Demon Slayer The Hinokami Chronicles Review (PlayStation 5)

Story
The story of this game covers the first season of Demon Slayer and the movie as well. It offers a good enough substitute for the real thing, however, unlike other Shonen's which span many many episodes, I feel this one had less need to be as condensed as it is in the game. Demon Slayer has a very fast paced story, so it is more fit for a shorter story mode, however I feel it was a bit too short and skipped on too many vital details. However, it does offer extra scenes in the memory fragments you can collect when exploring or unlocking different challenge panels, so it somewhat makes up for what is not shown to the player. Either way, it is a fine enough experience.
Gameplay
Seeing as the developers are CyberConnect2, you already know what to expect here if you have played any of their previous anime fighters. Flashy combat, easy to understand and jump into kind of gameplay, with hints of depth that expand if you wish them too. However, Demon Slayer plays quite differently from say Naruto Ultimate Storm. In demon slayer, less emphasis is focused on movement and more on combos and strategy and being defensive. Movement is much more stiff and not as fast as in Storm, so you have to be smart about how you use it here. Once you get hit you are stuck unless you can get out of an attack using your team member. Which takes the entire gauge, so you have to weigh your options carefully. When using specials, you also cannot freely recharge the gauge like in Storm, it fills up on its own, so you have to be conservative with it as well. The combos are satisfying to pull off here, and you can also either boost, or use ultimate skills, which are self explanatory. I found myself getting accustomed to the controls after only a little while, so they are not too hard to learn. Playing as the demon slayer allows you to team up with any other slayer, or Nezuko, and switch between them using a bit of the ally gauge. However, when it comes to playing as demons… You are all alone. You do not get an ally, but to make up for it, you get a demon gauge which is sort of similar to the ally gauge. It fills up over time, and can allow you to escape an enemy combo at the cost of the entire meter. You can also use one to unleash powerful blood demon arts, depending on if you have one or two bars filled.
Demons are quite fun to play as, and offer a different experience from playing as slayers while also being similar enough that it’s not too jarring going from one to the other. The story mode offers great exploration with the story and is quite fun to go through. It recreates moments from the anime so well, and being able to explore the environments freely was quite fun and something I was not expecting at all. It surprised me! There is also VS mode, which allows you to fight locally, online, or with CPUS. There is training mode where you practice combos and learn lessons with specific challenges from certain characters. Although, speaking of characters, the game's roster is a bit of an issue. At least base roster concerned, the problem is too many characters are repeats and reskins of others. There is an academy version of most of the main slayers, and while it is cute, they do not offer any change in moves from their original character aside from a different ultimate animation. I would have rather seen more playable characters who are actually in the story that we do not get to play as. Also, considering the manga has been done for quite some time now, I do not know why they cut the story so short at only the first season and the mugen train when they could have done Season 2 at least considering it ended up being DLC. I just feel it should have been in the main game, but I digress. Either way, it is a lot of fun both by yourself, with friends, and online or offline. If you play on PC or PS5, then there is also a toggle for 60 FPS which is nice, although a lot of the animations will still play in 30 such as ultimate's. Overall, the gameplay gets a good score from me, quite enjoyable!
Music
IT IS THE DEMON SLAYER OST! IT IS UTTERLY FANTASTIC AND HYPE AT NEARLY EVERY TURN! I absolutely love it to pieces and there is not much else to say here it just slaps so hard honestly no cap fr fr.

Presentation
ANOTHER IMPRESSIVE VISUAL SHOWCASE FOR CYBERCONNECT2! ONCE AGAIN, THEY PROVE THAT THEY ARE JUST THE GODS OF ANIMATING ANIME GAMES IN 3D! Like holy shit, every frame and special animation looks like it took it straight out of the anime. Despite the game being in 3d, I often found myself doing a double take because some stills literally looked like I was watching the anime despite it not being in 2d. It just looks that good. It is an amazing work of art in its presentation, utterly phenomenal and it is essential to honoring ufotable's own amazing animation. All in all, it speaks for itself.

Completion Process
Pretty simple here, and was not too challenging at all. Completing all the story, doing training, some specific actions in versus mode, and all S Ranks made for a pretty natural Platinum without much need to go back to anything. It was very streamlined and did not take long at all. Pretty good rating on completion here.
Conclusion
Demon Slayer The Hinokami Chronicles is a wondrous showcase of all the talent that CyberConnect2 possesses. It is yet another magnificent addition to their catalog of fantastic anime games. It is a bit light on content, but it makes up for it with amazing content for what is there as well as amazing animation and very fun gameplay. They still remain my favorite anime game developers. I look forward to their next project! (Pls be Bleach for Bosses sake) And do not forget to set your heart ablaze!

Wrap-Up
THANK YOU FOR READING! Demon Slayer the Hinokami Chronicles is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Steam, and Nintendo Switch!

FINAL REVIEW SCORE: TASTY!/10

Ace Attorney Review!

1. Story
I cannot say much here, but the basic setup, well you all know lol. Solve cases as Phoenix Wright during trials, catch criminals and all that. Lots of colorful characters await you in this journey and its full of twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end! The story is pretty damn good, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it. The characters are full of life, and so many of them have infectious personalities, relatable stories, and loveable because of it. Ace Attorneys story is absolutely fantastic.

2. Gameplay
Gameplay here consists mainly of two sections: Investigation, where you talk to characters and investigate crimes in typical visual novel format, and trials, which allow you to use evidence and logic to help defend your client in court. Both of these get the job done for a worthwhile experience, with a few hiccups here and there. Sometimes, the logic used for the trial might be a bit strange, or a stretch, and you might not always be on the same page. Luckily this can be helped by using the press feature to get as much information out of the witness to be able to point out a contradiction. But, this really is not a major problem, as it did not occur that often. Other than that, its mostly just presenting evidence, using your brain to point out contradictions, and boom you win. Its very engaging, when adding the music, sound effects, and the iconic OBJECTION into play, and you get swept up in the intense moments that these trials provide which really make for an engaging experience even if you are not one for visual novels. I think that people who normally would not like these kinds of games could potentially like this one, as it adds a lot of excitement with the trials.

3. Music
The music in this game is absolutely phenomenal and so iconic, and I remember so much of it. It adds so much tension and emotion to the scenes, and it truly makes this game special. Shout OUTS TO COMPOSER MASAKAZU SUGIMORI FOR MAKING A BANGER OST FOR THIS GAME HOLY SHIT IT GOES HARD LISTEN TO IT ON ANYTHING YOU WILL NOT BE DISSAPOINTED!
4. Presentation
Now when it comes to presentation, every version of ace attorney has slightly different presentation, from the GBA original, to the DS version with two screens, and then the 3ds version with slightly up-rezzed backgrounds but the models of characters are still in sprite form, and then the HD collection on modern systems which makes the sprites smoothed over into art form in HD with updated textures. I have played the DS, 3DS, and for this review mainly on Switch. All versions of this game have great presentation, and I personally feel no matter what version you play, it looks great. The character sprites look fantastic in sprite and art form, and it helped convey their personalities with fantastic screen movement and effects to emphasize their bombastic expressions. The presentation for this game, the sprite art for the time and the new art even now really do stand the test of time.
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5. Conclusion
I think that the first Ace Attorney is a solid entry into a long running fantastic series, and I think anyone who loves mysteries, solving crimes in a fun and flashy way should try this game and series out, its utterly fantastic and I know I am glad I did. It is truly something special, and I cannot wait to play even more of them.

6. Wrap Up
Thanks for READING! Ace Attorney is available on GBA, DS, 3DS, Mobile phones, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Steam! (Wii Ware if you wanna get spicy...)

FINAL REVIEW SCORE: 8/10

BAYONETTA REVIEW (PlayStation 4 version played on PlayStation 5)

1. Story
The story of Bayonetta is an interesting one. A story of war between two factions of powerful beings, The Lumen Sages and Umbra Witches. Their quarrel has raged on for eons, the Sages hunting down the Witches for unknown reasons. It is your job, as the classy badass Bayonetta, to find the answers not only to the mystery of the war, but also the mystery of your past. The story is always entertaining with fun action packed cutscenes with some offering a slower, more emotional tone. However, it never takes itself too seriously. Bayonetta’s story is one so ridiculous, yet so heartfelt, and goofy, that it always feels true to itself. I quite enjoyed the story here and it was fun to see it through to the end!
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2. Gameplay
The gameplay is the REAL MEAT AND POTATOES here. Considering this is well, an action game. Now, if you have played any Platinum Games games, you know what to expect here. The game is chapter based, and every chapter is split up into Verses, which are enemy encounters or fights within a chapter. While in each chapter, you can explore, and find collectables that will increase your health, or unlock new weapons, or give you more of your magic meter. The combat of this game is the main part and it has a lot of fun things to do, and variance to make it unique from other action games. You have your basic combos, shooting your gun, wicked weave finishers, air combos. You can switch your weapon sets anytime within the menu and during gameplay. Movement feels extremely fluid in this game, and it is quite fun to just move around and it just feels good to play. Combos are fast, fluid and satisfying to pull off. Unleashing pure carnage feels so good. One of the main draws of Bayonetta’s combat system is the unique dodge mechanic, known as WITCH TIME! If you dodge at the right time an enemy attacks time slows down, you take no damage and you get to deal it without any distractions for a limited time, but it's vital for mastering the game’s combat.
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If you can get it down you will never have to worry about getting damaged. Another addition to the combat system is unique magic meter based finishers called Torture attacks, which rain hell on your opponents in sadistic style. These attacks use your magic meter, which is built up by attacking enemies without getting hit until it fills up all the way to unleash a strong attack. This is also another benefit to mastering Witch Time, as you can build your magic meter up much faster and need to dodge in order to keep it from lowering. Torture attacks each trap an opponent and most include a button mashing bonus to increase your damage tenfold for the kill! These are pretty fun to pull off too. With the end of every Verse, and collectively Chapter, you are rated based on your performance, from bronze medal to PURE PLATINUM medals. These are quite hard to get unless you are good at dodging attacks and taking little to no damage. However, they provide incentive to go back and replay old missions and keep improving your score. Defeating enemies and getting past Verses also gives you Halos which is what you can use to buy stuff in Rodin’s shop. RODIN IS MY BOY BTW. In the shop you can purchase items, weapons, new techniques and even costumes. Do your best on those verses to get enough Halo’s to get some good shit!
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Now when it comes to other types of gameplay there are the Alfheim portals. These are optional combat challenges that range from killing X amount of angels in X amount of time, or defeating angels using only wicked weaves. Some are quite challenging but doing them nets you some good rewards so I would seek them out if possible. Bayonetta also contains you guessed it, BOSS FIGHTS! These are huge, dynamic and bombastic bouts that are huge in scale compared to normal fights. These fights are so well designed. You whittle down these huge Angels, often using powerful Wicked Weaves as your basic attacks, and using mashing events to damage them further, as well as Summoning your demons to devour them. The boss fights are just very exciting as well as challenging. Each has their own patterns and feel distinct and always are unique. They are honestly the highlight of the game for me. One more gameplay thing that is added is some special unique chapters have differing gameplay styles than your usual combat, although for sake of spoilers I will not say anything more than that. Bayonetta, overall, is just a genuinely fun game that I always had fun playing, and even though it was challenging, the game gave me an ample amount of tools and as many tries as I needed to overcome its challenges. It is big, bold, and not afraid to kick your ass but I welcomed it because it never was too unforgiving. I kept trying and eventually I started getting better, and it felt great to overcome whatever I was struggling with. This game has become one of my favorite action games to date. It is one of the most fun games I have played all year. I highly recommend this game even for combat alone. Luckily, there is much else to enjoy…
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3. Music
LIKE THE MUSIC! OH MY GOD ANOTHER BANGING SOUNDTRACK! It was hard to play this game and not wanna just listen to the music because it just pumps you up so much. Fly Me To The Moon, Mysterious Destiny, Let’s Dance Boys, LET’S HIT THE CLIMAX?! Just always bangers from beginning to end and the songs never get old at all. It is always slapping at all times. Seriously, extremely high praise from me here. Hiroshi Yamaguchi seriously did an amazing job with this OST, and Helena Noguerra did great with the vocal tracks too!
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4. Presentation
This game still looks great even today, with clean crisp models, solid smooth gameplay thanks to the remastered version I played, and plenty of quality of life in this game. Not only that but the menus have a distinct personality to them, the music, animations during cutscenes and combat all have such vivacious expressions it often leaves me in awe thinking, “HOLY SHIT!” Like, the cutscenes are so well animated and full of expression. The voice acting here is on point as well. Not much else to say here but solid presentation all around!

5. Conclusion
Bayonetta is one of the strongest games in the action genre with explosively fun gameplay, a solid engaging story, amazing music, and impeccable style. It is everything a good action game should strive to be, and is fun despite the challenge it presents. However, this challenge is never overbearing and unfair and the game encourages replay ability and offers lots of incentive to come back for more. I honestly would not mind doing so myself. If a game leaves me feeling that, then it is owed glowing praise in my eyes. This is one of Platinum Game’s finest games and a wonderful start to a series that is beloved by many. I had so much fun!
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6. WRAP-UP!
Thanks for reading! Bayonetta is available on Xbox 360, Xbox One through backwards compatible with 360 version and a native HD port, Xbox Series S and X, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 through backwards compatible, Steam, Nintendo Wii U, and Nintendo Switch!
WITH THAT BEING SAID MY FINAL REVIEW SCORE IS

BEAUTIFUL!