Review #540: Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 - Road to Boruto

 Naruto's most disappointing Storm yet.

Hideous cover. Should've kept the old one.

 CyberConnect 2 is a company that usually gets a lot of flak for being lazy and... this game isn't helping their case. A disappointing game bundled with its disappointing DLC, Ultimate Ninja Storm is anything but a fitting end to the series that promised so much.

 Well, Story mode has changed a bit, now being split in an episode-based Story Mode and an Adventure Mode that takes place after the story. The Story mode follows the final parts of Naruto's story, which sees Naruto fighting deities and finally reuniting with Sasuke. Story mode had usually been a highlight in the franchise but they managed to ruin it. About 3/4ths of the story is told through ugly anime stills, usually featuring off-model characters, instead of the beautiful 3-D cutscenes CC2 was known for. It's incredibly offputting and cheap, and they only stopped using them because the anime hadn't gone that far into the manga. Losing the ability to freely roam around is also missed, this episode structure feels very disjointed. As for the adventure mode, there're three chapters, one for Naruto, one for Shikamaru and a final one for Gaara, they are silly scenarios that will barely hold your interest, but they have various sidequests and things to do, so there's no shortage of content here... it's a shame most of it is rather dull and repetitive, 'Go find X thing for me', 'Pick up Y things' or win simple fights. Boruto gets his own Story Mode which is a return to form for the series, featuring Adventure Mode's free roam as well as the gorgeous cutscenes from story mode, it's a shame Boruto's movie, the story it covers, isn't very interesting. Rounding up the package are the usual VS and online VS modes you've come to expect.

The particle effects are much nicer, but it doesn't look all that much better than it used to.

 If story mode wasn't disappointing enough, the character roster sure is. There're only 13 new characters, mostly made up of new forms of Naruto, Sasuke, Obito and Madara. They have different animations and models, true, but being just new forms makes them rather dull. What's most disappointing is how many characters we're missing, like the mist swordsmen or a few reanimated enemies, many which already had character models and animations from Ultimate Storm 3. Road to Boruto is even MORE disappointing, there're many enemies with animations and movesets that are simply unplayable, instead we get a total of THREE Borutos(Which share a lot of moves), TWO Saradas(Which share a ton of moves) and new versions of adult Naruto and Sasuke... which are reused character models that share some animations with their previous versions. All of that and not a single playable Boruto villain. To call the character roster underwhelming is an understatement. At least the game includes the Sound Ninja DLC, which should've been part of the roster since the first game. To add insult to injury, 90% of the DLC costumes, thankfully also included, return from Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 and quite a few costumes remain Story mode exclusive. Cyber Connect 2? More like Cutting Corners 2 much.

 Gameplay is basically the same as usual, but with a few novelties. The system from Revolution is gone, thankfully, so now you can Awaken or use Ultimate Justsu at will. A good new addition is that you can customize which Jutsu and Ultimate Jutsu to use with a few characters, which should've been a great idea but is very limiting, for instance, Minato can't use Reanimated Minato's awakening or ultimate jutsu, which sucks since reanimated characters are ugly, but Reanimated Minato can use any of Minato's skills(Sans awakening). That's a great idea executed halfway decently. A good addition is tagging, by using the right analog stick you can switch between any of up to three characters, all of them sharing a single life bar. Lastly, there's chakra counter, by shortening, for a short while, your maximum chakra you can repel any attack directed your way, if you time it right. There're some framerate issues here and there, but it's nowhere near as bad as it used to be. Still, this game looks almost exactly as it looked on the PS3, the particles are better, and still only runs at a barely stable 30 fps. What the hell? Take away tagging and this game could've perfectly run on a PS3. So the money didn't go into making new characters, didn't go into a decent story mode and didn't go into enhancing production values, so where was it spent? Only CyberConnect 2 knows.

Road to Boruto's DLC is one of the most lackluster DLCs I've ever seen.

 If you've been playing the series sporadically, skipping a game here and there, or if this is your first Ultimate Ninja Storm game, you might think it's a very good game. But us who have been here since the start(Or Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 in my case) know just how badly CyberConnect2 cut corners with this one. This game was gonna bring closure to the franchise, this was supposed to be the best Naruto game, the ULTIMATE Ultimate Ninja Storm. But CyberConnect 2 managed to disappoint and tried to demonstrate why so many people call them lazy.
 6.0 out of 10

Review #539: Samurai Shodown Anthology

 A history lesson of 2-D Samurai.

The art is absolutely badass.

 Samurai Shodown's one of the most famous and unknown fighting games around. It's unknown because not many people know about it, surprisingly, and the fact that the latter titles in the series were bland dug its grave even deeper, but it's also famous because those of us that love fighting games recognize it as the first 2-D fighting game in which characters almost exclusively employ weapons.

 Anthology is quite the package, featuring almost the entirety of the series' 2-D run with Samurai Shodown I, II, III, IV, V and VI. Not only are you getting fantastic arcade perfect renditions of all six games, you also get a few bells and whistles like art galleries and the amazing color-edit mode, with which you can edit a character's color palette! The cherry on top is getting to see how the series evolved, changed and, eventually, started to decline. 

It's amazing how great the series looks by the sixth installment.

 Samurai Shodown 1 is very dated by today's standards, featuring stiff movement and somewhat ugly sprites. There's two slash buttons and two kick buttons, and pressing both buttons of either type produces a strong version, for a total of 6 different basic moves. There're also special moves that you can perform by inputting different directions on the directional pad. Samurai Shodwown is, unlike other fighters, centered around landing hits and looking for openings as opposed to trying to link together long combos. As it stands, the game isn't particularly bad, but every other game leaves it in the dust.

 Samurai Shodown 2 is a huge improvement, sprites are pretty and the game feels much more smooth. It also introduces super moves that you can perform when you are in Rage Mode. It's aged much better than the previous game and remains quite playable to this day.

The sixth game has a handful of new characters... and they are quite good designs.

 The game looked better before, but as of Samurai Shodown III it's gorgeous. Every sprite has been beautifully redrawn, and this is the style that subsequent games will follow. III introduces SLASH and BUST versions of every character, basically, each character gets two different movesets, some characters being more pronounced than others. Controls have been changed, now there're three different types of slashes(Weak, Medium and Strong) as well as a single kick button. Samurai Shodown III feels great t play, and in my opinion, is one of the better games in this anthology.

 Samurai Shodown IV is more of the same, but III was so good that this is a good thing. The character roster has seen some changes, quite a few characters are gone... but a handful of new ones are introduces, including Kazuki Kazama, my favorite character in the franchise. These last two games would be the peak of the franchise, because...

Over 40 playable characters, trust me, there's fun to be had even if you prefer the older games.

 Samurai Shodown V comes next, and... it's not pretty. Well, it looks pretty, but the end result isn't. Firstly, this is the original release of V, which is lacking blood effects and fatalities, something that would be addressed in V Special, which sadly is missing from this anthology. Controls have changed again, we've lost the dedicated Strong slash button, which sucks since now you have to resort to using both slash buttons again, and instead got a 'special' button that works as a jumping dodge. What a lame addition. Slash/Bust versions of each characters are gone. On the plus side, I enjoyed the new characters like Enja and Suija, as well as Nobuhiro Watsuki's original designs. V is not a bad game, but it's not a step in the right direction.

 Finally there's Samurai Shodown VI and your mileage may vary on this one. This is a dream game that pits all characters in a festival, so no blood effects or fatalities. Every single character that was ever playable in the series returns, and if he hasn't been seen since the second game he also gets a brand new sprite. All returning sprites have been brightened up a bit, making for a far more cheerful game. Controls are back to the III-IV, which is a huge plus. Sadly, the game feels a tad slow, and while I love having all these many characters I can't shake off the feeling of wanting to be playing III or IV instead. VI was a good game to end the series on, but not the best it's been.

CPU-Enja is quite the bastard, he can shave off a half of your health bar in a single combo.

 If you've ever enjoyed a Samurai Shodown game, or if you've a passing interest in the series, this disc comes highly recommended. You get the entire(mostly) history of the numbered series in one tight, neat package. That said, be warned that the first four games are VERY difficult, even on the easiest difficulty setting. These ports are arcade-perfect, so they mimic that quarter-muncher, unfair difficulty. Still, every game has a dedicated practice mode and a Versus 2P mode, so you can get your kicks there.

 8.0 out of 10

Review #538: Uncharted 4 - A Thief's End

 Drake returns... both of them.

Don't cry because it's over, be happy that it didn't end like Dexter.

 Of course Sony wasn't going to just let Uncharted run its course on the PS3, so they brought their moneymaker onto the PS4... and it's glorious. Naughty Dog once again brought their A game in order to prove that if someone can make the most out of Sony's hardware it's them.

 Picking off a few years after Uncharted 3, Nathan and ELena have been married for a while now, leading a normal, mundane life. That is until Naughty Dog decides to alter Uncharted's canon once again, turns out that Nathan had a long-lost brother that he thought was dead, who also taught him how to use the Rope tool, a tool which he gets just use in this game and this game only. But that's OK, we should be used to Uncharted's flimsy plot-devices since the writing is as sharp as ever. The story is very interesting all the way throughout, and the franchise's staple conversations are kept in and are as good as ever. That said, you shouldn't come into Uncharted 4 expecting an fresh, original story because that's never been Uncharted's style, this is an action movie-style plot through and through, with most plot twists being unsurprising or predictable... but at least they are well written, so it's fun seeing everything unravel.

A lot of familiar faces return to send off Uncharted as we knew it.

 Not much has changed, for good or bad. Nathan and his AI-controlled buddies are as nimble and athletic as ever, being able to climb, cling onto or vault on various surfaces and objects. There'll be a lot of climbing and parkouring around, as per usual, and this game introduces a rope into your move repertoire. L1 can be used to throw your rope towards designated poles or objects in order to swing around... or climb up or down the rope. Heck, sometimes you'll have to tie objects with your rope and then pull them towards you. The rope is more than just a gimmick and made for some fun new platforming sections.

 Another change is the addition of bigger areas, which, as a consequence, also meant the addition of vehicles. There're a few instances in the game in which you'll have to traverse long distances by car or boat. These control well, and I admit that there were some very entertaining puzzles involving the car's winch, but I don't think I'm a fan of these open areas. The game works better when it's a linear adventure, these vehicle sections felt like they made the narrative fall into a lull. Sure, you can explore and find secret collectibles, but... why bother? Rewards aren't tangible, hell, the reward in Uncharted is to follow the story, not to go out of your way for little trinkets. Still, I appreciate the idea of bigger areas, I just think they don't fit the game very well.

It's not even funny how great the game looks.

 Combat has changed even less, in close quarters Nate can punch, dodge or mash triangle when he falls victim to a grab. Gunplay is pretty much exactly the same as before, so there's nothing to add on that front. If anything, I felt shootouts were much fairer than in previous games, presumably because normal enemies aren't as much of damage sponges as they used to be. Plus, stealth works better here than in any other Uncharted game, with the addition of tall grass in order to hide... or hide bodies with stealth kills.

 As a whole, the game manages to capture most of the action and excitement that made the series so special but... the bar has simply been raised TOO high by previous games. Shootouts, chases, escaping falling buildings are all very exciting, and the phenomenal graphics makes everything look amazing but it's missing such unique, epic set-pieces as the train battle from Uncharted 2 or the sinking ship from Uncharted 3. I didn't feel as if I was doing anything that I hadn't done in a previous Uncharted game, even if it looked better than ever before.

Everything is better with aerial punches.

 Uncharted 4 is everything it needed to be and everything it should've been for Uncharted's first foray into the PS4. It's also a fitting end to the franchise that basically defined the PS3. I think we should all take a moment to appreciate just how much the franchise has evolved from that crappy little PS3 game that had imprecise controls, unfair combat and stupid QTEs to the brilliant bar-setter it became.

 9.0 out of 10

Now Playing: Tomb Raider & Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 - Road to Boruto

 A beauty and a beast.

She's got a big pair of guns.

 I'm loving what little I've played so far, and this can't be nostalgia speaking since I never played much of this one! I first started with Tomb Raider 2 and got all the way up to the Last Revelation before I finally came across TR 1... and it was a DOS game that was having trouble running on my then-modern PC. And when I finally got it running it looked like garbage, so it never manage to arrest my attention.
 But I got to the third level already and I'm enjoying it quite a bit, despite its clunky controls. It's fun, environments are interesting and the game manages to rope you into the adventure quite strongly

Ugh, what an ugly cover.

 What a disappointment. I'm about 25% through the Story Mode and... I can't help but feel like this is the laziest game CC2 has ever made. The story is, at least so far, told through horrible anime stills, a lot that feature characters looking off-model. As for new characters, there's mostly new forms of Naruto, Sasuke, Obito and Madara, while we are still missing a bunch of characters like the mist swordsmen. As a matter of fact, just like Ultimate ninja Storm 3, this game has a ton of unplayable NPCs that should've been playable. The Road to Boruto additions are even worse, who needed 2 Saradas and three Borutos? Give me the villains, please.
 This is a horrible way to end the series.

Now Playing: Uncharted 4 - A Thief's End

 At least Elena and Nate didn't break up again.

Don't look sad, you can join Crash and Jak on the 'Characters Naughty Dog forgot about' club.

 Well... Uncharted has seen worse retcons. Remember how careless Sully was in Uncharted 1 yet became Nate's father figure in 3? Well, now we've got to believe that Nate had this long thought dead brother that he loved oh so much, yet never, EVER mentioned in previous games. Also, he was a pro at using the rope yet never used it before this game. Whatever, we've seen worse in the franchise.

 What can I say? It's the same Uncharted as always. I'm liking the framerate, which is very smooth and while I'm sure it's above 30 fps... something tells me it doesn't reach 60. Still, some scenes, under certain lightning, felt quite photorealistic, so kudos on that. Melee combat has been redesigned AGAIN and it's quite decent, probably the best one since 2.

 All in all, the game's very promising.

Review #537: Nightmare Creatures II

 A nightmarish sequel nobody wanted.

Wallace is one ugly freak. I love it.

 Nightmare Creatures was a mediocre game that I think nobody wanted a sequel to. Heck, even when I was younger and enjoyed it quite a deal more I didn't even wish for a sequel. But it didn't matter, Nightmare Creatures II was made, and for every step forward it takes a stumble backwards.

 You're Wallace, a disfigured, bandaged freak that was abducted while young by Adam Crowley, who for one reason or another revived, and experimented upon. And sometime before getting abducted it seems he was also part of 'The Circle', whatever that was. What little story there is doesn't make much sense, but credit where credit is due: Character design is fantastic, Wallace stands out among other protagonists because of how ugly he is, while the rest of the monsters are no slouches either, looking very creepy and nasty.

Remember these guys? Of course they had to return!

 The game is made up of two different components: Combat and exploration, which will inevitably remind people of Spawn the Eternal, which is not good. Exploration can be reduced to running around dull-looking levels, searching for key items(Dynamite, Keys, Pliers) and then the barrier on which to use them. There're a few scary platforming sections too, scary because it feels as if you can't trust Wallace jump arc, but I never died to a bottomless pit. There're a few sparse Save Points peppered throughout every stage to make your life easier, although a few more of these would've been welcome. Thankfully, the dumb 'adrenaline' mechanic is gone in this game.

 Eventually you'll run into monsters and Wallace will enter combat mode. Square is a horizontal slash and X is a vertical slash. Remember how many combos Nadia and Ignatius had in the first game? Wallace has... less than either of them. XX ,Square Square, X Square Square and Square X X are the only combos in the game. Weapon upgrades are gone too, but you can find items to help Wallace in combat, like a fiery axe or explore gun ammo. There're new fatalities to kill enemies faster, but... they are cute at first, but overstay their welcome pretty fast. There's a single fatality type for each enemy time, so they grow repetitive, and they are so slow that you'll just want to move on. Plus, the game repositions Wallace and the enemy when you execute this... which can potentially ruin your game. On stage 2 a fatality got me through an invisible wall, which got me stuck and forced me to reset the game.

Bosses are strangely static in this game.

 Despite how boring and clunky everything in the game is, its biggest setback is its unfair difficulty level, even on the lowest difficulty setting. You start out with 5 continues and no way to get more. You'll lose most of them figuring out that you have to wait until the big yellow monster growls before you can hurt him or to wait for the knife-beast to lick his knife else he will break your combo, and then you'll lose the rest of your continues trying to dodge attacks in cramped environments with crappy camera angles you can't rotate. Combos feel somewhat unresponsive, sometimes Wallace takes too long to enter combat mode and monsters are boring to engage.... it's not a fun game.

 It's also buggy, the item wheel got stuck twice on my playthrough, forcing me to restart the game. Then there was also that time I got through an invisible barrier... Don't even let me get started on how finicky the game is to decide when Wallace will climb a wall, turns out sometimes you simply must jump, or press Square, on juuuust the right angle.

Dismembering foes doesn't feel half as great as it did in the previous game.

 Sloppy, buggy, boring... the game has a fantastic art-direction, and looks great... but falls apart on anything that matters. If you liked Nightmare Creatures you might want to give this one a look since you're already used to mediocrity, everyone else just avoid it.
 3.0 out of 10

Archile's Grab-bag> Final Package o' 2018 Edition

 Another box meant another opening.

  Maybe one of them wasn't a box.

 Gotta grab ye trusty ole knife...

 Rime: Um... I don't know much about it, and I was kinda convinced into purchasing it, so... yeah...

 Mortal Kombat XL: Of course I had to try Mortal Kombat XL at some point, since I've followed the series ever since I can remember.

 Gundam Versus: It's not Maxi Boost, it's got even less mobile suits than Maxi Boost... but it'll have to do for the time being.

 Infamous Second Son: While I wasn't the biggest fan of Infamous 1, Infamous 2 quickly became one of my favorite games on the PS3. Hopefully Second Son is just as good.

 Samurai Shodown Anthology: I do own this game on the Wii, but fighting games are a better fit on the PS2. For whatever reason the game has jumped in price, but Amazon's got it on the cheap.

 Battle Chasers Nightwar: Joe Madureira is one of my favorite artists out there, and hopefully this game does justice to his art.

 King of Fighters XIV: I love King of Fighters, and this one has been on my radar for a long, looooooong while. It's a bit sad that they did away with their phenomenal 2-D sprites, but it's understandable, since this way they can churn out even more characters.

 Doom: Classic FPS are dope, and Doom should be no exception. What I know of Doom is that it's one of those games that refuse to sport a subtitle and thus became one of those annoying games that are named exactly the same as another game of the same franchise and the fact that melee-kills look repetitive. Not a good first impression.

 Rise of the Tomb Raider: I adored the PS3 reboot and was bummed out that the sequel, while having being released on the X360, wouldn't make it to the PS3. But it matters no longer!

 The Evil Within 2: The Evil Within is one of my favorite videogames ever, and might just be my favorite survival horror game ever. I know little to nothing about the sequel, so this October I might be in for a treat.

 Life is Strange: Few games are as overhyped as this one, so naturally I fell victim to the hype and here I am.

 The Order 1886: I've loved this game ever since it was revealed to the public and was utterly disappointed when reviews came out. I will give it a chance, though, since I want to believe that I can enjoy this game. And if its length is its major weak point... that might not be too bad.

 Tekken 7: While Lucky Chloe is the worst thing to happen to this series, after Tekken Revolution and their new focus on fanservice which extends to the horrible designs of characters like Josie Rizal, I'm a huge Tekken nut and couldn't miss out on the latest installment. Tekken 7 seems like a major shift, which left the fanbase a bit divided... So I'm a bit hopeful about it, considering I enjoyed Tekken 4 so much because of how much it changed.

 Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 Road to Boruto: I wasn't missing out on the final Ninja Storm game, oh no. I'm a bit disappointed that the series ended here, we were still missing a handful of characters, like some of the Mist Swordsmen or characters from the movies, but oh well!

 The King of Fighters Collection - The Orochi Saga: As much as I like King of Fighters... I wasn't much of a fan of anything pre-99, and thus, pre K'. In my opinion these first few games just can't hold a candle to what comes after it.

 Resident Evil VII Biohazard Gold Edition: No, this is not a return to their roots because Resident Evil was always an action game first and a horror game second. That said, I've grown more accepting of the first person view and am ready to give it a chance.