Unfinished Business 2016

 Either I failed these games or they failed me.

 Lords of Arcana failed me: This game was terrible. Terrible. I did review it, and I didn't finish it, but I didn't need to play anymore: The game was trash. I am considering beating it at least one, for completion's sake, but man, was this game bad bad bad.

  Corpse Party failed me: I started this game in October, as part of my scary games-athon. It was bad, bad, bad. I'm up to chapter 4-5? And I can't stand this game. It's such a backwards game design, having to retread the same areas over and over and over and over again, hoping that you do something to trigger something in an area you've already been before. It's a bad game, I don't even wanna play it anymore.

 Disgaea 2 and I failed each other: I don't think that Disgaea 2 is a bad game perse, but the story is kinda dull, couple that with the fact that I've kinda outgrown the Disgaea franchise... Yeah, I kinda don't want to play Disgaea 2 because it bores me.

 I failed Resident Evil 6: Despite the bad reviews, I was enjoying what little I played of Resident Evil 6. I started this game in co-op, so I kinda need my sister to be available as well, and I got sidetracked with other games.... Resident Evil 6 is a game I want to finish, I simply got sidetracked.

 Shin Megami Tensei IV failed me: I love the SMT franchise. Digital Devil Saga, Nocturne and Persona are all among my favorite PS2 games. The Devil Survivor franchise was fantastic, and it's never too late to play Raidou's games. Shin Megami Tensei 4 was a game I was kinda hyped for... but it's a bit boring. Character designs don't interest me, the setting is kinda dull, the presentation is disappointing...

 Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen and I failed each other: I really don't know what happened with me and Dragon's Dogma. I was so excited for this one, I thought it was a mixture of Monster Hunter and Kingdoms of Amalur-like western RPGs. And it kinda is, but it's also kinda dull. Climbing around monsters is kind clunky, cities are lifeless and finding sidequests is a bit lame. Maybe 2017?

 I failed Mass Effect: Just as with Resident Evil 6, it's not that I didn't like the game, I simply got sidetracked. I will admit that I wasn't completely sold on what I played of ME 1, but it's a game I'd like to play, eventually.

 I failed Monster Hunter 3: I have over 40 hours in this one, had just gotten meself the Ancient Mask to tackle the big-bad boss from the first part of the game... And I got sidetrack and eventually didn't feel like coming back to it. I think Gods Eater pampered me a bit, so that would explain why I didn't want to come back. Maybe. But I will finish it, I do have Monster Hunter 4 on my backlog after all!

Review #359: Silent Hill - Shattered Memories

 It's back to the icy town of Silent Hill for Harry Mason, but nothing is quite like it was.

 Shattered Memories is more than just a remake, more than just a reboot, it's almost an entirely different take on Silent Hill 1. What I'm trying to say, is that in order to fully appreciate this game for what it is, you have to come to it knowing what it is not: Silent Hill. Besides a few characters, who appear in name only, the main premise and the psychological horror ties, this time taken to its most literal and explicit extreme, this game has nothing to do with Silent Hill 1 or Silent Hill at all.

 The game takes place in two different time-frames, first is the framing device which has you taking part, in first person, on a psychology session in which you are being examined, and another in which you relive Harry Mason's past, after he crashed into Silent Hill and his daughter went missing. Armed with a flashlight and his cellphone, which works as a GPS(Map), Phone(You can call NPCs or may need to call a number to proceed), save your game and other eventualities, Harry Mason sets out to find his daughter. The most interesting part about the story is how your behavior affects the world around you. Besides the ending, changes and differences are superficial, but they add a ton of replay value and make going through the game multiple times a treat. Basically, how you answer questions during the psychology session and how you behave in the game(Examining alcohol, examining erotic objects, being caring and calling characters, etc) will alter how some characters look and behave, major characters having three different possible looks and up to three different personalities, it will also alter how the monsters look, and it will alter how some shops look or are named. And, of course, the four different possible endings. It's far from revolutionary, but damn if it isn't a fantastic idea and pulled off well.

 As previously stated, you can't come into this game expecting Silent Hill or you'll be left massively disappointed. There's no fog, and the town is pretty much alive and well, even if a snow storm is blocking access to most buildings or streets. There's no cult involved in this game, although they made the monsters' looks an active part of the game. There's only one monster type in this game, and their looks reflect how you are playing. Being a pervert will make it develop sexual characteristics, being a pervert will make it get bloated, being uncaring will make its flesh rot, etc. So while only having one monster may seem boring, it makes up for it by having reflect on your playstyle, essentially, becoming the player's inner demon, which is a fantastic idea and is one of the few traditional Silent Hill-ish features in the game.

 Silent Hill has always worked with two 'worlds', or 'dimensions' or however you wanna call them, and this game is no exception, albeit it works a bit different. On the 'Normal' World you're absolutely and entirely safe from danger, there're no monsters nor jumpscares: You are safe. In this sections you have to make your way towards a certain destination, and you are free to explore your surroundings, in order to capture.. ghosts in film, come across spiritual residues or find collectible mementos. All three of them are merely there to flesh out the story and world of Silent Hill, as your only reward will be text messages or voice mails. While these sub stories were kinda sad, and completely out of place in a Silent Hill game, and while they were fun to find... to be honest, there's not enough incentive to collect them. They don't unlock anything, so while should I bother? I mean, I would bother since I liked the story, but why would someone else need bother if that isn't enough incentive?

 The 'Normal World' is also where most of the puzzles take place, if you can even call them puzzles. 99% of the time, whatever item you need to open a locked door is in the same room as the door itself. Whatever information you need in order to open a door or find a password... is in the room itself. Puzzles in this game are pathetic motion control gimmicks. Find a wallet and open the wallet. Find the drawer and open the drawer. Honestly, it's kinda pathetic.

 Now then, as you progress through the 'Normal World' you'll inevitably trigger the 'Ice World'. In this sections you have to make it to a certain place while avoiding monsters. Light-blue highlights mark doors and climbable ledges, and your only option is to run, since Harry Mason can't defend himself. These sections, in my opinion, were the worst parts about the game. They are repetitive, lack tension or horror, are boring and feel like more of a hassle than anything else. If you fail these sections you are simply brought to the starting area, and enemies lack viciousness, so you don't feel scared or threatened.

 And that was another point of contention for me: The game simply isn't scary. Normal World sections are perfectly safe, and you know where the spiritual residue hotspots are, so you'll be ready for the pseudo-jumpscare they trigger. Ice World sections are too damn boring and repetitive to be scary. What you are left with is a scary game that isn't scary at all. Heck, the shadows projected from your flashlight are so bad that some of those twisted, unnatural shadows unnerved me more than anything the game did to try to scare me. The game is also rather short, I cleared the game in under 5 hours, and I bet someone who doesn't care about collectibles will cruise through the game even faster. I've read about the game being filled with glitches, but I never ran across anything to major, save Harry going through a door without opening!

 I've made it no secret that I abhor motion controls. This game is filled with them. Moving around is done with the nunchuck, while you use the Wii's pointer to move the camera around, which works just fine. That said, you will have to interact in a motion control mini-game like way with almost every interactive object in the game. There's a drawer? The game switches to first person and now you must hold A and B and move the drawer's door. There are cans? Gotta hold A and B and twist the Wiimote around to pour their contents. Wait, you came across a window nailed shut? Gotta hold A and B and get those nails out! In the game's defense, none of these sections are awful, but they are a bit too frequent for someone like me. Monsters in the Icy World will try to cling on to Harry, and you have to shove the nunchuck and Wiimote in their direction in order to get them off you. I didn't have much trouble with them, although I found having to do that annoying, but I read that some people had issues getting them off.

 Earlier in the year I played Silent Hill - Book of Memories and absolutely hated it. Because it wasn't Silent Hill and because it wasn't a good game. Shattered Memories is not a Silent Hill game either... but it's a really good game. It's easy as pie, it's short, it has too many motion controls.... but the story is fantastic and exploring Silent Hill was fun. I finished the game after two sessions because I was so engaged in the story, and as meaningless as all the collectibles were, I wanted to find them. I'm glad that the final game in the Silent Hill franchise I got to play was Shattered Memories, it's a great way to end my time with the franchise.

 8.0 out of 10

 

Now Playing: Silent Hill - Shattered Memories

 It's another cold night in the town of Silent Hill...

 While it was touted as a 'remake' or 'reboot' of the first Silent Hill game, I think calling it a 'reimagining' is more appropriate, as this game feels like Silent Hill in name only.

 You play as Harry, who crashes into the snowy town of Silent Hill after a car accident, and must now find his daughter, and that's where the similarities end. This game removes combat, has simple puzzles(At least so far) and most of its horror revolves around ghosts rather than psychological manifestations of someone's traumas, fears and what not. Kinda. There's a single monster type that changes depending on how you act and behave during the game, but it's nothing to write home about.

 Putting aside how little this game feels like Silent Hill, it's actually really good. I haven't felt much in the way of horror, tension or creepiness, but it's an entertaining game with an entertaining premise. The graphics are top-notch, and it feels nice to explore Silent Hill at this level of graphical quality. All the ghost-stuff is pretty intriguing as well, it's always a treat coming around apparitions or 'unfinished business'.

 The amount of motion controls are a bit too much for me, but its forgivable. All in all, I'm liking the game a fair bit.

Review #358: Pandemonium 2

 I wanted to hate this game.

 Pandemonium 2 is the darkier and edgier sequel to Pandemonium!, a 2.5D platform game feauting the crazier redesign of the Jester and the sexier redesign of Nikki. And we are off to a bad start.

 Alright, so the game is trying really hard to appear hardcore and grown up, but what little story there is plays against this new direction. It's something about a comet that grants wishes crashing down on earth and both Nikki and the Jester wanting their wishes granted. Simple, silly, straight to the point and little more than window dressing in the grand scheme of things.

 The game features 19 levels of jumping and running. You can play as either character, Nikki having access to a double jump, her only means of offence being jumping on enemies' heads, while the Jester gets some awkward attacks at the cost of only being able to jump once. I benched the Jester ASAP and never looked back, the usefulness of the double jump makes up for not having any other means to defend yourself, regardless, you can just tap a button at the level select screen to switch characters.

 The game has some rather floaty controls and physics, which I guess is to be expected out of an old 2.5D platformer, but it never manages to feel right. Some camera angles can be downright nasty, closing in on your character a bit too much, or offering you little time to react on some of the vehicle-like sections of certain stages, turning these into little more than memory exercises. Level design is all over the place, there were a few set pieces that I though were ingenious, but then there're some stages that are very mazelike in nature, I just pushed forward hoping I was on the right track and it got me through.

 But what really takes the cake is the mess of a level, but appropriately called, 'Hate Tank', in which you have to control a tank, aiming up and down with the analog stick, as well as shooting to the background or foreground by using L1 and R1 to move around your turret. It's hard to control, it's floaty, it's boring and slow paced... it's the game's lowest point. That's not taking into account the disastrous last level, in which you've to traverse the same areas over and over again, with little changes each time, it's long, boring, dull and repetitive.

 This is an old platform game, so it runs on lives, run out of them and it's back to level 1 for you. While the game can be sorta hard, bottomless pits galore couple with floaty jumping mechanics, the game is rather generous with lives, so you shouldn't have too many problems getting to the end. The developers also decided to do away with game saves, so it's back to passwords with this on!

 All that said, the game has a very 90s charm to it which made it hard for me to hate it. Believe me, I wanted to hate the game, but I couldn't. Maybe at the time the game could've passed off as good, but it's way too archaic for today's standards, and unless you've a soft spot for games of its era, you're better off ignoring Pandemonium.

 5.5 out of 10

Now Playing: Pandemonium 2

 Because who needs to play the first game when you can simply skip right to the sequel.

 So recently, after lurking through the web, I've come across Pandemonium 1 and 2, games I've known about for a while, but it was only a couple of weeks ago that I got interested in the franchise. And while I meant to start at the first game, I accidentally ordered the sequel, so... why not? It's not like the game's story is any good!

 First impressions are... mixed, which is kind of a trend lately. I like the 90s aesthetics, graphics and floaty physics and what not, but... it's too floaty, which makes it too imprecise. The game also moves rather fast, but wants you to perform some timed acrobatics, which can lead to some issues. Still, 3 levels in and I think it's a decent game, but I'm not interested in the first game at all.

Review #357: Guardian's Crusade

 The story about a boy and his blob... wait, wrong game!

 Before Senran Kagura and Onechanbara, before becoming known for fanservicey games, Tamsoft developed a little PS1 JRPG called Guardian's Crusade. Hot off the heels of Final Fantasy VII, this game is little more than another me-too from the era that just wanted to take a slice out of FFVII's pie.

 The story is almost non-existent beyond the main premise: A pink monster, Baby, arrives before Knight and then a mystical old man magically appears out of thin air and tasks Knight with escorting Baby to God's Tower. Knight is a mute hero that has no character development, the fairy that accompanies him has no development, and Baby has little development. There's a few side-characters that do evolve, or rather change due to circumstances, but nothing major or noteworthy. Basically, the storyline, what little there is, is dull and forgettable while characters remain lifeless constants, which makes for a very forgettable JRPG.

 As a generic by-the-numbers JRPG, Guardian's Crusade plays as expected: Traverse the land, explore towns and dungeons, while engaging in turn-based battles. Hidden throughout the lands are 'Living Toys', which double as Spells in battle, and there's over 60 of them to collect. They cost PP(Mana) to invoke, and they work in various different ways: Some are one-off attacks or healing spells, others will stay by your side, using their ability every turn while a few work outside battles, like letting you open up the map or escaping a dungeon. It's a neat idea that adds a speck of personality to the game, as every living toy that can be used in battle gets its own 3D model and animations.

 Amusingly, they went for a virtual-pet-like system for Baby. For instance, in battle he will act by himself, although you can order him to focus on attack, defense or supporting you. While outside of battle, you can feed him different items to raise the invisible 'Happiness' gauge, or feed him Weapons and Armors to raise his defense and attack power. I couldn't be bothered to keep Baby happy, so I just fed him my old armors and weapons to raise his stats, or the few items that exist exclusively to be fed to Baby, like bugs and gum. It's not like an unhappy Baby won't aid you, but you won't be able to order him to transform, a trade-off I was willing to pay.

 Battles in this game are represented by Ghosts, which you can either avoid or touch if you want to engage in battle. But what's really interesting, particularly for the era, is that weaker enemy-encounter ghosts will actively run away from you, while stronger, green-eyed ghosts will chase you! I think the only other game that did this, at least at the time, was Earthbound.

 So far, I've presented a very forgettable and generic game, but what really kills it is the lack of directions. There's a couple of times in which the game won't give you directions and just expect you to travel around the sea, or air, until you come across the next event. This is not a matter of needing handholding, this is a relatively linear JRPG, and having the player wandering around without hints is beyond stupid.

 Bottom-line is: Guardian's Crusade hasn't aged well. At the time of its release, it was probably a mediocre and unimpressive game, but by today's standards the game shows its age and it ain't pretty. Even JRPG aficionados like myself will have a hard time finding things to like about this game.
 4.0 out of 10

Second Half of the Year Wrap-Up

 So, I'm making this a thing from here on out. It IS fun to reminisce!

 Lords of Shadow 2 was, as a whole, way better than it deserved to be. I'm glad we finally got closure on Gabriel's story. I know Konami sucks, and I know that gamers as a whole suck since they can't stand change, but dammit, I'd love to have both Lords of Shadows and Metroidvanias coexisting with one another.
 When it's all said and done, I've held mostly good memories of this game, it was definitely a fun, if flawed, game.

 It's funny how Danganronpa 2 is considered the better game, but after having time to digest all three games... Danganronpa 1 was the one that stuck with me the most. Navigating the abandoned school corridors in first person just added an extra layer of immersion, of creepiness that the second game's island just couldn't stand up to. Characters were much less anime, and there was little to know fanservice, which made the first entry in the franchise a much more memorable game.
 Danganronpa vol 3 is due next year and I can't wait!

 Digimon Story - Cyber Sleuth was somewhat of a surprise, while I was definitely looking forwards it, I just couldn't imagine how good it would end up being. It has a fantastic, SMT-esque story, the like which Pokemon will never even touch, and much better monster designs. Now, if only we can reduce the grinding a bit for future installments...

 Dishonored was another surprise hit. The game's reputation certainly preceded it, but I knew next to nothing about the game. And it says a lot about a stealth game that manages to arrest my attention and remains in my mind to this day.

 As an oldschool gamer, I hater myself for not having played Megaman X all the way to the end before. There's a reason that game is so fondly remembered, with top-notch level design, tight and simple gameplay as well as a fantastic soundtrack that's hard to forget. The addition of X2, X3 and X5 sweeten the deal that is Megaman X Collection, and then there's also X5 and X6 if you want to the see the franchise's lowest points.

 Ridiculous made-up name aside, Metal Gear Rising - Revengeance was an excellent little game that featured top-notch action mechanics. Sadly, I remember the story due to how bad it was rather than anything else!

 Is it fair to call Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs. Force my personal biggest disappointment of 2016? I knew how lacking it would be from the outset since the Japanese audience was as taken aback with this title as most of us western fans were. It lacked Units, it lacked modes, it lacked what made the Extreme Vs. games so much fun. Most of these issues were somewhat addressed with patches, but it was still not enough. For shame, Bandai-Namco, for shame!

  While I think Shinobi was a slightly better game, Nightshade was no slouch. I've still got nightmares, the good kind, from the button gymnastics that the game demanded in the latter levels. I swear, Hotsuma and Hibana are the badassest ninjas ever. Ever.

 I played a bunch of Warriors games this year, but Pirate Warriors, man, One Piece Pirate Warriors 3 was something else. The cell-shaded graphics did wonders for recreating the franchise's unique art-style, and it has some of the most creative movesets in Warriors history.

 Pokemon Sun... sorta fell short of what I expected. This is starting to become a trend with Pokemon games, ever since X and Y. Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal were an absolute improvement over Red/Blue/Yellow. then came Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald, and while they lacked the two-region story-mode that pampered us in G/S/C it more than made up for with the new GBA graphics, mechanics such as weather and 2 on 2 and the world of Hoenn itself. Diamond/Pearl/Platinum once again gave us a new engine, substituted bases with Underground(which was rather fun!) and added things like the Vs. Tracker to grind post-game. HeartGold and SoulSilver would be the last games I would play, and it had everything that made D/P/P great as well as what made G/S/C great! It was the best Pokemon game I had played yet. I would go on to skip Black and White and their sequels.
 By the time X and Y came, they added a ton of things that I loved. I might've been a tad too harsh with my review, since I would go on to clock over 300 hours. The game's biggest pitfalls were the issues that had been plaguing the franchise since their conception, namely, HMs. Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire did away with a ton of the good features from X and Y, but introduced some new, good additions of their own. All in all, they weren't quite as good as X and Y.
 And now, I called Pokemon Sun the best in the 3DS lineup... but I think I jumped the gun. Customization is a pale shadow of X and Y's, the story is as bad as always, and as HUGE as the removal of HMs is... the post game is terrible. If you want to level up your mons, you either do it the lame way, Pokepelagos, or repeat the Elite 4. Lame. Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire at least had a dozen of Legendaries to catch in various different ways, in Sun you get lame random encounters in designated areas.

 Rogue Galaxy has been growing on me. Every now and then I will, randomly, remember moments from the game. Turns out the setting was much more memorable than I gave it credit for! I think that's the game's problem, nobody gave it the credit it deserved, thus, it fell into obscurity, undeservingly so!

 Silent Hill 2 is one of a kind, eh! Whether you admit it or not, there's a reason so many people love Silent Hill 2 above the others, there's a reason the movies and western games  love to borrow from this one. I can't think of a single other game with this much detail poured into its design.

 It was not until I reviewed Homecoming that I realized just how memorable Silent Hill Downpour was. While not perfect, the story was engrossing. While not perfect, the combat was serviceable. While lame when compared with other games in the franchise, monster design actually served this game's purpose. While not the best westerm Silent Hill 'game', I think it's safe to say that it was the best western 'Silent Hill' game.

 It makes me sad to see how much hate Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Mutants in Manhattan has gotten, even making it into a few 'worst games of 2016' lists. The combat, while chaotic, was fun, and it truly shined when you got to fight the bosses. The environments might've been rather bland, but traversing them with ninja acrobatics was a blast, not to mention that the environments were but a means to an end, kinda like traditional beat'em ups, like Final Fight.

 The Evil Within remains my favorite game I've played in 2016. Not gonna lie, I think it's gonna be the winner of my prestigious Game of the Year Award, but I'm debating if I should give it to Borderlands Triple Pack. While I didn't technically replay Borderlands 2, it was part of the Triple Pack aaaand I did play through the new DLCs.