Pangburn
2014
+graphics are nice and clean on the vita's OLED screen, and the performance is relatively solid. I actually found I had more frame drops in the hub than in actual battle
+the individual ideas here are interesting and I hope to see them in a game with better design eventually. I like how the thorn decouples playstyle from weapon selection and offers a bevy of different ways to deal with enemies ie grapple to parts to sever them, topple them, simply move around faster, drop healing trees, etc.
+the final boss design (at the end of CODE 7) I enjoyed, perhaps just because the monster (er, "abductor") selection up to then was so sparse. a very hectic fight but satisfying when finished
+there's a little bit of mission variety... so many of these positives are backhanded but I guess I did enjoy not only fighting the same abductors endlessly. the big one is citizen reclamation, which I like quite a bit. the AI is pretty good at escorting citizens when you wanna focus on fighting, and vice versa
+the AI overall is pretty good, they could be much worse than given here. they are not the brightest about dodging attacks but they are always quick to heal you and can wipe out enemies with ease
-the handling is stiff and cheap, with melee weapons in particular feeling uncomfortable to use and combo with. there's almost no weight to any movement the character makes, even when they're getting tossed around by enemies or doing a dodge-roll. the knockback from attacks is often straight up as well, placing you uncomfortably close to whatever hit you in the first place in many instances
-this game favors guns over melee outside of severing and downed enemies, and it makes the combat feel very lifeless. I spent maybe 80% of combat just running around spraying bullets waiting to soften up a component to sever or bide out time until an AI teammate decided to begin a dragdown
-there are too many mechanics in the game for the limited buttons on the device. I chose the sprinting-focused scheme, and thus had to press R+triangle while standing completely still to use items... if I wasn't completely still I would throw out my thorn instead
-as mentioned previously, the abductor selection is absurdly limited during the main campaign. from what I can remember this is only a standard biped, an artillery biped, a quadruped, a tiger, and a tarantula, and endless variations of these ie with a shield generator, with special resistances, with extra weapons, and so on. it's dull to fight the same things so many times, esp since the latter two appear more rarely
-arena variety is also extremely limited. they are small maps which reinforces the repetition, esp for the desert arena which I had to do repeated fights in all the way up through CODE 6. the few maps introduced later in the game barely show up at all for some reason (tho I didn't delve much into the special ops)
-the story itself is not great, which is really not surprising for an anime story grafted onto an action game like this. it's standard "you are the chosen one to bring around a Great Event" stuff with some faintly sketched side characters to jabber at you. this wouldn't really a detriment for me since it's part and parcel with playing a game like this, but you are forced to spend so much time in cutscenes, fetch quests, and godawful stealth sections to progress it rather than just having some text before ops or flavor text around town. there's no reason to walk around as many of the areas are identical, so instead you are forced to endlessly warp around to talk to different people until a new operation finally is given (or during CODE 2 esp just run around endlessly fetching materials, as fast travel is not unlocked at this point)
-the crafting and upgrade system takes real-time minutes to proceed (strike #1) and yields paltry items compared to most of the stuff you pick up until pretty late in the game (strike #3). the materials needed to craft also have sci-fi technobabble names that indicates little on how to get them especially since every harvest point on the map is a nondescript blue ball (tho there are tooltips for each material broadly explaining how they are obtained)
-minor quibbles: the game seemed inconsistent with how it would auto-refill combat items after battle (I dunno if this was an issue of mine or not), severing is more of a pain than it should be because of the mashing, enemies spawn on top of you frequently, as said previously the stealth sections are laughable, the pacing is terrible near the start of the game, once the hub opened up it felt like at least an hour of busywork until I unlocked an actual mission, having to replay the final three missions because I failed the final boss with so little of his health remaining really really really stung (thankfully I got it on attempt 2)
really did not enjoy my time with this, and I don't think I'll be pursuing much post-game content. the online is pretty solid but the gameplay is still too dry to make me want to invest a lot of time into it. I'll keep trying here and there but I'm about ready to move on to better games. I'm sorely disappointed with the quality of this game and wish that the teams here had been able to pull of something more interesting with these ideas.
+the individual ideas here are interesting and I hope to see them in a game with better design eventually. I like how the thorn decouples playstyle from weapon selection and offers a bevy of different ways to deal with enemies ie grapple to parts to sever them, topple them, simply move around faster, drop healing trees, etc.
+the final boss design (at the end of CODE 7) I enjoyed, perhaps just because the monster (er, "abductor") selection up to then was so sparse. a very hectic fight but satisfying when finished
+there's a little bit of mission variety... so many of these positives are backhanded but I guess I did enjoy not only fighting the same abductors endlessly. the big one is citizen reclamation, which I like quite a bit. the AI is pretty good at escorting citizens when you wanna focus on fighting, and vice versa
+the AI overall is pretty good, they could be much worse than given here. they are not the brightest about dodging attacks but they are always quick to heal you and can wipe out enemies with ease
-the handling is stiff and cheap, with melee weapons in particular feeling uncomfortable to use and combo with. there's almost no weight to any movement the character makes, even when they're getting tossed around by enemies or doing a dodge-roll. the knockback from attacks is often straight up as well, placing you uncomfortably close to whatever hit you in the first place in many instances
-this game favors guns over melee outside of severing and downed enemies, and it makes the combat feel very lifeless. I spent maybe 80% of combat just running around spraying bullets waiting to soften up a component to sever or bide out time until an AI teammate decided to begin a dragdown
-there are too many mechanics in the game for the limited buttons on the device. I chose the sprinting-focused scheme, and thus had to press R+triangle while standing completely still to use items... if I wasn't completely still I would throw out my thorn instead
-as mentioned previously, the abductor selection is absurdly limited during the main campaign. from what I can remember this is only a standard biped, an artillery biped, a quadruped, a tiger, and a tarantula, and endless variations of these ie with a shield generator, with special resistances, with extra weapons, and so on. it's dull to fight the same things so many times, esp since the latter two appear more rarely
-arena variety is also extremely limited. they are small maps which reinforces the repetition, esp for the desert arena which I had to do repeated fights in all the way up through CODE 6. the few maps introduced later in the game barely show up at all for some reason (tho I didn't delve much into the special ops)
-the story itself is not great, which is really not surprising for an anime story grafted onto an action game like this. it's standard "you are the chosen one to bring around a Great Event" stuff with some faintly sketched side characters to jabber at you. this wouldn't really a detriment for me since it's part and parcel with playing a game like this, but you are forced to spend so much time in cutscenes, fetch quests, and godawful stealth sections to progress it rather than just having some text before ops or flavor text around town. there's no reason to walk around as many of the areas are identical, so instead you are forced to endlessly warp around to talk to different people until a new operation finally is given (or during CODE 2 esp just run around endlessly fetching materials, as fast travel is not unlocked at this point)
-the crafting and upgrade system takes real-time minutes to proceed (strike #1) and yields paltry items compared to most of the stuff you pick up until pretty late in the game (strike #3). the materials needed to craft also have sci-fi technobabble names that indicates little on how to get them especially since every harvest point on the map is a nondescript blue ball (tho there are tooltips for each material broadly explaining how they are obtained)
-minor quibbles: the game seemed inconsistent with how it would auto-refill combat items after battle (I dunno if this was an issue of mine or not), severing is more of a pain than it should be because of the mashing, enemies spawn on top of you frequently, as said previously the stealth sections are laughable, the pacing is terrible near the start of the game, once the hub opened up it felt like at least an hour of busywork until I unlocked an actual mission, having to replay the final three missions because I failed the final boss with so little of his health remaining really really really stung (thankfully I got it on attempt 2)
really did not enjoy my time with this, and I don't think I'll be pursuing much post-game content. the online is pretty solid but the gameplay is still too dry to make me want to invest a lot of time into it. I'll keep trying here and there but I'm about ready to move on to better games. I'm sorely disappointed with the quality of this game and wish that the teams here had been able to pull of something more interesting with these ideas.
2019
+lovely clear pixel art that is legible even at the fast speeds this game requires. the game is good at presenting a lot of visual information without there being clutter
+the game has a surreal tone similar to games like hotline miami and killer7, and it dripfeeds its secrets over the course of the short running time. each thread is taken care of, it never feels drawn out, and it manages to walk the tightrope between complete surreality and having a cohesive narrative that you can follow
+the ending as well is very distinctive, with a pseudo-cliffhanger as the hidden elements of the main character's life come into focus. it doesn't wrap up the game in a bow but it sets up a sequel while also giving a fitting end to Zero's arc
+the time traveling elements are well incorporated both into the narrative and the gameplay; this is the real selling point of the game imo. the slow-down ability is very generous and applicable to a wide variety of situations, and certain bosses and cutscenes take advantage of it and the ability to see the future/move back in time to great effect. it's hard to go into details without getting into spoiler territory but in a game like this that wears its influences on its sleeve this is the one set of tricks that I think were very well presented
-I could have done without some of the stealth sections, as they don't have very deep mechanics and slow the pace down quite a bit. this is really only an issue in the middle though
-towards the end the game starts running out of steam a bit, with few new ideas, some pretty bare areas, and a couple instances of unadorned rooms with waves of enemies coming out of doors
-insane control nitpick but having a fast fall, a downward aerial slash, and a landing roll clutters up the options when approaching from the air... I only bring this up because there were multiple times I was attempting something from the air and ended up, say, fast falling and sliding when I was attempting to just slash at a downward diagonal
there are other games in this style that get the job done better but this game certainly holds its own. it's a quick game that could easily be beaten in a single sitting, and it packs a lot of great content into that runtime. I'm looking forward to seeing the dlc that eventually comes out plus further works... a longer, more developed game in this style could be a lot of fun.
+the game has a surreal tone similar to games like hotline miami and killer7, and it dripfeeds its secrets over the course of the short running time. each thread is taken care of, it never feels drawn out, and it manages to walk the tightrope between complete surreality and having a cohesive narrative that you can follow
+the ending as well is very distinctive, with a pseudo-cliffhanger as the hidden elements of the main character's life come into focus. it doesn't wrap up the game in a bow but it sets up a sequel while also giving a fitting end to Zero's arc
+the time traveling elements are well incorporated both into the narrative and the gameplay; this is the real selling point of the game imo. the slow-down ability is very generous and applicable to a wide variety of situations, and certain bosses and cutscenes take advantage of it and the ability to see the future/move back in time to great effect. it's hard to go into details without getting into spoiler territory but in a game like this that wears its influences on its sleeve this is the one set of tricks that I think were very well presented
-I could have done without some of the stealth sections, as they don't have very deep mechanics and slow the pace down quite a bit. this is really only an issue in the middle though
-towards the end the game starts running out of steam a bit, with few new ideas, some pretty bare areas, and a couple instances of unadorned rooms with waves of enemies coming out of doors
-insane control nitpick but having a fast fall, a downward aerial slash, and a landing roll clutters up the options when approaching from the air... I only bring this up because there were multiple times I was attempting something from the air and ended up, say, fast falling and sliding when I was attempting to just slash at a downward diagonal
there are other games in this style that get the job done better but this game certainly holds its own. it's a quick game that could easily be beaten in a single sitting, and it packs a lot of great content into that runtime. I'm looking forward to seeing the dlc that eventually comes out plus further works... a longer, more developed game in this style could be a lot of fun.
1990
+platforming and handling is definitely ahead of most early genesis titles, thanks to tighter control, a light physics system, and the ability for chuck to flutter in the air to nail tight jumps. a particular touch I like is that when running off ledges, chuck does full cartooney coyote time where he continues to run on air before freaking out and attempting to get back
+some lovely fm synth tracks here, with no grating noises or what-not
+the amount of special items that can be used for buffs or special attacks at a moment's notice is smart, even if the implementation in a menu is a bit cumbersome. it would be interesting to see a version of this game with a 6-button controller to alleviate this
+boss design is much more forgiving overall than contemporaries, though a couple have truly frustrating projectiles.
+I was worried I would dislike the "find the important item in the third stage of each area to progress" gimmick, but it actually adds some much-needed spice. the item is usually out of the way but not too out of the way, and it encourages light exploration in a positive way
-throwing the head is a neat idea but you get it so rarely and lose it so quickly. would've made more sense to lose it on death instead of just getting hit once
-much to my surprise, there is persistance in the level objects, from breakable blocks to items to temporary platforms. this is good in some cases (keeping you from having to break through walls after dying or letting you know which item capsules you've already searched) but overall is a bit of a drawback. the big issue here is that later levels often require you to make your way on falling blocks across insta-death hazards, and after a certain number of retries you'll likely not have any of these platforms left. it also prevents you from getting heads, items, or most crucially health drops after you've found the boon once, making retries more taxing. while persistance would be great in a platformer this old, the implementation was not done well
-certain enemies just are not built for chuck to deal with, since you get no knockback on enemies when you hit them. there are multiple that both move fast and take multiple hits, and there's no good way to stop them in their tracks without expending items. on that note: the ghosts that hide in the item capsules are absolutely infuriating
it feels like basically every design choice in this game is novel or forward-thinking for the time but implemented in such a way that it detracts from the experience. it's a shame too, as the core design here is significantly better than most other genesis games of the time, and gives a non-sega flair to the action game scene on the system. it's definitely worth trying a couple levels, or messing around with the much cuter magical hat game that is similar to this in japan on the mega drive.
+some lovely fm synth tracks here, with no grating noises or what-not
+the amount of special items that can be used for buffs or special attacks at a moment's notice is smart, even if the implementation in a menu is a bit cumbersome. it would be interesting to see a version of this game with a 6-button controller to alleviate this
+boss design is much more forgiving overall than contemporaries, though a couple have truly frustrating projectiles.
+I was worried I would dislike the "find the important item in the third stage of each area to progress" gimmick, but it actually adds some much-needed spice. the item is usually out of the way but not too out of the way, and it encourages light exploration in a positive way
-throwing the head is a neat idea but you get it so rarely and lose it so quickly. would've made more sense to lose it on death instead of just getting hit once
-much to my surprise, there is persistance in the level objects, from breakable blocks to items to temporary platforms. this is good in some cases (keeping you from having to break through walls after dying or letting you know which item capsules you've already searched) but overall is a bit of a drawback. the big issue here is that later levels often require you to make your way on falling blocks across insta-death hazards, and after a certain number of retries you'll likely not have any of these platforms left. it also prevents you from getting heads, items, or most crucially health drops after you've found the boon once, making retries more taxing. while persistance would be great in a platformer this old, the implementation was not done well
-certain enemies just are not built for chuck to deal with, since you get no knockback on enemies when you hit them. there are multiple that both move fast and take multiple hits, and there's no good way to stop them in their tracks without expending items. on that note: the ghosts that hide in the item capsules are absolutely infuriating
it feels like basically every design choice in this game is novel or forward-thinking for the time but implemented in such a way that it detracts from the experience. it's a shame too, as the core design here is significantly better than most other genesis games of the time, and gives a non-sega flair to the action game scene on the system. it's definitely worth trying a couple levels, or messing around with the much cuter magical hat game that is similar to this in japan on the mega drive.
2021
where I marked this as completed: after beating thunder serpent narwa. I'm past chameleos at the point of writing this review, and I'll absolutely be continuing on from here
+the big focus here from my perspective is improving the speed of quests, and by all means the developers succeeded here. your new palamute companions significantly increase travel speed, and between-round tasks like sharpening and eating can be performed while riding them. I like this change quite a bit, it keeps everything moving along at a brisk pace when in an actual hunt
+maps are now designed with a dual philosophy in mind: streamlining hunts while also encouraging exploration. the maps here are much like the segmented maps from older titles (with sandy plains and flooded forest being lifted straight out of 3rd gen), with the intermediary sections where barriers used to be now being fully traversable. while you'll stick to the normal pathways on a hunt, when exploring or gathering the maps reveal a density to their design that isn't anywhere near as overwhelming as mhw
+I'm really glad they brought back the feudal japanese designs from portable 3rd here... in fact, this game is a bit of a reimagining of portable 3rd in a way. the returning monster selection is dominated by monsters featured in that game, and like I mentioned maps from that game reappear here as well. it's a nice set of designs to return to, esp since that game is over a decade old by this point
+the other returning monster selection is mainly those who appeared in mhw and mhwi, some of which have become significantly more interesting or dangerous (tobi-kadachi for example). other monsters like basarios, khezu, and mizutsune are perfect additions, esp mizutsune who afaik was a new addition to yukumo village in generations.... its so fun to fight here
+finally the new monsters are excellent fights, each and every one. it seems like this team likes fights that use lots of interesting projectile patterns or other unusual attacks, like magnamalo's exploding mist and spinning piledriver. without question these are some of the most dynamic and interesting fights I've played in the series thus far
+being able to use the village quests to progress in hunter rank is a sorely needed change, esp with the return of separate village and hub quests. the license tests are a smart way to allow solo hunters to skip low rank, and that final license test with magnamalo, zinogre, and rathalos was extremely satisfying to conquer
+multiplayer overall has become very easy with this game thanks to join requests and public/private lobbies. being able to start a quest with join requests enabled is certainly less clunky then immediately plopping down an SOS request once the quest starts
+the farm stuff is still pretty sparse like it was in mhw, but they brought back palico expeditions which is a neat little addition. it's nice to pick up random parts for monsters this way without having to grind
+I much prefer the dango canteen and the spiribirds here to the canteen in mhw. I'd much rather get a flat +50 health/stam increase rather than selecting ingredients, and being able to explore a bit to up stats further is a nice way to encourage not running from point A to point B. you also retain your stat buffs after carting, which is much appreciated
+performance on switch is astounding to say the least. the last new title I played on switch was age of calamity, which had noticable framerate issues, and xenoblade chronicles DE wasn't exactly a technical showpiece either. this game runs at a smooth framerate with gorgeous graphics that, while definitely not "next gen", are still a worthy showcase for the switch's ability
+I haven't dived into any weapons beyond LS and GL here but the switchable abilities are quite nice here. the wirebug abilites are well-designed and I feel pushed to learn their strengths, and there are other "switch skills" unlocked in high rank as well
-because hunts have been sped up, I feel like there's some classic mh bits that I see extremely rarely now, such as monsters sleeping or limping away. part of this is because your palico lets you know when you can capture a bit before any indicator actually pops up, but there's still been hunts where I didn't capture and the death seemed to come out of nowhere
-rampage quests are solid overall (I prefer them to the older artillery fights) but they are not balanced for single player in the slightest... I solo'd a fair bit of high rank but I did not even bother trying for the mandatory rampages
-the control in this game is very clunky at points, as if the game is dropping inputs. I obv don't know the exact cause but it's almost like the input buffer is not active during certain times. this is esp annoying for me as a GL player, as if I begin holding the guard button too early after using an item or getting hit, I'll have to unpress and rehold to get it to actually take. I notice this a lot with dismounting the palamutes as well, and oh my god does it happen a lot with the radial menu.
-minor thing but as far as I can tell the game doesn't indicate when a monster is a gold, silver, or mini crown anymore. it lets you know if you've encountered a largest or smallest monster, but there's no way to see after a hunt if it was a particular crown unless you check your hunter's notes afterwards
-traversal is pretty janky at times with the wirebugs. wallrunning is stiff (sort of to be expected), and I would much rather the game let the character drop once the stamina runs out rather than automatically jumping. not an issue during the hunts tho, just when exploring
-the apex monsters are neat but you have to play rather far into the game to actually unlock their solo quests, especially for ratholos/diablos/zinogre which don't unlock until after valstrax, which itself isn't unlocked until HR 100
couldn't resist picking this up after playing world and oh my god have I been unable to stop playing it. this to me is a properly modernized monster hunter, with the hunts themselves streamlined significantly and extra care taken to include new and interesting combat mechanics. there's an argument to be made that the series has been made somewhat soulless with these changes to the formula, but personally I think they've more than made up for it with the sheer variety of interesting combos, builds, monsters, and mechanics here. there's also been a steady stream of content (thankfully I started after a nice amount of content had already been added) so I'm sure I'll stay with this game quite some time, if only to mow through hunts with friends.
+the big focus here from my perspective is improving the speed of quests, and by all means the developers succeeded here. your new palamute companions significantly increase travel speed, and between-round tasks like sharpening and eating can be performed while riding them. I like this change quite a bit, it keeps everything moving along at a brisk pace when in an actual hunt
+maps are now designed with a dual philosophy in mind: streamlining hunts while also encouraging exploration. the maps here are much like the segmented maps from older titles (with sandy plains and flooded forest being lifted straight out of 3rd gen), with the intermediary sections where barriers used to be now being fully traversable. while you'll stick to the normal pathways on a hunt, when exploring or gathering the maps reveal a density to their design that isn't anywhere near as overwhelming as mhw
+I'm really glad they brought back the feudal japanese designs from portable 3rd here... in fact, this game is a bit of a reimagining of portable 3rd in a way. the returning monster selection is dominated by monsters featured in that game, and like I mentioned maps from that game reappear here as well. it's a nice set of designs to return to, esp since that game is over a decade old by this point
+the other returning monster selection is mainly those who appeared in mhw and mhwi, some of which have become significantly more interesting or dangerous (tobi-kadachi for example). other monsters like basarios, khezu, and mizutsune are perfect additions, esp mizutsune who afaik was a new addition to yukumo village in generations.... its so fun to fight here
+finally the new monsters are excellent fights, each and every one. it seems like this team likes fights that use lots of interesting projectile patterns or other unusual attacks, like magnamalo's exploding mist and spinning piledriver. without question these are some of the most dynamic and interesting fights I've played in the series thus far
+being able to use the village quests to progress in hunter rank is a sorely needed change, esp with the return of separate village and hub quests. the license tests are a smart way to allow solo hunters to skip low rank, and that final license test with magnamalo, zinogre, and rathalos was extremely satisfying to conquer
+multiplayer overall has become very easy with this game thanks to join requests and public/private lobbies. being able to start a quest with join requests enabled is certainly less clunky then immediately plopping down an SOS request once the quest starts
+the farm stuff is still pretty sparse like it was in mhw, but they brought back palico expeditions which is a neat little addition. it's nice to pick up random parts for monsters this way without having to grind
+I much prefer the dango canteen and the spiribirds here to the canteen in mhw. I'd much rather get a flat +50 health/stam increase rather than selecting ingredients, and being able to explore a bit to up stats further is a nice way to encourage not running from point A to point B. you also retain your stat buffs after carting, which is much appreciated
+performance on switch is astounding to say the least. the last new title I played on switch was age of calamity, which had noticable framerate issues, and xenoblade chronicles DE wasn't exactly a technical showpiece either. this game runs at a smooth framerate with gorgeous graphics that, while definitely not "next gen", are still a worthy showcase for the switch's ability
+I haven't dived into any weapons beyond LS and GL here but the switchable abilities are quite nice here. the wirebug abilites are well-designed and I feel pushed to learn their strengths, and there are other "switch skills" unlocked in high rank as well
-because hunts have been sped up, I feel like there's some classic mh bits that I see extremely rarely now, such as monsters sleeping or limping away. part of this is because your palico lets you know when you can capture a bit before any indicator actually pops up, but there's still been hunts where I didn't capture and the death seemed to come out of nowhere
-rampage quests are solid overall (I prefer them to the older artillery fights) but they are not balanced for single player in the slightest... I solo'd a fair bit of high rank but I did not even bother trying for the mandatory rampages
-the control in this game is very clunky at points, as if the game is dropping inputs. I obv don't know the exact cause but it's almost like the input buffer is not active during certain times. this is esp annoying for me as a GL player, as if I begin holding the guard button too early after using an item or getting hit, I'll have to unpress and rehold to get it to actually take. I notice this a lot with dismounting the palamutes as well, and oh my god does it happen a lot with the radial menu.
-minor thing but as far as I can tell the game doesn't indicate when a monster is a gold, silver, or mini crown anymore. it lets you know if you've encountered a largest or smallest monster, but there's no way to see after a hunt if it was a particular crown unless you check your hunter's notes afterwards
-traversal is pretty janky at times with the wirebugs. wallrunning is stiff (sort of to be expected), and I would much rather the game let the character drop once the stamina runs out rather than automatically jumping. not an issue during the hunts tho, just when exploring
-the apex monsters are neat but you have to play rather far into the game to actually unlock their solo quests, especially for ratholos/diablos/zinogre which don't unlock until after valstrax, which itself isn't unlocked until HR 100
couldn't resist picking this up after playing world and oh my god have I been unable to stop playing it. this to me is a properly modernized monster hunter, with the hunts themselves streamlined significantly and extra care taken to include new and interesting combat mechanics. there's an argument to be made that the series has been made somewhat soulless with these changes to the formula, but personally I think they've more than made up for it with the sheer variety of interesting combos, builds, monsters, and mechanics here. there's also been a steady stream of content (thankfully I started after a nice amount of content had already been added) so I'm sure I'll stay with this game quite some time, if only to mow through hunts with friends.
2018
absolutely top-notch gameplay and design here, cementing this as a modern classic for "maso-core" platformers. virtually anyone interested in making games could take notes from both the quality of the design and maddy thorson's personal notes on mechanics in the game. within the simple jump/dash control scheme is a rich collection of level gimmicks that seem to only get more creative as the game goes on. even usually-frustrating ideas like "wind pushing you back" bear some particularly tasty fruit here thanks to the sensible scaling of the difficulty. just getting through the stages will be difficult enough on a first try, and on replays there's a wealth of completely-optional strawberries to collect for those who want the bragging rights. there's also a b-side (and a c-side!) to each level that ratches up the difficulty significantly, as well as a post-game area and a very long dlc chapter... there's so much here for those who want to really dive into the mechanics. I personally had my fill after beating the regular b-sides (I didn't care to collect the hidden hearts to get to the core b-side) and managed to sink a little over 20 hours into the game. not bad for a game that runs at seven hours flat from the start to the credits.
as for the other aspects of the game, the highlight definitely has to be the art and sound design. the music is quite good (especially some of the remixes) and the SFX give a nice weight to madeline's actions. the design of each stage is gorgeous as well, and I can safely say this is some of the best pixel art in modern indie titles. where the game falls flat for me is with the story, as it's a rather shallow tale of overcoming mental illness that prefers sentimentality over fleshing out any of the characters. there are some bright spots, such as the panic attack minigame where you attempt to breathe in and out by keeping a feather floating, but overall it's not very interesting beyond its surface-level themes. it's not a major stumbling block to the game by any means though, and skipping cutscenes is a smooth process (it has to be for speedruns! which this game takes very seriously). I would happily come back and run these levels again anytime though, as it's such an easy game to pick up and play for half an hour.
as for the other aspects of the game, the highlight definitely has to be the art and sound design. the music is quite good (especially some of the remixes) and the SFX give a nice weight to madeline's actions. the design of each stage is gorgeous as well, and I can safely say this is some of the best pixel art in modern indie titles. where the game falls flat for me is with the story, as it's a rather shallow tale of overcoming mental illness that prefers sentimentality over fleshing out any of the characters. there are some bright spots, such as the panic attack minigame where you attempt to breathe in and out by keeping a feather floating, but overall it's not very interesting beyond its surface-level themes. it's not a major stumbling block to the game by any means though, and skipping cutscenes is a smooth process (it has to be for speedruns! which this game takes very seriously). I would happily come back and run these levels again anytime though, as it's such an easy game to pick up and play for half an hour.
+insanely fast-paced, violent combat with a distinct platinum refinement to it
+making parries the main defensive option gives the combat a particularly aggressive bent, while still avoiding completely being a hack and slash
+the blade mode ability plus being able to get a full heal off of any enemy by ripping their artificial heart fucking rules, feels so satisfying
+even though it's not a proper kojima game they do a solid job making it "feel" like kojima's writing and incorporating metal gear lore/design
+excellent boss fights for the majority of the game, and they're usually pretty forgiving with the health pickups as well making learning each bosses' patterns less frustrating
+I sort of like the stealth honestly, I wish the radius for taking down an enemy was a little wider given how touchy the controls are but otherwise it's nice to approach certain areas this way with little penalty if you fail
+other than normal goons being cannon fodder as one would expect, many of the enemies are legitimately dangerous and it keeps the combat fresh late into the game
+this is a very setpiece-heavy game and it reminds me quite a bit of similar games from the generation before, one of the last of its kind for sure
+60fps on ps3.... this is so huge. obviously it's not perfect by any means but playing a ps3 action game actually running at 60 fps most of the time was shocking to me
+I honestly enjoy the story; even though it's all over the place it's a lot of fun and relatively cogent (especially considering the game it's a sequel to). it doesn't have time to explore some of its themes deeply but it really does try, which is a very important aspect of an mgs game imo
+definitely a platinum thing but I appreciate how this game both has a solid combo system and also makes it very acceptable to mash buttons. usually you can't have both and it's nice to see this game make it work
+so many off-the-wall insane cutscenes and sequences, they really cranked it up to 11 in ridiculousness. mariachi raiden...
+the ninja run sections are cute, I much prefer those to the random QTEs in bayonetta lol
-the camera is absolutely absymal, shockingly bad considering platinum's other work. an over-the-shoulder perspective just doesn't work for these kind of games, obscuring much of the screen with raiden esp when he's moving towards the camera, and the camera otherwise is prone to jittering and jumping inconveniently
-the second half of the game seems rushed, with two boss repeats, a 15-minute long chapter where you run through a previous area backwards, and very little in the way of regular combat sequences with a lot of cutscenes instead. thankfully the file 6 boss is an excellent fight
-enemy variety could be a little better... not that big of a deal because the game isn't very long
-I know he's a fan favorite and I loooooved his cutscenes but the armstrong fight was exceedingly frustrating on hard. it feels too focused on running willy nilly around the arena dodging his AoE moves without rewarding parries like the other bosses do, and fighting the camera the whole time doesn't help. most of the damage is dealt in QTE sequences which is a bad look imo, whereas on hard he can easily take out 2/3 of a health bar at once, or even instant death if he gets a wall-bounce during the flame walls section, esp since I had no reserve nanopaste. I could go on and on, and admittedly the fight was cake once nanopaste started dropping part of the way through, but this was such a difficulty spike after the previous bosses taking no more than 2 tries apiece (other than sundowner), I probably spent upwards of 20 continues here
-tutorials are pretty shoddy, and it really could use a more thorough explanation of Offensive Defense's properties especially since it's virtually mandatory for the second-to-final boss
-I could do without so many analog stick rotation QTEs, I hate having to put my palm on the stick over and over again, especially against the fucking mantiff enemies
for the first half especially I adored this game, and even though the second half left a sour taste in my mouth I still feel like this is an essential modern action game to try whether you're a metal gear fan or not. having played both zone of the enders 2nd runner and no more heroes 2 in the last month I'm given flashbacks to both of them in a positive way, and it's made me want to get back into playing platinum's oeuvre, esp since designer takahisa taura's ideas here seem to have leaked into nier automata and astral chain in some ways. also without question a must-own for ps3 owners given its excellent performance and metal gear ties
+making parries the main defensive option gives the combat a particularly aggressive bent, while still avoiding completely being a hack and slash
+the blade mode ability plus being able to get a full heal off of any enemy by ripping their artificial heart fucking rules, feels so satisfying
+even though it's not a proper kojima game they do a solid job making it "feel" like kojima's writing and incorporating metal gear lore/design
+excellent boss fights for the majority of the game, and they're usually pretty forgiving with the health pickups as well making learning each bosses' patterns less frustrating
+I sort of like the stealth honestly, I wish the radius for taking down an enemy was a little wider given how touchy the controls are but otherwise it's nice to approach certain areas this way with little penalty if you fail
+other than normal goons being cannon fodder as one would expect, many of the enemies are legitimately dangerous and it keeps the combat fresh late into the game
+this is a very setpiece-heavy game and it reminds me quite a bit of similar games from the generation before, one of the last of its kind for sure
+60fps on ps3.... this is so huge. obviously it's not perfect by any means but playing a ps3 action game actually running at 60 fps most of the time was shocking to me
+I honestly enjoy the story; even though it's all over the place it's a lot of fun and relatively cogent (especially considering the game it's a sequel to). it doesn't have time to explore some of its themes deeply but it really does try, which is a very important aspect of an mgs game imo
+definitely a platinum thing but I appreciate how this game both has a solid combo system and also makes it very acceptable to mash buttons. usually you can't have both and it's nice to see this game make it work
+so many off-the-wall insane cutscenes and sequences, they really cranked it up to 11 in ridiculousness. mariachi raiden...
+the ninja run sections are cute, I much prefer those to the random QTEs in bayonetta lol
-the camera is absolutely absymal, shockingly bad considering platinum's other work. an over-the-shoulder perspective just doesn't work for these kind of games, obscuring much of the screen with raiden esp when he's moving towards the camera, and the camera otherwise is prone to jittering and jumping inconveniently
-the second half of the game seems rushed, with two boss repeats, a 15-minute long chapter where you run through a previous area backwards, and very little in the way of regular combat sequences with a lot of cutscenes instead. thankfully the file 6 boss is an excellent fight
-enemy variety could be a little better... not that big of a deal because the game isn't very long
-I know he's a fan favorite and I loooooved his cutscenes but the armstrong fight was exceedingly frustrating on hard. it feels too focused on running willy nilly around the arena dodging his AoE moves without rewarding parries like the other bosses do, and fighting the camera the whole time doesn't help. most of the damage is dealt in QTE sequences which is a bad look imo, whereas on hard he can easily take out 2/3 of a health bar at once, or even instant death if he gets a wall-bounce during the flame walls section, esp since I had no reserve nanopaste. I could go on and on, and admittedly the fight was cake once nanopaste started dropping part of the way through, but this was such a difficulty spike after the previous bosses taking no more than 2 tries apiece (other than sundowner), I probably spent upwards of 20 continues here
-tutorials are pretty shoddy, and it really could use a more thorough explanation of Offensive Defense's properties especially since it's virtually mandatory for the second-to-final boss
-I could do without so many analog stick rotation QTEs, I hate having to put my palm on the stick over and over again, especially against the fucking mantiff enemies
for the first half especially I adored this game, and even though the second half left a sour taste in my mouth I still feel like this is an essential modern action game to try whether you're a metal gear fan or not. having played both zone of the enders 2nd runner and no more heroes 2 in the last month I'm given flashbacks to both of them in a positive way, and it's made me want to get back into playing platinum's oeuvre, esp since designer takahisa taura's ideas here seem to have leaked into nier automata and astral chain in some ways. also without question a must-own for ps3 owners given its excellent performance and metal gear ties
where I stopped: right after beating xeno'jiiva. sort of straightforward... but I haven't done anything past that as of the time of this review. I'll come back for sure, though maybe not until I buy iceborne
+the overall changes to the feel of combat and esp the movesets of the weapons are much appreciated. the added fluidity makes aggressive (well, sloppy aggressive) play more viable, and from the few weapons I've used the updates are well-thought out for how they affect playstyles
+I have divided opinions on the changes to the quest progression but I really do appreciate that high rank is fully incorporated into the storyline. the game is very smart about how it gently nudges you towards building your equipment to match whatever the current main quests demand as well
+investigations are an absolute godsend for the grind, they're extremely handy. combined with the lucky vouchers, it makes building armor sets and weapon lines feel like less of a chore
+there's still a nice chunk of people playing this online on ps4, and it seems very easy to hop into a session or respond to an SOS call. it's still best to play with friends, but jumping in with random people isn't bad at all
+incredibly animation on the monsters... not new to this game, but it really shines here I think. the hitboxes are also much more reasonable than previous games, and rolling between a monster's legs never gets old here
+as I've played p3rd high rank, it's become increasingly apparent to me how annoying non-target large monsters are in a hunt. here monsters will properly fight each other and can deal some massive damage; leading your target hunt to another monster that can soften it up for you is a legit mechanic here, and nets you nice research points as well
+I really appreciate all of the QoL tweaks they made here, specifically with how items work. there's no way they could lock you down when using items since you can't run to a different area to take a break, so I appreciate them making that change. removing pickaxes/nets is a relief as well as making whetstone infinite: those items were easy to come by past the intro of the other games already, so having to manage them was more of a formality than anything in previous games
+vigorwasps are a great mechanic imo. I don't mind just getting free heals in the older games ofc, but making the heals items that you have to actually reach in the field gives a nice risk/reward bent to it
+the difficulty scaling for quests based on the amount of players was desperately needed imo, soloing guild quests in older games felt great but I also like knowing I can jump into a random quest solo and my damage output will be appropriate for the difficulty. this is esp true now that patches have added a two-player autobalancing option instead of just solo/multi balancing
-the camera is horrid, especially when locked-on. the monster movement is simply too dynamic and the lock-on is too choppy to use
-compounding the above, whenever you're stuck in a tight space with a monster the game becomes very frustrating. the game has the capability to zoom out the action when a turf war happens... why can't it do it in normal battle as well? I would rather my character be small then have to sit with my shield up indefinitely while I wait to find an angle where the camera isn't stuck inside the monster
-the reason for these tight spaces is ofc the level design, which can be very very confusing at first thanks to how big each of the areas are and how many tiny pathways, hallways, and dead ends there are. the worst offender is ancient forest for sure; as the starting area they probably should have made the layout cleaner, as I got lost there many many times even late into the game (I couldn't even find the camp at the top of the area until a tailrider led me there)
-there's a lot of random running around that I'm not really a fan of, especially early on when you don't have a good grasp on where monsters spawn and your research level isn't high enough to instantly spot them on the map. feels like typical open-world padding... esp since it's built into the main story. why not just tell me what monster I'm going to need to fight instead of making me go on an expedition, run into a cutscene trigger, and then get the quest to deal with the monster
-the multiplayer is unbearable when trying to do the story missions. my gf and I attempted this for a bit and got tired fast, as you have to first enter the quest individually, each play until you hit the cutscene trigger, return from quest, and then post the quest again so you can both join (or one person uses an SOS request and the other person leaves and hops into their game). way too much of a pain
-scoutflies are useful when they work but are far too persnickety. it's very frustrating for them to disappear when small monsters aggro you (esp since it takes a while for the state to wear off even after you run away), as it can be near-impossible to tell where to go without them.
-I lauded the animation earlier but there's definitely some odd characteristics here and there with how the monsters move and attack. even in offline monsters will occasionally jerk around or suddenly feel like they're moving at double speed for no reason. there's also some other odd things, like barroth's mud just appearing next to it when it shakes it off instead of having an animation of flying off and adhering to the ground like in the older games
I think I had a worse time than I should've with this game thanks to how long I convinced myself to play longsword. I think sunk cost fallacy kept me going far past the point where I should've stopped, and I ended up having to switch to gunlance at the back quarter of the game after already beating nergigante when I realized that I'm so much worse at this game playing a dodge-heavy weapon like that. I'm really grateful this game exists to help ease new players in, as I would have struggled tremendously hopping into the old ones without the knowledge I gained here. on the other hand, there's a lot of growing pains here from the switch to a new engine, and it's a detriment to the experience in some ways. still, it's a next-gen monster hunter, and it's so cheap now too; I definitely think I made the right choice by picking this up at a whim
+the overall changes to the feel of combat and esp the movesets of the weapons are much appreciated. the added fluidity makes aggressive (well, sloppy aggressive) play more viable, and from the few weapons I've used the updates are well-thought out for how they affect playstyles
+I have divided opinions on the changes to the quest progression but I really do appreciate that high rank is fully incorporated into the storyline. the game is very smart about how it gently nudges you towards building your equipment to match whatever the current main quests demand as well
+investigations are an absolute godsend for the grind, they're extremely handy. combined with the lucky vouchers, it makes building armor sets and weapon lines feel like less of a chore
+there's still a nice chunk of people playing this online on ps4, and it seems very easy to hop into a session or respond to an SOS call. it's still best to play with friends, but jumping in with random people isn't bad at all
+incredibly animation on the monsters... not new to this game, but it really shines here I think. the hitboxes are also much more reasonable than previous games, and rolling between a monster's legs never gets old here
+as I've played p3rd high rank, it's become increasingly apparent to me how annoying non-target large monsters are in a hunt. here monsters will properly fight each other and can deal some massive damage; leading your target hunt to another monster that can soften it up for you is a legit mechanic here, and nets you nice research points as well
+I really appreciate all of the QoL tweaks they made here, specifically with how items work. there's no way they could lock you down when using items since you can't run to a different area to take a break, so I appreciate them making that change. removing pickaxes/nets is a relief as well as making whetstone infinite: those items were easy to come by past the intro of the other games already, so having to manage them was more of a formality than anything in previous games
+vigorwasps are a great mechanic imo. I don't mind just getting free heals in the older games ofc, but making the heals items that you have to actually reach in the field gives a nice risk/reward bent to it
+the difficulty scaling for quests based on the amount of players was desperately needed imo, soloing guild quests in older games felt great but I also like knowing I can jump into a random quest solo and my damage output will be appropriate for the difficulty. this is esp true now that patches have added a two-player autobalancing option instead of just solo/multi balancing
-the camera is horrid, especially when locked-on. the monster movement is simply too dynamic and the lock-on is too choppy to use
-compounding the above, whenever you're stuck in a tight space with a monster the game becomes very frustrating. the game has the capability to zoom out the action when a turf war happens... why can't it do it in normal battle as well? I would rather my character be small then have to sit with my shield up indefinitely while I wait to find an angle where the camera isn't stuck inside the monster
-the reason for these tight spaces is ofc the level design, which can be very very confusing at first thanks to how big each of the areas are and how many tiny pathways, hallways, and dead ends there are. the worst offender is ancient forest for sure; as the starting area they probably should have made the layout cleaner, as I got lost there many many times even late into the game (I couldn't even find the camp at the top of the area until a tailrider led me there)
-there's a lot of random running around that I'm not really a fan of, especially early on when you don't have a good grasp on where monsters spawn and your research level isn't high enough to instantly spot them on the map. feels like typical open-world padding... esp since it's built into the main story. why not just tell me what monster I'm going to need to fight instead of making me go on an expedition, run into a cutscene trigger, and then get the quest to deal with the monster
-the multiplayer is unbearable when trying to do the story missions. my gf and I attempted this for a bit and got tired fast, as you have to first enter the quest individually, each play until you hit the cutscene trigger, return from quest, and then post the quest again so you can both join (or one person uses an SOS request and the other person leaves and hops into their game). way too much of a pain
-scoutflies are useful when they work but are far too persnickety. it's very frustrating for them to disappear when small monsters aggro you (esp since it takes a while for the state to wear off even after you run away), as it can be near-impossible to tell where to go without them.
-I lauded the animation earlier but there's definitely some odd characteristics here and there with how the monsters move and attack. even in offline monsters will occasionally jerk around or suddenly feel like they're moving at double speed for no reason. there's also some other odd things, like barroth's mud just appearing next to it when it shakes it off instead of having an animation of flying off and adhering to the ground like in the older games
I think I had a worse time than I should've with this game thanks to how long I convinced myself to play longsword. I think sunk cost fallacy kept me going far past the point where I should've stopped, and I ended up having to switch to gunlance at the back quarter of the game after already beating nergigante when I realized that I'm so much worse at this game playing a dodge-heavy weapon like that. I'm really grateful this game exists to help ease new players in, as I would have struggled tremendously hopping into the old ones without the knowledge I gained here. on the other hand, there's a lot of growing pains here from the switch to a new engine, and it's a detriment to the experience in some ways. still, it's a next-gen monster hunter, and it's so cheap now too; I definitely think I made the right choice by picking this up at a whim
I actually played up to the final level back in 2019 and then dropped back in today to try to clean out some unfinished games before the new year... so I don't really remember what it was like playing through the majority of this game. what I do know is that it's a solid mega man descendent that's loaded with many interlocking mechanics and lots of Anime, and if you're into either of those you'll probably enjoy this. combat revolves around gunvolt's flashfield mechanic, which causes AoE damage as well as targeted homing damage if an enemy has been tagged. the number of tags that can be assigned at once varies on the weapon, and the weapon can be switched on the fly to adapt to the current scenario. gunvolt can also tank damage with the prevasion system, which can absorb attacks using the EP meter that is used for the flashfield when the field isn't out. and then there's another meter (SP) that's used for a variety of special attacks that can be tied to the right stick, and then there's crafting, and randomized material drops, and rankings, and etc. etc. etc... it's really meant for an audience that wants a lot of customizability and is willing to go for top-level ranks. the game is pretty beginner-friendly though, with generous checkpoints and reheals upon death. if you're not willing to invest time into the grind both for crafting and to improve times on each stage, you won't be able to wring out this game's full potential, and I'm sad to say I'm one of those people. given the price though, a five-hour game is totally fine for me, and the content that's here I definitely enjoyed.
the main stuff I played today: I tried out the first level and quickly was reminded how dull the starting missions in this game are, it's a lot of just running right and taking on groups of copy-pasted enemies. that level in particular has moving platforms that you have to wait for... really not my favorite mechanic. the middle stages from what I remember have more interesting gimmicks and more verticality as well, and all of the bosses were solid from what I remember. from there I proceeded to the final boss, which is a solid little two-phase fight. if there's anything I really appreciate about the flashfield mechanic, it's that it allows you to shift to a defensive mindset once tags are set and focus on avoiding projectiles. retrying the fight over and over again forced me to monitor my EP usage carefully to tank damage when needed as well as maximize damage output. it gets hairy with some of the instant kills that the second phase has access to however... I fell to my death multiple times because I happened to be in the air when the wind gust attack occurred, and there's another instant kill mechanic to that fight towards the end that got me once. once finished, I got a quick cutscene with an atrocious ending and then had to sit through the final credits to discover that I needed to collect hidden gems in each level to access the true ending, and it looks like I won't be doing that anytime soon since I want to move onto other games.
rambly review but I don't have many cohesive thoughts on this game. tldr good run-and-gun game, rough around the edges, lots of mechanics, good for those who want lots of replayability. also the graphics are scuffed since they're up-res'd from 3DS, but ymmv if that's an issue for you (I played this on switch through the collection).
the main stuff I played today: I tried out the first level and quickly was reminded how dull the starting missions in this game are, it's a lot of just running right and taking on groups of copy-pasted enemies. that level in particular has moving platforms that you have to wait for... really not my favorite mechanic. the middle stages from what I remember have more interesting gimmicks and more verticality as well, and all of the bosses were solid from what I remember. from there I proceeded to the final boss, which is a solid little two-phase fight. if there's anything I really appreciate about the flashfield mechanic, it's that it allows you to shift to a defensive mindset once tags are set and focus on avoiding projectiles. retrying the fight over and over again forced me to monitor my EP usage carefully to tank damage when needed as well as maximize damage output. it gets hairy with some of the instant kills that the second phase has access to however... I fell to my death multiple times because I happened to be in the air when the wind gust attack occurred, and there's another instant kill mechanic to that fight towards the end that got me once. once finished, I got a quick cutscene with an atrocious ending and then had to sit through the final credits to discover that I needed to collect hidden gems in each level to access the true ending, and it looks like I won't be doing that anytime soon since I want to move onto other games.
rambly review but I don't have many cohesive thoughts on this game. tldr good run-and-gun game, rough around the edges, lots of mechanics, good for those who want lots of replayability. also the graphics are scuffed since they're up-res'd from 3DS, but ymmv if that's an issue for you (I played this on switch through the collection).
+the combat feels so tactile on a touch-screen in a way that transforms the usual square enix action rpg mashing into something more interesting thanks to the many different gestures involved in each ability you acquire. neku also automatically pulls towards whatever you're attacking (for melee attacks anyway), which makes his movement much more fluid
+I'm not going to pretend like the story makes complete sense but it's really good overall! the characters are relatively nuanced and develop as the game goes on, and the pacing is quick enough that you never feel trapped in a sequence you don't care about. mysteries unfold at a nice clip over the course of the game, up until literally the final minutes
+art design is tremendous overall, both for the characters and the world. I love how shibuya's buildings seem to flex and bend as you move; the whole game has a weird super scaler type feel
+music as well, it almost all has vocals shockingly enough and has a great shibuya-kei bent to it, much like jet set radio. in fact, if there was a "jet set radio" rpg it would probably feel like this
+I went back and forth on how I felt about the top-screen fighter, and ultimately I think it's an overall plus for the game. it knows well enough that in most cases you're just going to ignore the top screen, and so you get a selection of AI choices that get the job done. however, you can attack much faster than the AI can, and the AI tends not to block, so in certain battles it's good to handle some of the inputs yourself while letting neku dash-dodge like crazy on the bottom screen. where the game really succeeds is once you finally get enough moves for the partner to do their own thing while you handle jumping and blocking, as well as certain boss fights that make it clear when to shift your focus between the two screens. effectively pulling off a fight like that feels so good
+obv there's some kingdom hearts-esque grinding at play, but the game handles this rather nicely. you can switch your difficulty in the menu at any time, which effects not only damage output/exp gain/pin point gain but also changes the drop rates for given materials, meaning you can use easy to grind for certain materials you need (while also chaining battles together to speed up the process) and then switch to a harder difficulty to grind levels
+since each shop is persistent in the world, you can grow your relationship with each clerk as the game goes on and expand the shop selections more and more, while also gaining new abilities for your wearables. a couple of them are even involved in the plot
+the reaper design rules, it's def got org xiii similiarities but everyone gets their own costume and you get to fight plenty of them as the game goes on. I also like how the walls to new areas are set up by reapers that you interact with, rather than in chain of memories where accessing new rooms was just a door.
+on that tangent, unlike in chain of memories there's virtually no real grinding to get past doors, since all of the requirements can be met in a matter of minutes easily. by the end of the game there's nothing blocking your progression between areas at all beyond random inescapable battles here and there
+enemy design is excellent. virtually every enemy has a unique set of abilities unshared by the rest that fall squarely outside of the usual archetypes for rpg baddies. it does a great job encouraging diversifying your deck in order to deal with any set of enemies that comes your way. boss design is also nearly uniformly interesting, with multiple making excellent use of the two screens and few of them feeling cookie-cutter in any way
-there's some QoL stuff that really could've been useful. a big one is that when you're buying clothes you're not able to see your stats (or if there was an option, I didn't see it), so it can be difficult to figure out if a particular thing is worth wearing
-the map is not great... like it looks cool but each area is labeled based on what brand is big there and not what the area is actually called. it also gives no indication of how to get to each place, which can be annoying at a few points in the game where you aren't basically on-rails
-I'd say the game is overall pretty evenly fun, but there definitely is a bit of a sag in the middle where you aren't fighting many new bosses and your goals are unclear. it's not that big of a deal, but it made me worry that the game had shoved all of its good ideas in the beginning, up until the back quarter where a lot happens pretty quickly and there's a lot of good boss fights
when I first started playing this I got a sinking feeling in my stomach... it quickly occurred to me that this was in many ways a spiritual successor to kingdom hearts chain of memories, a game I really really don't like. however, so much changed between that game and this one that while there's a lot of KH influence overall, this brings a lot of great ideas to the forefront and discards much of the poor design of those. I could keep listing things I loved playing this; it's such a rich concept for a video game and they really nailed the execution against all odds. I haven't dug into the post-game yet but plan to do so, and I'm really happy I played this in anticipation of the sequel coming out in just a few months.
+I'm not going to pretend like the story makes complete sense but it's really good overall! the characters are relatively nuanced and develop as the game goes on, and the pacing is quick enough that you never feel trapped in a sequence you don't care about. mysteries unfold at a nice clip over the course of the game, up until literally the final minutes
+art design is tremendous overall, both for the characters and the world. I love how shibuya's buildings seem to flex and bend as you move; the whole game has a weird super scaler type feel
+music as well, it almost all has vocals shockingly enough and has a great shibuya-kei bent to it, much like jet set radio. in fact, if there was a "jet set radio" rpg it would probably feel like this
+I went back and forth on how I felt about the top-screen fighter, and ultimately I think it's an overall plus for the game. it knows well enough that in most cases you're just going to ignore the top screen, and so you get a selection of AI choices that get the job done. however, you can attack much faster than the AI can, and the AI tends not to block, so in certain battles it's good to handle some of the inputs yourself while letting neku dash-dodge like crazy on the bottom screen. where the game really succeeds is once you finally get enough moves for the partner to do their own thing while you handle jumping and blocking, as well as certain boss fights that make it clear when to shift your focus between the two screens. effectively pulling off a fight like that feels so good
+obv there's some kingdom hearts-esque grinding at play, but the game handles this rather nicely. you can switch your difficulty in the menu at any time, which effects not only damage output/exp gain/pin point gain but also changes the drop rates for given materials, meaning you can use easy to grind for certain materials you need (while also chaining battles together to speed up the process) and then switch to a harder difficulty to grind levels
+since each shop is persistent in the world, you can grow your relationship with each clerk as the game goes on and expand the shop selections more and more, while also gaining new abilities for your wearables. a couple of them are even involved in the plot
+the reaper design rules, it's def got org xiii similiarities but everyone gets their own costume and you get to fight plenty of them as the game goes on. I also like how the walls to new areas are set up by reapers that you interact with, rather than in chain of memories where accessing new rooms was just a door.
+on that tangent, unlike in chain of memories there's virtually no real grinding to get past doors, since all of the requirements can be met in a matter of minutes easily. by the end of the game there's nothing blocking your progression between areas at all beyond random inescapable battles here and there
+enemy design is excellent. virtually every enemy has a unique set of abilities unshared by the rest that fall squarely outside of the usual archetypes for rpg baddies. it does a great job encouraging diversifying your deck in order to deal with any set of enemies that comes your way. boss design is also nearly uniformly interesting, with multiple making excellent use of the two screens and few of them feeling cookie-cutter in any way
-there's some QoL stuff that really could've been useful. a big one is that when you're buying clothes you're not able to see your stats (or if there was an option, I didn't see it), so it can be difficult to figure out if a particular thing is worth wearing
-the map is not great... like it looks cool but each area is labeled based on what brand is big there and not what the area is actually called. it also gives no indication of how to get to each place, which can be annoying at a few points in the game where you aren't basically on-rails
-I'd say the game is overall pretty evenly fun, but there definitely is a bit of a sag in the middle where you aren't fighting many new bosses and your goals are unclear. it's not that big of a deal, but it made me worry that the game had shoved all of its good ideas in the beginning, up until the back quarter where a lot happens pretty quickly and there's a lot of good boss fights
when I first started playing this I got a sinking feeling in my stomach... it quickly occurred to me that this was in many ways a spiritual successor to kingdom hearts chain of memories, a game I really really don't like. however, so much changed between that game and this one that while there's a lot of KH influence overall, this brings a lot of great ideas to the forefront and discards much of the poor design of those. I could keep listing things I loved playing this; it's such a rich concept for a video game and they really nailed the execution against all odds. I haven't dug into the post-game yet but plan to do so, and I'm really happy I played this in anticipation of the sequel coming out in just a few months.
2009
+given how limited the wii controls are they really nailed the amount of options the player has. granted, some of them tied to motion controls aren't precise (differentiating between vertical and horizontal slash is very poor) but these moves are optional anyway, and you still have plenty of both melee and chainsaw movies to pull off, as well as jumping attacks, a dodge (with a perfect dodge ability) and plenty of new weapons strewn throughout the stages.
+the score attack setting is perfect from a gameplay perspective to squeeze as much fun as you can out of each arena, and the drip feed of weapons, items, stage hazards, and bloodbath challenges give enough direction beyond just "kill until the boss appears." it helps that the stages have plenty of nooks and crannies as well
+bloodbath challenges are very satisfying; it was smart of them to lean into the minigame-friendly aspects of the wii to get huge score bonuses and further increase the carnage
+the overall difficulty is not anywhere near as high as a typical platinum game, which I imagine was done on purpose both to pull new players in as well as smooth over the wii's deficiencies as an action game platform. the dodge's i-frames are generous and deaths instantly respawn you right where you died (tho you only get a couple lives per stage)
+the game somehow leans into insanely-crass 00s culture in a way that isn't off-putting while also centering the story around themes of America's craving for violence and the decadence of the ruling classes. it helps that jrpg yasumi matsuno wrote the plot; I never expect much from action games like this but he really nailed it
-some of the QTEs are way too physically demanding, specifically the ones where you have to shake the wiimote and nunchuck. it really put me off of playing this game too often
-I don't necessarily mind the announcers but there isn't enough dialog for them to be always talking. you can easily hear the same exchange twice within two minutes
-this game really hurts from lack of camera control. the only option is a recenter button, which is also shared for lock-on (the lock-on is very poor)
-using in-game time this took me less than 3 hours to beat. I wasn't expecting a long game by any means, but it's really short
-the boss design is actually good but the main way of dealing damage to most of them is just executing a QTE sequence, and you generally have to do it a few times. would rather just fight the boss normally, maybe with a QTE sequence at the end
this game's framing and combat makes me imagine if no more heroes hadn't been a very small-scale project by a team not accustomed to action games. it's purposefully more relaxed than some of platinum's other output and was honestly a great debut for such a new developer, even if the sales didn't end up being great. the content has not aged well for a mainstream audience and the motion controls would need to be mapped to a controller somehow, but it would still be very cool if this got rereleased on modern platforms
+the score attack setting is perfect from a gameplay perspective to squeeze as much fun as you can out of each arena, and the drip feed of weapons, items, stage hazards, and bloodbath challenges give enough direction beyond just "kill until the boss appears." it helps that the stages have plenty of nooks and crannies as well
+bloodbath challenges are very satisfying; it was smart of them to lean into the minigame-friendly aspects of the wii to get huge score bonuses and further increase the carnage
+the overall difficulty is not anywhere near as high as a typical platinum game, which I imagine was done on purpose both to pull new players in as well as smooth over the wii's deficiencies as an action game platform. the dodge's i-frames are generous and deaths instantly respawn you right where you died (tho you only get a couple lives per stage)
+the game somehow leans into insanely-crass 00s culture in a way that isn't off-putting while also centering the story around themes of America's craving for violence and the decadence of the ruling classes. it helps that jrpg yasumi matsuno wrote the plot; I never expect much from action games like this but he really nailed it
-some of the QTEs are way too physically demanding, specifically the ones where you have to shake the wiimote and nunchuck. it really put me off of playing this game too often
-I don't necessarily mind the announcers but there isn't enough dialog for them to be always talking. you can easily hear the same exchange twice within two minutes
-this game really hurts from lack of camera control. the only option is a recenter button, which is also shared for lock-on (the lock-on is very poor)
-using in-game time this took me less than 3 hours to beat. I wasn't expecting a long game by any means, but it's really short
-the boss design is actually good but the main way of dealing damage to most of them is just executing a QTE sequence, and you generally have to do it a few times. would rather just fight the boss normally, maybe with a QTE sequence at the end
this game's framing and combat makes me imagine if no more heroes hadn't been a very small-scale project by a team not accustomed to action games. it's purposefully more relaxed than some of platinum's other output and was honestly a great debut for such a new developer, even if the sales didn't end up being great. the content has not aged well for a mainstream audience and the motion controls would need to be mapped to a controller somehow, but it would still be very cool if this got rereleased on modern platforms
2008
beautifully fantastic and creative the way that they create a whole unique mini-world for each minigame. on its own each minigame seems unassuming, especially in video clips or screenshots. as a whole tho, it makes the game feel like an unlimited toybox with new ideas every moment, and as the remixes scale up in difficulty an entirely more complex game is welded together from the individual minigames. something about the touch screen combines well with this model of rhythm game, possibly because actions like shaking maracas, strumming a guitar, or pounding a drum feel so much more tactile. it's not very long (tho will test your abilities quite a bit), but this is something I return to time and time again to get more superbs and perfects wherever I can.
1991
+coming back to this game now with more awareness of sega's history and development style makes me appreciate how sophisticatd the physics engine in this game is, and how much this was meant to be seen as an evolution of platforming game mechanics. sega has frequently used easy to learn yet hard to master momentum-based mechanics in their games (see daytona usa or jet set radio), and this is a prime example of those. where mario excelled at having tight, responsive controls, sonic tested the player's ability to understand weight and dynamics at high speeds
+I think systems like the rings giving players health pickups littered everywhere and the multiple pathways softening the blow of falling from an obstacle both greatly temper the difficulty and make the game much more approachable than its contemporaries
+gaining speed feels extremely rewarding in this game, often allowing you to skip otherwise dificult parts and roll through badniks all in a row
+the bosses are simplistic but feel more clever and more polished than the average platformer boss encounter from around this time (tho the labyrinth zone boss sucks lol)
+big fan of the faux flat-shaded polygon vibe that permeates the environment design in this game. it helps make the environments pop and lends a forward-thinking feeling to the game, marking its place as an essential 16-bit game
+of course I have to bring up the music, literally some of the best fm synth tunes ever. I had never played past spring yard zone before now yet felt like I knew every song by heart
-it's well known, but the design I gushed about above only applies to about half the game. marble and labyrinth zone are both tedious and slow as they're missing multiple pathways through the level having been replaced with obstacles that restrict player movement
-three acts per zone is too long, especially since the individual acts lack unique characteristics. thankfully this would be rectified in the sequels
-the absence of a spin dash is pretty noticable, and I found pressing down to roll at high speeds to be relatively unresponsive. there aren't even all that many points to fully take advantage of the mechanic anyway
-special stages are sort of an eh, it feels bad to give them that much shit considering how much more annoying the sonic 2 special stages are. they feel like a bit of a crapshoot, and having to save 50 rings until the end of the stage is pretty rough
-really lacking in setpieces compared to the later entries; I'll attribute this and some of the aforementioned issues to a lack of time. it seems like they spent most of the development working on the engine itself with the overlying game coming at the end
-green hill has a lot of famous graphical effects, most notably its lovely parallax scrolling, but many of the other levels are much flatter in comparison. star light zone has some spiffy parallax as well but on a much less interesting background with a foreground tileset that feels unfinished
I have a lot of respect for this game in retrospect, but it's hard to ignore how the heights of this game are brief and sandwiched by a lot of tepid design that brings it down. however, this has left me excited to play the later titles and reevaluate them as well, as I had very mixed experiences with these as a child playing them on gamecube. at the time I had not been introduced to emulators, which have made replaying these much more approachable with a better pad and infinite lives. ultimately, I would recommend at least playing through green hill zone to understand this game's success with translating arcade gameplay to home consoles, and then perhaps attempt the rest if you're feeling up to it.
+I think systems like the rings giving players health pickups littered everywhere and the multiple pathways softening the blow of falling from an obstacle both greatly temper the difficulty and make the game much more approachable than its contemporaries
+gaining speed feels extremely rewarding in this game, often allowing you to skip otherwise dificult parts and roll through badniks all in a row
+the bosses are simplistic but feel more clever and more polished than the average platformer boss encounter from around this time (tho the labyrinth zone boss sucks lol)
+big fan of the faux flat-shaded polygon vibe that permeates the environment design in this game. it helps make the environments pop and lends a forward-thinking feeling to the game, marking its place as an essential 16-bit game
+of course I have to bring up the music, literally some of the best fm synth tunes ever. I had never played past spring yard zone before now yet felt like I knew every song by heart
-it's well known, but the design I gushed about above only applies to about half the game. marble and labyrinth zone are both tedious and slow as they're missing multiple pathways through the level having been replaced with obstacles that restrict player movement
-three acts per zone is too long, especially since the individual acts lack unique characteristics. thankfully this would be rectified in the sequels
-the absence of a spin dash is pretty noticable, and I found pressing down to roll at high speeds to be relatively unresponsive. there aren't even all that many points to fully take advantage of the mechanic anyway
-special stages are sort of an eh, it feels bad to give them that much shit considering how much more annoying the sonic 2 special stages are. they feel like a bit of a crapshoot, and having to save 50 rings until the end of the stage is pretty rough
-really lacking in setpieces compared to the later entries; I'll attribute this and some of the aforementioned issues to a lack of time. it seems like they spent most of the development working on the engine itself with the overlying game coming at the end
-green hill has a lot of famous graphical effects, most notably its lovely parallax scrolling, but many of the other levels are much flatter in comparison. star light zone has some spiffy parallax as well but on a much less interesting background with a foreground tileset that feels unfinished
I have a lot of respect for this game in retrospect, but it's hard to ignore how the heights of this game are brief and sandwiched by a lot of tepid design that brings it down. however, this has left me excited to play the later titles and reevaluate them as well, as I had very mixed experiences with these as a child playing them on gamecube. at the time I had not been introduced to emulators, which have made replaying these much more approachable with a better pad and infinite lives. ultimately, I would recommend at least playing through green hill zone to understand this game's success with translating arcade gameplay to home consoles, and then perhaps attempt the rest if you're feeling up to it.
was actually enjoying this quite a bit split-screen with my gf but man we could just not put up with that framerate. I have a pretty strong stomach for that sort of thing but once I switched to fencer it really started chugging past my limits. we've already each ordered copies of 4.1 and are itching to get back into it, so I'm not really gonna hold the shoddy performance against this version of the game. after all, budget titles on ps3 always struggle; it comes with the territory.
my first 20 missions thoughts:
- I want more third-person shooters designed as wave shooters (was playing risk of rain 2 and I enjoyed it for the same reason). playing this after a bunch of cover shooters is so refreshing
- weapon variety is legit and meaningful. near limitless player expression even with the limited controls.
- games with advanced movement techniques that require repeitive execution are fun. javelin dash-canceling with fencer is too addictive; reminds me of backdashing around in sotn or jump-rolling everywhere in ys viii.
- enemies are actually fucking scary. it's so easy for them to take control of the battle and force you to retreat, and thus proper positioning and approach are rewarded in turn.
japanese jank will never die!!
my first 20 missions thoughts:
- I want more third-person shooters designed as wave shooters (was playing risk of rain 2 and I enjoyed it for the same reason). playing this after a bunch of cover shooters is so refreshing
- weapon variety is legit and meaningful. near limitless player expression even with the limited controls.
- games with advanced movement techniques that require repeitive execution are fun. javelin dash-canceling with fencer is too addictive; reminds me of backdashing around in sotn or jump-rolling everywhere in ys viii.
- enemies are actually fucking scary. it's so easy for them to take control of the battle and force you to retreat, and thus proper positioning and approach are rewarded in turn.
japanese jank will never die!!
2007
+perhaps the first game to really nail mario-style linear 2d challenges in a 3d environment
+very solid amount of content, a full 120 stars that each have their own distinct obstacles barring some challenge stars that require beating an earlier star under specific requirements
+I wouldn't classify this game as difficult by any means, but the endgame galaxies feel rewarding to beat rather than perfunctory
+the story is very sweet, totally optional but very much worth peeking at as chapters are unlocked over the course of the game
+art design, galaxy design, the modeling and graphic quality, everything here is a culmination of over a decade of standard def 3D development, and it shows. very few games on wii look better than this
+getting to play as luigi rules, though it takes quite a bit of time to get there
+gorgeous orchestral soundtrack, really bolsters the grandiose feel of the game
+the gravity mechanics throughout the game, both the specific gimmicks as well as the general feel of walking around the planets, is fantastic. possibly gaming's best representation of such mechanics
-the hub is a pretty steep drop from both 64 and sunshine in terms of secrets, though it's certainly passable
-the garbage minigame.... what a pain
at the top of a heap of already amazing games in the mario series. plays very well on switch too!
+very solid amount of content, a full 120 stars that each have their own distinct obstacles barring some challenge stars that require beating an earlier star under specific requirements
+I wouldn't classify this game as difficult by any means, but the endgame galaxies feel rewarding to beat rather than perfunctory
+the story is very sweet, totally optional but very much worth peeking at as chapters are unlocked over the course of the game
+art design, galaxy design, the modeling and graphic quality, everything here is a culmination of over a decade of standard def 3D development, and it shows. very few games on wii look better than this
+getting to play as luigi rules, though it takes quite a bit of time to get there
+gorgeous orchestral soundtrack, really bolsters the grandiose feel of the game
+the gravity mechanics throughout the game, both the specific gimmicks as well as the general feel of walking around the planets, is fantastic. possibly gaming's best representation of such mechanics
-the hub is a pretty steep drop from both 64 and sunshine in terms of secrets, though it's certainly passable
-the garbage minigame.... what a pain
at the top of a heap of already amazing games in the mario series. plays very well on switch too!
2001
+this almost certainly is the crowning game design success of sega's turn-of-the-millennium arcade output, both in how addicting the concept is and how strong the execution is
+because this is the first in the series, this one gets to horde all of the most pure ball-rolling puzzles that reward player control, where the later ones had to lean into gimmicks more
+the physics are so tight and the controls are equally precise, giving the game a steep yet rewarding difficulty curve
+amusement vision was a master of sega's cutting-edge proprietary arcade hardware, and that knowledge transitioned to their three gcn games. the fact that this is a launch game for the gcn and somehow one of its best looking titles is astounding
+the minigames are equally as engrossing, especially for parties. some of these (bowling and billiards specifically) were continuing to be the model for the equivalent yakuza minigames up through the mid 2010s
+if anything this indicates how well sega understood the mechanics of their own arcade games, and how well they could design challenges that require mastery of many different skills to overcome. so much nuance to rolling a ball around with a single joystick
-the beginner extra stages repeat through advanced and expert extra as well... minor nitpick, but they feel out of place in terms of difficulty
-the vast majority of players will never get to see much of expert mode (which contains over half of the stages in the game) due to the brutal difficulty. there's certainly plenty of more casual content, but it demands a lot in order to experience the game as intended
-a specific qualm I have related to the above is the difficulty curve of expert: I think the biggest hurdle for players are the levels from 15-25, with the rest of the 50 levels being more reasonable in what they expect. perhaps the level order should've been changed... again, a nitpick
toshihiro nagoshi has had so many successes as a director, and this one of his best. finally getting through master mode in this game was such a huge personal accomplishment after playing this game on and off since I was a child, and I would recommend taking a whirl of it whether you just want to try it out or really dig into it
+because this is the first in the series, this one gets to horde all of the most pure ball-rolling puzzles that reward player control, where the later ones had to lean into gimmicks more
+the physics are so tight and the controls are equally precise, giving the game a steep yet rewarding difficulty curve
+amusement vision was a master of sega's cutting-edge proprietary arcade hardware, and that knowledge transitioned to their three gcn games. the fact that this is a launch game for the gcn and somehow one of its best looking titles is astounding
+the minigames are equally as engrossing, especially for parties. some of these (bowling and billiards specifically) were continuing to be the model for the equivalent yakuza minigames up through the mid 2010s
+if anything this indicates how well sega understood the mechanics of their own arcade games, and how well they could design challenges that require mastery of many different skills to overcome. so much nuance to rolling a ball around with a single joystick
-the beginner extra stages repeat through advanced and expert extra as well... minor nitpick, but they feel out of place in terms of difficulty
-the vast majority of players will never get to see much of expert mode (which contains over half of the stages in the game) due to the brutal difficulty. there's certainly plenty of more casual content, but it demands a lot in order to experience the game as intended
-a specific qualm I have related to the above is the difficulty curve of expert: I think the biggest hurdle for players are the levels from 15-25, with the rest of the 50 levels being more reasonable in what they expect. perhaps the level order should've been changed... again, a nitpick
toshihiro nagoshi has had so many successes as a director, and this one of his best. finally getting through master mode in this game was such a huge personal accomplishment after playing this game on and off since I was a child, and I would recommend taking a whirl of it whether you just want to try it out or really dig into it