55 reviews liked by zhenghe


+fast-paced, engaging combat with intuitive controls, plenty of unlockable weapons, and combos
+solid turn of the millennium dark mecha story, with great mecha designs by kojipro veteran Yoji Shinkawa
+map is completely open and every area is can be visited again. many areas have optional missions and hidden collectables as well
+good mix of boss fights between gigantic mechas and dogfights with other mechs
+great scenario design, with more than just straightforward hack and slash challenges ahead of you. there's a bomb defusal section, a sniper section, your mech gets corrupted and limits your moveset, among other objectives
+the OP rules, tho sadly it's the in-game CGI cinematics instead of a 2d animated video like is in the HD collection boot-up
+the fog is a little heavy but otherwise the environment design is top-notch, astonishing for an early '01 ps2 game, and emblematic of kojipro's technical prowess
+a very nonintrusive leveling system is in play as well, making your mech feel very powerful by the late game even if you miss certain hidden powerups

-camera control has not aged well... it snaps behind you every time you release the left stick, with very little control on the right stick. the dynamic battle camera rocks though
-the hd remake of this game was a little rough, with some noticeable frame drops in boss fights towards the latter half of the game
-the rescue missions are very easy to screw up, as any civilian deaths can drop your rank tremendously, and each mission can only be attempted once per playthrough. considering how imprecise the combat is, it's easy to cause collateral damage, or for enemies out of your control to cause collateral damage
-speaking of which, there's an early-game boss battle that takes place in an area that later has a rescue mission, and any building damage he causes will affect your mission rank later on...
-the ending is abrupt, making the game feel almost like a side story in its own mythos
-too short!! excusable because it's such an early ps2 title (and probably was on a shoestring budget with a tiny team) but 5 hours is a little slim
-a couple of objectives are difficult to find, aka the padding is a little too obvious

a lot of my minuses here are nitpicks, as this really is an enjoyable game and an interesting early mecha game where speed and fluidity reign supreme in combat. sadly it was not ported to ps4 like 2nd runner was, but it's incredibly cheap on both ps2 and in the ps3 hd collection, and more than worth it.

It is a waking nightmare to know that the style and irreverence of Arcane Kids is only ever going to be a thing of the past, and can never be recreated. Have fun clawing through "All New Releases" on steam for anything that matches Sonic Dreams Collection, a free "joke" game about sonic weirdos, by any metric.

HAD FUN !!!!

THE JUKEBOX IS NOW CRAP THO ITS JUST PERSONA 5 MUSIC NOT SAYING PERSONA 5 MUSIC IS BAD ITS NOT ITS ACTUALLY VERY GOOD BUT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD USE OTHER SONGS ?

evie frye evie frye evie frye evie frye evie frye evie frye evie frye evie frye evie frye evie frye evie frye evie frye evie frye evie frye evie frye evie frye evie frye evie frye

This is a perfect example what it looks like to be the last semi-decent game in a dying frenchise.
Up to Unity I found the AC series enjoyable. With Syndicate there was still a bit of joy coming out of it and I can appreciate many things about it. But this is where I feel like I could see the series going downhill and everything being too rushed and poorly made.
From here on I haven't played any AC game more than 1-2 hours before not being able to continue.

SOMEDAY YOU'LL FIND YOURSELF
AND REALIZE THAT YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL.
(SO THAT WHEN) LOVE TAKES YOU DOWN AGAIN,
(AND IT BREAKS) YOUR HEART IN PIECES, THEN JUST
LET THE TEARDROPS FALL LIKE GENTLE RAIN.

remove love rap and you have a perfect video game

what can I say about Illbleed that you don't already know? It's a fantastically silly & extraordinary time & knows exactly what it's doing.