Now Playing: Suikoden

 Man, this game feels ancient.

 So, I wanted Review #400 to be something Special, and what better game than Suikoden II to suit my needs? Suikoden II, often touted as one of the best JRPGs of all time, and a game that eluded me for so long due to its high asking price. But before we get to that, we've got to go through Suikoden I first!

 The game has a very SNES charm thanks to its primitive graphics and interface. The inventory is a collection of the inventories of every character in the party, which is rather odd, you can't compare your equipment with the one you are buying, menus are rather archaic as well, and the graphics make little use of the Playstation 1's increased color palette. It makes for an ancient-feeling game, but a very charming one for people that liked games from the SNES and PS1 eras.

 I've gotten up to the point where Ted reveals his True Rune... or rather, 'Rune of Truth' as they are called in this installment(Early Installment Weirdness!) and I'm having fun, it feels rather different from Suikoden III, IV or V and I can't pinpoint why exactly. Maybe the 2-D graphics make it feel more whimsical and fantasy-ish? Not sure, yet.

Review #398: Shadow Hearts - Covenant

 Another spin of the Judgement Ring.

 Shadow Hearts came out of left field and turned out to be a surprise cult hit on the PS2, so naturally, a sequel was bound to happen. It's... it's somewhat of an interesting beast, as it has a very different tone from the previous two games, while retaining some Shadow Hearts' most defining features: A quirky sense of humor alongside the Judgement Ring. Hilariously enough, it somewhat parallels Evil Dead's evolution. Evil Dead and Koudelka were both pure horror(Albeit Koudelka had a tiny smidgen of humor sparkled in), Evil Dead 2 and Shadow Hearts were horror with added humor... and both Evil Dead 3 and Shadow Hearts Covenant put a major focus on humor with a few horror elements sparkled throughout.

 The story picks up six months after the first game's bad ending. Yuri is still grieving the death of his beloved, but as World War I picks up, he makes it his job to defend Domremy from a german invasion. It quickly turns sour as his defeat marks the towns' destruction, and he gets infected with a curse that steals away his fusion powers and will kill him in time. An entirely new cast of characters will join Yuri on his quest, spanning Paris, Russia and Japan, trying to stop evil organizations, evil demons and maybe even Japan itself. The story is alright, but it's the cast that really makes it work, let's just say that one of the party members is a wrestling, vampire, gay super hero that turns into a golden bat every now and then. The cast is so interesting that I wish the game would've done more with them. Lucia, the assassin-turned-diviner gets barely any development, and Gepetto, the drunkard old puppeteer quickly falls to the wayside after the first disc. There was so much potential, and quite a bit of it was squandered. The story went full anime as well, which I didn't particularly enjoy mostly because they tried to ret-con the previous game's last boss into a 'He was a good guy all along but simply opted for evil means'. Seriously? It totally undermined him as a villain.

 The one thing that really disappointed me was the total tonal shift the game underwent. The first game had a very quirky sense of humor, and boy did they bank on that, and it worked wonders for the game... but they did away with almost every single horror element the game had going for it. As a result, a lot of the charm that Shadow Hearts 1 held for me... is gone. It somewhat feels like yet another fantasy JRPG, with only the fact that it's set in real life locations as well as a few real life people to set it apart from the rest. Another small gripe deals with dungeons, most of them are rather labyrinthine, particularly a few of the first ones, which can make them a bit dull to explore, but they get better as you go along.

 Covenant kept most elements from the previous games but enhanced them. The overall structure is the same: Explore Towns and Dungeons, fight turn-based battles and defeat bosses. Fights come out of random encounters, and beside your usual HP and MP gauge you also get the SP gauge, or sanity points. It will go down by one each turn, and if it drops to 0, your character will go berserk, luckily, the gauge refills after each battle and there are items to restore it during fights, and by the end of the game your characters' SP threshold will be so high that it will be of no consequence. The judgement ring makes its return as well, whenever you want to attack, be it magic or physical, or use items, you'll have to engage in a timing mini-game of sorts, having to press X on certain highlighted zones as a marker goes through the judgement ring in order to successfully carry out your action. It's not as tedious as it sounds, I promise.

 That'd be all fine and dandy, but the developers went the extra mile and polished everything to a sheen. This time around you can customize the Judgement Ring for every individual character. You can enlarge the highlighted areas as well as the hotspots, you can choose from different types of rings(Like Practice, which will keep spinning even if you mess up, but it will deal reduced damage), so if you are particularly good with a certain character, you might go for a high risk-high reward set-up. The combat is also much better, you can now see the turn order and set-up combos between two or more characters for bonus damage. Magic is now tied to equippable crests, so almost any character can use basically any spell. Yuri can beef up his fusions much easily since souls are no longer tied to elements, there're no more missable items, you can swap out party members on the fly, benched characters will still earn experience points... In case you don't get the picture, the game's combat is better in every single way possible, Shadow Heart 1 was already fun to play, Covenant is a dream.

 And while Shadow Hearts clocked at around 20 hours, this game is twice as long and features dozens upon dozens of sidequests. Every party member earns their unique special moves in different ways as well, Blanca must find and defeat all 16 Wolves, Joachim must fight his master and eventually get to the Man Festival, Lucia must find oils and Tarot Cards, etc. There's a lot to do if you are so inclined. While Towns are lacking the harrowing atmosphere from the previous game, NPCs are a lot more varied, so it's kinda fun to track them down, if just to read their silly names.

 As a game, Covenant is better in almost every single way than the first game. But, and it's a big but, losing the horror elements really took away some of its charm. And it's hard to explain, but while there's no doubt in my mind that this is a better game, my heart still gravitates slightly more towards the original game, that said, both games are fantastic, some of the best JRPGs on the system.
 9.0 out of 10

Month Overview: March 2017

 Tally:
Suikoden IV 6.5
Castlevania - Curse of Darkness 7.0
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4.0
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 5.0
Suikoden V 9.5
Shadow Hearts 9.0


 Oh boy, oh boy, after last month's rather large tally o' games, this month's paltry selection of games makes for a stark contrast. While there wasn't anything particularly awful, March gave me two new GOTY contenders from two of the franchises I mean to finish this year. I find it funny how few JRPGs I had played on the PS2, considering it's one of my favorite genres, one of my favorite consoles and a console that is renowned for its JRPG selection.


Game of March 2017:

 Brilliant, Suikoden V was brilliant. Suikoden has had, at least III and IV, the games I had played before, a rather shallow cast of characters, but Suikoden V is made up of loveable characters, memorable scenes and a fantastic plot. The gameplay's the best it has ever been on the PS2 entries, and it's a pretty lengthy game as well. Easily one of PS2's finest.

Runner-up:

 I remember seeing this game on my gamestore of choice catalog's over and over again every time I went in to buy a new game, but the cover just never did it for me. And how disappointed I'm at my past self, because Shadow Hearts is one damn fine JRPG. I love the the horror elements mixed with the quirky sense of humor, I loved the combat system and, unexpectedly, I also loved the game's pace. How the game is divided in two very distinct chapters, how it's sort of  adventure through real-life places like China and London, but with a very fantastical flair. Highly original, highly entertaining, Shadow Hearts is another PS2 JRPG unsung marvel.

Now Playing: Shadow Hearts - Covenant

 The road to #400 continues

 When I first booted up the game I look at the intro cutscene and... GODDAMN, IT'S LOOKING SPIFFY. And then I started the game and... GODDAMN, THIS GAME IS BEAUTIFUL, YO. Not only that, combat feels better, and even though it seems to run at a lower framerate, it also seems to flow faster, and the smoother animations make the combat look glorious. That said... why did I bust my butt off getting the ultimate fusion and the good ending... if this game was gonna carry over from the bad one! Dammit, Sacnoth, why did you guys make the canonical endings the bad ones!?

 As if you couldn't tell from my gushing, I adore Covenant. I just got through the first boss and I love the game. I do. I wasn't feeling Yuri's new design, looking at the art and screenshots, but it has won me over, it looks quite neat. I'm also liking Karin, since she reminds me of Orochi Leona, and I love Leona from King of Fighters.

Review #397: Shadow Hearts

 In which I get to judge the judge.

 Shadow Hearts is bloody fantastic, review over, carry on. Picking up 15 years after the story of Koudelka, Shadow Hearts is more or less a direct sequel to the events that transpired, featuring an entirely new cast of characters, enemies and locales... with the appearance of a few familiar faces every now and then. The gameplay has been redone from the ground up, becoming a turn-based RPG, but with its own twist on the formula.

 You play as Yuri Hyuga, a Harmonixer(Don't get too attached, as it will get retconned to 'Harmonizer in future games), a being that can transform/fuse into different monsters. Being haunted by a talking voice, he is told to protect a mysterious girl, Alicia, with even more mysterious powers. The bad guys want her, so Yuri must protect her, and eventually the plot has you saving the world from otherwordly entities. You know, the usual. But as generic and cliched as the plot is, the characters are very interesting, so they manage to carry the story through. You want to learn more about them, Zhuzhen the mysterious monk with ties to Yuri's father, Keith, the bored vampire and his merry reactions to everything that happens, etc. It's a very endearing cast of characters. Bonus points for the art direction, it takes after Koudelka, so there're a lot of horror-inspired elements, with brilliant enemy design and haunting, creepy locales. Even the most mundane of towns manage to look grim yet inviting. It also has a... retro charm of sorts, having pre-rendered backgrounds and simple, yet serviceable character models, it ends up feeling like a beefed up playstation 1 game!

 The game is structured in two halves: Asia and Europe. Asia is very linear, you have little control of your next destination or how your party is made up of, with very little backtracking allowed, if any. Once you reach Europe you can't go back to any Asian part of the map, but you are free to backtrack at will or indulge in sidequests, although these open up at the very last stretch of the game. One of the game's biggest drawbacks is the huge amount of missable stuff. Some events, NPCs or items have a very small window of availability, so I would suggest investigating a bit before starting the game, lest you miss anything you might want. There's no world map, sadly, so you'll select towns or dungeons from a map, not a dealbreaker, but slightly disappointing. It's also a bit on the short side, you could probably finish it in under 20 hours, it took me about 25 since I went the completionist route and had to do every single thing the game had to offer.

 When not exploring, you'll be taking part of random encounters and their turn-based battles The game's main mechanic is the Judgement Ring. Want to attack? Judgement Ring. Want to cast a spell or use an item? Judgement Ring. Bargaining with a seller? Judgement Ring. Want to pick up a key item inside a dungeon? Judgement Ring, heck, even some story-related events require the Judgement Ring. This ring has sections highlighted in different colors, and you must press the X button when the marker passes through these. Depending on when you hit these highlighted sections, you'll score extra damage, extra hits or enhance the results of your spell or item... and failing to hit these sections will result in diminishing returns or even skipping your turn! It sounds tedious, but it really isn't. I had at least two different grinding sessions(Money is hard to come by! And the other time, I realized that enemies were giving egregious amounts of experience points... so why not?) and not once did I grow tired of it.

 The last two mechanics worth mentioning are Sanity Points and Malice. Malice is built up as you defeat enemies, and once it reaches a certain threshold you'll start being haunted by special bosses. These bosses are too tough when they first start haunting you, so you'll have to appease the Malice by entering the Graveyard, which is done from any save point, and defeating a simple, rewardless 1 on 1 battle with Yuri. This sounds more boring on paper, trust me. Unnecessary padding? Maybe, but it didn't bother me too much. As for Sanity Points, this is a third gauge, next to HP and MP, that decreases by 1 every turn. Each character has a different SP amount, which increases sometimes when leveling up, and can be restored by using items or by finishing a fight. If your SP falls to 0 the character enters a Berserk state, which means that you can no longer control it and that he or she won't receive experience points if you finish the fight. Frankly, it's yet another thing that sounds more annoying than it really is.

 I loved Shadow Hearts. I loved the gameplay, I loved setting, I loved the themes it touches, I loved the quirky sense of humor, I loved the entire cast of characters and I even loved its mundane and trite plot. It's not your average JRPG, it does its own thing and it loves it. I love it.
9.0 out of 10

Now Playing: Shadow Hearts

 And now, let's take a trip back into the world of Koudelka.

 Damn, is the game ugly. I mean, the CG cutscenes are sooo dated, they look fugly, heck, Yuri himself looks as if he belonged to a different game, since other character models aren't as fugly. But y'know what? I love it. I love early PS2 games, they have a certain charm that I just love, for whatever reason.

 That aside, I played but half an hour, and I kinda like it. Not the biggest fan of the judgement ring, since I can see that mechanics growing old if I was to grind for experience points or what have you, but, on the flip side, it also reminds me a little of Paper Mario and its timing-based combat, so that's a plus. Kinda.

 I'm also liking how weird the game is. Yuri's father appears out of thin air because why not, he's also wearing a fox mask, because why not. There're also evil, talking masks, because why not, and the main bad guy was using a tiny imp with a scythe as a weapon because why not. If the game can keep this weirdness up I'm gonna be in love. I love weird.

Review #396: Suikoden V

 The Sun comes out again...

 The Suikoden franchise kept straying further and further away from its roots until Suikoden V happened. Not only does it try its hardest to feel like the PS1 originals, it's also filled to the brim with winks and references to all four previous games in the franchise. And while that could end up turning this game into a shallow affair, it ends up being pretty darn great.

 Taking place in the Kingdom of Falena, you play as the mute hero, the Prince of Sol-Falena's Queendom. Early in the game, which means 10 hours or so into the game, our hero is subject to betrayal and exile, her sister and the Sun Run turned hostage/weapon and the entire Queendom a plaything for different political parties. It's up to the prince to gather a rebel army, save his sister and restore order to Falena. Suikoden V's story is bloody fantastic, it's smart, filled with tons of political intrigue, themes of war and some fantastic, poignant and emotional scenes peppered throughout the entire adventure. Not only does this game feature some of the best character designs in the franchise, it also features some of the most interesting, engaging and sympathetic characters in Suikoden. And there's a ton of them. One thing to be mindful of is the fact that the story is very slowly paced, heck, I was 2 hours into the game and I had seen two dungeons at most and had barely had any fights, but I think the pace works to its advantage, as it develops both the characters and the queendom of Falena very well.

 Most of the game will be spent going from town to dungeon to town to dungeon ad nauseam, it seems Konami took Suikoden IV's criticisms to heart, as towns are HUGE and filled with various NPCs or goodies to find. You can no longer turn the camera around, opting for fixed camera angles instead, which feels rather regressive, this was not a 'feature' from older games that needed to return! Still, dungeons are simple enough that the camera won't get in your way. Once you get into the dungeon expect to be assailed by random encounters, but the encounter rate is alright, so no biggie. I've heard complaints about lengthy loading times, but I felt they were par for the course.

 Combat is back to six-man parties, thank god, since there're so many cool characters that you'll want to bring as many as you can with you. As a matter of fact, there're four extra slots which can be outfitted with support characters, for passive abilities, or four extra battle characters which which you can switch during battle. Formations are a thing now, and you'll need to make the most out of these, as characters have different attack ranges and their accuracy will decrease unless properly placed on the grid. Battles are fought by turns and work just like any other Suikoden, or any other JRPG, for that matter, y'know, the usual 'attack, defend, spell, item' options are here and accounted for. Skills are back from Suikoden 3, but a bit more limited. You can only equip two of them at a time, and you won't handicap yourself if you forget about them, since the game is rather easy and skills don't make such a huge difference in battle.

 Strategic Battles are back, it is a Suikoden game after all, and they are better than ever. These take place in real time, think of it as a real time strategy game-lite, as you're basically limited to ordering which units you want to move and where. There're three basic unit types(And a few specializations), Archers, Infantry and Cavalry and each type is strong against one and weak against another, think rock-paper-scissors. There're also naval strategic battles, but they work exactly the same, only with ram ships instead of cavalry. These are pretty fun, and can get pretty exciting once you are shuffling both land and sea combat at the same time! Just remember to be careful, as characters may die permanently and thus lock you out of the best ending.

 Duels have been reworked again, once again a rock(attack) - paper(defend) - scissors(Special) affair in which you must guess what your opponent is gonna do based on the line of dialogue they spew, only that now they are timed. The limited time factor really does add to the excitement and urgency of these battles, and the animations have been polished a lot from Suikoden IV, so these duels, which I never really cared about, became somewhat of a treat. It helps that a lot of these fights felt personal thanks to how likeable, or hateable, characters were.

 Another one of Suikoden IV's issues was it short length, well, they really made up for that with Suikoden V, as it's pretty easy to sink over 50 hours. The story is pretty lengthy, and there's plenty of stuff to do besides gathering all 108 Stars of Destiny. Gathering these characters is a bit tougher this time around, as some can be missed permanently and some FAQs are lacking some of the finer details regarding how to recruit some of these. Luckily, if you search around the net you will find your answers, but keep that in mind. Also, as with previous games in the series, some characters join way too late for them to be any use, like Shoon, who is pretty cool, but by the time he joins there's only one dungeon left. You will also need to grind a bit, as you'll need to have 3 battle-ready parties to tackle the very last dungeon.

 Not only is Suikoden V the best Suikoden on PS2, it's also one of the finest JRPGs on the system. The story is phenomenal, the characters are fantastic, the combat system works great, the strategic battles are the best they've been yet, and they even managed to make me like duels. If this is fated to be the last ever numbered Suikoden game... then what a send-off it was.
 9.5 out of 10

Review #395: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2

 This is what a sequel's supposed to be!

 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 was a fantastic game at release, and nothing but a curiosity nowadays. Enter Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, a bigger, larger and undeniably better game than Pro Skater 1, but is that enough to escape the grasp of time? It's not, it isn't, it's outclassed byt every subsequent game in the franchise... but it might have more lasting power than its predecessor. 

 The usual suspects are back: Career, Free Skate, Single Session and 2 Player mode, but joining them are the ability to create your own skater(Male only!) as well as a create a skate park. Career Mode is made up of  8 stages, 1 less than the first game, but each stage is larger and houses 10 goals as opposed to the first game's 5. Plus, goals offer more variety instead of following a 'formula', and clearing the game will unlock two bonus levels, for a total of 10. There're more playable skaters as well, each one has two costumes, except Tony Hawk, who has 3, and a certain unlockable character that has 4!

 Career Mode has seen some slight changes besides the added goals, now everything revolves around money. You open up stages by amassing large sums of money, which is earned by performing the various different goals or finding it peppered throughout every stage. Money can also be used to buy more stat points, new boards or even new tricks to equip your skater with. The point penalty for repeating the same moves has become more lenient, so score-based goals are much easier than THPS 1's. Sadly, you still need to restart a stage if you want to review goals.

 The biggest new addition, and somewhat of a gamechanger, are manuals, by quickly tapping up and down or down and up while on ground. Manuals can be used to link various grinds or even flat land air tricks with grinds or each other. As fantastic as this addition was, back in the day, it's not 'till Pro Skater 3's reverts that you'll be able to make the most out of manual tricks.

 My biggest gripe comes with the game's ambition. Levels are a tad too large and the draw distance is a tad too short. While you won't be running into obstacles before you see them any time soon, I certainly would've liked being able to see more of what was ahead of me. Being so large also means that you'll probably have to make plenty of return trips in order to figure out where everything is and fulfill all the different goals. On the flip side, level design is really good, exploring these large levels is certainly a treat, so said revisits don't feel all that tedious.

 While Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 is held as one of the best videogames ever, I simply can't share that sentiment. It's an upgrade in every way, shape and form from the first game... but it's still not enough when you compare it with what came after it. That said, this game is way more deserving of revisiting it thanks to it's great levels, some which never made it into future games, and the variety of goals on each.

5.0 out of 10

Review #394: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater

 Doing everything it can, pretending it's a superman.

 This is it. The game that started it all, the franchise, the phenomenon, the legend. Sadly, it hasn't aged very well, although it'd be more fair to say that subsequent games left it biting the dust. Welcome to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1.

 The game offers the standard selection of modes that future games in the franchise would have: Career, Single Session, Multiplayer and Free Skate. Career has you going through 9 stages, 3 of them being point-based competitions, fulfilling goals. The remaining six stages have 5 goals each: Two point-based scores you have to reach, collecting all SKATE letters, finding the hidden tape and destroying 5 of a certain item, all while under a 2 minute limit. Luckily, you don't have to complete every goal in one sessions. Formulaic? Very much so, but considering it was the first game, it's not altogether bad, plus, stages are different enough as not to make the goals feel as repetitive as they should.

 One of the game's biggest oversights is the Challenge list, as you can only review them by restarting a stage. The point-based challenges can get rather tough, as the point deduction penalty for repeating tricks is rather harsh, so if you want to 100% the game you better learn where the gaps are to maximize point gains. Increasing your stats also works a bit weirdly, as they increase as you fulfill goals, which is rather odd. Regardless, beating the game should take you between 20 minutes to an hour or so, depending on how quickly you learn the ins and outs of the game, as well as where everything is hidden. There's a small amount of unlockables to keep you invested, but not nearly as many as future games.

 Then we have Free Skate, which basically lets you skate around any level without time limits. Single Session is a timed round in which you must make as many points as you can on any stage of your choosing. Lastly, the 2 player modes contains the most basic of multiplayer modes, like Horse and Tag, but also the most memorable and you'll be seeing them again in every subsequent game.

 As far as gameplay goes, it covers only the bare essentials. X is used to ollie, and can be held for speed and a higher ollie, Square is tied to flips and Circle is tied to grabs, while triangle is used to grind. There're no manuals, no transfers, no reverts... it's only the basics. Heck, you must use your eyes to gauge how well balanced you are during a grind, as there's no balance meter! While I'm sure that at the time of its release this game was the bees knees, I can't help but feel limited since future games would add so many mechanics on top of these to make the games so much more fun and inventive.

 There're a few levels in this game that are downright fantastic, but there're a few like Downhill Jam and the mall that are kinda bad. Luckily almost every level in this game made it into future games, so this is not the only way to play them, and later down the line they even 'fixed' Downhull Jam and the Mall by respawning you back at the top once you reach the bottom. There were a few technical flaws as well, this one time I somehow went through a ramp, lying on the Mall's top floor and made it to ground floor through the terrain, which was odd, and the camera will obstruct your view every now and then since it will veer a bit too much to one side.

 The truth is, at this point in time, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 lives on as a curiosity. A game to play only if you are interested in seeing how Tony Hawk began, as anything this game can offer, other games do ten times as good. Tony Hawk 1 is not a victim of time, as if the game was contained in a vacuum it could be considered pretty good, but a victim of itself, a victim of the very games it would spawn and be surpassed by.
 4.0 out of 10

Now Playing: Suikoden V

 Onto the last PS2 Suikoden!

 Oh my god, it's beautiful! While not ugly, Suikoden III and IV weren't quite the lookers, but V? V is drop dead gorgeous, character models are detailed and feature plenty of soft fabric twirling behind them.

 But enough about frivolities, Suikoden V started pretty promising. The first 14 minutes have you stuck through cutscenes and they were interesting enough as for me not to get bored. I only knew they lasted that long since I saved my game afterwards!

 The fights are fun, if slightly less exciting than IV's, the camera doesn't pan around as much, which makes them less action-y as a whole and a wee bit more static. Not a deal breaker though. I heard loading times were cruel, but so far they seem moderate, what you'd normally expect in a JRPG, that said, I've been fighting with a 4-man party only, so maybe after I get two more members it will tax the loading process a bit more.

 Regardless, it was a stunning first impression.

Review #393: Castlevania - Curse of Darkness

 White haired pretty boys, whips and leather... it's Castlevania alright.

 Konami was it again with Curse of Darkness, trying to prove that they could successfully bring Castlevania into the third dimension. If you ask me, Lament of Innocence got it just right, but if you go by reception alone, Curse of Darkness was the better received of the two... for whatever reason.

 You play as Hector, one of Dracula's two Devil Forgemasters, a being that can bring demon constructs into life and control them at will. Hector had previously betrayed Dracula and cause his downfall at the hands Trevor Belmont, but the other Forgemaster, Isaac, holds a grudge against him. Dracula also left a parting gift, his curse, causing chaos and strife amongst townspeople. Hector now ventures forth, seeking to beat Isaac to a pulp and unknowingly come face to face with Dracula's curse. It's not the most intriguing of tales, but I felt enamored by Hector, his plight and his dialogue. Characters speak in a faux Ye Olde English with hints of Shakeaspeare, which sounds all kinds of badass. The supporting cast is interesting enough, both in looks and personalities, and Trevor Belmont had never looked this badass before.

 For all intents and purposes, Curse of Darkness is yet another Metroidvania game: Games in which as you explore along a huge interconnected maze of sorts, you'll be faced with obstacles that can only be surpassed with the right power up or skill that you earn later throughout the adventure. However, fans of the genre might be surprised to hear that this game is rather linear, not once will you have to choose between two or more routes, and the backtracking is minimal, there're very few hurdles laying inside each area, and they only house power ups, and sometimes even less, items, instead of routes... although you'll be finding the occassional bridge between areas every now and then.

 The exploration aspect also leaves something to be desired, while exploration is encouraged in the form of diverse rewards of varying degrees of worth, the world of Curse of Darkness is rather... boring. The game quickly falls into a rut of 'Walk through the hallway killing everything in your way to enter the circled/squared arena-type room, kill everything there and enter the next enemy-ridden hallway. Rinse and repeat'. It can get pretty repetitive, and the different areas are not all that different from one another, so there's not a whole lot of visual variety to keep things looking fresh, eventually every hallway will start feeling like every other hallway you've already been through,

 They did improve upon Lament of Innocence in some ways, however, like adding a leveling up system, which makes combat feel more meaningful since you are always striving towards something. Combat's a very simple affair, you've got a weak attack and a strong attack that can be used to finish your weak-attack combos with flair. Hector, being a Devil Forgemaste, can also summon a single Innocent Devil, a familiar of sorts, to aid him in battle, with different spells to support Hector or damage the enemies. Hector can also dodge around and even parry enemy attacks, which feels oh so satisfying to pull off. By the way, making the 'open door' button and the 'strong attack' button the same button was a terrible idea, so avoid fighting near doors.

 Another improvement upon Lament of Innocence is the huge variety of weapons types that Hectore can acquire. There're swords, axes, spears, knuckles and 'special' varieties, each with their own combos. Not only that, even among types there're sub-types, like one handed or two handed swords and then rapier type blades that behave entirely different from each other. Not only that, some special weapons have a few unique strong attacks, and some have unique effects, like slashing kanji out of thin air, and sometimes, even longer weak attack strings. There're a ton of weapons, and they each reflect on the character model.

 Weapons and armor are not made in this game, but rather crafted. The crafting system is pretty easy to use, just gather the correct items, press start, choose combine, pick what you want to craft and wallah! Some material can only be gathered as enemy drops, and some material can only be found by stealing it from an enemy. Stealing can be simple or challenging depending on the enemy, for you see, each enemy has a different window of opportunity for you to steal from them. You must be locking onto the enemy that you want to steal from and then wait for them to enter the right state: Some enemies need to be doing their special attacks, some enemies only expose themselves AFTER a certain attack and some must be popped up into the air. As previously stated, some enemies will give you more or less trouble than others. Honestly, the drop-rate is generous enough, but if you truly want to keep your equipment updated, you will need to incur in stealing occasionally.

 Then we have the Innocent Devils, the monsters you can summon to aid you in battle. They're smart enough to be left to their own devices, but you can switch to a more manual mode in which they'll only use basic attacks unless you tell them to use a specific special attack. Keep in mind that Inoccent Devils run on hearts, which double as both their HP and currency for their special attacks. Running out of hearts, which can be replenished by gathering them from enemy drops, will temporarily leave the Innocent Devil unusable until you gather a certain amount. You can have about 7-8 of them with you at a time, but can only summon 1.

 Your Innocent Devils(ID) can evolve into different forms, each with their own look and special skills, depending on which weapons you use, which is a fantastic idea that promotes trying out different weapons. What's not so cool is that there're about six obstacles in the game that require specific abilities from specific evolutions or evolution paths, with not a single hint as to you needing them. How should you have known that there's an evolution path for the bird-type ID that leans an enhanced glide ability? How should you have known that you need a very specific battle-type ID to get through a single obstacle? It's a bit cheap, and it's a bit of an insult to the player and his time, because raising devils is not as easy or fast as crafting weapons, so experimenting with ID branches is not all that fun.

 In what is a Metroidvania staple, finishing the game lets you play as a bonus character, Trevor Belmont in this case. As is to be expected, Trevor gets no story, no cut-scenes and loses the ability to use items or level up. Trevor, however, is more of a glass cannon, while you can find items that will raise his stats, Trevor's base stats are already rather high, so he will make short work of enemies... as long as he doesn't get hit, since he'll never be able to take as much damage as Hector, and even if he could, he can't recover lost health by using items. Not only that, Trevor has his own unique way of playing, Hector can't replicate his whip-based style, and since Trevor can't use IDs... he gets Castlevania's traditional sub-weapon ensemble: The knives, the axes, the holy water, the cross and the stop-watch, alongside each respective 'Weapon Crash' for massive damage.

 Is Curse of Darkness better than Lament of Innocence? I don't think so, not at all. Does it improve upon it? In some ways, yes. It doesn't feel as Casltevania-ish, but it can stand on its own two feet. There's a lot going for it, even if I don't think they got every aspect right, there's quite a bit of fun to be had with it, from the interesting and alluring cast of characters, to the diverse weaponry waiting to be tried out.
 7.0 out of 10

Now Playing: Castlevania - Curse of Darkness

 What a horrible night to have a curse.

 It's no secret that I love me some Castlevania, and Curse of Darkness is pretty much the only Castlevania I've yet to play. And maybe the gameboyvanias. And while I did play Castlevania 64 I didn't play Legacy of Darkness... BUT I DIGRESS, Curse of Darkness was one of the very few Castlevania games I hadn't played, so I had to. I had to.

 It baffles me how lukewarm Lament of Innocence's reception was, as I felt that was the perfect way to bring Castlevania into 3D, whatever the case may be, Curse of Darkness had been better received, so I was wondering what all the hoopla about it was. And I still do. Don't get me wrong, I'm an hour into the game and I'm liking it, but not as much as Lament of Innocence, even though this one brought Weapon types into the mix.

 Oh glorious weapon types, there're 5 basic types: Sword, Axe, Spear, Knuckle and special, and it seems like there're subtypes among weapons, since the foil and the short sword have entirely different movesets. The combat is rather fun, although a targeting feature would've been welcome as I've hit the air more times than I would've liked. Landing 'Final Attacks' feels very crunchy and rewarding, so props to that.

 Curse of Darkness is pretty alright so far, but nothing too special or noteworthy. I'm not the biggest fan of 'Collect them all' mechanics', besides Pokemon, Digimon and Shin Megami Tensei, so I'm not digging the Innocent Devils and their evolutions, but I guess every Metroidvania needs its gimmick.

Review #392: Suikoden IV

 I pirate I was meant to be.

 So, it was Suikoden's fourth entry, so they had to do what any franchise has to do when it reaches its fourth entry, just ask Assassin's Creed, so they took to the seas. It's... it's an interesting experiment, although not an entirely successful one. So did this JRPG series survive their adventure into the seas?

 Sadly, we're back to a silent protagonist, whom we'll call Lazlo. Lazlo is training to be a knight alongside his friend Snowe and a few others. What should've been a simple patrol goes wrong and the True Rune of Punishment makes its way into Lazlo's hand. But Lazlo, being a silent protagonist, is more or less an accessory to this story of war, pirates, high seas and political intrigue. It's a decent plot, with a rather quirky pacing which will probably have a varying degree of success. Y'see, the game does a few... interesting things. For instance, the first 4-5 hours of the game are spent stranded on the sea, jumping from ship to ship and being a victim to the quirks of fate. It fits the story, but it won't appeal to everyone. Then there's the scene in which Lazlo and company are left stranded on a deserted island, and you must survive for three or four days... which means repeating the same mundane task of gathering food and supplies. It's not even hard, you just have to walk from place to place. FOUR TIMES. It's repetitive, it's kinda dull and it kills the game's pace... but it fits perfectly, since your characters are stranded, and instead of turning it into a cutscene of 'some times passed' you get to play it. I liked it, but your mileage will vary.

 The game's set on the 'Island Nations', about 12 Islands or so separated from each other by sea. Instead of having a traditional world map, your means of transportation is your ship, and you must travel from Island to Island. It sounds like an interesting setting for a JRPG, and it is, but the ship moves VERY slowly, even while holding the R1 button, and random encounters are very plentiful. Early in the game you'll come across a character that can transport you to Island you've previously visited, but every now and then you'll be forced to sail manually since the story demands it. In order to enter towns you must touch the vicinity of their harbors, but it's kinda wonky and it's easy to be repelled and sent sailing sideways due to annoying invisible walls. It's hard to describe without you playing it first-hand, but it can get pretty vexing.

 Another issue comes in the form of the size of the world. It's kinda huge, and thanks to the sailing speed, it takes a while to explore... but it's as huge as it is barren. There's only about 12 Islands, and they are very, very small. Some consist of only 2 different screens, which is kinda disappointing. When it comes down to it, deciding to design the game around this very naval theme was an interesting idea, but they couldn't pull it off just quite right. Exploring the waters of the Island Nations is kinda fun at first, but you'll grow bored of it halfway through the game.

 Strategic battles have been changed, no longer are they boards, and no longer are battles automatic, now you fight with ships! Before each fight you can outfit your ships with different characters to enhance their resistance or change the type of cannonballs they carry. Certain elemental cannonballs beat other elemental cannonballs, so you don't receive damage and they do, the same elements cancel each other and elements without direct-relation ignore each other and both combatants receive damage. It's really fun, although you ought to be careful since characters might die on this battles, and that would lock you out of the true ending.

 Despite all the focus on sailing, you will have to go through small dungeons every now and then. Sadly, you are restricted to four-man parties, which is kinda disappointing considering the huge amount of playable characters. Battles work more or less just as they did in 3, but without skills. They follow the traditional turn-based scheme and characters can equip different runes, which translate into the spellsets they will bring to battle. There're also combo-attacks between related characters and a new 'Rush' command that heals the leader and performs AoE damage. All in all, it's fun, if nothing out of the ordinary. You'll also engage in 1 on 1 duels every now and then, which work like rock-paper-scissors.

  As per usual, if you want to, you can gather up to 107 different characters to join your cause. Some will aid you in battle, some will give you perks inside your ship and some... do nothing. In this front, the game feels rather weird, since every now and then you'll be able to recruit characters in bulk, a lot of them are given to them for free, and some of them don't do ANYTHING at all. It's as if they didn't know what to do with them or how to spread them. It doesn't help that the game is very short, if you don't indulge in sidequests, you'll probably be able to finish it in under 20 hours.

 Suikoden IV is rather... quirky. It has some very fun moments, it has some quirky moments, it has some weird design choices but it also has some original ideas... it's a mixed bag of elements that don't mesh too well together, but when they work, they work. Some of its worst features try to drag the game down, but it's better parts make it fun to play despite it all.
 6.5 out of 10

Now Playing: Suikoden IV

 Suikoden Black Flag?

 Since Shadow Hearts 1 hasn't arrived yet, and I need to play something instead of, y'know, studying for tomorrow's test, I decided to start Suikoden IV.

 The new water-ship motif is interesting to say the least, it feels very... I want to say unique, but it actually brings back memories of Assassin's Creed IV - Black Flag, guess the '4' in the title is no coincidence! But I digress! What I meant to say was that among JRPGs, this water motif makes it rather unique, particularly since the characters aren't pirates, but knights!

 I know this one is considered the black sheep of the series, but having played little over 30 minutes, I rather like it! The downgrade to four-man parties will probably be disappointing once I more characters though! I'm digging the battles, however, spells come out much faster. I also like the fact that you start off at level 1, I hate when RPGs have you starting out at other levels!

 All in all, I'm feeling hopeful, Suikoden IV seems fun.

Month Overview: April 2017

 Tally:
Suikoden III 8.0
Tony Hawk's Underground 2 9.0
The Hobbit 6.5
Transformers - Devastation 7.0
Vexx 6.0
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland 8.0
Sonic Heroes 2.5
Koudelka 8.0
Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam 4.5
Star Wars Episode 1 - Jedi Power Battles 3.5
Super Bust-a-Move 4.0
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 6.0
Wild Arms 5.5
Dead to Rights 8.0
Bionicle 3.0
Wild Arms - Alter Code: F 4.5


 Boy, oh boy did I play a LOT this month. plenty of stinkers, like Sonic Heroes and Jedi Power Battles, but also more than a fair share of fantastic games. I'm well on my way to finishing the entire Suikoden, Wild Arms and Tony Hawk franchises this year!


Game of April 2017:

 Tony Hawk's Underground 2 is so good. SO GOOD. The amount of tools you are given in this game makes playing around a blast. It also has some of the best levels in the entire franchise, as well as, probably, my favorite goal-set-up of any Tony Hawk game, letting you clear things at your leisure as you unlock more characters and the such. I can't get tired of Underground 2, it did everything a Tony Hawk's game should do right.

Runner-up:

 It's surprising how well this game has aged, considering it's a third person shooter on a console. The action is plentiful, and there's a ton of ways to make dispatching enemies look exciting. I can't wait to get a hold of the sequel-prequels!

Review #391: Wild Arms - Alter Code: F

 What a missed opportunity...

 Wild Arms is pretty darn mediocre. Wild Arms 2 was pretty great. Wild Arms 3 was bloody fantastic. The original game is more of a case of having aged relatively poorly, particularly in comparison with its sequels, which only got better and better. Alter Code: F is Wild Arms 1 running on Wild Arms 3's engine, what could go wrong? A lot.

 The story is pretty much the same as Wild Arms 1, which I wrote about previously, so there's no point for me to write the same blurb. That said, the remake's strongest feature is the new retelling. Sure, the translation is as bad, sometimes even worse, as the original game's, but they added more dialogue which adds more depth to villains as heroes alike, as well as better explaining some of their motivations and ideals. The plot twists are better set up as well, making them more impactful and interesting. The new facelift also does wonders to how the game tells the story. There's no denying it, as far as the story goes, this one's got beat the original by a landslide. The game also makes playable Jane and Emma, as well as a certain other character, but the only join the party at the end of the game, so you'll only use them for the bonus boss fights, if you decide to tackle them.

 The first thing that will catch you by surprise is that they did away with equipment. Equipment is one of the most fun aspects of an RPG, the promise of finding rewards inside dungeons, or buying new equipment and growing stronger. That's gone. Sure, Wild Arms 3 didn't have equipment either, but you could equip guardians with abilities and then equip these Guardians to your characters, plus, you could customize all four characters' weapons, so they grew stronger as you went along. The only way to increase your attack power is by leveling up. You can customize your characters by finding and equipping Skills, but they are not as varied as Wild Arms 3's(None increase Attack power!) or as rewarding to use. You must farm for repeat Skills if you want to increase its level on a character. Laaaaaaaaaaaaame.

 No way to increase your attack power means that you'll be underpowered pretty much all the way throughout, which means that random encounters can take a while. You can use spells and abilities to do more damage, but these run on limited resources, and pretty much the only way to replenish them is by sleeping at an Inn or leveling up. Eventually your level will grow so high that counting on level ups will be impossible, so get ready to tough it out! The cherry on top is that the encounter rate in this game is ridiculously high.

 The game borrows WA3's Migrant system, so you can dodge random encounters at the cost of some gauge from the migrant seal. Problem: Encounters are plentiful, so it will run out, and if you decide to skip too many of them, enemies will simply ambush you, which is unavoidable. You can equip a few items to prevent ambushes, but EVERY single member of the party needs to equip it, else it won't work. Oh! And you CAN'T RUN AWAY FROM BATTLES. Well, you can, there's a spell to escape, but that means wasting a precious Crest on such a dumb spell. Basically, the game wants you to fight lots of random encounters, since the encounter rate is so high and enemies will eventually ambush you, but that means spending MP and cartridges, so you'll run out of resources for bosses. And while you can count on level ups, once your level reaches 40 this won't be such a simple commodity. It's so stupid!

 Let's talk about the enemies for a bit. While this game is a remake of Wild Arms 1, most random encounters are borrowed from Wild Arms 3! Oh, and enemies LOVE inflicting status effects on your party, luckily you have spells. Wrong. For whatever reason, YOU CAN'T USE SPELLS OUTSIDE OF BATTLES. What where they thinking?? If I have the goddamn MP, let me use the goddamn spell! At least items are relatively cheap, but run out of them, and you will since it seems as if enemies only want to inflict status effects on you, and you're screwed. Brilliant. Don't even let me get into the fact that every area of the game features 3 enemy types at most. AT MOST. I'm absolutely speechless.

 Now let me segway into Wild Arms 3, a game I've mentioned a lot and the game it shares an engine with. It's true, you can't use healing spells outside of battles as well... But Wild Arms 3 has an excuse: Everything runs on FP, a limitless resource that's gained and spent during battle. There's also the fact that you can increase your attack power pretty easily, so you can make short work of random encounters: They don't take nearly as much time nor resources. I popped Wild Arms 3 for a bit in order to compare, and even the Encounter Rate is more lenient.

 Back to Wild Arms Alter Code: F, did I mention that they kept some of the most annoying parts from Wild Arms 1? Remember all those moments in which the game basically told you to 'Go explore every town and hope to find your next objective'? They kept them. And this game uses the Sonar/Radius system from Wild Arms 2 and 3, so you have to find towns yourself on the overworld, and they won't show on the map until you talk to the single right NPC on the correct town that will tell you about its location. Fun. At least in the original game you could come across dungeons and towns by yourself.

 As not to end on such a negative note, I can at least praise the new puzzles. As per Wild Arm's norm, while inside dungeons you will have to do a lot of puzzling while using various different tools, four for each main character, for a total of 12. In the original game, these puzzle felt more like obstacles 'Oh, a flame, put it out with the vase', this time around they are proper puzzles, and some will put your brain to the test. The combat was kept more or less the same, it's still turn based, and characters can use items, perform normal attacks or perform spells/shots(Shots consume cartridges and spells consume mana). There's also the FP mechanic, which increases as you deal and take damage and lets you use even stronger skills.

 Wild Arms - Alter Code: F started oh so promising, but it quickly turned into a tedious borefest. It's hard to have fun with it when the game is constantly trying to waste your time with continuous, endless amount of needlessly taxing random encounters, marred with poor design choices that work only to vex the player. I wish I could tell you that this game was the way to go with Wild Arms 1, but I can't.
 4.5 out of 10

Review #390: Bionicle

 A hour-long snoozefest.

 You've heard the name Bionicle before, you simply did, no matter who you were or what your age was. Bionicle was kind of a big deal for Lego, and it quickly became a story-drive toy franchise that delved into other forms of multimedia. Not only is this game a tie-in with the toys, it's also a tie-in with the direct-to-dvd movie, oh boy, are we in for a ride!

 The game, supposedly, follows the story of the Mask of Light movie, but I couldn't make heads or tails of the plot. On the first two stages you collect two colored masks which triggers a cutscene in which said masks fuse...? with other colored masks and the protagonists transform because reasons. And then, in subsequent levels, you find even more of these masks. I don't even. Maybe if you are invested in the franchise you'll get the gist of most of the story, since it uses a lot of in-universe terms which were enigmas to me, and if you've seen the movie you'll probably make sense of the whole ordeal. Regardless, the entire game can be beat in just an hour or so.

 The game is a 3D platformer some times, most times maybe? In an effort to add variety, every stage has some sort of gimmick or style. The first level is your standard, dull 3D platforming stage featuring the Toa of Fire. The next level makes you play as the Toa of Ice, skating down an icy slope. Afterward the characters turn into the Toa Nuva, and you'll be playing as the Toa Nuva of Water alternating 3D platforming and awkward swimming sections. The next level is a minecart on-rails stage as the Toa Nuva of Earth. The Toa Nuva of Rock comes next and he has a 3D platforming stage that requires you to push things on top of switches, which is pretty wonky. The Toa Nuva of Air has the worst and most annoying level in the entire game, featuring choppy gliding mechanics and terrible vine-swinging segments. The second-to-last level pits you as the Toa Nuva of Fire on a race of sorts against an enemy, and the final level is a boss fight against Makuta, playing as the Toa of Light.

 Moving around and jumping around works decently, there isn't any depth or complicated maneuvers, but it works well. The gimmicks are pretty bad though. It's easy to mis-judge your jumps with vines, and some of the gliding segments are hard to land, thank god for unlimited lives! The pushing mechanics in the Toa Nuva of Rock's stage is laughably bad, pushing something has never been so choppy, and the entire boss fight is made up of you awkwardly pushing stones on top of vents. The camera is pretty bad too, although, to be fair it never got me killed. Something I found fascinating was how short levels were... yet how long they felt because of how boring and bland they were! The art direction was pretty neat, levels are nice to look at, and, maybe, if they had spent their time polishing the platforming and level design and did away with gimmick stages, we could've had a more decent game!

 Look at how badass these Toas look with their weapons! It's a shame they don't use them in lieu of shooting energy from them. How awesome would've it have been to have them slash and dice their way through stages!... but seeing how bland everything is, it's probably for the best that they went with simplicity. Circle shoots energy, and it usually lands on target thanks to automatic targeting. Your energy bolts run on energy, and once depleted you have to hold square to charge it back... or wait for an enemy to shoot and put up your shields in order to absorb it. Whichever the case, you'll have to wait, either for your energy to recharge or for the enemy to attack. For what it's worth, the combat system is kinda ingenious, absorbing energy from enemies in order to recharge your own weapons and the such. It's probably the game's best feature, but it's bogged down due to how easily enemies are dispatched, not requiring much thought or planning.

 Bionicle is not a good game. It's terrible at its worst and it's subpar at its best. That said, I think, I think that it might be an entertaining game for its target demographic: Little children. Although, even now I can remember how disappointed I was when I was younger that you didn't get to play as every Toa on foot. Look, even if you're a fan of the franchise, if you're older than 8, this game is a pass.
 3.0 out of 10

Now Playing: Wild Arms - Alter Code: F

 Maybe just what I wanted?

 So, I played Wild Arms a few days ago, and I was less than impressed with it. My biggest gripes came with how outclassed it was by future games, well, this game might have me covered. It's Wild Arms 1 remade with the Wild Arms 3 engine. So, hopefully, the puzzles will be better, combat will be better and there will be more customization.

 The dialogue is a bit awkward at times, not unlike the original game, but I can already tell that they are being very cinematic with the presentation, so, hopefully, it will deepen into character's personalities, which were pretty flat in the first game.

 While the new graphics are a big plus, character models look a bit weird, I think their torsos are too big for their tiny legs. Also, the new Surf village was rather pathetic, there were only three houses and barely any NPC, a far cry from the first game, and I'm worried that the other towns will be smaller too. But then again, a lot of the buildings and NPCs were merely filler in the previous game, so maybe having more mainstreamed towns will be better in the long run. I remember how easy and fast it was to explore a town in WA1, but now, thanks to the newer, better graphics... we've load times to contend with, which is the norm on PS2, but I got used to the faster exploration in the first game!

 The battles I hope will show their refinement later, I've only just finished Jack's prologue, which by the way is very lame how we've to play them in order now! and they lack the way FP worked in WA2 and 3, however, I can already tell that the new FP mechanics will prove to be more flexible in the end, I think. Equipment has been removed, which sucks, but if I can enhance my weapons like I could in WA3, I'll be OK.

 It looks promising! This remake looks oh so very promising, it might be exactly what I needed: Wild Arms 1 with the refinements the series would get with subsequent installments.

Review #389: Dead to Rights

 Just your everyday afternoon cop TV soap opera.

 Exciting. Frantic. Kinetic. Chaotic. Those are but a few words I could use to describe Namco's 2002 third person shooter Dead to Rights, a game clearly inspired by Max Payne, but opting for police drama instead of detective noir. It's a game nobody talks about nowadays, but golly, has it aged well!

 You shouldn't be playing this game for its story, but, in case you are, the game follows Jack Slate and his dog, Shadow, as they try to avenge Jack's father. Along the way he'll get framed, he'll escape jail, face betrayal, discover corruption and follow the entire gamut of action-cop movie tropes you think off the top of your head. The story is silly and cliched, the game knows it and it never takes itself seriously: you'll face thong-wearing ninja twin babes, a mad shooter that heals himself by drinking liquor and a cartoonishly abusive jailer. It's dumb, it's fun.

 Dead to Rights is a very linear game, so you'll be traversing stages as you shoot and punch your way through sometimes endless hordes of mooks. This game was from an era before Resident Evil 4 and Gears of War, so manual aiming is more or less impossible(Although you can enter a useless first-person aiming mode by tapping R2), so you use R1 to lock-on to enemies, and the right analog stick to switch between enemies. The color of the targeting reticule indicate how likely your shots are to land. It works rather well, and dispatching enemies as you strafe around is pretty fun.

 Luckily, Jack has a ton of maneuvers at his disposal to make short work of his enemies. Tapping circle while unarmed will perform an instakill that disarms his enemy, and tapping circle while holding a gun will let you grab an enemy and use him as a meat shield. The triangle button can be use to dive, and if you've stamina, you can dive in slow motion and pump your enemies with lead. You an also use circle while next to a wall to stick to it and take cover. Lastly, there's a fourth gauge, below your health, stamina and armor: Shadow. When full, you can use shadow to instantly kill an enemy and have Shadow bring you his weapon. Everything works really well, and it's a blast to play because landing bullets feels good, and once you get a hang of every mechanic, it turns very stylish as well.

 There's also melee combat, and it works relatively well. Once again, landing blows feels very crunchy and satisfying. That said, it's not the most in-depth of combat systems, but as a complement to the shooting? It's great. Sadly, the developers might've bit a bit more than they could chew, since they also added minigames. Disarming bombs and lockpicking, while somewhat out of place, are relatively fun... but there's also a very weird exotic dance minigame, a weird lifting weights minigame and... punching a sand bag? Most of these are rather boring, and while I appreciate that they might've wanted to add some variety... it wasn't needed, and they work against the game. The game is relatively short(4:30 hours or so), so it ends before it gets boring.

 My biggest annoyance with the game was that sometimes enemies will respawn indefinitely. It's not unusual to be picking up weapons after a firefight only for an enemy to respawn behind you, heck, some of those times they respawn from areas you just completely cleared out of enemies! While I never died to a random respawn or during the endless waves on certain missions(Mission 15 being a big culprit, since until you realize that you're supposed to go through a certain door, you might be tempted to try killing everything) they certainly were annoying.

 I had a blast with Dead to Rights! Everything that matters works swimmingly, and it's only a few little kinks and issues that hold it down from its full potential, and a few extra levels could've helped, since I was left wanting more!
 8.0 out of 10.