Chalgyr's Game Room
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At the end of the day, Mighty No. 9 is simply an average game. That is not a terrible thing, it is not what I would call a bad game. Certainly the hype surrounding it helped to elevate expectations that it did not and probably could not have met, so tossing aside the Mega Man comparisons and taking Mighty No. 9 for what it is? You have a bland-looking game with some interesting mechanics that deliver some entertainment without doing anything to make itself a memorable experience. There are worse things than that, but there are also better.
Aside from the uneven animations, my only other complaint comes from the memo feature. I found it far easier just to keep notes on a pad of paper than attempting to write with my fingertip. This is not the best use of touch controls between the memo and the sometimes finicky puzzle inputs, but it is hardly a deal breaker either. Because at the heart of everything here however, is the narrative. I really cannot say enough good things about how well-written the characters and the stories are. I never felt like there was too much exposition, and despite the tense scenarios moments of levity are found within as well. The characters feel fully fleshed out, the story captivated my interest in a way that only good books usually can.
For those that played through Dead Island and its standalone expansion before, it really comes down to how they felt about it. If you get the itch to go back to Banoi and don’t mind getting “who do you voodoo” stuck in your head again, then check it out. Otherwise, there isn’t much there (other than the 2D game) that you haven’t already seen and you can safely skip it.
Bravely Second is not only a great new entry into the newly minted series with this release, but it is also exactly what a sequel should be. Even with returning characters it was nice that they didn't steal the lead from the newest entry as can sometimes happen when an older introduced character is "cameoed". Building upon the aspects of the first while making improvements big and small to something that already worked was amazing. Not sure what the third will be called but I truly hope that this series will continue on.
The boss battles help to alleviate the repetition and there are some secret ones that can be unlocked if you meet particular criteria that serve as the primary reason to replay levels. Admittedly, some of these were pretty cool and gave me a nice sense of satisfaction when they occurred, but at the end of the day Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan is little more than a visually stylized button masher with little of the heart that has made the Turtles so enduring over the years. I love most of the titles that PlatinumGames produces, but TMNT is a rare miss for the developer.
If anything, TASTEE: Lethal Tactics is beyond excellent; sure work could be done to add more models, characters, skins, weapons and assets, but what is there is excellent. Fast, for a turn-based title, challenging gameplay yet simple execution, something very rare in a strategy title. TASTEE: Lethal Tactics keeps its light-hearted antics first and foremost, backed by solid gameplay, which puts it into the rare pile of "pick up and play any time you want" strategy titles. It is a certain keeper.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII is a niche game to be certain, with the kind of learning curve that could easily scare away casual strategy fans. Despite its emphasis on characters, this is not a tactics game akin to Fire Emblem, but something with a much different layer of city management and simulation layered onto it. It is a shame that the graphics engine - which looks very nice the majority of the time - seems to struggle a bit with the PlayStation 4 hardware, and no matter how well you design a user interface, a game like this is probably always going to be a smoother experience with a mouse as opposed to a controller. Those two concerns aside, Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII offers a uniquely deep experience that will no doubt have me coming back for more for a good long while. It also has me hopeful that we might see even more strategy titles coming out of Koei Tecmo in the future.
Overall Lost Sea is a great Roguelike that sticks to that concept very well without introducing loads of other features that bury the point. The search for the tablets can be an exhilarating or terrifying one depending upon which island you fortunately or unfortunately landed upon as the danger of death is always near very real with only ever having your weapon as a constant companion.
Odin Sphere Leifthrasir is a very good, or damned near perfect, example of what a remake / remaster should be. Already being an amazing title in its own right, this tale of five individuals only got better with the enhancements made to it almost ten years later. For everything that it does, Odin Sphere was only made better by having a clear format for the telling of its story through cutscenes and gameplay in a specific sequence that makes it that one never overshadows the other.
The Technomancer is the equivalent of a cheesy 90's sci-fi action flick mashup; think Steven Seagal's Under Siege meets Jesse Ventura's Abraxas: Guardian of the Universe all set in the dusty red planet of yesteryear's classics like Total Recall or Dune. For as grand as that sounds, fans of past Spiders titles may be a bit disappointed in the lack of varied gameplay between titles. Others that are new to the universe may be a bit let down by the lack of depth, yet carried along by a decent supporting cast, an interesting and fun if trope-y story, and stellar world-building. While Technomancer may not be deep, overly fulfilling, or entirely sophisticated, it does contain an abundance of charm. Charm not unlike your favorite campy films of years gone by.
I simply didn't like this game. I went into it with high expectations, after having loved playing through the first game past its prime, and ended up being utterly disappointed. Between the numberous gameplay problems, between combat feeling weak and clunky, movement being gutted in favour of a progression system, and the open-world making the game repetitive, this was not something I found almost any fun playing. It's not the worst, but there are so many things done wrong, and so little done right, it just wasn't an experience I could personally enjoy, and I wouldn't recommend it unless you're a die-hard fan of the series.
All in all this season of Horizons is shaping up to be incredibly exciting. With the Engineers update well under way it is only a matter of time before we get ship-launched fighters, commander customization, and multicrew ships. With Elite: Dangerous Horizons, Frontier is doing everything right, and little wrong. More variety in ships, added customization, tweaked missions, planetary landings, you name it ... Elite has grown, and in all the right ways.
Overall, this game is a great entry into the series, with very few flaws. With the addition of Hunter Arts and Styles, you can customize your playstyle in a large variety of ways, with over 50 combinations of Hunter weapons and styles, not even counting Arts. With a few additions of new monsters, and a large selection of older beasties, there’s more than enough content for this game to be a flagship title, and it’s certainly a must-buy for anyone that loves Monster Hunter, and definitely worth looking into if you don’t already love the series. With a wonderful set of visual upgrades, and even some new challenges to overcome, there’s no reason not to pick this game up.
Overall, Megadimension Neptunia VII is a great installment to the series, and fans of the series will definitely enjoy it. If you're looking at the changes between console to PC, not much has changed, but if you didn't get a chance to play on console, now is when you can. Jumping straight into the series with VII might confuse newcomers, but series veterans will feel right at home.
Phantom Brave is just as amazing now as it was back when it released on the PS2. Character sprites not having been upgraded aside (really is a minor detail), the story, the combat, and the PC’s processing speed make it all more than worthwhile to either dive back in (or dive into for the first time) the lands of Ivoire. Marona’s story is one of the best that NIS has ever done and her adventures with Ash are only ever supported by great voice acting, amazing musical tracks, and overall well written dialogue for both them and characters that the two come across.
10 Second Ninja X tells you just about everything you need to know about the game in its title. The story is about as quick and nonsensical as one would expect, but the game itself is a flurry of reflex-testing goodness that is addictive as its is frustrating.
Several times, I've taken to the skies and exploded. Several times, I've wanted to snatch a Kerbal by his unconcerned cheeks and scream, "Don't just sit there in slack-jawed amazement! Fly this thing, dammit!" But with all that failure and frustration followed intense self-congratulation -- the moment I realized I got a ship shaped like a pizza to fly, or the second I safely returned my Kerbal physicist from a successful Mun (Moon) orbit. Through persistence, trial-and-error, and learning the fundamentals of actual space travel, I somehow met with success. It's the type of success that's intoxicating, and, if you have a penchant for physics or space exploration, completely necessary.
I am Setsuna is a wonderful tribute to the SNES era. Even with all the familiarity from the older titles that it pays homage to it doesn’t come across as a copy paste and instead is capable of standing on its own even with the heavy nostalgic feel. Graphically and audibly beautiful sounding this RPG is more than worth the time in the snow covered reaches that are traversed.
Star Ocean Integrity and Faithlessness is not a bad game. Unfortunately however it plays it a bit too safe and doesn’t stir the pot too much even with all of the alchemic experiments and synthesis within it. The art style, the music, the voice acting, and gameplay are good to great, but if you’re looking for something “new”, you won’t find it here. If you’re looking for something comfortable and nostalgic however then Star Ocean 5, my apologies Star Ocean Integrity and Faithlessness, awaits you.
Shiren the Wanderer - The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate is amazing. It’s hard, it’s challenging, it’s a Roguelike. While there are many features present in order to help out Shiren and Koppa, none of it matters if fate has other plans. Careful consideration of actions is just as important as making proper preparations but above all else, it’s ok to run away sometimes in order to come back with better equipment and beat the crap out of whatever made you run away in the first place.