answers... it's rather fun to be honest, at least when the collision detection on the road works correctly, some of the jumps later on can be a bit of a pain. Then there's 'rebuttal duels', where you must slash across the screen in order to be able to use an evidence 'blade' to cut a contradiction. It's a bit annoying as well, since sometimes it will devolve into a mashing game, because gamers love those. In conclusion, I think the trials have gotten even worse. I didn't like them before, and I like them even less now. That said, as I've mentioned previously, the murders themselves are much more interesting, so I don't really mind slugging through these sections.

 Playing through the game unlocks six different levels on 'Magical Girl Unami' minigame, an arcade like arena game where you, as Unami, must defeat enemies by running in circles(To cast spells) or jumping over them. It's a surprisingly fun diversion. Beating the game however unlocks two things: Danganronpa IF, a short story, with no gameplay, dealing with an alternate take on Danganronpa 1, and 'Island Mode', a micromanagement minigame that is surprisingly fun.

 I've read everywhere that Danganronpa 2 is supposed to be an 'even better sequel' but.... as much as I liked the second half of the game, I think the gameplay took a dive for the worse. And as good as the game gets, it starts off on a rather low note. And by no means am I saying the game is bad, because by the end of the game I was having as much fun as I was with the first one, but it takes a long while to get there. It's a fact that the new environment provides a lot more variety on backgrounds and what not, but I really enjoyed the highschool theme from the previous game. Regardless, it's another great Danganronpa game, but the should've spent less time trying to appeal to the Otaku culture and trying to provide 'twists' to Danganronpa 1's characters and murders, and more time being more original.

8.5 out of 9.0.

Review #328: Professor Layton VS Phoenix Wright - Ace Attorney

 Right, I am.

 I would've never thought of having Phoenix Wright crossing over with Professor Layton, but as soon as it was announced, it made so much sense! Two heroes who solve all their issues with logic, one applies it on puzzles, while the other applies it to make sense out of various murder cases. And thus, here is it, the most logical crossover ever made, marrying the puzzles from the Layton series with the court trials from Phoenix Wright, and it's fantastic. Also, I'm only familiar with the Phoenix Wright franchise, so that was my viewpoint.

 The story revolves around Labyrinthia, a town stuck in the medieval age, where witches are real. The plot has both Layton and his gentleman-in-training Luke as well as Phoenix and his ace assistant Maya stumble into the town of Labyrinthia, where witch hunts take place daily. At first I was a bit worried about this supernatural spin on the court trials, since, while Phoenix Wright is no stranger to the supernatural, it was never this blatant. But magic in Labyrinthia follows rules. namely, a witch needs a scepter as well as up to two magical stones for up to two magical spells, which must be spoken aloud if a witch was to cast magic. I found the story to be very entertaining and engaging, and, as far as my little knowledge of Layton goes, true to the characters. Maybe a bit too true, while Layton is praised by almost everyone, Phoenix is the butt of the joke most of the time. Which makes sense, in universe, but at the end of the day Layton is the best at what he does... as well as at what Phoenix does. Phoenix never shocks Layton with a realization or theory, but it's made clear that Phoenix always plays catch-up to Layton's discoveries, even on the court trials, which I felt was a bit unfair to Pheenie. That aside, there's plot twists that you just won't see coming, due to how ridiculous(in a good way!) they are. And while the Phoenix Wright games have always dealt with murder and death, this game starts out a bit... darker, with witches, once found guilty, being burned to death on the spot.

 The game is divided in about 10 chapters, with a total of 70 puzzles and about 4 court cases, which lasted me about 18 hours. Usually, chapters alternate between 'adventure' style chapters that have you navigate the cast throughout the world of Labyrinthia, while solving puzzles to advance the plot and Court Cases, in which you play as Phoenix Wright and have to use evidence to point out contradictions in the witnesses' testimonies. From what I could gather, these puzzles are much simpler than the ones found in the Layton games, and I can tell you first hand that Phoenix cases are simpler as well. For instance, most evidence is produced during the trials themselves, as it advances or as you press the witnesses to elaborate on their testimonies. without 'investigation' phases to gather evidence beforehand. There's also a new gimmick, this time around you will have to cross-examine multiple witnesses at once, and you'll be able to press other witnesses if you notice they startle during another's words.

 Not having play the Layton games before, I did find most of the puzzles relatively easy to figure out. Since there's 70 of them, naturally I loved a few and hated a few, but all in all, there's plenty of variety. You can also gather 'hint coins' during the puzzle-themed chapters, which can be used to buy hints on both puzzles and court cases. If you ask me, I feel like this game is a fantastic starting point for people interested on dabbling on either franchise. The court cases are relatively simple, easing you into the trials you'd face on the main games(Although, honestly, the difficulty cirve resets on every game, and they ease you pretty well as the games go along), and the puzzles are simple enough as to give you a taste on to what you'd find on Layton, plus, the story does justice to the characters, and while I found a few nods to previous Ace Attorney games, you don't need to know anything about either to enjoy the story.

 Finishing the game lets you download(For free, and it's a second-long download, which makes me wonder why have them locked under a line of code...) 12 bonus chapters, each one features a short story segment as well as a new puzzle. I thought they were a drag. I mean, I liked the new puzzles, but the story was very boring. It serves as an epilogue of sorts, but suddenly every character is self-aware that they are in a videogame... I dunno, I felt the new story bits were boring, but at least you get new puzzles.

 Another thing that bears mentioning, is how good everything looks. The graphics are fantastic, sure, the game can chug a bit on the most intricate backgrounds when three characters are on-screen at once, but this being a game that revolves around reading, and reading a lot, it doesn't matter. Charmingly, Phoenix and Maya look like they do on their games(Which is to say anime-realisticish) while Layton and Luke look like they do on their games(Which is to say cartoonish), while the NPCs are a mixture of both, with main supporting characters taking after PW's style, and the secondary characters, like NPCs, taking after Layton's. It sounds as if it'd be a visual mess, but they mix relatively well. Voice acting and the soundtrack are top notch as well, they got fantastic voice actors for both Phoenix and Maya.

 I adored Professor Layton VS Phoenix Wright, it's probably one of the best crossovers I've ever played or seen. It's not surprising how well both gameplay styles mesh together, but they managed to weave a fun, interesting and somewhat original tale tying everything together. While I'd recommend any Phoenix Wright game before this one, if what you want is Phoenix Wright, it does feel like a Phoenix Wrightish game, and I'm sure it feels like a Layton game as well. It's understandable why the puzzles and trials may be somewhat simpler than the ones from the main games, and I didn't mind it at all.The only thing left for me to say is.... I want a sequel.

 8.0 out of 10

Now Playing: Professor Layton VS Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

 Unsurprisingly, it's really, really good.

 I can tell you first hand that Phoenix Wright has consistently pumped out great games, and while I never played a single Layton game, I know that his games have been well received as well. So it was a no brainer that this game was gonna be decent at the least. Since I've been in a text-heavy game romp, and since Capcom, king of good decisions, decided to to release Phoenix Wright 5 digitally, I decided it was high time I played Professor Layton VS Phoenix Wright, I mean, Phoenix Wright IS one of my favorite video game franchises after all!

 So, let's start with the good:
 I've only played the prologue, which featured no Trials, and very little Phoenix Wright, and I'm already having fun.
 The puzzles were amusing.
 The presentation is exquisite, voice acting is charming and both Nick and Maya's voice actors fit their characters perfectly. The graphics are beautiful as well.

 What I didn't like:
 Supernatural entities? It seems the game will involve the supernatural. I don't know about Layton, but Phoenix Wright has always been grounded in reality. More or less. It might've a few quirks, like Apollo being able to tell when someone is lying, or the Fey family being able to channel spirits, but the assassinations have always been relatively plausible. But now we are involving witches, witchcraft, crow-like witches with telekinetic abilities... I'm pretty sure this game will have trials, but if we involve the supernatural into it... then 'A wizard did it' would be a great excuse as any to get outta trouble! 'Oh, a witch left my fingertips on the crime scene.', and it'd be totally valid since witches do exist now. But to be fair, I've yet to play as Phoenix, so let's see how the game goes about it.

Review #327: 999 - Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors

 That's a lot of nines.

 I like me some visual novels. Very linear, story driven games in which you read, read, make a choice, read, read, read, make a choice, etc. And after finding out that 999 was made by the same developer that made the fantastic Danganronpa, I just had to give it a whirl.

 The premise is as follows: You follow Junpei, one of nine different captives that have been trapped on a sinking ship, and had numbered bracelets attached to their arms. Throughout the ship they will find different numbered doors, 1-9, and only 3 to 5 people may pass through a door, if the sum of their bracelets' digital root equals to the number on the door. There's mystery, murder, betrayal and multiple endings. As for the story itself, I found it decent, but flawed. Some of the dialogue feels forced, as sometimes out of the blue, characters will decide to mention things, like Prospagnosia, and who'd knew that eventually you'd discover a character that suffers from it! Or they will decide to mention occult stuff, and who'd knew, it'd end up being pertinent to their situation! And they will offer fairly long winded, detailed explanations, while under the strain of time, they have 9 hours before they go boom, after all! And every little things ends up being pertinent. Who'd knew! Also, the game is relatively realistic, but all the realism is thrown out of the window when you enter the True Ending Route, dealing with preternatural themes that really brought me out of the game. Lastly, I know that Danganronpa came out after this game, but I had played it before even touching 999, and... let's say that I knew who Zero was immediately. Still, there's moments of absolute brilliance, but talking about them, or even hinting at them, would put me into spoiler territory.

 When you are not reading or deciding on which door to take, you'll be tasked with solving different puzzles in order to proceed. I'm gonna be honest, I found the puzzle sections to be a drag. Not only do they commit the sin of feeling like a pixel hunt, having to click on every little thing that you see, including stuff that looks like background decoration, but sometimes some objects will only trigger after you have interacted with others. Take the Kitchen puzzle, for instance, there's four piles of plates as well as a bill. You need that bill, but you can only take it after you've interacted with the four different piles of plates! Yeah, I didn't have much fun with the puzzles.

 Another issue I had was with the game's overall speed. Unless you are replaying a scene or puzzle, you can't skip the text. The problem lies when you have to retry a puzzle, as the game will force you to go through the slowly scrolling tutorial text every time you attempt it. Heck, even if you accidentally tap on something you've already interacted with, you are forced to read the text again. It's very annoying. I also found myself reading faster than the text would scroll during the story scenes, but I didn't mind it so much then, it's only during the puzzle sections that it really becomes an issue. At least, on future playthroughs, you can just fastforward the explanation texts.

 Ah, future playthroughs, the game doesn't handle them as well as I would've liked it to. Firstly, you can only fastforward text, not skip it. It sounds inconsequential, but fast forwarding text can take a couple of minutes before you get into any kind of new stuff, which can be boring. Imagine yourself holding right on the directional pad, fastforwarding the text, trying to keep yourself busy in any other way until you get to something new. The game will also have you doing the puzzles. Again. If you want to get every unique ending, it translates into solving the initial puzzle five times. And if you want the real ending, it will take at least two playthroughs. And the game doesn't allow you to skip puzzles if you already know the answer, oh no, you can't even attempt to introduce codes until you find the hints. It means busy work, a lot of busy work that could be better spent trying to solve the puzzles you haven't encountered yet.

 999 is an alright game, but I'd hesitate to favor it as much as people do. 'One of the DS's best hidden gems'? Doubt it. 'The best Visual Novel on the DS!'? I hope not. And mind you, the story itself is interesting, when you aren't rolling your eyes at all the super natural stuff, but I don't think the game lives up to the huge amounts of praise it gets. There's a lot of annoying little things with the puzzles, there's a ton of dialogue that feels forced, then there's all the annoyances related to the required multiple playthroughs.... It's a good game, but flawed.
 7.5 out of 10

Now Playing: 999 - Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors

 Not impressed.

 So I had just played Danganronpa, and while waiting for Danganronpa 2 to arrive I began to grow antsy. I've always had 999 on my backlog, and having learned that it was made by Chunsoft, Danganronpa's developer, and that it had a similar murder-mystery theme, albeit a bit more 'Saw' rather than 'Battle Royale', I decided to take it for a spin. Plus, people consider it one of the DS' hidden gems, so, y'know, why not? Besides, Lords of Arcana is a drag and I've been barely logging playtime on it, so.......

 Anyways, I just finished the first puzzle, and man, am I disappointed. This first puzzle felt like a pixel hunt, objects that looked like background elements wound up being crucial hotspots. Compare and contrast with Danganronpa, where everything pops, and even then, you can press a button to highlight every interactive element on the background. And to add insult to injury, the text scrolls oh so slowly. I had to retry the blue briefcase puzzle a few times(TURNS OUT THAT WHITE WARDROBE WASN'T JUST DECOR!), but the game just had to explain to me how the mini-game worked over and over and over again, and I couldn't skip it. Seriously??? The same goes for the tutorial, it went on and on and on and on, and with no way whatsoever to speed it.

 First impressions? The game blooooooooooows. Hopefully I'll end up retracting my words once everything's said and done, but judging by this very first puzzle, it's not looking very bright. Still, I remain hopeful, thanks to the game's reputation and the fact that I felt Danganronpa's weakest element was the gameplay itself, so, y'know, I can permit myself to remain ever hopeful.

Month Overview: May 2016

 Tally:
Danganronpa HappyTriggerHavoc                             9.0
Gravity Rush                                                               6.5
Ultimate Marvel VS Capcom 3(Vita)                         8.0


 Not much was played this month. Danganronpa was fantastic, Gravity Rush was alright, UMvC 3 was surprisingly considering how Street Fighter X Tekken's Vita port was a bit shoddy at times. I also started Lords of Arcana which is... it dangles between mediocre and terrible, and right now I'm stuck at the Bahamut fight, and frankly, I only attempted it twice, I simply don't have the drive, since the game is such a drag.

Game of May:

 Danganronpa was SO good that as soon as I finished it I ordered Danganronpa 2 and Ultimate Despair Girls, both which should be arriving this June. The last time I did something like this was with Darksiders, I didn't plan on liking the game THAT much, but as soon as I finished it I bought the sequel. But I digress. Phoenix Wright meets Battle Royale is what this game is, and it's so good. I felt that the trials were a bit too... convoluted, and sometimes it felt like filler, like having to prove that you're not a ghost. Seriously? But the story was so good that it kept me coming back for more and more.
 And the unlockable micromanagement mini-game was relatively entertaining as well.

 Runner-up:

 I had forgotten how much fun Ultimate Marvel VS Capcom could be, and I think it's in big part due to its simplicity and flashiness. And major props to Capcom for developing such a good port, Street Fighter X Tekken would sometimes drop frames, but UMvC 3 runs silky smooth. And you get everything the Console version had to offer. I still have a few issues pulling of some moves, like L-Trigger snap backs, or the few inputs that require pressing both Launcher and medium attacks, but that's on the Vita itself and not the port's fault.

Review #326: Ultimate Marvel VS Capcom 3(Vita)

 Guess this is a good excuse as any to revisit Marvel VS Capcom 3

 It should be known that I'm a bit of a fighting game aficionado. I follow the competitive scene surrounding fighting games, even if I don't play competitively myself, and I love all fighting games alike, not favoring one company over the other out of fanboyism. Ultimate Marvel VS Capcom 3 was a bit, deservedly, of a controversial release, coming out less than a year after the vanilla release. Opinions may vary, but I thought UMvC 3 was brilliant, and being a fighting game lover, now I've means to have it on the go.

 Ultimate Marvel VS Capcom 3 offers a 48-character sized roster, 50 if you have both DLC characters, which, unless you've bought them previously, can't be obtained now due to licensing issues. The roster is a bit hit or miss, Marvel is well represented having characters from all over their world, albeit prioritizing characters with movies or movies that were on the way, like Rocket Raccoon. Capcom's side however lacks a bit of diversity. Resident Evil gets Chris, Wesker, Nemesis AND Jill(DLC), Devil May Cry gets Dante, Vergil AND Trish, Darkstalkers gets Morrigan, Felicia and... Hsien-Ko...? Seriously? At least Ultimate's newcomers added variety with Phoenix Wright and Frank West, but one can't help but wonder why not cover more series, like Onimusha, Monster Hunter, Power Stone or even Sengoku Basara. Heck, I'd take Regina over Jill in order to represent Dino Crisis! Basically, you mileage will vary on how much some characters deserved a spot on the roster or not. The stages selection is undoubtedly lacking, but they make up in quality.

 So, how does MvC 3 play? You pick a team of three and pit it against another team. You've 6 buttons: Light attack, Medium Attack, Heavy Attack and Pop up being your primary means of offence, and then the shoulder buttons are used to either tag in either partner or call them in for an assist attack. It's simple, fast and works very well. Using all those tools, alongside a bevy of special and super moves performed by inputting different directions on the analog nub or digital pad, you can perform combos to rack up more damage. The game is very beginner friendly, as mashing will result in an spectacle of flashy stuff happening immediately, however, someone who knows what they are doing will easily over power a beginner, but the latter will have fun anyways since simple combos are easy to perform. There's also a few more advanced techniques, like forcing the opponent to switch into a different character, pulling off sequential supers with different characters, or pushing your enemy back while guarding if you're inclined in learning the game. There's no real tutorial on these, and the game doesn't come with an instruction booklet, unlike the console version, so if you want to learn these, you are on you own, but there's more than enough information online.

 This port can be commended for delivering everything the Console version had. There's the online mode, on which I couldn't find any matches, both ranked and unranked, the 'Heroes and Heralds' mode where you try to collect cards, as well as every offline mode: Arcade, the Galactus mini-game, Training and Mission(10 trials per character). There's also a new 'Touch' mode, which is basically an Arcade mode with extra touch controls for easier supers, not very noteworthy. Now then, if there's one pet peeve I have when it comes to fighting games is VS CPU modes. I don't mean Arcade, I mean the ability to fight against any CPU I want at any time. It used to be a no-brainer, but at the time of UMvC 3's release, some games, this included, started forgetting about it. When it comes to portable fighting games, I think that this is more of a necessity, as finding people who own both console and game as well is a bit tougher than bringing a buddy home, and you won't always have access to the Internet. As far as I'm concerned, this is a huge omission in this game.

 Another thing to commend this game for is how smoothly it runs. I didn't come across any form of slowdown whatsoever, and the game looks phenomenal. In order for it to run so well, some concessions had to be made: Stages lack animation, being completely static, and the special effects, such as those of hitting an opponent or projectiles have been turned into oversized pixelated sprites. It might take a bit of time getting used to the latter, and the really huge specials like Thor's tornado or Iron Fist's aura special look laughably bad in comparison to the beautiful 3-D models, but it doesn't get in the way of enjoying the game at all. While the Vita, as most handhelds are, is ill-fitted for fighting games, controls were responsive and tight. The game offers a 'simple' mode, but you should ignore it, or you'll end up with a wrong idea about the game, and end up bored with the repetitive gameplay. Y'see, simple mode makes it so that Light Attack turns into your ONLY combo, Medium attack is used to pull off two, and only two, special moves while Heavy attack will perform Super moves. It's very dull and saps all the creativity and fun out of making your own combos and the fast paced combat.

 Ultimate Marvel VS Capcom 3 on the Vita is a fantastic port of a fantastic game. The controls are not the best due to the Vita itself, but they are manageable, and I feel that the lack of offline VS CPU kinda kills some of the replay value for me. But all in all, they crammed the entire console game into a tiny Vita card, sacrificing very little and keeping everything that matters intact.
 8.0 out of 10

Now Playing: Lord of Arcana

 Swery, what is this?

 Swery 65 is a director I've come to really like almost exclusively thanks to his fantastic work with Deadly Premonition, a game so stand offish that gives Suda 51 a run for his money. I've also learned that a lot of his previous work is pretty... derivative. Extermination? Clearly inspired by The Thing. Spy Fiction? Metal Gear Solid meets Mission Impossible. Deadly Premonition? Twin Peaks called, they want their town back. But derivative as it may be, his games have been average at worst. And now we have Lord of Arcana.

 Seeing how my progress on Toukiden has slowed down considerably, which I did review, but having spent 60+ hours on it and having a clear grasp on the game as a whole, and playing Marvel's Future Fight on the side, I decided that the only thing that made sense was to start another Monster Hunter clone. And it's pretty weird, and not Swery 65 kind of weird, even though worked as a cowriter and designer on it.

 What's really cool about these kind Hunting games is how, while you do enhance your equipment, what really makes the difference is the player's skill and actual experience tackling the difference beasts. Here, you actually level up and get more hit points. Also, your weapons level up as well, and you get more moves. It's not the most original twist on the formula, but I guess it's kinda interesting.

 As for battles, you kinda engage the monsters on the overworld, and then get transported to a separate arena? It's kinda weird. Getting surprised has a negative effect on your stats, while landing the first hit actually buffs your strength. Can't say I'm a fan of the mechanic. I'm also not liking the overall aesthetics, the game looks relatively blurry and... generic, for lack of a better word. The armor designs are 'eh', the two I've seen anyways. Monster design is pretty bland, and relatively underwhelming. I mean, I've only fought one 'big monster', Agni, and he kinda kicked my ass(He actually killed me once and made me drink about 5 potions), but he was fairly unimpressive. If you switched his magma texture with a zombiefied one, he could've looked straight out of Resident Evil, as a Tyrant of sorts. It's that lame. Not that REvil's Tyrants are necessarily lame, on their context, but on a Monster Hunter clone I expect bigger, more impressive stuff.

 Then there's the combat, which is, once again, fairly unimpressive. You mash Square, stop mashing, hold X and roll around. After playing so much Toukiden, this feels clunky. And I don't even know if you can roll with the other weapons. You can also equip a skill on the triangle button, but you can't combo into it, and the damage is pathetic, so I haven't found a use for it yet. Eventually I'm gonna try other weapons to see if everything is a one button affair. And the cherry on top? QTEs. You actually have to engage in a QTE in order to finish off a boss. And since... at least two years of so, I've started hating QTEs so much that I'm actually scared of playing God of War again, and tarnish the enjoyable memories I have of the series.

 Bottom line: It's not good, but it's not bad either, it simply feels very middle of the road. There's so many other, better, alternatives:
 Monster Hunter, which is waaay more deep than this one, the combat is slower paced, but it's much tighter and feels much better. Also available on the PSP.
 Gods Eater Burst, one of my favorite Monster Hunter Clones, I'd even dare say I like it more than Monster Hunter. Also on PSP.
 Soul Sacrifice, a bit different than the other MH Clones, but they tried something slightly different and it worked. I wasn't the biggest fan of the spell system and even then I'd rather play SS over this.
 Toukiden, it's fantastic.
 So really, why bother with something so mundane, when there's so much better alternatives out there? But then again, these are just my first impressions, based on 1:30 hours of gameplay, and only three missions under my belt(Although I'm fairly sure the game took the time I spent with the demo into account, because those three missions were rather short).

Review #325: Gravity Rush

 I'm glad it moved on to the PS4.

 Gravity Rush was often touted as the PS Vita's killer ap, so much so that Sony even tried making Kat, the main character, the face of the Vita, and it's an assessment I don't quite agree with.

 Gravity Rush puts you on the heels of Kat, a dark-skinned, gravity manipulating lass that suffers from amnesia, thrust upon a world with towns that float on the sky. The art directions is a bit drab, with towns made up of browns, browns and more browns against green, yellow and red skies. As a whole, it's not entirely uninteresting, but the different 'cities' lack landmarks, or distinctive architecture to make them stand out. The idea of floating towns is not particularly original, but the way you traverse them are what makes it engaging, but I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. As far as the plot of the game goes... it's lacks focus. Things go unexplained, poorly explained or are just forgotten. There's this bad guy, Alias, who is stealing power sources, and you fight him once and... the game forgets about him and his goal. Later on, Kat has a dream where Alias takes off his mask and... we are never told who she saw. Then there's this character, 'The creator' who says created the world and... that's about it. And then you meet ANOTHER creator, and just what the hell is a creator and why is there more than one!? Then there's the bad guys, the Nevi, and in one chapter one is shown trying to 'protect' a human and... the issue is never picked up again. There's also, without spoiling too much, a sort of timeskip that's never explained too well. Yeah, the plot is all over the place.

 The game features a sandbox world comprised of four different 'floating islands' or towns, but there's not a whole lot to do. There's crystals to collect, 16 'travelers' to find(Technically, it's two of them, which are hidden in 16 different places), challenges to find and tackle and the 22 different story missions. And that's pretty much it. Yeah, there's not a lot to do or find, and the rewards for exploring are crystals that can be used to enhance Kat's abilities. Luckily, the game main's mechanic, gravity control, is a blast to use. Once you level up your gauge consumption and shifting speed, you can easily go from town to town without even touching the ground, and the sense of speed and flight make it a total pleasure to just fly around and absorb the sights(as brown and mundane as they can be).

 The controls are a bit of a mixed bag. Firstly, touchscreen functions are mandatory, dodging is done by swiping on the screen, and gravity sliding is done by touch both the lower right and lower left parts of the screen, and then... turning the Vita itself like a steering wheel. Dodging might be annoying, but you can get used to it, sliding is downright uncontrollable. Every time the game implied I should slide, I just floated instead. The R button is used to have Kat float, and then you can aim by moving the Vita around or using the right analog stick, tapping R again will have Kat fly towards the aiming reticule, or you can just hold X to do it faster, and touching any surface will make Kat stick to it. It lacks finesse, but it's not an issue unless you are fighting, but when it comes to exploring, it's a joy to perform. Lastly, holding the circle button will create and Stasis field that let's you shoot objects such as boxes as projectiles.

 Combat is, sadly, one of the game's weakest components. I understand, the game had full 360 movement, so they felt like they had to tie into the combat as well. Enemies are very, very uninspired. The 'Nevi' are blobs of gooey stuff that resemble animals, like swordfishes or frogs. But you can't simply attack them, oh no, they have glowing orbs on their bodies that you must destroy in order to defeat. This means that Kat's on-ground kick is useless on 90% of the enemies, it also means that you are gonna have to use the imprecise floating-and-flying to get a good angle, and then use a gravity kick towards their glowing orbs. Sounds uninspired? It is. It's also repetitive, and most of the time makes you wish you could simply kick them to death.

 Combat? Boring. Art Direction? Well, the characters are alright, Kat and Yunica in particular look fantastic, but the cities lack personality and color. But even then, EVEN THEN, flying around is a blast. And this is why, while most people felt betrayed that Gravity Rush 2 will be a PS4 exclusive, I actually think it's a brilliant move. The reason the town felt so lifeless was, probably, to keep the framerate from chugging. With more buttons on the joystick, the lousy and unnecessary touch controls and motion sensors can be done away with. I actually think that the move to a proper home console will benefit the game greatly, because it shows a lot of potential, and they nailed their core mechanic just right.

 When it comes to Gravity Rush, while I felt a lot of it was rather dull and forgettable, I can't stress enough just how good the core mechanic, gravity shifting, feels. Flying around just for the heck of flying around made me forget how bored I felt when going through some of the more tedious parts of the game(Seriously, that spire you have to climb down in order to find a letter... and they make you go through it twice. TWICE!!), it made me forget just how lame I found the combat and the enemies to be. I've already forgotten about how some of the towns looked, that's how mundane they were, but the flying? That stuck with me. And I'm sure they are gonna make a much better game with Gravity Rush 2.
 6.5 out of 10

Now Playing: Gravity Rush

 It's gooooood.

 Gravity Rush is really cool. No, seriously. I'm loving the Gravity mechanics, shifting and sticking and zooming forwards is all done with a button and the right analog stick(Or you can move the Vita around, if you are into that). and it feels really good to zip around the town. The combat is a bit.. weaker in that respect, as there's no lock-on(Or none that I could find), and it feels a bit too floaty for my tastes. It's not bad by any means, but it's not optimal. Also, dodging by swiping the screen sucks, just give me a button alternative, goddammit.

 I'm also digging the art direction, Kat looks really good, although my Japan senses tell me they are gonna exploit her in some fanservicey way eventually, mostly due to how the cutscene after getting herself a home and showering panned out. The environments look really nice as well, a bit... lacking in detail, but taken as a whole, they are rather neat, if that makes any sense? As in, the buildings, the background and the setting work really well together to set the ambiance.

 Still, my biggest gripe is how long the game went without giving me a save spot!!

Review #324: Danganronpa - TriggerHappyHavoc

 Objection!

 Danganronpa is a visual novel-styled mystery game. Most of the gameplay involves reading, reading and more reading, although it also involves Phoenix Wright-inspired trials where you get to dispel erroneous statements or lies by figuring it which piece of evidence to use and when.

 The story pits you as Makoto Naegi, the Ultimate Lucky student, who won the right to attend the Dangan Academy through a lottery. This Highschool only collects the Ultimate students, the Ultimate Gambler, the Ultimate Baseball Star, etc. Regardless, Makoto passes out on his first day of school, waking up surrounded by 14 other students, and the doors and windows have been bolted shut. And then Monokuma, a Bear made up of a white side and a black side, pops up, claiming to be the headmaster and giving the students a choice: Either spend their entire life locked inside the building, or kill somebody and get away with it. After, and if, a murder is committed, the students will get the chance to point the killer in a trial, get it right and the killer is executed, get it wrong and everyone else gets executed while the murderer gets to escape the building. It's a very interesting premise, and it's executed fairly well. And while I grew fond of most of the cast, I always wanted the next murder to happen, to see how the story would develop, to find the next creative death scenario et all. Somehow, the game managed to mix over the top, violent executions and murders with entertaining, sometimes lighthearted dialogue and funny situations.

 One thing that immediately pops up is the very unique artstyle. It's a bit... rough, and a bit quirky, but after a while it grows on you, and its quirkiness adds up to the ambiance of the game. The different rooms of the school are designed in 3D, with 3D objects and flat, 2D characters on top. It's an interesting style, not the prettiest, but I think it fits the game perfectly. Interacting with objects sometimes nets you coins, which are also awarded after clearing a trial, and can be used to buy presents for the characters. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

 Most of the game, you'll be told of what to do and where to go. 'I should meet up with everybody at the Dining Hall', 'A new floor has opened up, we should explore it', which means that the story will only advance when you do whatever the game wants you to do. Although occasionally you'll be given 'free time' to spend with the rest of the cast, and you should. Interacting with characters during free time will slowly fill you in on the characters' individual motivations or backstory. Some characters are certainly deeper and more interesting than others, but it's a good way to enrich the cast, plus, getting 'close' to the characters will award you with Skills that can be equipped to make the trials easier.

 Inevitably, murder will happen, and then you'll have to investigate the crime scene in order to gather evidence. The Trial won't start until you've found all the required evidence, so it's impossible to get yourself screwed. And then come the Trials which... surprisingly, were my least liked part about the game. They work a bit like Phoenix Wright's, but are easier in some ways, yet more convoluted in others. There's a ton of... sub modes, so to speak, in a Trial, and you're always under a time limit. I never run out of time, but then again, I only played in Normal. Most of the time, you'll be pointing out lies or mistakes on the characters' accounts, and you are given a number different evidence pieces to use in that particular instance. As a matter of fact, the game will highlight the suspicious parts in orange, so it's just a matter of finding the right orange sentence and using the right evidence, which makes it easier than Phoenix Wright, where you are always carrying a larger amount of evidence and have to figure out the wrong statements by yourself.

 Buuuuuuuuut, you also have to time it. Evidence, in the game, is turned into 'bullets' which must be 'shot' at the statements. Shooting white text, or not hitting the orange text in time will make you miss, and you'll have to wait(You can fast forward it!) while the characters repeat themselves. And then the game adds 'noise', which is made by characters doubts or chatter during the testimony. Noise are purple lines that will block your evidence bullets, but you can shoot them down with the X button, or simply avoid them while shooting your evidence. And then the game introduces absorption, sometimes the evidence bullets you are given will not be enough, so you'll have to absorb an orange statement, and then shoot it against another orange statement.

 Then there's also the 'hangman gambit', where you have to shoot the correct letters to complete a word, because making a normal choice would be too passe. And then there's a rhythm mini game, which is engaged whenever a character refuses to listen to your reasons. And then, after finishing a trial, you have to reassemble the entire crime in a 'fill in the gaps' comic thingie, which I actually liked. I understand that they wanted to make something more interactive than Phoenix Wright, but I thought it was way to convoluted. Most of the time I just wanted to get through the trials in order to continue with the fantastic story.

 The game took me little over 14 hours, but it felt shorter than that... because of how good it was. I wanted more. More murders, more executions, more game! This also means that I'll be getting the sequel ASAP, but that's neither here nor there. Regardless, finishing the game unlocks 'Schoo Life', which is a small management game. It's made up of 50 days, and every week you are given the task of constructing a different Monokuma back up. So each day you get to order characters to collect materials in different places. It can be replayed indefinitely, and stats carry over from playthrough to playthrough. Probably, you won't be able to finish all the concepts the first time around, but it gets progressively easier as you learn what to do and your characters grow more effective at gathering. This mode also lets you complete the 'Free Time' conversations with the cast, as well as having a different, 'what if' ending.

 I loved Danganronpa. Sure, I wasn't too big on the Trials, but the payoff was worth it. It's not a game for everyone, the reading-to-playing ratio favors the former, and as great as I found the story to be, it's also very Japanese, with relatively over-the-top characters that certainly won't appeal to everyone.
 9.0 out of 10

Now Playing: Danganronpa - TriggerHappyHavoc

 Alright, alright

 I'm running on borrowed time, seeing how I've a test in a few hours and ANOTHER one on Saturday, so I could only put a few minutes into the game. I'll be honest, I've watched a few videos about it, but I never understood much what it was, it seemed like a Phoenix Wrigh-ish game? Ah well.

 The art isn't particularly good, but after a while it grows endearing, I'm also liking the diverse cast of characters, hopefully they aren't as stereotypical as they look as they look at first glance.

 All in all, the few minutes I played, I got interested. So... yeah.

Month Overview: April 2016

 Tally:
Senran Kagura - Estival Vs                          6.0
Metal Gear Rising - Revengeance                     8.0
Valkyrie Profile - Lenneth                          7.0
Silent Hill 0rigins                                 7.5
Silent Hill Downpour                                7.0
Silent Hill - Book of Memories                      3.0
Toukiden Kiwami                                     9.0
Samurai Warriors 4-II                               8.0


 It was an interesting month. A lot of Silent Hill, which was really neat, except for Book of Memories. I also started Mass Effect, but tests started as well, so... Yeah, it'll be a while.


 Game of April:

 Toukiden Kiwami is badass. As a matter of fact, I'm still playing it, instead of studying, to this very day. And it looks as if I might spend a chunk o' May playing it as well. It's hard to sell a Monster Hunter clone to somebody who isn't into the series, I mean, let's be honest; they are games about defeating the same 5is-30ish minute long bosses over and over again, in order to carve their parts, and make new equipment pieces, only to get to the new Boss and do the same things all over again. But part of the excitement comes from the fact that the biggest deciding factor in these fights is skill and not your equipment. This game is a lot easier than Monster Hunter, so the feeling isn't as pronounced, but it feels so good when you defeat a Monster by the skin of your teeth, and then on subsequent hunts, you, the player, learn to defeat them more efficiently. It's incredibly rewarding, both thanks to how badass the new armor pieces and weapons are and how good it feels to get good. Althoughbattlesinthisgamereallyaren'tthathardbutstill.

 Runner-up:

 I may have scored a few games higher than this one, heck, I think even Silent Hill 0rigins was a better game. Buuuut, on hindsight, after getting to digest this game a bit... I think it was really good. I've learned to appreciate the mechanics, like having Silent Hill open for you to explore, filled with sidequests to finish. It's definitely a different take on Survival Horror, and I don't think I quite appreciated it when I first played it. I helps that the game places a heavy emphasis on water, particularly rain, and I decided to play the game when it was raining, so the parallels between the game and when I played it made it all the more... delicious.
 Bottom line is: I think I've learned to like it more after finishing it. As a Silent Hill game, it leaves a little to be desired, particularly in monster design, but it has a few interesting ideas that were executed well enough

Review #323: Samurai Warriors 4-II

 And now, for an actually decent Musou game...

 After Ken's Rage 2's poor showing, I was scared; was I finally getting tired of the Musou genre? I mean, I've probably played more of these games than most people on the west, and while they are not as similar between each other as people make them out to be, the basics are the same: Mash that square button, with the occasional triangle tap, and mow down hundreds upon hundreds of runts. Well, Samurai Warriors 4-II has its fair share of new ideas, and they work out pretty well.

 The game's story is... if you care about story, you're better of playing vanilla Samurai Warriors 4. 4-II's story is divided in 13 campaigns, made out of 5 missions each, although there's a few repeats here and there, some being identical repeats at that. These stories seem to be noncanonical, with a few even contradicting each other, so I must insist, if you care about a more faithful representation of the Sengoku period's history, you'r better off with vanilla SW4. Speaking of vanilla, I didn't play the original release, so this is my first, and only, taste of SW4 and.... some of the character designs are atrocious. Naotora Li in particular is unbearable, with one of the worst personalities in a Warriors game EVER, and Koshosho.... what... what the beep where they thinking? Another thin to keep in mind, is that there are no alternate costumes or colors, barring towell outfits for Naotora and Chokosho, because Japan and Fanservice go hand in hand, god forbid they forget about pandering.

 The first, and best, new addition is the Hyper Attacks. Warriors games always give you a single chain of attacks, done by pressing square, while you can use triangle to finish these combos in different ways, which is why I like to call the triangle the 'modifier button'. Well, Hyper attacks are dashing, high-speed attacks chained by tapping triangle, with square giving you different ways to end the hyper attack combos depending on when you press it. Hyper attacks are a blast to pull off, and allow you to cover a lot of terrain, quickly, while scoring dozens of kills. That said, enemy generals(The enemies that have proper names instead of being cannon fodder) will reflect hyper attacks, and trying to use them in high-morale enemy areas(Areas displayed in red in the minimap) will result in them doing less damage. It makes sense, they are rather overpowered, but the thing about the morale system... is that characters are divided into types: Power-oriented characters get multi-triangle finishers, Normal-oriented characters get longer square chains, Special-oriented characters get different unique skills, while Hyper-oriented characters get longer Hyper attack chains. The problem lies with the morale system.

 Y'see, sub-missions are back. These absolutely ruined Samurai Warriors on the 3DS for me, since they kept bringing the game to a halt. Luckily, now you can turn off the game-pausing notifications n the options menu. Anyways, successfully clearing them will lower the enemy morale, and thus decrease their red areas. Problem being that it's rather easy to screw yourself out of these missions. Maybe you killed someone right before the mission told you not to. Maybe you went in a different direction and you are now too far away to complete it. In these cases you will have to deal with red areas, which can really handicap Hyper oriented characters. Yeah, I'm not much of a fan of sub-missions, since I don't like being told how to tackle the stage, but it's downright annoying having to deal with red areas just because you decided to venture too far away from the next objective. For what it's worth, on the easier difficulties, red areas aren't too bad.

 The other big change comes in the game allowing you to pick two different characters for each stage, and you can change characters on the fly by tapping the select button. And you can also give them simple orders by tapping up on the directional pad. They work well, and it's fun being able to cover more ground at the tap of the button, just keep in mind that if either character dies, it's game over. Musou Attacks have been changed as well, previously(At least in SW3 and Chronicles), you had to hold the Musou Button to pull of the attack, now you simply tap it and the character executes it... but there's also a Rage mode. There's a 5 tier gauge that can be used to dodge certain attacks, break enemy guards, or when filled, activate rage mode. You do more damage, and you get a different, stronger, Musou attack. Lastly, defeated generals may drop weapons, horses or tomes. Weapons and Horses are enhanced by 'fusing' them with other weapons or horses of their type, but tomes are used to enhance your character, by spending them on a grid. There's a ton of different passive and active skills to earn, and I actually really liked the grid system.

 Lastly, after you are are done with Story Mode, or replaying stages in Free Mode, there's a new mode, Survival. Survival is made up of two different towers, which you must climb in order to gain loot, unlock a few characters and... bragging rights. I rather liked the mode, each tower has different 'challenges' or goals, and it gets harder as you go along, and dying means losing your loot, which is why after clearing every floor you get the option to turn tail and keep your spoils. There's also a fairly decent create a character mode, although you can only use your character in Free and Survival Modes.

 The Vita port runs surprisingly well. When there's a ton of units on the screen, a few may disappear, but it's not too bad, and the framerate is decent. It can struggle a bit in stages with water, but it's fairly consistent 30 fps or so most of the time. I mean, it's not perfect, but it's playable, and it's great to finally have a decent Warriors game on the go, after Chronicles left such a sour taste on my mouth.

 Samurai Warriors 4-II takes a lot of steps in the right direction for the franchise. It's a fun game to play when all you want is mindless action. That said... what's up with some of the character designs? And what's up with Naotora? Do we really need waifus in Samurai Warriors? I guess the poor story is excusable considering this is a side game.
 8.0 out of 10

Now Playing: Samurai Warriors 4-II

 What the Japan happened to the characters?

 So I finished Naomasa's campaign and played the first one in the Yukimura brothers', so I've more or a less a clear idea on where I stand with this one.

 What I did like was the gameplay. Hyper attacks? 10/10. It's a fantastic, satisfying way to traverse the battlegrounds while shredding away through normal enemy troops.
 I hated how Samurai Warriors 3DS worked, stopping the action every single time a sub objective popped up. It really ruined the overall experience for me. They are still here, but you can turn off the game-stopping notifications on the options menu. Thank god.
 I've played with a few of the new characters, and I like the new movesets. It never ceases to amaze me how Koei can keep up pumping new movesets for every single Warriors iterations. Sure, they are not particularly deep or extensive, but they manage to feel different. Well, they Hyper Attacks are a bit more homogeneous across the board, but it feels nice to use them, and the square strings are still unique, so it's forgivable.

 What I didn't like were the character designs. W... where do I start? Character designs in Musou games have always been anachronistic, but they still felt as if they belonged together while feeling feudal in nature. Now we have this:
                                        
 What. The. Flying. Beep. Is. This. Thing? No, seriously, explain that thing to me. It'd be one thing if it were an alternate DLC costume, but it's her main costume. I'm... I'm at a loss for words. And then there's Naotora Li, and she's a mess. He design is fine the way it is, but it's her personality where it falls apart. She's the clumsy, shy waifu type. In real life, she was supposed one of the very, very few women who rose in power in feudal Japan, she was a woman to be respected. Here she is a laughingstock of ridiculousness. Every single time she opens her mouth makes me want to drive my head against a granite column. And let's not even get into the fact that she looks way, waaaay younger than her son, Naomasa Li, and more immature than him. For a Japanese developer, the Musou games have never been too pandering, a few designs might've been a bit questionable, but nothing too ridiculous, but it seems they went full Japan with this game. And then there's Kiyomasa Kato, he was my favorite character in Samurai Warriors 3, but for this game he went Super Saiyan, and he looks stupid. I can't stand to use him because of how dumb he looks. At least there's a character creator.

 All that said, thankfully, I don't really care that much about character designs here. I never cared much for the Samurai Warriors/Sengoku Musou characters, since I never found a character that I really liked. As long as these type of designs don't find their way into the Sangoku Musuo/Dynasty Warriors, we're going to be just fine.

 Basically, I like the game a lot. I dislike most of the character designs, yes, but at the end of the day, it doesn't affect the gameplay, where some of the changes they made I felt were fantastic. I wan the Hyper attacks on Dynasty Warriors, because it feels so good to charge around mowing down dozens upon dozens of enemies.

Review #322: Toukiden Kiwami

 Playstation's answer to Monster Hunter.

 Capcom may have brought, exclusively, the Monster Hunter series to Nintendo, but Playstation fans have now got a substitute in Toukiden. Soul Sacrifice was a nice alternative to MH, it was the same type of game, but with relatively different mechanics, Toukiden, on the other hand, is as close to Monster Hunter as you can get without being a rip-off.

 If there's one field every Monster Hunter clone has bested Monster Hunter in is on the story, and this game is no exception. Basically, a few years ago the 'Awakening' happened, which brought demons, or Oni, into the world, and now humans fight for survival. You play as a new arrival, a created character of your choice, to the Utakata Village, and quickly prove your worth as an Slayer. And y'know, being one of these games, your character actually has some particular abilities unique to himself that quickly make him stand out from the rest. On the hunt you'll be joined by 7 other hunters, each one having their own story arc to go through, and while they are not mindblowing, they are interesting at the very least. I absolutely loved the Japanese art direction they took, Oni are clearly inspired in Japanese folklore and ancient art, while the armor pieces are very, very Japanese,

 I've seen this game described as 'Monster Hunter meets Dynasty Warriors', and as someone who has invested quite some time on the Warriors games, I can safely say that they are wrong. This game isn't even remotely similar to Dynasty Warriors, except, maybe, on the armor designs. The game follows a very simple formula: Go out with up to three CPUs, or players, hunt a big bad boss, get its drops, forge armor and weapons for said parts, slay the boss again and again until you finish your set, and move onward towards a new boss. You don't really need to complete the armor sets, but you get special bonuses for full sets. Plus, most of them look really cool. On the game's defense, the grind seemed much more lenient than on Monster Hunter, bosses don't have as many different drops, and the drop rate for even the rarer drops wasn't too low. That said, you are bound to come across the lack of certain rare drops from rare small enemy spawns that are gonna drive you insane, but there's enough, although not a lot, of information online regarding enemy drops, rare enemy spawns and shiny pickups from each environment. And, if what I've said already didn't make it clear, Monster Hunter clones like this require a hefty time investment, while boss battles start relatively easy when compared to its peers, as soon as you hit Chapter 6, missions will get longer, and some drops will get rarer. As for the game itself, Chapters 1-7 took me about 30 plus hours, and then there's the Kiwami content(8-15) that lasts just as much, and then there's the Online missions, that can be played offline with CPU allies, which are another 15 phases. There's a lot to do in here.

 The game offers a more than decent amount of different weapons, and they each have different styles: The twin knives allow for easy aerial combos, fists allow you to deal extra damage if you time button presses, and rifles allow for distant combat, to name a few. There's bound to be at least one type of weapons that suits your style. Regardless, none of the movesets felt as... deep as movesets in Monster Hunter, but the game plays much, much faster which I liked a lot. The game also offers a ton of customization thanks to Mitama, orbs that grant the player passive effects, as well as different 'spell' set ups. And there's a ton of different spells, and once you get high tier weapons, you can carry more than one Mitama, which allows for a bigger spell pool, of up to four, and even more passive skills, up to three per Mitama. And these allow you to heal yourself, enhance your strength or even temporarily allowing you to leech life off enemies. It's also a lot easier, not only do you have 3 useful CPU allies that can revive you, but you can send your Tenko, a foxy creature of sorts, before each mission to gather materials from the environment, and if you send him to the stage the mission takes place, you may run across him and he'll aid you in battle! And, later on, you will also be able to send party members on previously cleared missions from previous chapters to gather even more materials, including boss materials.

 What sets it apart from Monster Hunter and its ilk is the Purifying system. You can't just damage a boss, not outright, instead you have to sever the physical manifestations of their body and purify them. You can use your mind's eye(Select button) to see what can be severed and how close to the fact it is. But once you sever a limb, you have to purify it, by standing over it and holding the R button until a gauge is depleted. If you take too long, the boss may absorb it back to their body! Dealing damage will increase a weapon gauge, CPUs have their own shared gauge as well, and once filled allow for powerful Destroyer attacks that will instantly cut off whichever limb they hate, but if you miss your target, you have to fill the gauge back up again. Regardless, once a part is purified, you will finally be allowed to damage the boss by hitting that body part. Bosses also have 'rage' meters, and when filled they glow purple, and any attack, anywhere, will hurt them directly. Lastly, bosses have alternate forms that they access after fulfilling certain conditions, some just require them hitting a certain HP percentage, while others will do it after losing all their limbs. It's fun, as some forms can be widely different from their normal form. What's not so fun are the subspecies, for the uninitiated, these games tend to have color variations of the bosses, and they usually have different patterns or attacks... here, they don't. They are exactly like their normal versions, but with different elemental attributes, and maybe more health and damage output.

 I think I may like Toukiden more than Monster Hunter. I think the Mitama system is better than having to produce and buy items, like potions, or whatever. It's more convenient and less time consuming. time better spent hunting monsters. While on Monster Hunter you have to catch bugs, with a net, minerals, with a pick-axe, fish, with a rod AND be on the look out for shiny spots on the ground, here you need only look for the shiny spots on the ground. Sending Tenko to the different environments, and party members on missions for even more materials help alleviate a lot of the unnecessary grinding, which I also found both convenient and smart. I like having actually useful party members, as opposed to silly little critters with limited damage output and uselessness of deciding to cure me after I healed me myself. And if you want to go oldschool, you can simply leave your party members behind. That said, I wasn't a big fan of the purifying system, however, the CPUs are relatively smart, so you can just focus on hacking and slashing away while some of them go stand over them and purify them for you,

 Toukiden Kiwami makes Toukiden - Age of Demons obsolete. The one immutable law of Monster Hunter clones is: It will have an enhanced remake, and this is that. It's got the entire vanilla game included, but it's also got more mission(Twice as many), more monsters(I think twice as well), more weapon types, and alongside the new bosses, new armor sets and weapons to craft from each. And you can carryover your AoD save. Basically, there's no reason as to why you shouldn't get Kiwami over vanilla Toukiden.

 Toukiden Kiwami is a fantastic game, it just might be my favorite Monster Hunter clone yet. It's probably the easiest one as well until you get into the latter chapters, some of the optional missions can be downright brutal. However, as much as I liked the game, these games are very, very repetitive, and as much as the game tries to alleviate the grind, you will eventually have to fight a boss more than once to craft that shiny new piece of armor, which is something to keep in mind. Regardless, for Monster Hunter fans that like the genre not exclusively for the challenge would do well to give it a look.
9.0 out of 10