This train never stops since I still have things to say about all the good and bad games I’ve played over the many years video games have been apart of my life. Since I haven’t really mentioned it in a while the reason I even started this blog series was just to see all the games I haven’t played in a while again. Writing about them afterward shows me what they meant to my personality while trying to explain the gameplay/story in text form. How easy it is for me to come up with these paragraphs per game shows me either that the narrative left a big impact on me or the gameplay was fun. Anyway let us go to the next week of games with possibly one of the weirdest games followed up with one of the most bland games in my collection.
2014
Yup a game about striping vampires to defeat them. It just so happens to take place in Akihabra which in the mecca for all types of otaku. For that kind of setup it’s too bad they don’t really go all the way with it. Other than some silly jokes they don’t seem to do much with the combat which feels really stiff. A lot of times I feel like I should have blocked an attack yet the enemy still hits me. At least it is fun to beat people down with a keyboard or a guitar. Actually I think this game would be alright if I didn’t do all the side missions which are really generic and boring. Some of the characters like the protagonist little sister Nana are quite amusing and it doesn’t hurt that she also is the blacksmith of this game so she upgrades all the knitpicks you pick up. Overall the less this game makes sense the better it is. To bad the gameplay is kinda iffy.
I’ve fallen down the dark timeline where only Assassin’s Creed Unity remains in my collection. Only because I got it with my Xbox One and it wouldn’t be worth selling for a 1$. I’ve played almost every AC game but they were all rentals except for Black Flag and this one. So it seems to be a franchise I wanted to keep up with even though buying them never really came up that often. The first game sold on the potential of a story stuck between modern day and the past. Yet never really did anything with it. At this point Ubisoft gave up on telling any kind of future story and instead focused on the past. To bad this is so generic that it makes the most boring Assassin’s story yet. I don’t even remember the name of the main character. He will forever be that guy that stabs dudes like most of the AC cast. Overall this series has its good and bad days. I do hope Ubisoft manages to reinvent this series to make it stand out again.
I never really played Defender a bunch when it was in arcades yet I seem to have an affinity for any game that uses those mechanics. In a lot of ways Aqua Kitty DX is just a reskin. Instead of a space ship you’ll be piloting a submarine piloted by a cat. Who must keep his comrades safe from the robot fish mencince that is preventing them from milking milk from the bottom of the sea. Blowing up a bunch of enemies while not getting blown up in a variety of 20 levels is the entirety of the game. Other than a endless mode that can be played till the player loses. A short and simple game but it was fun while it lasted.
The roller coaster ride that a player can go on in this game is still in full effect here. At the start of Rebirth I was thinking it wasn’t a great idea for me to jump into this rogue lite since it gets harder the more times I play through it. So the extra bosses and enemies that weren't as active before can be ready to destroy Isaac. Yet I started to get some good power ups and I started to feel invincible. Then I suddenly die thanks to a bad room. The randomness is this game's strength and weakness. Skill still factors in if you can deal with each room but sometimes the game just says F you. Which is okay simply because it is possible to repeat those levels really quickly.
I do think Chariot is a good idea for a game. I’m sure it's just my need to explore every part of a level yet that makes them way too long. Plus this is a much more enjoyable game when I have someone else around to play it. Going solo just makes it feel like I’m slowly figuring out puzzles when I could have someone else around that can make up for any mistakes I make. Overall if the pacing of the levels were a bit snappier I would have played more of this game. But like I said that was partially my fault for wanting to explore everything.
I think it takes one of two things to make a visual novel stand out. Either it has to have a unique setting/characters or some kind of mystery to keep you hooked till the end. Luckly Danganronpa has both of those things and some unique gameplay moments too. The start of this game begins with a bunch of students getting trapped in Hope’s Peak Academy. A psychotic bear named Monokuma has trapped them all there and the only way to get out is for someone to kill without being caught. Madeki is the only one there that doesn’t have a skill he is good at other than being really lucky. Turns out he is pretty good at cracking puzzles too since once a murder goes down he is the key to solving it. Busting holes in logic with evidence feels a lot like the Ace Attorney games. Although in this case it is shooting truth bullets at the issue. Eventually the truth comes out and the story continues. A lot more goes into this game than a paragraph will allow me to point out so I’ll just end on the fact that this ended up being a very good story.
Yo it’s like that last game but on a island. NIS somehow got this game out in the same year. Thanks to the setup in the first game this actually has a much better narrative and twist. By the time you see the ending you won’t believe what is goin on.
Here we have the elephant in the room. Possibly one of the best 3 star games ever. Destiny had so much potential and I quite liked playing it a lot when it was released. The slow trickle of new content didn’t keep me interested in coming back even when they released something new. I do think I’m still up for more FPS space adventures one day. For the one thing this does great is the shooting. Taking down the fallen and any who stand in the way of the guardians was cool. Especially if you found a group to do a raid since that is kinda the best part. Whenever Bungie decides to put a 2 on Destiny I’ll be there.
Diablo 3 cares about one thing only and that is loot. Do like like cool looking armor that happens to have a color grade of purple/yellow? Then you’ll be seeing it a lot in D3. Giving the player a bunch of cool armor/weapons constantly is why this game works so well. If the player character keeps getting better then why wouldn’t you keep playing? I assume that was the angle blizzard was aiming for with these release. Plus a top down loot based action game works really well on a gamepad. Clicking a bunch is but I just prefer analog stick in most situations. Oh this has a story too about uh great evil coming from the stars. Ehh not really this game's strong point other than it having nice looking CGI cutscenes.
Trying to do what this game wants the player to do is no easy task. This is likely the first survival game I put any real time into. The loop is simple enough that I kept wanting to keep trying to survive for longer each time. This also has a ending too. I prefer games that have a ending so it's easy to see why I’ve never played too many games like this.
I bought this mainly just to access X2 since I never played it and it seems like one of the sillier entries into the FF brand. After all it is about Yuna, Rikku and Paine running around the world hunting spheres. To help them out they need to use the dress grid which lets them change costumes and what skills they could use. Like turning Yuna into a dancer which that can buff and debuff enemies/allies. Kinda a variation on the job system in the older FF now that I think about it. Getting a nicer looking release of X is okay too. Still even though I own this I never really found time to play through it yet.
I’ve beginning to notice that I just prefer certain fighting games on a gamepad. This is one of those with the main reason that I just don’t think air dashing on a arcade stick feels that good. Other than making me understand that Xrd impressed a lot of players with how good it looks. Whenever I think of the Unreal engine this isn’t the kind of game that comes to mind. Other than perfectly recreating 2D animation into 3D this is just a good game to play. With each of the matches being about constantly going in it is hard to not like it. I’m an aggressive player to a fault and whenever I try being defensive that usually ends in failure. Better to get some hits in than none at all.
At least for me this does exactly what I would have wanted from a Zelda Warriors game. The combat moves at a quick pace and every character can dash through attacks to avoid damage. A insane amount of fanservice is just the cherry on the top of this mishmash of Zelda games. They even put more effort into the story than I thought they would even if it is just yo Ganon is trying to take over Hyrule again. The extra adventure mode add some replay ability in the form of a bunch of unique challenges centered around different situations. Like beat these bosses or take down the enemy leader. So the usual Dynasty Warriors mission structure. Overall a solid action game that is enjoyable if you even slightly like Zelda.
This game feels like a return to a style that I really enjoy. It really plays like a sequel to Kirby Super Star. Which means all weapons have more than one attack. Having a dash/up/down attack let's Kirby deal with any situation he is in. I also like that Nintendo keeps adding in new powers like beetle or even a Bell? The game itself doesn’t have anything special other than it being a new Kirby game. He does have a new ability that allows him to suck in the cosmos if he wanted too. Over the top silliness seems to be the way to end these 3DS games. Never knew that dramatic final battles was something I wanted in a Kirby game.
Something clicked for me in this generation of Nintendo games. MK8 is easily the finest looking and playing kart game they’ve made so far. Up to this point the drifting system had evaded my purview. Yet it finally clicked for this one. I was boosting around corners like a pro. While occasionally falling into a pit cause I’m not perfect. Each of the courses are unique and fun to replay to try to get a better trophy. Plus it has the perfect game to play when a friend comes over. It isn’t a hard game to control so it has becomed one of the games that constantly get played locally for me.
Looking at this now this was released just so Konami could make some extra money on something that would be their last big budget game release. Might as well put out a paid demo that most fans like me would buy just to see where Meta Gear was going this time. It made it cear that it was going in a serious direction while still keeping the dumb charm. More than anything this showed that MGS was caught up with the times. It plays like a standard action game which may not sound like much but it was a big improvement. Would have been nice if this had a bit more content but I feel like it was worth my time.
Well this is the last game I’ve imported so far. Around the time the Full Burst version of the Gundam Vs series came it seemed like it came up enough times that I needed to check it out. For one it is a Gundam game that crosses over with itself. With over a 100 playable characters it isn’t hard to find a new mech to pilot. Just about every anime series is represented well with each one getting a nice intro that shows off all the mechs and the title theme of each one. The fighting is fast pace and is more about timing dodges to avoid all incoming damage. Learning the timing on when to dash is vital since every attack will always aim directly at you. It is fun to learn the timing and come out on top. I do miss knowing what is going on though. With it being entirely in Japanese I can’t understand the mission objective or what is going on in the story. Not that it has much of one but still being able to read anything made me appreciate it less.
I’m not sure if it comes through with these blog posts but I tend to occasionally buy a entire series at once if I want to get into it. After it’s been out a while and is pretty cheap too pick up. I did that with Silent Hill and with these Naruto games. My will to play through them all tends to peter out as I go through them. Especially when nothing tends to change other than the story. Which is the case for the Ultimate Ninja games. The combat is still exactly the same as the first game. It has been refined over time like adding in limited dodges but it is still the same game. Since I somewhat like Naruto’s constant fight against evil it does get a bit boring after a while.
I’m amazed that we ever got a idol game brought over here. Only really thanks to the fact it was a Neptunia game though. Maybe it’s a good thing we don’t get many since this seemed rather subpar. So very few options to improve any of the girls stats and it doesn’t really go anywhere narratively either. The fact that the concerts don’t even have the player hitting buttons along with the beat is just a travesty. Seems like I just had to point out how bad this game is. None of the spin off Neptunia games have been that great.
A lot like Tony Hawk 2 the addition of the manuals made me like OlliOlli 2 more than the first game. It just makes it that much easier to do a combo all the way to the end of the course. Which is the ultimate goal of this game. Get good enough to do crazy tricks without ever breaking a combo. At best I only do normal tricks so I can’t quite hang on the leaderboards anymore. Really this game is just one here because someone decided to make a fun skateboarding game again which is something I would like to see more of.
Ultimax improved upon what Arc System Works did with the first Persona fighting game. They added in more characters and finished the story arc they left with a to be continued last time. The shadow versions of all the characters are now playable too even if they are kinda just mirrors with a few gameplay quirks that change up how they use their supers. The battles are fast paced and focus on doing a bunch of damage quickly. The auto combos the game has is useful for me since it lets me perform some cool looking attacks even if I don’t have the time to do it manually. Any game that makes it easier for me to do something cool in a fighting game is okay in my book.
Out of the Persona spin offs this is my least favorite one. I know that I can enjoy dungeon crawlers since I do like Legend Of Grimrock but it just didn’t seem that fun this one. Even though it has the entire cast of Persona 3 and 4. Seeing how they interact was fun and the skits between floors were worth seeing. Helping out two new characters named Rei and Zen escape from the crazy school dungeon is compelling. Finding out the truth was worth the effort since the twist is pretty good. If only running through the same looking areas while solving puzzles was also fun. At least for me it felt convoluted and boring. The same shadows keep showing up so after a while it isn’t that fun to defeat the same enemies constantly. Still I could say that about any RPG. Oh well at least the F.O.E. keep me on my toes. Overall not a bad game yet it just wasn’t that fun for me.
The VS part of the title is the only thing that doesn’t quite fit in with the narrative. Which has Phoenix meeting Layton in a mystery involving a town that hates witches and puts everyone on trial if they even think your one. Solving a bunch of puzzles using matchsticks and other things is what Layton does. While Phoenix puts his best face on to prove that his client isn’t a witch in the courtroom with his usual bag of tricks. By proving that the witnesses are either lying or wrong about what they saw with any evidence he has in his bag. Both of these games meld together really well since they are both about solving a mystery it’s just this time puzzles are the downtime between court battles instead of running around a area gathering clues. I wouldn’t mind if they do this again since it was a fun game.
More has changed than you might assume from the last Senran Kagura game. Instead of this being a side scrolling beat em up it is more like Dynasty Warriors with the game being from behind the back of the playable character. Thus the action is still about getting enemies into the sky constantly by mixing the basic combos into a big chain attack. Still really fun to play even if the levels are quite linear. Each of the playable ninjas all have a different moveset so that is where the game gets a bit of variety. Still this series isn’t for everyone but that isn’t a bad thing if I still enjoy it.
When this was first released I overlooked it as being just another 2D action platformer that was very well made. The fact that Yacht Club games was spun off of Wayforward is why it even caught my eye. Over time I’ve been impressed by how many updates this game has gotten. A alternate story mode starting plague knight was released along with some new challenges to test your shoveling skills. The main champion was alright too and any game that lets me pogo on enemies is always going to at least a smile out of me. Hope they get around to making something new soon.
Sleeping Dogs may have been a sequel to the True Crime games at one point yet what it morphed into was something something better. The fact it is based in china made it stand out from the rest of the open world pack. Mixed with a good driving system that lets the player do silly stuff and solid fist fighting combat based on the style from the Batman games keeps all aspects of the game interesting. The fact that this is a “upgraded” port doesn’t mean much other than having access to the dlc. Mostly just bought this version to support the developers. I want them to make another one of these that isn’t a multiplayer shooter.
I think Drinkbox did a much better job with this sequel than the first game. Which went on for far to long and didn’t have any new gimmicks to keep me interested. While this one flew by and I actually wanted more when I finished this the first time. Not that the Blob has anything left to do after he ends up causing the apocalypse. With the PSTV not letting me play this I’m just going by what I remember. It was quite fun eating a entire city so if you need a quick platformer that is fun to play check this one out.
The first Xillia game worked quite well but the revisit to this world fails on some important points. Mostly the fact it reuses so many assets from the first game it barely feels like a sequel. The main new gimmick is that the protagonist Ludger has the ability to travel into alternate dimensions that he ends up destroying. As the game goes along he teams up with the cast of the first game. Another little addition was letting the player choose from a dialogue wheel even it doesn’t change much most of the time. Overall still a solid action RPG that doesn’t do much to differentiate itself from the previous game.
For me Towerfall became my local indie coop/vs game of choice. Running around dodging arrows by either catching them or avoiding them was fun. I don’t play very many games of this style so it is easy to see why I might have enjoyed this. Plus it even has a coop campaign which is always a plus. It isn’t more than killing a bunch of enemies in a arena but it still works. The fact that it is really hard kept me coming back till we prompted. The hardcore mode is a bit to much though. Overall a solid local vs game that kept me entertained for hours.
Half the fun of this game comes from seeing the Mii’s you put on your island do silly skits. Like watching them put on a musical or watching as someone tries to matchmake two of them by watching their date. Whenever the player isn’t watching them do something silly the game is about making sure they are happy. By either buying them what they want or playing a minigame with them. In general this is just the Sims without having to worry about keeping the Mii’s healthy. Virtual SD characters don’t need food after all. The only real downfall of this game is that it doesn’t have much staying power. It does have quite a few unlocks but once every environment is available you will start to see repeat skits fairly quickly. Even during this visit I saw one that I remember from last time.
Nippon Icchi Software decided to make a new series with a new kind of gameplay. They’ve never shyed away from creating a new universe to see but changing the gameplay was what caught my eye. Turning it into a loot based action rpg wasn’t something I expected from them. Even that has a twist since all the weapons add to a 7-hit combo. So the way the Hundred Knight mixes up attacks is by using different weapons. For example a staff will send out a electric ball while a spear will send him charging a few feet forward. Every stage is also timed by how much energy the Knight has which gives a bit of incentive to keep going. As for the story it is about a swamp witch called Metalia who wishes to spread her wonderful swap all over the world. Pretty evil on the outside but as you might infer that isn’t quite how it ends. In a weird twist of fate the bad ending is actually the one that requires a ton of time to unlock instead of the good one.
Wild Guns was one of those SNES games that I never even saw in a store. On a spur of moments notice I decided to pick it up off the eshop when it went on sale. I was not disappointed by the focus on shooting a bunch of evil cowpokes and giant robots. Not a easy game which is best enjoyed with a friend since the extra lifes make it possible to win. Even then it required some creative use of a save slate to finally succeed. It isn’t a very long game with it only taking a hour to beat it so I can see why it was made really tough even on easy. Pretty crazy to think Natsume randomly decided to bring this back on modern consoles. Kinda wonder if selling well on the eshop lead them to that decision.
This is a run of the mill visual novel. Somehow this is connected to the Blazblue games. If it actually did something cool with the narrative I might have been more interested in it. Really the best thing about it is that it has multiple endings. The fact that the dialogue can change depending on which news stories you read is a neat idea. Plus the artwork is also really nice. Yet the story of Touya and how he turns out being some kind of magic god thing is ehh. Plus most of the focus is about picking the girl of your choice to get her ending. I wonder if they improved on this a bit in the sequel.
Conclusion
I didn’t quite set up this blog series correctly. Year wise at least with the first half of 2016 being over I can cover a few more games than I originally planned on. So I’ll be including part of 2016 in the next post which will be the finally be the end of this 7 month project. Yet I will be making good on my PC focused blog post that’ll be a more compact look at the games that weren't apart of this console/portable retrospective. Tune in next time to see me buy a bunch of fighting games and way too much anime.
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