dreadicano
Black Clover is one of my guilty pleasure anime, I am a huge fan of this series, and I genuinely was curious when I heard that there was a team-based multiplayer game aspiring to be MOBA-like in its nature.
However, despite my bias towards this series, I am deeply saddened to report that this game is indeed shit. I will cover the positives first... as there aren't many.
It's really fun that this game offers you a large selection of Black Clover characters to play, each falling into one of four categories, each with their own role in the team, and each character with a unique moveset. There are tonnes of alternative costumes and almost all of the beloved characters are present to play with.
The visual presentation works well in places, I think the 3D models of the characters are fantastic, as are the 2D sprites, and we even occasionally get some animated cutscenes that I'm pretty sure are animated by Studio Pierrot.
Other than that, the game falls flat completely. Firstly, if we treated BCQK as if it was an arc in the manga, it would be filler and terrible, as it is non-canon and extremely uninteresting, the vocal performances are incredible as they are in the show, but the narrative is honestly so boring I wouldn't even recommend sitting through it even if you are a huge fan of BC.
Secondly, the campaigns are repetitive and a cakewalk and I really hated repeating the missions to satisfy the various requirements for the 100% completion. The map variety is weak and bland, and often replayed several times in a row throughout the story.
The multiplayer is completely DEAD. You will never witness another living soul in your games, be prepared to play against broken bots who either run into walls or absolutely obliterate you. I'm honestly surprised the servers are even still running. And attempting to win a game with each of the characters, for the 100% completion, against these bots took me several hours that I'll never get back.
BCQK's combat is absolutely atrocious, sometimes you'll direct attacks that will instant kill an enemy, other times they will sponge these attacks and you will randomly explode from a crossmap longshot from Yuno. I am so disappointed with this game that I feel genuine anger and annoyance when I type this.
It's such a shame that when anime games try to break the mould and experiment with new genres other than generic 2D or 3D fighters they flop hard. I so desperately would love a Fire Emblem styled game with the Black Clover houses and characters. Please hire me Bandai Namco, I have so many good ideas for you properties.
However, despite my bias towards this series, I am deeply saddened to report that this game is indeed shit. I will cover the positives first... as there aren't many.
It's really fun that this game offers you a large selection of Black Clover characters to play, each falling into one of four categories, each with their own role in the team, and each character with a unique moveset. There are tonnes of alternative costumes and almost all of the beloved characters are present to play with.
The visual presentation works well in places, I think the 3D models of the characters are fantastic, as are the 2D sprites, and we even occasionally get some animated cutscenes that I'm pretty sure are animated by Studio Pierrot.
Other than that, the game falls flat completely. Firstly, if we treated BCQK as if it was an arc in the manga, it would be filler and terrible, as it is non-canon and extremely uninteresting, the vocal performances are incredible as they are in the show, but the narrative is honestly so boring I wouldn't even recommend sitting through it even if you are a huge fan of BC.
Secondly, the campaigns are repetitive and a cakewalk and I really hated repeating the missions to satisfy the various requirements for the 100% completion. The map variety is weak and bland, and often replayed several times in a row throughout the story.
The multiplayer is completely DEAD. You will never witness another living soul in your games, be prepared to play against broken bots who either run into walls or absolutely obliterate you. I'm honestly surprised the servers are even still running. And attempting to win a game with each of the characters, for the 100% completion, against these bots took me several hours that I'll never get back.
BCQK's combat is absolutely atrocious, sometimes you'll direct attacks that will instant kill an enemy, other times they will sponge these attacks and you will randomly explode from a crossmap longshot from Yuno. I am so disappointed with this game that I feel genuine anger and annoyance when I type this.
It's such a shame that when anime games try to break the mould and experiment with new genres other than generic 2D or 3D fighters they flop hard. I so desperately would love a Fire Emblem styled game with the Black Clover houses and characters. Please hire me Bandai Namco, I have so many good ideas for you properties.
2014
Having played Fable II and Fable III many years ago and loving them, I had never gotten around to playing the original game as I didn't own the original Xbox. However after finding this game on sale, I decided to check it out finally... and I find myself really underwhelmed.
At a glance, Fable Anniversary's combat seems more sophisticated and in depth than the other two in the franchise. You attack with melee weapons, ranged weapons, and willpower (magic). If we look at the will system in Fable Anniversary, we'd see there are 18 different types of spells, which when compared to Fable II's 8 spells, and Fable III's 6 spells, you'd assume would lead to more creativity in combat. However, less is definitely more in this situation. The majority of these spells are relatively useless, and I barely found myself willpower in the slightest. I played the game on the hardest difficulty, and I found that the game became a slog more than a challenge, with no real consistent way to make income until late game.
Comparative to it's successors, Fable also lacks any true meaningful choices, and it's admittedly decent narrative is subverted in it's seriousness by the absolute monstrous character models that look like someone left the heating on in Madame Tussauds.
Although I do tend to lean towards being a "good"-centric moral character when given the choice in video games, a well-designed game will ask the player to make difficult choices by offering them something else that will counter the moral option. Even latter games in this series manage to offer the player wealth and other alluring features in an attempt to sway the player to make a selfish choice. However, in Fable Anniversary the choices seem to be "pick the logical good choice or be evil for the sake of it" and there is no real motivation to pick morally grey options at any point throughout the story. Although I think this is something they improved on for the sequels.
I'm very empathetic to the fact this is a simple remaster of a 2005 Xbox game, but there were plenty of incredible games that had come out around that time, that had more interesting narratives, impactful choices, and a prettier artstyle. They could have rectified these limitations in this version of the game as it had been 4 years since the release of the far superior Fable III when this Anniversary edition was released. Instead, the port is uninspiring and left a lot to be desired from me personally.
Despite my criticisms, I do not think this is a bad game at all. It definitely does have it's charm. For instance, I think the humour in Fable has always been relatively funny and that was consistent throughout this title. The game had some goofy side activities that fits the theme of Fable well. And despite my qualms with the story in regards to it's length and lack of choices, there were still a lot of scenes I enjoyed, such as the prison sequence, arena fights, and undead area. But there were equally as many terrible sequences, and I found myself hating all combat and all scenes where I had to fight Minions. God that enemy is unbearable, and it quickly becomes the common enemy type throughout the main story towards the latter third and I found myself hating that experience.
What I found interesting was the way that the achievements and 100% completion work in this game. Almost every achievement is unlocked in one of two completely different ways which I found really unique and interesting. For example, there is an achievement called 'Get Rich or Die Tryin'' which can be earned by either earning 10,000 gold from property rental in the game, or... dying. Which is a cute way of providing player choice to something as niche as an achievement list. I just wish they added as much care to the choices in how you want to earn the achievements into how these choices may affect your journey.
This game clearly had the right direction of what it wanted to be, but is extremely unpolished, over ambitious, and falls short in a lot of places where you'd expect it to shine. I desperately want a new entry into this franchise, as what was built upon these promising foundations were two genuinely great sequels, and I would love to see the kinds of freedom and fun a new game in the Fable world would bring.
At a glance, Fable Anniversary's combat seems more sophisticated and in depth than the other two in the franchise. You attack with melee weapons, ranged weapons, and willpower (magic). If we look at the will system in Fable Anniversary, we'd see there are 18 different types of spells, which when compared to Fable II's 8 spells, and Fable III's 6 spells, you'd assume would lead to more creativity in combat. However, less is definitely more in this situation. The majority of these spells are relatively useless, and I barely found myself willpower in the slightest. I played the game on the hardest difficulty, and I found that the game became a slog more than a challenge, with no real consistent way to make income until late game.
Comparative to it's successors, Fable also lacks any true meaningful choices, and it's admittedly decent narrative is subverted in it's seriousness by the absolute monstrous character models that look like someone left the heating on in Madame Tussauds.
Although I do tend to lean towards being a "good"-centric moral character when given the choice in video games, a well-designed game will ask the player to make difficult choices by offering them something else that will counter the moral option. Even latter games in this series manage to offer the player wealth and other alluring features in an attempt to sway the player to make a selfish choice. However, in Fable Anniversary the choices seem to be "pick the logical good choice or be evil for the sake of it" and there is no real motivation to pick morally grey options at any point throughout the story. Although I think this is something they improved on for the sequels.
I'm very empathetic to the fact this is a simple remaster of a 2005 Xbox game, but there were plenty of incredible games that had come out around that time, that had more interesting narratives, impactful choices, and a prettier artstyle. They could have rectified these limitations in this version of the game as it had been 4 years since the release of the far superior Fable III when this Anniversary edition was released. Instead, the port is uninspiring and left a lot to be desired from me personally.
Despite my criticisms, I do not think this is a bad game at all. It definitely does have it's charm. For instance, I think the humour in Fable has always been relatively funny and that was consistent throughout this title. The game had some goofy side activities that fits the theme of Fable well. And despite my qualms with the story in regards to it's length and lack of choices, there were still a lot of scenes I enjoyed, such as the prison sequence, arena fights, and undead area. But there were equally as many terrible sequences, and I found myself hating all combat and all scenes where I had to fight Minions. God that enemy is unbearable, and it quickly becomes the common enemy type throughout the main story towards the latter third and I found myself hating that experience.
What I found interesting was the way that the achievements and 100% completion work in this game. Almost every achievement is unlocked in one of two completely different ways which I found really unique and interesting. For example, there is an achievement called 'Get Rich or Die Tryin'' which can be earned by either earning 10,000 gold from property rental in the game, or... dying. Which is a cute way of providing player choice to something as niche as an achievement list. I just wish they added as much care to the choices in how you want to earn the achievements into how these choices may affect your journey.
This game clearly had the right direction of what it wanted to be, but is extremely unpolished, over ambitious, and falls short in a lot of places where you'd expect it to shine. I desperately want a new entry into this franchise, as what was built upon these promising foundations were two genuinely great sequels, and I would love to see the kinds of freedom and fun a new game in the Fable world would bring.
2016
Despite being first in chronological order, I do not recommend Resident Evil 0 to be your first in the franchise even if it is a solid game.
The item management system in the game is different to all other entries in the franchise. Instead of utilizing universal item boxes or briefcases, the player instead must drop items in strategic locations, remember where they left these items, and recover them when needed. Whilst most hate this new mechanic, I personally found it to be a unique challenge that tested players that might be used to how the item management works in the other games.
Tank controls are also incredibly outdated, but in my opinion are a bit of a skill issue. With practice it can be mastered but I do respect it isn't for everyone. There's a few specific areas where it feels hard to progress due to the sudden changes in camera angles, but I don't think it's enough of an issue to deduct from the games overall score.
Resident Evil 0 also brings a partner switching system, that allows the player to control both characters which can lead to some interesting puzzles and puts an even greater emphasis on the inventory management challenges that I mentioned earlier.
The presentation and audio design are phenomenal, especially of the time. Although this is the 2016 port of the 2002 GameCube original, it hasn't changed many of the original assets, instead it highlights the technically fantastic lighting effects, impressive pre-rendered backgrounds, and detailed character models that deserve it's plaudits.
Although the story isn't groundbreaking, and primarily the reason why I would not suggest this to be your first Resident Evil game, it still develops a lot of the beloved early characters of the franchise. It scratched my nerd itch to see the downfall of the S.T.A.R.S Alpha Team through the perspective of it's sole survivor, Rebecca Chambers, a beloved character in the franchise. I appreciate her chemistry with Billy Coen, our other protagonist, and despite the weak narrative, I really felt immersed in their story and the experiences they had.
What Resident Evil 0 does well is it's atmospheric horror. It fits right in with Code Veronica and REmake, and so if you enjoy the experience of either of those titles, I highly recommend checking this game out.
I always work hard towards 100% completing any game I play, and with this new account, I decided RE 0 would be the first game I attempted to complete. It was a grueling process, which took several playthroughs on various difficulties. It really felt like I had to learn the mechanics of this game inside and out, I had item placement, enemy choreography, and map layouts memorised perfectly in my mind by the end of it. These playthroughs included achieving an S-rank, beating the game on hard mode, beating the game in under 3 hours, beating the game without saving, and beating the game without healing once. It was a personal challenge that I really enjoyed achieving.
Resident Evil is also famous for it's unlockable outfits, characters, and secret modes and RE 0 is no different. One such mode is "Wesker Mode" which allows you to play as Albert Wesker, the villain of the franchise, with all of his strengths and abilities, which I found enjoyable. However, the other unlockable mode is leech mode, which I do not recommend playing at all. It is extremely unfun, however, it will provide access to a lot of extra content upon completion, including infinite ammo, for the main game, which comes in handy when attempting subsequent playthroughs. Besides the extra modes, the cosmetic content for Rebecca and Billy are fantastic and I found myself using different costumes on my multiple playthroughs.
Despite it's difficulty and weak narrative story, I really enjoyed Resident Evil. I know I opened this review by stating I wouldn't recommend this game as a starting point, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't recommend the game in general, and I think that playing this game should come later on your Resident Evil journey.
The item management system in the game is different to all other entries in the franchise. Instead of utilizing universal item boxes or briefcases, the player instead must drop items in strategic locations, remember where they left these items, and recover them when needed. Whilst most hate this new mechanic, I personally found it to be a unique challenge that tested players that might be used to how the item management works in the other games.
Tank controls are also incredibly outdated, but in my opinion are a bit of a skill issue. With practice it can be mastered but I do respect it isn't for everyone. There's a few specific areas where it feels hard to progress due to the sudden changes in camera angles, but I don't think it's enough of an issue to deduct from the games overall score.
Resident Evil 0 also brings a partner switching system, that allows the player to control both characters which can lead to some interesting puzzles and puts an even greater emphasis on the inventory management challenges that I mentioned earlier.
The presentation and audio design are phenomenal, especially of the time. Although this is the 2016 port of the 2002 GameCube original, it hasn't changed many of the original assets, instead it highlights the technically fantastic lighting effects, impressive pre-rendered backgrounds, and detailed character models that deserve it's plaudits.
Although the story isn't groundbreaking, and primarily the reason why I would not suggest this to be your first Resident Evil game, it still develops a lot of the beloved early characters of the franchise. It scratched my nerd itch to see the downfall of the S.T.A.R.S Alpha Team through the perspective of it's sole survivor, Rebecca Chambers, a beloved character in the franchise. I appreciate her chemistry with Billy Coen, our other protagonist, and despite the weak narrative, I really felt immersed in their story and the experiences they had.
What Resident Evil 0 does well is it's atmospheric horror. It fits right in with Code Veronica and REmake, and so if you enjoy the experience of either of those titles, I highly recommend checking this game out.
I always work hard towards 100% completing any game I play, and with this new account, I decided RE 0 would be the first game I attempted to complete. It was a grueling process, which took several playthroughs on various difficulties. It really felt like I had to learn the mechanics of this game inside and out, I had item placement, enemy choreography, and map layouts memorised perfectly in my mind by the end of it. These playthroughs included achieving an S-rank, beating the game on hard mode, beating the game in under 3 hours, beating the game without saving, and beating the game without healing once. It was a personal challenge that I really enjoyed achieving.
Resident Evil is also famous for it's unlockable outfits, characters, and secret modes and RE 0 is no different. One such mode is "Wesker Mode" which allows you to play as Albert Wesker, the villain of the franchise, with all of his strengths and abilities, which I found enjoyable. However, the other unlockable mode is leech mode, which I do not recommend playing at all. It is extremely unfun, however, it will provide access to a lot of extra content upon completion, including infinite ammo, for the main game, which comes in handy when attempting subsequent playthroughs. Besides the extra modes, the cosmetic content for Rebecca and Billy are fantastic and I found myself using different costumes on my multiple playthroughs.
Despite it's difficulty and weak narrative story, I really enjoyed Resident Evil. I know I opened this review by stating I wouldn't recommend this game as a starting point, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't recommend the game in general, and I think that playing this game should come later on your Resident Evil journey.