petro_sino
1893 reviews liked by petro_sino
A good game that unfortunately carries the baggage of being inconsistent. While certain moments throughout the story honestly has some of my favorite moments in the series thus far, there is just as many dull ones as well. This game in particular loves to draw out its sequences way longer than they should be and at times it felt like I was dragging my way through it. I think the overarching narrative is what really kept me invested, as you go on this journey to bring back everyone together again after what happened in the ending of the previous entry.
I didn’t realize how much I actually liked Class VII until you slowly progress throughout the story bringing back everyone and seeing how much they cherished one another. It was nice to see how that was executed into the story and it playing its own role in this ongoing battle. And not only that, the side characters that had their own role were actually worthwhile for the most part. Past dynamics between several characters was so interesting to me and if there wasn’t one there was ones that were established in the present as well. Which I can’t help but compare this by taking similar plot elements from Sky SC, but I’m not going to discredit its ambitions.
Gameplay is more or less the same with the addition of upgrading your orbments slots, which allows you to use more advanced quartz to be able to use stronger arts. Save data transfer didn’t do a whole lot besides like a few items to your benefit at the start. Otherwise you’re set back to a level lower than you possibly were at the end of the previous game, which is just whatever. Don’t really have much to say about that.
Withstanding the mundane parts of the game, there are ones that definitely stick out that leaves a positive outlook on this game for me. That entire intermission on that ship I was fully engaged and mesmerized on getting to know the characters we will eventually have to face later down the road. Yesterdays enemies are now todays allies for the time being. It’s a formula Trails is known for at this point and it never fails.
You can’t talk about this game without a certain gambling addict that still owes you that 50 mira coin, but for brevity sake my god their whole storyline and learning their backstory behind their motives was one that I will definitely remember. Especially what happens in the finale and oh man I can go on a tangent on that as well.
That final dungeon in the finale was awesome and seeing how everyone by your side is wanting to put an end to everything was just a treat to witness. Once you reach the end you’re hit with ankle breaker after ankle breaker that just left me in shock. With one that I did NOT foresee coming in the slightest yet made total sense and then the credits roll… or at least you think they did.
You see, you could say this game ended 3 times. There is the finale, divertissement, and then the epilogue. While I did actually love the divertissement considering what happens there, the epilogue was something that a lot of people complain about and I can see why. It’s long for no apparent reason and feels like Cold Steel 1 all over again. I kind of understand the intent behind it, but just end the game already. Yes it was still a little emotional seeing everyone saying their goodbyes when all was said and done but yea I don’t know how I feel about that part. Plus the fact that there is an extremely important scene locked behind New Game Plus which blows. Really odd thing to do.
Cold Steel II music is unsurprisingly really good and I just don’t need to say anything.
Like do I really need to explain any further?
Cold Steel II is a very flawed entry with its own ambitions and whether or not it lands on everything is something I’m not confident on agreeing with, yet what I will say though is that even through its highs and lows there is still a good game in there that I can’t help but cherish ever so slightly.
“I can’t go any farther now…but you can…so keep going forward…relentlessly, without looking back…”
I didn’t realize how much I actually liked Class VII until you slowly progress throughout the story bringing back everyone and seeing how much they cherished one another. It was nice to see how that was executed into the story and it playing its own role in this ongoing battle. And not only that, the side characters that had their own role were actually worthwhile for the most part. Past dynamics between several characters was so interesting to me and if there wasn’t one there was ones that were established in the present as well. Which I can’t help but compare this by taking similar plot elements from Sky SC, but I’m not going to discredit its ambitions.
Gameplay is more or less the same with the addition of upgrading your orbments slots, which allows you to use more advanced quartz to be able to use stronger arts. Save data transfer didn’t do a whole lot besides like a few items to your benefit at the start. Otherwise you’re set back to a level lower than you possibly were at the end of the previous game, which is just whatever. Don’t really have much to say about that.
Withstanding the mundane parts of the game, there are ones that definitely stick out that leaves a positive outlook on this game for me. That entire intermission on that ship I was fully engaged and mesmerized on getting to know the characters we will eventually have to face later down the road. Yesterdays enemies are now todays allies for the time being. It’s a formula Trails is known for at this point and it never fails.
You can’t talk about this game without a certain gambling addict that still owes you that 50 mira coin, but for brevity sake my god their whole storyline and learning their backstory behind their motives was one that I will definitely remember. Especially what happens in the finale and oh man I can go on a tangent on that as well.
That final dungeon in the finale was awesome and seeing how everyone by your side is wanting to put an end to everything was just a treat to witness. Once you reach the end you’re hit with ankle breaker after ankle breaker that just left me in shock. With one that I did NOT foresee coming in the slightest yet made total sense and then the credits roll… or at least you think they did.
You see, you could say this game ended 3 times. There is the finale, divertissement, and then the epilogue. While I did actually love the divertissement considering what happens there, the epilogue was something that a lot of people complain about and I can see why. It’s long for no apparent reason and feels like Cold Steel 1 all over again. I kind of understand the intent behind it, but just end the game already. Yes it was still a little emotional seeing everyone saying their goodbyes when all was said and done but yea I don’t know how I feel about that part. Plus the fact that there is an extremely important scene locked behind New Game Plus which blows. Really odd thing to do.
Cold Steel II music is unsurprisingly really good and I just don’t need to say anything.
Like do I really need to explain any further?
Cold Steel II is a very flawed entry with its own ambitions and whether or not it lands on everything is something I’m not confident on agreeing with, yet what I will say though is that even through its highs and lows there is still a good game in there that I can’t help but cherish ever so slightly.
“I can’t go any farther now…but you can…so keep going forward…relentlessly, without looking back…”
Ico
2001
there's much to love in the lack of intrusion, the shared satellite camera that often feels a little too close or a little too distant, and its clumsy affections. holding hands, calling someone's name, and gently navigating in tandem aren't the height of mechanical showmanship, and they shouldn't be. I wouldn't change a thing about yorda's absent minded wandering, the childlike swordplay, or its shy tactility. it's all beautiful. it's all lovely. by using simple gestural language and an intimate, interpretive mode of storytelling it conjures an entryway into something deeply personal, like a great towering dream
outcrops overlooking lake ontario, steel mills billowing smoke and flame, hidden islands on the edge of mall parking lots, absolute stillness, and the perpetual amateur fumbling innate to having a ridiculous body. it would never translate even if I tried, but it really doesn't have to
outcrops overlooking lake ontario, steel mills billowing smoke and flame, hidden islands on the edge of mall parking lots, absolute stillness, and the perpetual amateur fumbling innate to having a ridiculous body. it would never translate even if I tried, but it really doesn't have to
Just came back and finished the Hell route, this shit is still peak.
If it wasn't for that egregious bomb animation and Sariel being way overtuned, this game would legit get a 10/10 and I'm not joking, this shit is so much fun.
If it wasn't for that egregious bomb animation and Sariel being way overtuned, this game would legit get a 10/10 and I'm not joking, this shit is so much fun.
"Here and now got its ups and downs, but... focusing on the past like it was any better? That's just Old World Blues."
ESPN Extreme Games
1995
ESPN certainly backed something for the PS1 launch.
ESPN Extreme Games, which would later have its title changed to 1Xtreme due to copyright shenanigans, is a racing game where you choose one of four modes of transportation to try to go for first place. Put on some roller blades, hop on a bike, shred on a skateboard, or shoot through on a luge to pass by racers and pass through gates to earn points and cash to help you become the most Xtreme racer around!
While it sounds cool on paper like this, ESPN Extreme Games isn’t as extreme or cool as it tries to make itself out to be. At the very least, getting a strong amount of speed during a race feels good and taking down opponents with punches and kicks is satisfying when they land. The rest of the game is the player struggling to get by while opponents rubber band to them, ready to pass them by if they make even one mistake.
Despite being a race, you don’t get to see things like a map that shows where opponents are in relation to you or how close you are to the end. All the turns are automatic and you’re simply moving forward until you reach the end. Racing games can definitely work like this, but with this design they gave the computer opponents an unfair advantage. Having a strong lead and then getting knocked down by an opponent or hitting an obstacle can cause any number of passed-by racers to immediately catch up and leave you in the dust, which is infuriating when you’ve held a strong lead for a long time.
What doesn’t help matters is the strict requirements for winning a season, which is the main mode of the game. You need season points to win a season, which makes sense. There are two ways to earn points: passing through yellow gates and placing very well in races. Doing well in races rewards the players with more points than they’ll ever get while simply passing through gates, which makes the before-mentioned opponent issues a problem. Even at easier skill levels, opponents will overtake you easily, which makes it difficult to get the larger amounts of points you need. Expect to spend a lot of time mastering courses to attempt to take first place.
On the topic of courses, there are four available to you as you go through a season. Because of the low track count, the game has you travel through each course three times during a season to make the mode feel more fleshed out. Doing multiple attempts at seasons to get first while going through the same four courses multiple times gets exhausting, and the difficulty keeps it from ever getting fun.
At the very least, there is a decent roster of characters selectable, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. As you complete seasons, you’ll eventually find a racer that prioritizes certain equipment that you feel the most comfortable with. The only problem here is that once you choose a character and complete a race with them, you’re stuck as then until the season ends or you start a new one, so make sure to pick wisely!
Things aren’t completely against you in this adventure, however. Passing through green gates during races can earn you some cash. This cash can be used to purchase better equipment for your character, so they can handle better and go faster. These upgrades can help slightly, but you’ll still need skill to take first.
While buying good gear is good, there is a caveat present. Buying the absolute best gear available makes collecting money afterwards completely pointless, which means you’ll probably feel more inclined to dodge gates in future races. This could have been circumvented by having the player earn season points for passing through all gates in a race. Rather, the reward for doing that is a bonus stage where you only earn more cash. Now, we have a bonus game that serves no purpose and gates that no longer benefit the player, which makes things less exciting and only adds to frustration since these things no longer benefit you.
The graphics wouldn’t feel out of place on the Super Nintendo at times, which is depressing in a way since this is a launch title for a console that’s supposed to do amazing 3D graphics. Some effects are neat, but you’ll get over them quickly as you play. The game’s music also leaves a lot to be desired. It does the job of being a racing game soundtrack, but it doesn’t do anything memorable, which is a shame.
Overall, I wanted to like ESPN Extreme Games. It has a decent arcade-like feel that incentivizes replays by having multiple characters with different stats that specialize in different modes of transportation. The problems with AI balance, the short-lasting thrill of collecting cash, and rubber banding drag it down though. Sadly I can't recommend this one.
[This review was originally written on May 18, 2021, on a website I had since abandoned. I will be sharing these reviews over the next few weeks so they can actually be read by others for once!]
ESPN Extreme Games, which would later have its title changed to 1Xtreme due to copyright shenanigans, is a racing game where you choose one of four modes of transportation to try to go for first place. Put on some roller blades, hop on a bike, shred on a skateboard, or shoot through on a luge to pass by racers and pass through gates to earn points and cash to help you become the most Xtreme racer around!
While it sounds cool on paper like this, ESPN Extreme Games isn’t as extreme or cool as it tries to make itself out to be. At the very least, getting a strong amount of speed during a race feels good and taking down opponents with punches and kicks is satisfying when they land. The rest of the game is the player struggling to get by while opponents rubber band to them, ready to pass them by if they make even one mistake.
Despite being a race, you don’t get to see things like a map that shows where opponents are in relation to you or how close you are to the end. All the turns are automatic and you’re simply moving forward until you reach the end. Racing games can definitely work like this, but with this design they gave the computer opponents an unfair advantage. Having a strong lead and then getting knocked down by an opponent or hitting an obstacle can cause any number of passed-by racers to immediately catch up and leave you in the dust, which is infuriating when you’ve held a strong lead for a long time.
What doesn’t help matters is the strict requirements for winning a season, which is the main mode of the game. You need season points to win a season, which makes sense. There are two ways to earn points: passing through yellow gates and placing very well in races. Doing well in races rewards the players with more points than they’ll ever get while simply passing through gates, which makes the before-mentioned opponent issues a problem. Even at easier skill levels, opponents will overtake you easily, which makes it difficult to get the larger amounts of points you need. Expect to spend a lot of time mastering courses to attempt to take first place.
On the topic of courses, there are four available to you as you go through a season. Because of the low track count, the game has you travel through each course three times during a season to make the mode feel more fleshed out. Doing multiple attempts at seasons to get first while going through the same four courses multiple times gets exhausting, and the difficulty keeps it from ever getting fun.
At the very least, there is a decent roster of characters selectable, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. As you complete seasons, you’ll eventually find a racer that prioritizes certain equipment that you feel the most comfortable with. The only problem here is that once you choose a character and complete a race with them, you’re stuck as then until the season ends or you start a new one, so make sure to pick wisely!
Things aren’t completely against you in this adventure, however. Passing through green gates during races can earn you some cash. This cash can be used to purchase better equipment for your character, so they can handle better and go faster. These upgrades can help slightly, but you’ll still need skill to take first.
While buying good gear is good, there is a caveat present. Buying the absolute best gear available makes collecting money afterwards completely pointless, which means you’ll probably feel more inclined to dodge gates in future races. This could have been circumvented by having the player earn season points for passing through all gates in a race. Rather, the reward for doing that is a bonus stage where you only earn more cash. Now, we have a bonus game that serves no purpose and gates that no longer benefit the player, which makes things less exciting and only adds to frustration since these things no longer benefit you.
The graphics wouldn’t feel out of place on the Super Nintendo at times, which is depressing in a way since this is a launch title for a console that’s supposed to do amazing 3D graphics. Some effects are neat, but you’ll get over them quickly as you play. The game’s music also leaves a lot to be desired. It does the job of being a racing game soundtrack, but it doesn’t do anything memorable, which is a shame.
Overall, I wanted to like ESPN Extreme Games. It has a decent arcade-like feel that incentivizes replays by having multiple characters with different stats that specialize in different modes of transportation. The problems with AI balance, the short-lasting thrill of collecting cash, and rubber banding drag it down though. Sadly I can't recommend this one.
[This review was originally written on May 18, 2021, on a website I had since abandoned. I will be sharing these reviews over the next few weeks so they can actually be read by others for once!]
Mario Golf
1999
My last experience with a golf game was Golf Magazine: 36 Great Holes Starring Ted Couples, which didn't emulate so well. Not that it matters, because I am notoriously bad at golf both in and out of video games, and at this point it's pretty rare for me to pick up a club and try. Yet, Mario Golf has been calling to me lately, and I figure hey, it's Mario so it's probably designed for children, which is exactly where my skill level is at.
I spent the better part of my Saturday morning on hole 2 of Koopa Park smacking the ball too hard out of the rough and watching it whizz right by the hole as I knocked it between opposite ends of the green over and over again. I was 20 over par, Mario fucking killed himself.
Seeing as the biggest barrier here is the terrible misfortune of being me, Mario Golf is otherwise pretty good! Maybe the best golf game I've ever played bearing in mind my fairly limited exposure to the genre. The presentation is fantastic and gets by on a lot of that Mario charm, and the controls feel good and intuitive without babying you so much that I can place higher than 30th in a tournament, so you know... the skill ceiling is set high enough to give you some overhead! I also played this with a N64 controller that I placed an 8bitdo hall effect joystick in, and it made finessing the position of my putts and swings feel much better than it does on a stock analog stick.
I've seen quite a few people complain about how tedious and demanding course and character unlocks are, and I think that's a very fair criticism, but you can also plug in a code at the title screen and unlock almost everything. After being humbled several times by Luigi, that's what I did. I have no pride, there's nothing I hold sacred about this sport. I don't need to participate in an agonizing unlock system, I have nothing to prove to you, Mario Golf, or God.
BUT IS IT A SUMMAH GAME?
I hope your feet are kicked up under the cabana, a cool fruity beverage in hand, because I'm about to rain some Summah philosophy down upon you. Golf is a year-round sport, which makes it both Summah and Not Summah at the same time.
How can that be? Is it possible that Summah and Winter can co-exist? This is a question that has baffled Summah science for centuries! But perhaps we can get closer to the truth by examining Mario Golf and extract, separate, and measure its seasonal essence. To carry out this experiment, I put my copy of Mario Golf into an Amazon Basics juicer and it broke immediately.
Testing Mario Golf against the Summah Index Scale also yielded poor results, leaving much needed answers out of our grasp, like a parasol carried by Summah winds towards open waters. But maybe we're thinking of it all wrong. Why should the seasons co-exist when we have the means of making Summah eternal? Once it's 90 degrees in December, you'll be havin' a Summah forever.
I spent the better part of my Saturday morning on hole 2 of Koopa Park smacking the ball too hard out of the rough and watching it whizz right by the hole as I knocked it between opposite ends of the green over and over again. I was 20 over par, Mario fucking killed himself.
Seeing as the biggest barrier here is the terrible misfortune of being me, Mario Golf is otherwise pretty good! Maybe the best golf game I've ever played bearing in mind my fairly limited exposure to the genre. The presentation is fantastic and gets by on a lot of that Mario charm, and the controls feel good and intuitive without babying you so much that I can place higher than 30th in a tournament, so you know... the skill ceiling is set high enough to give you some overhead! I also played this with a N64 controller that I placed an 8bitdo hall effect joystick in, and it made finessing the position of my putts and swings feel much better than it does on a stock analog stick.
I've seen quite a few people complain about how tedious and demanding course and character unlocks are, and I think that's a very fair criticism, but you can also plug in a code at the title screen and unlock almost everything. After being humbled several times by Luigi, that's what I did. I have no pride, there's nothing I hold sacred about this sport. I don't need to participate in an agonizing unlock system, I have nothing to prove to you, Mario Golf, or God.
BUT IS IT A SUMMAH GAME?
I hope your feet are kicked up under the cabana, a cool fruity beverage in hand, because I'm about to rain some Summah philosophy down upon you. Golf is a year-round sport, which makes it both Summah and Not Summah at the same time.
How can that be? Is it possible that Summah and Winter can co-exist? This is a question that has baffled Summah science for centuries! But perhaps we can get closer to the truth by examining Mario Golf and extract, separate, and measure its seasonal essence. To carry out this experiment, I put my copy of Mario Golf into an Amazon Basics juicer and it broke immediately.
Testing Mario Golf against the Summah Index Scale also yielded poor results, leaving much needed answers out of our grasp, like a parasol carried by Summah winds towards open waters. But maybe we're thinking of it all wrong. Why should the seasons co-exist when we have the means of making Summah eternal? Once it's 90 degrees in December, you'll be havin' a Summah forever.
Pokémon Ruby Version
2002
This is the third of many reviews apart of the pokemon marathon or pokeathlon as we call it started by @Memoats and the other participants are @Dalf @VSLazer and @Ptcremisi make sure to go check out their profiles for their reviews as well.
From now on these reviews will start with a section all about the improvements the game I talk about has over the previous games or what the remake improves over the original.First thing that's improved obviously now that we are on the game boy advanced is the graphics this game looks so charming and beautiful even today the sprite work looks fantastic and the colors stick out really well.one of my biggest problems with GSC was the dex it felt very underwhelming and lots of good pokemon were locked to super late in the game thankfully the hoenn pokedex overall very quality ad distributes the new pokemon very well i'll talk about the actual pokemon more later.Next is the region design compared to the previous games it's a lot more varied and interesting to traverse because now we have volcanoes,deserts and beaches to explore.probably the biggest improvement RSE makes is the added depth to combat with the newly added natures, abilities and double battles natures don't matter too much they just make pokemon slightly stronger in one stat and weaker in another they help make your pokemon feel more unique and persoanlized.Now for the abilities there are multiple types in battle and out of battle abilities in battle abilities for example static has a chance to inflict the paralysis status affect when a pokemon gets attacked by a move that makes direct contact and my example for out of battle abilities is pick up,when a pokemon has the pick up ability after every battle there is a chance that the pokemon will be carrying an item the item can be a simple potion or if you're lucky you might get a full restore or rare candy and more the pickup user levels up the greater chances you have of finding rare items and the list of items you can pick up expands.Finally double battles there honestly isn't too much to say they're pretty self explanatory just a battle with double the pokemon so 2 vs 2 they have a bit more depth but nothing too special they are just a nice change of pace most of the time.One last thing I think RSE improves on the previous games is making the legendaries feel important now that they are a part of the main plot and they have their own music.
I now want to talk about all the things this game does well and ill start with the pokemon like I said earlier this game has a great variety of pokemon soo I want to name some of my favorites and just ones that are notable.The starters especially Blazakin,electrike line,makuhita line,tailow line,ralts line,arron line,torkoal,lotad line,trapinch line,carvana line,shroomish line,absol and all the legendaries.one of the most iconic parts about gen 3 is the music and it definitely does not disappoint I think the songs fit the adventurous theme of the region well and the whole soundtrack is pretty memorable as a whole some of my favorites are lilycove city,littleroot town,trainer battle,gym battle,elite 4 battle,champion battle,route 113,battle maxie/archie,battle legendary and route 119/120.One thing I think goes under appreciated in ruby and sapphire is the new game modes/extra content to engage with mainly the contests and secret bases to be honest I haven't done a single contest but i'm sure they are a nice little distraction and give you something to do if you're bored with the main story or after you beat the game but I have messed with the secret bases a bit just like the contests they are a nice distraction and gives you something to do and who doesn't want to make a secret base they're probably not as cool as im making them out to be but Idk I just think they're neat.My final point of praise is the whole regi puzzles just like the contests and secret bases I just think they're neat having these cool hidden pokemon locked behind puzzles and exploration is just cool to me.
Unfortunately now my praises come to an end and i'll go ahead and start with the obvious the whole too much water debate and honesty i don't agree kinda,I wouldn't say there is too much in the whole game but In the east part of the region definitely.Once you get to the 7th gym the exploration kinda goes to crap because the eastern part of the region is all water and honesty just way too big and it doesn't help that all the trainers are swimmers so that whole section starts to get repetitive real quick and is just disappoint because the rest of the region is really fun to traverse and visually interesting.On the topic of exploration we are now in the era of pokemon where an hm user is basically required to traverse the region Its definitely not as bad as the next gen but still kind of sucks when you basically have to catch a whole water hm user for hms that feel underutilized like dive and waterfall.Next is the story I do think it's definitely the best of the 3 games so far which isn't a high bar but my biggest problem with it is the villain goals wanting the whole world to be land or water just seems pretty dumb I don't think I need to explain more.Something I don't see brought up too much is the gym leader teams most are fine but there are 3 that are very underwhelming first one is watsons team a magnemite,voltorb and magneton not having any newly introduced pokemon on a gym leader team is lame to me next is norman slacking,vigorth and slaking I would have replaced the second slacking or vigoroth with a zangoose or loudred and finally Tate and Lisa solrock and lunatone are fine but only having 2 pokemon makes the fight feel very underwhelming considering all it takes to defeat them is 2 surfs.My last big point of criticism is the level curve unfortunately I won't go in depth with it but by the eletile 4 it's just too much I only trained 4 pokemon and fought pretty much every trainer but I was still around 10 levels under them I wish that the issue would have been fixed considering how bad it was in GSC.The Team CHUCK the Blazakin SASUKE the shiny Crobat SPARX the manectric KALAMARI the Tentacruel (name suggested by VSLazer) ZIGZAM the Zigzagoon and FRED the trapinch that I was too lazy to grind up
I do really like this game and out of all the games in the marathon so far Ruby is easily my favorite I think this game holds up super well and I had tons of fun experiencing it again for the maraton.Just like the red review I kind of struggled to Think of what to say for this one as of late my mind has been going all over the place so It was hard for me to focus on writing this as a result im sure there are things I completely forgot to bring up and stuff I could have worded better but I still hope you enjoyed reading the review if you made it this far I appreciate ya
<3 also remember to check out the other participants' reviews once again thank you for reading!!
From now on these reviews will start with a section all about the improvements the game I talk about has over the previous games or what the remake improves over the original.First thing that's improved obviously now that we are on the game boy advanced is the graphics this game looks so charming and beautiful even today the sprite work looks fantastic and the colors stick out really well.one of my biggest problems with GSC was the dex it felt very underwhelming and lots of good pokemon were locked to super late in the game thankfully the hoenn pokedex overall very quality ad distributes the new pokemon very well i'll talk about the actual pokemon more later.Next is the region design compared to the previous games it's a lot more varied and interesting to traverse because now we have volcanoes,deserts and beaches to explore.probably the biggest improvement RSE makes is the added depth to combat with the newly added natures, abilities and double battles natures don't matter too much they just make pokemon slightly stronger in one stat and weaker in another they help make your pokemon feel more unique and persoanlized.Now for the abilities there are multiple types in battle and out of battle abilities in battle abilities for example static has a chance to inflict the paralysis status affect when a pokemon gets attacked by a move that makes direct contact and my example for out of battle abilities is pick up,when a pokemon has the pick up ability after every battle there is a chance that the pokemon will be carrying an item the item can be a simple potion or if you're lucky you might get a full restore or rare candy and more the pickup user levels up the greater chances you have of finding rare items and the list of items you can pick up expands.Finally double battles there honestly isn't too much to say they're pretty self explanatory just a battle with double the pokemon so 2 vs 2 they have a bit more depth but nothing too special they are just a nice change of pace most of the time.One last thing I think RSE improves on the previous games is making the legendaries feel important now that they are a part of the main plot and they have their own music.
I now want to talk about all the things this game does well and ill start with the pokemon like I said earlier this game has a great variety of pokemon soo I want to name some of my favorites and just ones that are notable.The starters especially Blazakin,electrike line,makuhita line,tailow line,ralts line,arron line,torkoal,lotad line,trapinch line,carvana line,shroomish line,absol and all the legendaries.one of the most iconic parts about gen 3 is the music and it definitely does not disappoint I think the songs fit the adventurous theme of the region well and the whole soundtrack is pretty memorable as a whole some of my favorites are lilycove city,littleroot town,trainer battle,gym battle,elite 4 battle,champion battle,route 113,battle maxie/archie,battle legendary and route 119/120.One thing I think goes under appreciated in ruby and sapphire is the new game modes/extra content to engage with mainly the contests and secret bases to be honest I haven't done a single contest but i'm sure they are a nice little distraction and give you something to do if you're bored with the main story or after you beat the game but I have messed with the secret bases a bit just like the contests they are a nice distraction and gives you something to do and who doesn't want to make a secret base they're probably not as cool as im making them out to be but Idk I just think they're neat.My final point of praise is the whole regi puzzles just like the contests and secret bases I just think they're neat having these cool hidden pokemon locked behind puzzles and exploration is just cool to me.
Unfortunately now my praises come to an end and i'll go ahead and start with the obvious the whole too much water debate and honesty i don't agree kinda,I wouldn't say there is too much in the whole game but In the east part of the region definitely.Once you get to the 7th gym the exploration kinda goes to crap because the eastern part of the region is all water and honesty just way too big and it doesn't help that all the trainers are swimmers so that whole section starts to get repetitive real quick and is just disappoint because the rest of the region is really fun to traverse and visually interesting.On the topic of exploration we are now in the era of pokemon where an hm user is basically required to traverse the region Its definitely not as bad as the next gen but still kind of sucks when you basically have to catch a whole water hm user for hms that feel underutilized like dive and waterfall.Next is the story I do think it's definitely the best of the 3 games so far which isn't a high bar but my biggest problem with it is the villain goals wanting the whole world to be land or water just seems pretty dumb I don't think I need to explain more.Something I don't see brought up too much is the gym leader teams most are fine but there are 3 that are very underwhelming first one is watsons team a magnemite,voltorb and magneton not having any newly introduced pokemon on a gym leader team is lame to me next is norman slacking,vigorth and slaking I would have replaced the second slacking or vigoroth with a zangoose or loudred and finally Tate and Lisa solrock and lunatone are fine but only having 2 pokemon makes the fight feel very underwhelming considering all it takes to defeat them is 2 surfs.My last big point of criticism is the level curve unfortunately I won't go in depth with it but by the eletile 4 it's just too much I only trained 4 pokemon and fought pretty much every trainer but I was still around 10 levels under them I wish that the issue would have been fixed considering how bad it was in GSC.The Team CHUCK the Blazakin SASUKE the shiny Crobat SPARX the manectric KALAMARI the Tentacruel (name suggested by VSLazer) ZIGZAM the Zigzagoon and FRED the trapinch that I was too lazy to grind up
I do really like this game and out of all the games in the marathon so far Ruby is easily my favorite I think this game holds up super well and I had tons of fun experiencing it again for the maraton.Just like the red review I kind of struggled to Think of what to say for this one as of late my mind has been going all over the place so It was hard for me to focus on writing this as a result im sure there are things I completely forgot to bring up and stuff I could have worded better but I still hope you enjoyed reading the review if you made it this far I appreciate ya
<3 also remember to check out the other participants' reviews once again thank you for reading!!
LAST TIME ON ZEUSDEEGOOSE!
zeusdeegoose’s look into the box wasn’t so bad, but upon looking into the void once more, he saw the future. He quickly realized that not as it was before. The first box birthed a child! With no other options, zeusdeegoose decided to record his thoughts once more. The future was familiar, yet so slightly off that he hated it. Can he put his finger on why? Or is the past really that bad? Who knows...
The Afterbirth Plus of The Legend of Dark Witch series.
Peeking a bit into the future, this game was released in between what I dub “The Great Dark Witch Hiatus”, and I'm only covering it right now because it's the remaster of Dark Witch 1. Renovation was released in a time where The Legend of Dark Witch content was severely lacking, where we hadn’t seen a true followup to anything in the series. Disregarding rereleases, ports, and the like, not a drop of Dark Witch came to fruition. This was largely due to Brave Dungeon 2’s… development cycle, which was stuck in limbo for a good while. No trailers, no info, nothing. While Brave Dungeon 2 was going to be the celebration for the series’ 5th Anniversary, it was eventually superseded with… this game, titled The Legend of Dark Witch Renovation, or rather confusingly, simply The Legend of Dark Witch on Nintendo Switch. No, not to confuse it with The Legend of Dark Witch on 3DS. It’s a remaster (???) of The Legend of Dark Witch, as its title implies, and does it do that well? NO. Rant incoming, folks. This is gonna be a bumpy ride.
Renovation is a “””remaster””” of Chronicle 2D Act, which I had already held in some decent regards. Sure, it was short, but sweet, never wasting your time but being a perfect game for speedrunners and completionists. Renovation is attempting to fix an already good game, and doesn’t need to, nor does it add ANYTHING to The Legend of Dark Witch to warrant a $3 price increase. Not to mention, at least on Steam, they increased the price of the original to $8 as well. No new content from Renovation (unless you count changing the player color), just a price increase because FUCK you as a consumer. So, what does Renovation hold?
A shitty, borderline Waifu2x sprite upscale??? Aside from the hand drawn characters and bosses, the sprites go through this weird, Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection-ass filter, and has always, and will always look like total dogshit. Why the FUCK are you charging me $8 for something I can do in Citra for FREE??? Oh, and y’all motherfuckers are calling this GOOD sprite work??? LMAO! And the actual hand drawn sprites look mediocre at best. The new portraits at least look okay, inferior to the originals, but good lord, it still looks terrible overall! Really the only unambiguously good update to the graphics is the UI. I fucking love the new UI! It’s actually well drawn, and looks really nice and modern! But other than that, the new graphics are a dud. But the most cardinal sin is the inability to fix these issues individually. Cave Story on the fucking Wii let you tweak the game to your liking. Want the Old graphics with the New soundtrack? You’re weird, but SURE! In order to fix some of the new issues, you need to revert almost EVERY change Renovation makes, a mixture of good and bad changes!
- Capacity meter from 2 (actually a good change)
- New art (dogshit)
- Slot loss changes between difficulties (literally the point of the original game’s challenge)
- Comet buff (actually a good change)
- Health drop adjustments (whatever)
- New minigames (who the fuck cares)
- New VAs (whatever)
- Boss Arrangement (actually a good change)
- Boss Battle BGM (who the fuck cares)
Oh, but you know what ISN’T FUCKING TOGGLEABLE??? The FUCKING SCREEN SHAKING AFTER TAKING ANY SORT OF HIT. I’M GOING TO HAVE AN EPILEPTIC SEIZURE. If I have to enable the Steam Console just to rollback this shit, then you have FAILED. You know what else gives me a seizure??? THE DROPPED FRAMESSSSSSSSSSKOPEKPEOKDOPEK
For SOME reason, a 2014 GAME fails to run well on a PC built in 2020, much less on a Nintendo Switch. I don’t even think this is excusable. I have no idea why, but I experience constant frame drops on PC, and even just booting into a stage freezes the game for a few seconds. Literally. WHY. I have NO idea what the fuck is going on, considering that Dark Witch 1 (and 2) had an perfectly fine PC ports, with 2 adding even more content. And since it took a few extra weeks to release Renovation on Steam, you'd THINK the optimization would be good, but no. We spent 5 minutes on this game, oh shit! We can’t add TOO much good content! We have to make the game objectively WORSE!
The ONLY truly new piece of content they added is terrible. The Day Stage, originating from Dark Witch 3. As a $2 DLC (LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOO). And the stage itself fucking sucks nuts. Get hit once in the air and you might as well be fucking DEAD. I'm a big fan of Verri’s stage, but goddamn, GODDAMN. And the boss is super easy, so what the fuck??? It's just awful, and the fact that they charged me 2 bucks for an awful, 2 minute stage fucking SUCKS. Why couldn't this have been included for free, or at least have 2 or more stages attached to it? And sure, it released after the game did, but Blaster Master Zero, Terraria, Hollow Knight, Dead Estate, and probably more, all got a shit ton of new content all for free over the years, with the only exception being Blaster Master Zero. But guess what that game had as DLC? For $2, you get an ENTIRELY new character, with all new mechanics. If other small indie game studios can do it, then what the HELL is NAN-A’s excuse? God, this reminds me of Vergil’s Downfall from DmC: Devil May Cry. Yeah, remember that shit? For 10 dollars, you got like, 1 hour of content. It’s genuinely so ass, man... Just like Renovation!
Renovation is a fucking embarrasment. It adds almost nothing to an already great game, and its changes are more filler than legitimate upgrades, being even contentious or straight up BAD at points. Literally just play Classic, Renovation is TERRIBLE. Or don’t even play Classic, because NAN-A blocks his criticizers on Twitter, so OOPSIES! Spend your $8 towards Spelunky, or Isaac, or Blaster Master Zero, Terraria, or whatever. Don’t buy this. Hell, don't buy The Legend of Dark Witch in general! You're only setting up for the cold, grim fate that is disappointment.
I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again. Despite most of my popular reviews, I DREAD being a pessimist on zeusdeegoose. Yeah, it feels good to rag on something as blatantly awful as Super Meat Boy Forever, but in the end, I find gushing about the games I actually love! And Renovation taints something that I really fuck with, in a way that I cant say about some of the other re-releases in this series, or in general, to be honest. Is Renovation a fine way to experience the inaugural game in the series? Yeah, I’m not taking that away from anybody. But I feel like it could’ve and should’ve gone farther to warrant a rerelease of this kind, making the game arguably worse in some scenarios. No matter how much I like Dark Witch 1, I don’t think it’s perfect. Far from it, in fact! Hence why I gave it an 7.5/10, rather a perfect 10/10, like... every game on my favorites list! And likewise, there’s much more room for improvement here and there. Like, okay, you went through the troubles of renovating every boss, why not the stages? Why not make hand drawn sprites for everybody, not just Zizou? So many missed opportunities here! But so many missed opportunities does not make a great game, and as such, in good faith, I cannot recommend Renovation. AND NEITHER CAN THE PEOPLE! You see, in 2023, I hosted a Legend of Dark Witch games poll, as a send off to my presence on the wiki. And most people rated Renovation lower than Chronicle 2D Act! A commonly cited issue was the artstyle, but other than that, most were impartial to it. I, and a few others, were not however, and while it’s a growing vocal minority, I still think that warrants criticism. Because in order to even unlock the better experience, you have to... BEAT THE GAME. That then allows you to purchase an upgrade to switch between the 2014 original and Renovation, which is genuinely so stupid. Why isn’t this the default? And that lack of care is why I ultimately prefer Classic to Renovation. Renovation feels like it could’ve been something greater, but unfortunately, a few months in a game’s development could’ve been the make it or break it. And for this story, it was broken…
In terms of zeusdeegoose ratings, for remasters and expansions, I really only rate the added content itself, and on that front, Renovation was an absolute failure, so I can only really rate it with a low score. On its own, it's okay I suppose, but it could’ve AND should’ve been waaaaay better. Oh, and what’s next, you may ask? An actually fun game? Can’t wait!
ZEUSDEEGOOSE SCORE: 2/10
MISSION RANKING: E
CODE NAME: DAMAGED WITCH
zeusdeegoose’s look into the box wasn’t so bad, but upon looking into the void once more, he saw the future. He quickly realized that not as it was before. The first box birthed a child! With no other options, zeusdeegoose decided to record his thoughts once more. The future was familiar, yet so slightly off that he hated it. Can he put his finger on why? Or is the past really that bad? Who knows...
The Afterbirth Plus of The Legend of Dark Witch series.
Peeking a bit into the future, this game was released in between what I dub “The Great Dark Witch Hiatus”, and I'm only covering it right now because it's the remaster of Dark Witch 1. Renovation was released in a time where The Legend of Dark Witch content was severely lacking, where we hadn’t seen a true followup to anything in the series. Disregarding rereleases, ports, and the like, not a drop of Dark Witch came to fruition. This was largely due to Brave Dungeon 2’s… development cycle, which was stuck in limbo for a good while. No trailers, no info, nothing. While Brave Dungeon 2 was going to be the celebration for the series’ 5th Anniversary, it was eventually superseded with… this game, titled The Legend of Dark Witch Renovation, or rather confusingly, simply The Legend of Dark Witch on Nintendo Switch. No, not to confuse it with The Legend of Dark Witch on 3DS. It’s a remaster (???) of The Legend of Dark Witch, as its title implies, and does it do that well? NO. Rant incoming, folks. This is gonna be a bumpy ride.
Renovation is a “””remaster””” of Chronicle 2D Act, which I had already held in some decent regards. Sure, it was short, but sweet, never wasting your time but being a perfect game for speedrunners and completionists. Renovation is attempting to fix an already good game, and doesn’t need to, nor does it add ANYTHING to The Legend of Dark Witch to warrant a $3 price increase. Not to mention, at least on Steam, they increased the price of the original to $8 as well. No new content from Renovation (unless you count changing the player color), just a price increase because FUCK you as a consumer. So, what does Renovation hold?
A shitty, borderline Waifu2x sprite upscale??? Aside from the hand drawn characters and bosses, the sprites go through this weird, Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection-ass filter, and has always, and will always look like total dogshit. Why the FUCK are you charging me $8 for something I can do in Citra for FREE??? Oh, and y’all motherfuckers are calling this GOOD sprite work??? LMAO! And the actual hand drawn sprites look mediocre at best. The new portraits at least look okay, inferior to the originals, but good lord, it still looks terrible overall! Really the only unambiguously good update to the graphics is the UI. I fucking love the new UI! It’s actually well drawn, and looks really nice and modern! But other than that, the new graphics are a dud. But the most cardinal sin is the inability to fix these issues individually. Cave Story on the fucking Wii let you tweak the game to your liking. Want the Old graphics with the New soundtrack? You’re weird, but SURE! In order to fix some of the new issues, you need to revert almost EVERY change Renovation makes, a mixture of good and bad changes!
- Capacity meter from 2 (actually a good change)
- New art (dogshit)
- Slot loss changes between difficulties (literally the point of the original game’s challenge)
- Comet buff (actually a good change)
- Health drop adjustments (whatever)
- New minigames (who the fuck cares)
- New VAs (whatever)
- Boss Arrangement (actually a good change)
- Boss Battle BGM (who the fuck cares)
Oh, but you know what ISN’T FUCKING TOGGLEABLE??? The FUCKING SCREEN SHAKING AFTER TAKING ANY SORT OF HIT. I’M GOING TO HAVE AN EPILEPTIC SEIZURE. If I have to enable the Steam Console just to rollback this shit, then you have FAILED. You know what else gives me a seizure??? THE DROPPED FRAMESSSSSSSSSSKOPEKPEOKDOPEK
For SOME reason, a 2014 GAME fails to run well on a PC built in 2020, much less on a Nintendo Switch. I don’t even think this is excusable. I have no idea why, but I experience constant frame drops on PC, and even just booting into a stage freezes the game for a few seconds. Literally. WHY. I have NO idea what the fuck is going on, considering that Dark Witch 1 (and 2) had an perfectly fine PC ports, with 2 adding even more content. And since it took a few extra weeks to release Renovation on Steam, you'd THINK the optimization would be good, but no. We spent 5 minutes on this game, oh shit! We can’t add TOO much good content! We have to make the game objectively WORSE!
The ONLY truly new piece of content they added is terrible. The Day Stage, originating from Dark Witch 3. As a $2 DLC (LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOO). And the stage itself fucking sucks nuts. Get hit once in the air and you might as well be fucking DEAD. I'm a big fan of Verri’s stage, but goddamn, GODDAMN. And the boss is super easy, so what the fuck??? It's just awful, and the fact that they charged me 2 bucks for an awful, 2 minute stage fucking SUCKS. Why couldn't this have been included for free, or at least have 2 or more stages attached to it? And sure, it released after the game did, but Blaster Master Zero, Terraria, Hollow Knight, Dead Estate, and probably more, all got a shit ton of new content all for free over the years, with the only exception being Blaster Master Zero. But guess what that game had as DLC? For $2, you get an ENTIRELY new character, with all new mechanics. If other small indie game studios can do it, then what the HELL is NAN-A’s excuse? God, this reminds me of Vergil’s Downfall from DmC: Devil May Cry. Yeah, remember that shit? For 10 dollars, you got like, 1 hour of content. It’s genuinely so ass, man... Just like Renovation!
Renovation is a fucking embarrasment. It adds almost nothing to an already great game, and its changes are more filler than legitimate upgrades, being even contentious or straight up BAD at points. Literally just play Classic, Renovation is TERRIBLE. Or don’t even play Classic, because NAN-A blocks his criticizers on Twitter, so OOPSIES! Spend your $8 towards Spelunky, or Isaac, or Blaster Master Zero, Terraria, or whatever. Don’t buy this. Hell, don't buy The Legend of Dark Witch in general! You're only setting up for the cold, grim fate that is disappointment.
I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again. Despite most of my popular reviews, I DREAD being a pessimist on zeusdeegoose. Yeah, it feels good to rag on something as blatantly awful as Super Meat Boy Forever, but in the end, I find gushing about the games I actually love! And Renovation taints something that I really fuck with, in a way that I cant say about some of the other re-releases in this series, or in general, to be honest. Is Renovation a fine way to experience the inaugural game in the series? Yeah, I’m not taking that away from anybody. But I feel like it could’ve and should’ve gone farther to warrant a rerelease of this kind, making the game arguably worse in some scenarios. No matter how much I like Dark Witch 1, I don’t think it’s perfect. Far from it, in fact! Hence why I gave it an 7.5/10, rather a perfect 10/10, like... every game on my favorites list! And likewise, there’s much more room for improvement here and there. Like, okay, you went through the troubles of renovating every boss, why not the stages? Why not make hand drawn sprites for everybody, not just Zizou? So many missed opportunities here! But so many missed opportunities does not make a great game, and as such, in good faith, I cannot recommend Renovation. AND NEITHER CAN THE PEOPLE! You see, in 2023, I hosted a Legend of Dark Witch games poll, as a send off to my presence on the wiki. And most people rated Renovation lower than Chronicle 2D Act! A commonly cited issue was the artstyle, but other than that, most were impartial to it. I, and a few others, were not however, and while it’s a growing vocal minority, I still think that warrants criticism. Because in order to even unlock the better experience, you have to... BEAT THE GAME. That then allows you to purchase an upgrade to switch between the 2014 original and Renovation, which is genuinely so stupid. Why isn’t this the default? And that lack of care is why I ultimately prefer Classic to Renovation. Renovation feels like it could’ve been something greater, but unfortunately, a few months in a game’s development could’ve been the make it or break it. And for this story, it was broken…
In terms of zeusdeegoose ratings, for remasters and expansions, I really only rate the added content itself, and on that front, Renovation was an absolute failure, so I can only really rate it with a low score. On its own, it's okay I suppose, but it could’ve AND should’ve been waaaaay better. Oh, and what’s next, you may ask? An actually fun game? Can’t wait!
ZEUSDEEGOOSE SCORE: 2/10
MISSION RANKING: E
CODE NAME: DAMAGED WITCH
This review contains spoilers
LAST TIME ON ZEUSDEEGOOSE!
After reviewing the masterpiece that is Blaster Master Zero III, Zeus pondered on his past once again, before Isaac, before Zero III, even. And in the end, he found himself searching in a box. An uncomfortable void of nothingness, with only vague glimmers of stars guidinghis heart. As he reached out to the light, it dissipated in front of his own eyes. Feeling dissatisfied, he continued to wade through the void that is fate. The void gave him something that took physical form. One of three boxes. And, without hesitation, our grandest goose looked dead in the eyes at it, proceeding to open it. What lies in the end of all of this? Perhaps something or someone personal? Who could know? One thing's for certain, however. It's gonna be a bumpy ride into the Abyss that is Hell…
Welp, guess I'm stuck here for a while. At least this void came with a sick-ass box! Let's open it!
Damn it. The box was The Legend of Dark Witch. Ughhhhhhhhh.
Ohhhhhhh boyyyyyy, The Legend of Dark Witch. The premiere 5/10 Indie game series. Although way back when zeusdeegoose went under the username of Blad, I never really thought of it as that. Hell, I considered it my favorite series of all time, with Dark Witch 2 ranking as my personal favorite game of all time. [Clearly, that’s changed](insert link here dumbass) since 2023, but I go pretty far back with the series, all starting out in 2017 when I impulse-downloaded the 3DS Demo for Episode 2. I had a goddamn blast, but ever since 2022, that love for the franchise as a whole started dwindling, partially due to the developer and the games as of late. Between 2019 (when I actually bought all of the Dark Witch games on 3DS) and 2023 (where I essentially retired from everything even remotely related to Dark Witch), I had:
- Bought every version of every Dark Witch game (minus DW1 PS Vita, Rudymical iOS and Switch, BD1 on Switch, BD2 on Switch, probably more I’m forgetting)
- Became a bureaucrat on the now closed Dark Witch Wiki, and had the highest edit count on said wiki
- Became a server moderator for a fan Discord, later became owner of said server
- Helped kickstart ANOTHER fan Discord
- Rebranded to Blad
- Some other shit idk
- And 100%ed Dark Witch 2.
So yeah. I wasn’t the biggest Dark Witch fan out there, I know a few who 100%ed every DW game, but I was pretty well known around the pond to say the least. But to explain why the release of Brave Dungeon: The Meaning of Justice left a bad taste in mine and other’s mouths requires a long, 15 page essay. After I played the Early Access version (and later returned to the full release)... I was so fucking done, dude. It left such a bad taste in my mouth. Everything was so terrible and unpolished, and after 5 years of waiting for this pile of shit, I was so disappointed that I ended up retiring from the community as a whole, and haven’t returned since, and probably never will. I never played any of the games afterwards, and hell, I had a policy that there would be NO Dark Witch reviews on this account. But recently, @dragonmals and I have been getting an itch to uncover the past. Partially because our old reviews were rather impartial, but hey. Live and learn. And while my review series is largely unaffiliated with his, I would highly recommend checking it out if you’re interested. We both have different and paralleling perspectives on the series, and his reviews are as well written as mine, so check ‘em out and tell him that the ‘goose sent you. Other than that, this review series, despite my praises of some of these games, is NOT a vindication of the series as a whole. In fact, I would not recommend most of the games in this series, because of NAN-A, the creator of this series not being the greatest guy out there, let's just say. Argue “separate art from the artist” all you want, but even then, I’m not too keen on the franchise as a whole anymore. And, in order to talk about why, I need to get off my ass and actually talk about The Legend of Dark Witch! But also, final note. This review is FAAAAAAAAAAAR from definitive. Imma be real for a sec. One man can only cover every stage in a game once, so I’m just going to… not do that. I don’t care about these games enough to do that anymore. Isaac, though? Bitch, I’ll analyze every pixel of that shit. Don’t tempt me. Back to the main point though, that shit is sooooooo tiring. It took me months to get the wiki review out, and I really don’t care about the game enough to do that. If you want that, click the link. Otherwise, back to the humble beginnings of The Legend of Dark Witch. NAN-A, the primary developer of the games, had actually made some Touhou fangames, almost all of which are essentially The Legend of Dark Witch prototypes. The Legend of Dark Witch, the video game, released in 2014 as a Nintendo 3DS eShop exclusive, being originally based on Touhou, but eventually switching it up to a new IP, because Touhou fangames were disallowed on consoles at the time. This spiraled into a decade long running franchise, most of which has been stuck in absolute limbo, but humor me for a second. Today, we’re only focusing on Dark Witch 1, but the sequels and spinoffs will be soon to follow. And with the exception of only ONE game in the franchise that I believe is the pinnacle of the series, it gets progressively WORSE from here on out. And spoiler alert, it’s not this one, although I still like it.
I was introduced to The Legend of Dark Witch at around the same time as the second game. I got bored, and scrolled through the countless amount of 3DS demos and videos available, and to this day, many of those games have stuck with me. From Gunvolt, to Rhythm Heaven Megamix, Smash Bros, BLASTER MASTER ZERO, BLASTER MASTER ZERO, (BUY ALL THREE RIGHT NOW ON STEAM) THE BINDING OF ISAAC, y’know. Decent games all around, The 3DS eShop was a magical place where you could find any game you wanted, and hey, dreams came true, because In 2017, I found a younger me’s perfect game. The Legend of Dark Witch! (Episode 2: The Price of Desire.) It was a game that had piqued my interests like no other. The addictive, simple, yet satisfying game loop, the grand, beautiful music, and the awesome bosses. I then proceeded to download the first game’s demo, and from there, I would buy every Dark Witch game on the 3DS, and also the first game on the Switch… on Christmas Day 2019. Yeah, a bit slow there, ey, young goose? Either way, I got them all for under 20 bucks though, so it was definitely worth it to wait a little. I beat the second game that night, was hooked, and a few weeks later, I was ready to tackle The Legend of Dark Witch. As many of my close friends know, I was Dark Witch 1’s strongest soldier. I loved it to death, hell, I even started speedrunning it at one point. I was never good at it, mind you, but hey. It was fun! The Legend of Dark Witch is a game I find misunderstood in design, not unlike another inaugural game that I know of! But in order to explain why, we need to do the obvious. Why is The Legend of Dark Witch still GOATed? Let’s find out, and cover the first game in the franchise (and the second best within said franchise), The Legend of Dark Witch!
So, what the hell is a “Legend of Dark Witch”? For the uninitiated, The Legend of Dark Witch, or more specifically, The Legend of Dark Witch: Chronicle 2D Act (???) is the first game in this darkened franchise, laying the groundwork for a majority of the games to follow. 2D Act was originally released on the Nintendo 3DS, but has since seen ports to Steam and the PS Vita, but also received a “””remaster””” in 2019. The Legend of Dark Witch Renovation, released on the Nintendo Switch and Steam, but that’s another can of worms entirely, which I’ll save for later, because I have my Legend of Dark Witch RESERVATIONS about it. Haha, 2 years later and that joke never gets old. I played Chronicle 2D Act on Steam, and I still consider it to be the best version of the game to date, no matter how minor Renovation’s changes are. Chronicle 2D Act is a 2D platformer, taking inspiration from Touhou, Gradius, and Mega Man, and combining them into a single game that’s a bit short from being truly legendary, having a few design issues here or there. It’s a fundamentally solid game, still being one of my favorites in the series. Aaaand that’s not saying very much...
The story kicks off with the infamous Syega crystals being introduced to the player. They’re a special material, giving humans the ability to use Magic, which can be used for healing and destruction. However, across the country of the Old Islands, in the world of Beatus, all of the Syega crystals suddenly go missing. With the humans of the Old Islands left helpless, Zizou Olympia, a goddess, descends down to the Earth, undercover as a disguised minstrel, cocky personality and all, in search of the missing Syega. It’s a cute story for a simple 2D platformer, but I think they could’ve (and should’ve) gone deeper with the plot setup. First off, we’re not really shown what happens should Zizou fail her mission. All we’re told is that “Humans are in danger!!! Go, Zizou!!!” and that’s it. Without magic, maybe show some of the issues that happen if the world lacks magic. Like, what if Al’s stage was once a sunny land, thanks to the power of the Syega Crystals, but now it’s reduced to a snowy wasteland? I don’t know. But secondly, the freedom to use magic for good and bad purposes is a killer plot point. Dark Witch 2 and future games would go a lot farther with this concept, but 1 leaves it at that. I think it’s a fine story overall, but one that could’ve been great. One interesting thing to note is the game’s overall mood is pretty upbeat in contrast to the future games in the series.
Starting off, there’s a few difficulties to pick from, aka 2 difficulties. Easy, Normal, and the locked Lunatic mode. I usually pick Easy, as it’s the speedrunning standard, but Normal is also a second pick of mine. It’s not that much different, but it’s definitely a fair bit more difficult than Easy. Your character is very basic and simple, no matter which difficulty you pick. You have a Linear shot, which gets the job done most of the time, or you have the Comet Shot, which fires faster and has a different bullet pattern. As you kill enemies, you get Tres, which allows you to “install” abilities on the fly, making you more powerful than you were before. But if you die after taking damage 4 times, or by falling into the abyss, you lose all of your abilities. It really doesn’t get more simple than that. In the stages themselves, you can find Syega Crystals, which enhance a specific slot, allowing you to install more abilities within a specific slot. The stages themselves are very involved and well done, challenging the player in very unique ways from one another. There are 8 stages overall; Klinsy’s stage, a Library in the Sky, being my favorite stage in the entire series, Al’s stage, a frozen wasteland with ice physics which actually aren’t too bad, Papelne’s stage, a stage with some really fun On/Off blocks, Blad’s stage, the worst one, Sola’s stage, being an area with disappearing blocks that thankfully aren’t too cheap with their placement, and the final one of the initial 6, Stoj’s stage, the bullet hell. All of the stages are pretty fast, distinctive, and fun, but one of my favorite aspects is the degree of mastery they have. It feels like a Sonic game, almost. Beating them is the easy part, but The Legend of Dark Witch really feels speedrunner-friendly in design. Every level has no randomization to it, so replaying to get the best times is a highlight of the game, hell, I used to speedrun it at points. Not dying and avoiding damage is the best way towards a faster time, as dying resets your slots. Mastering the mechanics of the game simply feels good to do, because if you do, you’re on top of the world. But if you don’t, the game makes it slightly harder, albeit not impossible, to continue, making you a better player in the process. It’s an almost perfect system in my eyes, and while it could make dying potentially frustrating for newcomers, the system makes every death feel like a learning step, forcing you to agknowledge your mistakes as you play. And once you’ve conquered the first six levels, all of the skills you’ve culminated lead to the final few stages of the game.
All of Zizou’s detective work leads her to Riva, princess of Rasil. But first, she has to get through the Royal Guard, Verri. Verri’s stage is one of the most infamous in the series. You WILL not have an easy time on your first couple of goes. It’s a relentless stage, tossing almost every single mechanic at you at once, killing you at any opportunity that it can get. One mistake is enough to send you to the very beginning, And to be honest, I think this might be one of my favorites in the series. Sure, I’ve beaten this game over a thousand times at this point. but I think this is a great culmination of the player’s skills. Maybe it has a few cheap kills here or there, but not enough to make the stage total bullshit.
After every stage lies a boss arena. Here, we see Zizou’s cocky personality at play, giving her a Dante-esque reach over her opponents. And the bosses themselves are pretty solid. Not much else to say, they’re just as fun as the main stages, and exemplify what the main game already does well. Mastery of game mechanics. One thing I’ll note is that you get weapons, which are all okay on their own, but each boss is weak to a specific one, Sound familiar? This only adds replayability to Dark Witch’s already replayable stages, as using these abilities is crucial to getting a good time on the Leaderboards, introduced in the Steam Release. I think the Weakness chain is fine, but I do think it makes some bosses far too easy. Often, spamming your abilities leads to a quick victory. That being said, the weaknesses are an obscure enough feature, so I don't really mind them in this game. Still, it's something to be noted.
After Verri, you go through a Boss Rush, ending the encounter with Riva. All praises about previous bosses apply here, but with one big issue. Riva’s second phase fucking sucks and I hate it with no hyperbole. There’s just a million enemies spammed until she slowly dies. She has no hitbox, no way to speed up the fight, nothing. She’s the real low point of the game, going against practically everything that Dark Witch 1 does well. From the speedrunning, replay value, difficulty, everything. Probably the worst boss in the series, to be honest. It’s such a disappointing way to end The Legend of Dark Witch. But, I say end, because the postgame is arguably where The Legend of Dark Witch truly begins.
A fundamental of any Dark Witch game is a grand postgame. Sure, The Legend of Dark Witch is about a 1 to 2 hour game on your first go, which isn’t terrible for a $5 indie, but the postgame is incredibly long for most games in the series. And Dark Witch 1 is no exception. Going in, you unlock the Syega Shop, where you can unlock abilities in your future save files. A great way to incentivise good play, as game difficulty, and the in game achievements only give you more and more Syega. It feels kind of like a roguelike, where each save file is a new run with all new abilities and buffs (no wonder why I liked Isaac and Nuclear Throne so much, huh?). I usually don’t use them out of pure gaming skill, but they’re there if you want them. This keeps the gameplay loop a lot more fresh, also kind of feeling like DMC in a way, where you continue making progress even after completing a save.
The second major unlockable is Lunatic Mode, a tough as nails mode that’s sure to break a man’s spirit. A damn difficult mode it is; Hearts never drop, bosses and enemies are buffed and have higher speed, and by god, it’s actually almost damn impossible. I could never beat it. It was just too hard for me. But if you want an even HARDER challenge, look no further than Riva.
Yeah, Riva fucking sucks. Not much else to say. She gets a charge shot which does amazing damage but her range is so piss poor that you’re taking damage yourself. And Riva’s Sword attack fucking sucks. Not much else to say, don’t play as Riva.
But other than that, The Legend of Dark Witch is a solid time, and held up pretty well. A lot of its issues are overblown in my eyes, and it remains as a misunderstood entry in the Dark Witch franchise. I know this review was a bit shorter than usual, but The Legend of Dark Witch is a pretty small game to begin with. If you can fuck with the initial premise and game, you can have a game that lasts you a long while. I COULD recommend Dark Witch 1 to anyone, if not for the fact that NAN-A is a fucking lolicon, but whatever, guys. Brave Dungeon 2 was released in Early Access, and I'm being too harsh! Oh, and I'll GET to that game. Mark my words. But, other than that, I have little to say about the future of zeusdeegoose, because most of it is just going to be The Legend of Dark Witch reviews from here on out this week. Bayonetta Origins fans on suicide watch right now. Other than that, shameless Discord server plug (I still need more members); https://discord.gg/CUH3RSFSSB, and I hope you have a good night. Oh, one more thing? It's time to talk about that little reservation that I had...
ZEUSDEEGOOSE SCORE: 7.5/10
MISSION RANKING: B
CODE NAME: DECENT WITCH
After reviewing the masterpiece that is Blaster Master Zero III, Zeus pondered on his past once again, before Isaac, before Zero III, even. And in the end, he found himself searching in a box. An uncomfortable void of nothingness, with only vague glimmers of stars guidinghis heart. As he reached out to the light, it dissipated in front of his own eyes. Feeling dissatisfied, he continued to wade through the void that is fate. The void gave him something that took physical form. One of three boxes. And, without hesitation, our grandest goose looked dead in the eyes at it, proceeding to open it. What lies in the end of all of this? Perhaps something or someone personal? Who could know? One thing's for certain, however. It's gonna be a bumpy ride into the Abyss that is Hell…
Welp, guess I'm stuck here for a while. At least this void came with a sick-ass box! Let's open it!
Damn it. The box was The Legend of Dark Witch. Ughhhhhhhhh.
Ohhhhhhh boyyyyyy, The Legend of Dark Witch. The premiere 5/10 Indie game series. Although way back when zeusdeegoose went under the username of Blad, I never really thought of it as that. Hell, I considered it my favorite series of all time, with Dark Witch 2 ranking as my personal favorite game of all time. [Clearly, that’s changed](insert link here dumbass) since 2023, but I go pretty far back with the series, all starting out in 2017 when I impulse-downloaded the 3DS Demo for Episode 2. I had a goddamn blast, but ever since 2022, that love for the franchise as a whole started dwindling, partially due to the developer and the games as of late. Between 2019 (when I actually bought all of the Dark Witch games on 3DS) and 2023 (where I essentially retired from everything even remotely related to Dark Witch), I had:
- Bought every version of every Dark Witch game (minus DW1 PS Vita, Rudymical iOS and Switch, BD1 on Switch, BD2 on Switch, probably more I’m forgetting)
- Became a bureaucrat on the now closed Dark Witch Wiki, and had the highest edit count on said wiki
- Became a server moderator for a fan Discord, later became owner of said server
- Helped kickstart ANOTHER fan Discord
- Rebranded to Blad
- Some other shit idk
- And 100%ed Dark Witch 2.
So yeah. I wasn’t the biggest Dark Witch fan out there, I know a few who 100%ed every DW game, but I was pretty well known around the pond to say the least. But to explain why the release of Brave Dungeon: The Meaning of Justice left a bad taste in mine and other’s mouths requires a long, 15 page essay. After I played the Early Access version (and later returned to the full release)... I was so fucking done, dude. It left such a bad taste in my mouth. Everything was so terrible and unpolished, and after 5 years of waiting for this pile of shit, I was so disappointed that I ended up retiring from the community as a whole, and haven’t returned since, and probably never will. I never played any of the games afterwards, and hell, I had a policy that there would be NO Dark Witch reviews on this account. But recently, @dragonmals and I have been getting an itch to uncover the past. Partially because our old reviews were rather impartial, but hey. Live and learn. And while my review series is largely unaffiliated with his, I would highly recommend checking it out if you’re interested. We both have different and paralleling perspectives on the series, and his reviews are as well written as mine, so check ‘em out and tell him that the ‘goose sent you. Other than that, this review series, despite my praises of some of these games, is NOT a vindication of the series as a whole. In fact, I would not recommend most of the games in this series, because of NAN-A, the creator of this series not being the greatest guy out there, let's just say. Argue “separate art from the artist” all you want, but even then, I’m not too keen on the franchise as a whole anymore. And, in order to talk about why, I need to get off my ass and actually talk about The Legend of Dark Witch! But also, final note. This review is FAAAAAAAAAAAR from definitive. Imma be real for a sec. One man can only cover every stage in a game once, so I’m just going to… not do that. I don’t care about these games enough to do that anymore. Isaac, though? Bitch, I’ll analyze every pixel of that shit. Don’t tempt me. Back to the main point though, that shit is sooooooo tiring. It took me months to get the wiki review out, and I really don’t care about the game enough to do that. If you want that, click the link. Otherwise, back to the humble beginnings of The Legend of Dark Witch. NAN-A, the primary developer of the games, had actually made some Touhou fangames, almost all of which are essentially The Legend of Dark Witch prototypes. The Legend of Dark Witch, the video game, released in 2014 as a Nintendo 3DS eShop exclusive, being originally based on Touhou, but eventually switching it up to a new IP, because Touhou fangames were disallowed on consoles at the time. This spiraled into a decade long running franchise, most of which has been stuck in absolute limbo, but humor me for a second. Today, we’re only focusing on Dark Witch 1, but the sequels and spinoffs will be soon to follow. And with the exception of only ONE game in the franchise that I believe is the pinnacle of the series, it gets progressively WORSE from here on out. And spoiler alert, it’s not this one, although I still like it.
I was introduced to The Legend of Dark Witch at around the same time as the second game. I got bored, and scrolled through the countless amount of 3DS demos and videos available, and to this day, many of those games have stuck with me. From Gunvolt, to Rhythm Heaven Megamix, Smash Bros, BLASTER MASTER ZERO, BLASTER MASTER ZERO, (BUY ALL THREE RIGHT NOW ON STEAM) THE BINDING OF ISAAC, y’know. Decent games all around, The 3DS eShop was a magical place where you could find any game you wanted, and hey, dreams came true, because In 2017, I found a younger me’s perfect game. The Legend of Dark Witch! (Episode 2: The Price of Desire.) It was a game that had piqued my interests like no other. The addictive, simple, yet satisfying game loop, the grand, beautiful music, and the awesome bosses. I then proceeded to download the first game’s demo, and from there, I would buy every Dark Witch game on the 3DS, and also the first game on the Switch… on Christmas Day 2019. Yeah, a bit slow there, ey, young goose? Either way, I got them all for under 20 bucks though, so it was definitely worth it to wait a little. I beat the second game that night, was hooked, and a few weeks later, I was ready to tackle The Legend of Dark Witch. As many of my close friends know, I was Dark Witch 1’s strongest soldier. I loved it to death, hell, I even started speedrunning it at one point. I was never good at it, mind you, but hey. It was fun! The Legend of Dark Witch is a game I find misunderstood in design, not unlike another inaugural game that I know of! But in order to explain why, we need to do the obvious. Why is The Legend of Dark Witch still GOATed? Let’s find out, and cover the first game in the franchise (and the second best within said franchise), The Legend of Dark Witch!
So, what the hell is a “Legend of Dark Witch”? For the uninitiated, The Legend of Dark Witch, or more specifically, The Legend of Dark Witch: Chronicle 2D Act (???) is the first game in this darkened franchise, laying the groundwork for a majority of the games to follow. 2D Act was originally released on the Nintendo 3DS, but has since seen ports to Steam and the PS Vita, but also received a “””remaster””” in 2019. The Legend of Dark Witch Renovation, released on the Nintendo Switch and Steam, but that’s another can of worms entirely, which I’ll save for later, because I have my Legend of Dark Witch RESERVATIONS about it. Haha, 2 years later and that joke never gets old. I played Chronicle 2D Act on Steam, and I still consider it to be the best version of the game to date, no matter how minor Renovation’s changes are. Chronicle 2D Act is a 2D platformer, taking inspiration from Touhou, Gradius, and Mega Man, and combining them into a single game that’s a bit short from being truly legendary, having a few design issues here or there. It’s a fundamentally solid game, still being one of my favorites in the series. Aaaand that’s not saying very much...
The story kicks off with the infamous Syega crystals being introduced to the player. They’re a special material, giving humans the ability to use Magic, which can be used for healing and destruction. However, across the country of the Old Islands, in the world of Beatus, all of the Syega crystals suddenly go missing. With the humans of the Old Islands left helpless, Zizou Olympia, a goddess, descends down to the Earth, undercover as a disguised minstrel, cocky personality and all, in search of the missing Syega. It’s a cute story for a simple 2D platformer, but I think they could’ve (and should’ve) gone deeper with the plot setup. First off, we’re not really shown what happens should Zizou fail her mission. All we’re told is that “Humans are in danger!!! Go, Zizou!!!” and that’s it. Without magic, maybe show some of the issues that happen if the world lacks magic. Like, what if Al’s stage was once a sunny land, thanks to the power of the Syega Crystals, but now it’s reduced to a snowy wasteland? I don’t know. But secondly, the freedom to use magic for good and bad purposes is a killer plot point. Dark Witch 2 and future games would go a lot farther with this concept, but 1 leaves it at that. I think it’s a fine story overall, but one that could’ve been great. One interesting thing to note is the game’s overall mood is pretty upbeat in contrast to the future games in the series.
Starting off, there’s a few difficulties to pick from, aka 2 difficulties. Easy, Normal, and the locked Lunatic mode. I usually pick Easy, as it’s the speedrunning standard, but Normal is also a second pick of mine. It’s not that much different, but it’s definitely a fair bit more difficult than Easy. Your character is very basic and simple, no matter which difficulty you pick. You have a Linear shot, which gets the job done most of the time, or you have the Comet Shot, which fires faster and has a different bullet pattern. As you kill enemies, you get Tres, which allows you to “install” abilities on the fly, making you more powerful than you were before. But if you die after taking damage 4 times, or by falling into the abyss, you lose all of your abilities. It really doesn’t get more simple than that. In the stages themselves, you can find Syega Crystals, which enhance a specific slot, allowing you to install more abilities within a specific slot. The stages themselves are very involved and well done, challenging the player in very unique ways from one another. There are 8 stages overall; Klinsy’s stage, a Library in the Sky, being my favorite stage in the entire series, Al’s stage, a frozen wasteland with ice physics which actually aren’t too bad, Papelne’s stage, a stage with some really fun On/Off blocks, Blad’s stage, the worst one, Sola’s stage, being an area with disappearing blocks that thankfully aren’t too cheap with their placement, and the final one of the initial 6, Stoj’s stage, the bullet hell. All of the stages are pretty fast, distinctive, and fun, but one of my favorite aspects is the degree of mastery they have. It feels like a Sonic game, almost. Beating them is the easy part, but The Legend of Dark Witch really feels speedrunner-friendly in design. Every level has no randomization to it, so replaying to get the best times is a highlight of the game, hell, I used to speedrun it at points. Not dying and avoiding damage is the best way towards a faster time, as dying resets your slots. Mastering the mechanics of the game simply feels good to do, because if you do, you’re on top of the world. But if you don’t, the game makes it slightly harder, albeit not impossible, to continue, making you a better player in the process. It’s an almost perfect system in my eyes, and while it could make dying potentially frustrating for newcomers, the system makes every death feel like a learning step, forcing you to agknowledge your mistakes as you play. And once you’ve conquered the first six levels, all of the skills you’ve culminated lead to the final few stages of the game.
All of Zizou’s detective work leads her to Riva, princess of Rasil. But first, she has to get through the Royal Guard, Verri. Verri’s stage is one of the most infamous in the series. You WILL not have an easy time on your first couple of goes. It’s a relentless stage, tossing almost every single mechanic at you at once, killing you at any opportunity that it can get. One mistake is enough to send you to the very beginning, And to be honest, I think this might be one of my favorites in the series. Sure, I’ve beaten this game over a thousand times at this point. but I think this is a great culmination of the player’s skills. Maybe it has a few cheap kills here or there, but not enough to make the stage total bullshit.
After every stage lies a boss arena. Here, we see Zizou’s cocky personality at play, giving her a Dante-esque reach over her opponents. And the bosses themselves are pretty solid. Not much else to say, they’re just as fun as the main stages, and exemplify what the main game already does well. Mastery of game mechanics. One thing I’ll note is that you get weapons, which are all okay on their own, but each boss is weak to a specific one, Sound familiar? This only adds replayability to Dark Witch’s already replayable stages, as using these abilities is crucial to getting a good time on the Leaderboards, introduced in the Steam Release. I think the Weakness chain is fine, but I do think it makes some bosses far too easy. Often, spamming your abilities leads to a quick victory. That being said, the weaknesses are an obscure enough feature, so I don't really mind them in this game. Still, it's something to be noted.
After Verri, you go through a Boss Rush, ending the encounter with Riva. All praises about previous bosses apply here, but with one big issue. Riva’s second phase fucking sucks and I hate it with no hyperbole. There’s just a million enemies spammed until she slowly dies. She has no hitbox, no way to speed up the fight, nothing. She’s the real low point of the game, going against practically everything that Dark Witch 1 does well. From the speedrunning, replay value, difficulty, everything. Probably the worst boss in the series, to be honest. It’s such a disappointing way to end The Legend of Dark Witch. But, I say end, because the postgame is arguably where The Legend of Dark Witch truly begins.
A fundamental of any Dark Witch game is a grand postgame. Sure, The Legend of Dark Witch is about a 1 to 2 hour game on your first go, which isn’t terrible for a $5 indie, but the postgame is incredibly long for most games in the series. And Dark Witch 1 is no exception. Going in, you unlock the Syega Shop, where you can unlock abilities in your future save files. A great way to incentivise good play, as game difficulty, and the in game achievements only give you more and more Syega. It feels kind of like a roguelike, where each save file is a new run with all new abilities and buffs (no wonder why I liked Isaac and Nuclear Throne so much, huh?). I usually don’t use them out of pure gaming skill, but they’re there if you want them. This keeps the gameplay loop a lot more fresh, also kind of feeling like DMC in a way, where you continue making progress even after completing a save.
The second major unlockable is Lunatic Mode, a tough as nails mode that’s sure to break a man’s spirit. A damn difficult mode it is; Hearts never drop, bosses and enemies are buffed and have higher speed, and by god, it’s actually almost damn impossible. I could never beat it. It was just too hard for me. But if you want an even HARDER challenge, look no further than Riva.
Yeah, Riva fucking sucks. Not much else to say. She gets a charge shot which does amazing damage but her range is so piss poor that you’re taking damage yourself. And Riva’s Sword attack fucking sucks. Not much else to say, don’t play as Riva.
But other than that, The Legend of Dark Witch is a solid time, and held up pretty well. A lot of its issues are overblown in my eyes, and it remains as a misunderstood entry in the Dark Witch franchise. I know this review was a bit shorter than usual, but The Legend of Dark Witch is a pretty small game to begin with. If you can fuck with the initial premise and game, you can have a game that lasts you a long while. I COULD recommend Dark Witch 1 to anyone, if not for the fact that NAN-A is a fucking lolicon, but whatever, guys. Brave Dungeon 2 was released in Early Access, and I'm being too harsh! Oh, and I'll GET to that game. Mark my words. But, other than that, I have little to say about the future of zeusdeegoose, because most of it is just going to be The Legend of Dark Witch reviews from here on out this week. Bayonetta Origins fans on suicide watch right now. Other than that, shameless Discord server plug (I still need more members); https://discord.gg/CUH3RSFSSB, and I hope you have a good night. Oh, one more thing? It's time to talk about that little reservation that I had...
ZEUSDEEGOOSE SCORE: 7.5/10
MISSION RANKING: B
CODE NAME: DECENT WITCH
Puyo Puyo Da!
1999
WHAT A ROCKING SOUNDTRACK !!!
Seriously, this has got to be a top contender for one of the best soundtracks in the entire Puyo franchise! Shame that there's not a lot of tracks, but come on, just listen to it!
So, what is Puyo Puyo Da!? Well, to put it simply, it's kind of like Puyo Puyo crossing over with Parappa the Rapper-style gameplay (it's actually closer to Broadway Star Ellena, hence why the cover says "featuring ELLENA system"). All the gameplay boils down to is that you have to copy the inputs your opponent does, so you'd expect it to just be a pretty simple run-of-the-mill rhythm game, right?
Well, the thing is... I can't say it really classifies as a "rhythm" game? The inputs and music feel completely divorced most of the time, so it feels like you're dancing while music is playing instead of dancing WITH the music like every other rhythm game you can think of. This makes timing your inputs feel kind of awkward, but since I'm pretty bad at rhythm games, I don't feel super adequate talking about this sort of thing.
So, let's talk about cast! They all wear something different from their normal outfits and damn, whoever came up with these designs COOKED. All these designs manage to fit the characters so damn well. Just look at them! Arle's casual but hip look really fits her, Rulue's open outfit is a departure from her original design but is still really fitting, FUCKING SATAN IN A FISHNET TOP WITH HIS NIPPLES OUT, HELLO?! These designs are all awesome, I wish they'd revisit them sometime.
Oh, and there's also Ellena visible in the picture. That's right, that's not Witch! Ellena is basically the guest star appearance in the game, being the only cameo character to ever appear in a Puyo Puyo game other than... Sonic the Hedgehog? Huh.
Well, all-in-all, Puyo Puyo Da! excels at everything except gameplay, which kind of sucks, but oh well. At least we got some banger music and designs out of this game.
Colorblindness Rating: A
The arrows are different colors, yes, but you focus more on the direction of the arrow than the color at the end of the day, so it's not a big deal.
carbuncle found dead in miami. seriously i think this is the ONLY puyo game to not have carbuncle; even robotnik's mean bean machine had carbuncle in the form of hazbean.
Seriously, this has got to be a top contender for one of the best soundtracks in the entire Puyo franchise! Shame that there's not a lot of tracks, but come on, just listen to it!
So, what is Puyo Puyo Da!? Well, to put it simply, it's kind of like Puyo Puyo crossing over with Parappa the Rapper-style gameplay (it's actually closer to Broadway Star Ellena, hence why the cover says "featuring ELLENA system"). All the gameplay boils down to is that you have to copy the inputs your opponent does, so you'd expect it to just be a pretty simple run-of-the-mill rhythm game, right?
Well, the thing is... I can't say it really classifies as a "rhythm" game? The inputs and music feel completely divorced most of the time, so it feels like you're dancing while music is playing instead of dancing WITH the music like every other rhythm game you can think of. This makes timing your inputs feel kind of awkward, but since I'm pretty bad at rhythm games, I don't feel super adequate talking about this sort of thing.
So, let's talk about cast! They all wear something different from their normal outfits and damn, whoever came up with these designs COOKED. All these designs manage to fit the characters so damn well. Just look at them! Arle's casual but hip look really fits her, Rulue's open outfit is a departure from her original design but is still really fitting, FUCKING SATAN IN A FISHNET TOP WITH HIS NIPPLES OUT, HELLO?! These designs are all awesome, I wish they'd revisit them sometime.
Oh, and there's also Ellena visible in the picture. That's right, that's not Witch! Ellena is basically the guest star appearance in the game, being the only cameo character to ever appear in a Puyo Puyo game other than... Sonic the Hedgehog? Huh.
Well, all-in-all, Puyo Puyo Da! excels at everything except gameplay, which kind of sucks, but oh well. At least we got some banger music and designs out of this game.
Colorblindness Rating: A
The arrows are different colors, yes, but you focus more on the direction of the arrow than the color at the end of the day, so it's not a big deal.
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