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Topic: Games you've recently beat

Posts 1,381 to 1,400 of 5,490

HallowMoonshadow

Could always get the PS1 original @RogerRoger on PS3 for £3.99. No horrible tactics there and nearly ten times less then what I paid for the disc version at launch lol

Again it's a shame because otherwise I'd wholeheartedly recommend Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled to everyone. It's a really good racer mired by awful practises

Edited on by HallowMoonshadow

Previously known as Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy
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"You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life. Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of"

RogerRoger

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy I already have it, but thanks for the tip all the same!

Got all of the halfway-decent PSone Classics a good couple years back when they were all in a sale. Held off on most; saving them for rainy day curiosity more than anything. I'd obviously prefer to play a refined and gorgeous-looking remake on a more modern console with a better controller, as that's what I've managed to do with the Crash and Spyro trilogies, and what I'll likely be doing with MediEvil.

But it sounds like I'll be settling for the original Crash Team Racing. Probably for the best!

"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."

PSN: GDS_2421
Making It So Since 1987

mookysam

After being away for much of July, I finally finished Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. Prior to release I was quite concerned this could turn out to be another Mighty No. 9. Thankfully , it isn't. In completing this I explored 100% of the castle and also defeated all the bosses. To me, hitting that statistic and collecting all upgrades is one of the most satisfying aspects of a game in the genre.

Ignore the Bloodstained part of the title, for all intents and purposes Ritual of the Night is a Castlevania game. It looks like one, the menus and UI are organised like one, the combat is gloriously the same and it even sounds like one. This should come as no surprise given it is helmed by Koji Igariashi, the man responsible for the majority of post-Symphony of the Night Castlevania games. He's a master of the genre and Bloodstained is absolutely expertly crafted. I'd agree with @Ralizah that it sticks to a formula that in some ways seems quaint by the modern standards of the genre (it has been a decade since Order of Ecclesia), but to me this is no criticism. It's comfy, like a well fitted woolly mitten, and I love the gameplay loop. Therefore, it doesn't miss the puzzles or complex platforming of more recent Metroidvania games. For this reason it would also make a good entry point for gamers wishing to get into the genre.

Bloodstained's basic gameplay loop sees you explore a massive sprawling castle, gradually unlocking more abilities which in turn allows you to explore even further. There are also RPG elements; it's stat based, there're various weapons armour and accessories to equip (all with a range of effects), and you level up through defeating enemies and gaining experience.

The game sees you play as Miriam, a plucky "shardbinder" who, as the name would aptly suggest, binds with shards. What are these shards you ask? Why, they're the essence of demonic power, and thus by collecting these Miriam gets more and more powerful with access to a greater range of abilities. There are several different categories of shard depending on what they do, ranging from those that throw weapons at enemies, to ones that augment stats, to summons and so on. In turn, the more of a shard you obtain the more powerful its effect becomes. The augment shards are quite interesting because once fully "ranked up" at the friendly neighbourhood shop (yes, it required all kinds of monster loot), they become permanent skills, whether equipped or not.

The story does what it needs to in order to advance the game. Voice acting is pretty bad, with some interesting English accents. This isn't a negative - it's all part of the charm.

Positives!

  • The game sounds incredible, courtesy of Michiru Yamane's brilliant score. Her work is always impeccable and doesn't disappoint here. Bloodstained also looks rather attractive, with nicely varied locations. Whatever was done during the production delay clearly paid off.
  • Combat is tight and Miriam controls exceedingly well. This is crucial in this type of game, so yay there.
  • Strong level design and (for the most part, see below) progression. Exploring more and more of the sprawling castle is satisfying.
  • I found it great fun to upgrade Miriam through permanent food bonuses and levelling up "Shards". This is the most effective way to increase Miriam's stats. By the end of the game my Miriam was überpowerful and that is awesome.
  • The difficulty is quite nicely pitched with a good upward curve. Early boss battles can be brutal and require the player to take their time, but it's certainly considerably easier than Order of Ecclesia.
  • A perfect length, Ritual of the Night doesn't outstay its welcome.

Negatives!

  • Underwater movement and swimming is horrible. Thankfully swimming is quite quickly done away with, and you later gain access to optional movement shards that offset the sluggishness somewhat.
  • One downside of the game's traditional design is that progression through the castle and even moving past a key boss fight is at times rather opaque. For example, at one point you must equip a piece of armour that allow you to progress through an area, but the armour is located in a chest in a long-since explored portion of the map - with no real hints. It's a pretty old-school "go to spots of the map you haven't before!" design.
  • At times buggy and there are severe frame rate drops in two very specific locations.
  • Pretty dull side-quests. A gluttonous old hag named Susie will try your patience, trust me.

In all, Ritual of the Night has been one of my favourite gaming experiences this year. It's not quite as sublime as last year's 8-bit style Curse of the Moon, but nevertheless it's a well-made and expertly crafted game that anyone with a passing interest in the genre should play. So go play it people!

Edited on by mookysam

Black Lives Matter
Trans rights are human rights

crimsontadpoles

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc on PC. It's the first game of the series. It's a visual novel involving a bunch of students trapped inside a school, who are told that they will have to kill each other if they want to escape. Overall, it's an excellent game and I really enjoyed my time with it. The characters along with the story is what makes the game so good.

Completion status: Reached the end credits. There's plenty of achievements I've missed, mainly to do with building friendships with everyone. It could be fun to listen to those friendship dialogues, but could also be time-consuming to get, so I'll wait a few days then decide whether or not to bother with them.

Pros:

  • Characters: There's a large number of characters introduced at the start of the game, and they're mostly all rather interesting and well developed. Each of the characters feels distinct and unique, ranging from the goofballs to the more serious people. The only one I didn't like was Hifumi, the irritating guy who was always going on about how 2D girls are better even when more important things were happening.
  • Monokuma, the weird looking bear that keeps the game of life and death running smoothly. Its silly nature helps take the edge off of what would otherwise be very dark moments. The banter with Monokuma helps liven up the situation, and the Momokuma Theatre clips are quite amusing to watch.
  • Story: Without going into too much detail, it's well written and remains interesting all throughout. There's plenty of twists and turns while trying to figure out the mysteries of the game.
  • Class trials: Feels like playing a much chaotic and intense version of Ace Attorney. Trying to figure out the contradictions in the statements is easily the best part of the class trials, but there's also other minigames to help mix things up.

Cons:

  • Lack of story choices: There's not many choices in the game that affects what happens. More decisions that could potentially affect who lives and who dies would have made the game even better. However, I will accept that a focus on one excellent story is better than them doing multiple merely good stories.
  • Class trial hints: After cycling through what people have to say, the playable character's thoughts at the end generally make it far too obvious what the hidden contradiction is (playing on medium difficulty).

As for the ending, I'm not sure what to think of it. I was expecting the reason for the killing game taking place was something inexplicably related to stopping a mysterious tragedy, but instead there was a much simpler explanation involving a despair fetish. Still can't decide whether I love that reasoning or dislike it. That bit at the very end of the last trial involving shooting Hope Truth Bullets was also a lovely moment. I'm also curious about whether or not anything actually did happen to the outside world, but that mystery will wait until whenever I get around to playing Danganronpa 2.

Overall, it was a most enjoyable game, and I'll be sure to eventually get round to playing Danganronpa 2.

Ralizah

@crimsontadpoles The sequels are better. DR2's cast is the best in the series, it does a fantastic job with the world-building that the first game lacked, and the trials are far more clever and intricate than pretty much anything in the original. Ultra Despair Girls is something entirely different, but it's a welcome addition to the series lore-wise, and it does a great job of fleshing out Toko's character (wasn't as big a fan of her in the first game). V3 is controversial, but I definitely feel like it has some of the best trials in the entire series, and the writing is brilliant.

Edited on by Ralizah

Currently Playing: Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re- Boot Camp (NS)

PSN: Ralizah

RogerRoger

@mookysam Congratulations on getting 100% on Bloodstained, and great write-up! Although I'm curious as to how bad those English accents are now.

"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."

PSN: GDS_2421
Making It So Since 1987

RogerRoger

You sometimes feel for developers.

They work hard to craft and pitch a pretty awesome, story-driven experience with a unique gameplay hook and then somebody turns to them and says "This will only take six hours, and we're planning on selling it for sixty bucks... make it longer." And lo, the dreaded mandate of including optional Side Quests comes down from on high. Everybody at the meeting looks crushed. Nobody's gonna remember your awesome story now; they're just gonna remember having to fetch things eight times in a row.

Looking at your in-game map and watching yellow markers sprout like weeds across Empire City, you might imagine the above scene playing out in the offices of Sucker Punch Productions at some point before the launch of 2009's PlayStation3 exclusive inFAMOUS... but I'm not so sure it did. There seems to be an intentional two-part solution to the sandbox Side Quest problem in play here and, for my money, it almost works.

First of all, they made the gameplay really compelling. Going back to this earlier title, I can see how Sucker Punch have fostered a reputation for dynamic, fluid traversal in their games. Controlling their reluctant hero, Cole McGrath, taps into a sense of fun usually reserved for cartoonish platformers; you'll slide across power lines, grind train tracks and hover through the air, courtesy of some newfound electricity-based superpowers. Basic climbing can be a little hit-and-miss, but you only ever have to scale one rooftop before you can start bounding over all the others again, and that's before you even stop to appreciate the diverse combat opportunities such power grants you. inFAMOUS is a game I wanted to keep playing, so I didn't mind the myriad of Side Quests that allowed me to do just that (no matter how repetitive they might've become).

But no matter how great such movement felt, I would always find myself dropping back to street level out of choice, and that's thanks to the second part of the developer's winning strategy; the Side Quests are directly connected to the world around you. Completing them will rescue your immediate couple blocks from the tyranny of gang warfare and post-apocalyptic despair. Help enough of each island and the numerous citizens lining the street will stop hurling abuse at you, instead hurling rocks at your enemies whenever you find yourself in a fight. They'll take your picture, cheer for you, give you compliments and show concern for one another. Empire City isn't just a series of obstacles to overcome, it's a living, breathing city packed with character (and a few glaring instances of identical geometry, but hey) and so tying the Side Quests to the overall welfare of your neighbours is a stroke of genius. I wanted them to stop rummaging through bins and start having some hope.

Because I was playing Cole as a hero in the game's binary Good Vs. Evil decision-making mechanic. Caught up in a dire situation he knows little-to-nothing about, Cole must peel back the layers of his electrifying potential alongside those of the conspiracy behind the catastrophic chaos ravaging Empire City. Do good, and your morality meter will swing upwards towards heroic status... but do bad, make selfish decisions and harm civilians, and that meter will swing down towards infamy. Your powers will unlock and upgrade depending on where you stand on the scale and so, despite having more than I could even remember to use, some abilities were forever locked away from me and my overgrown boy scout sensibilities.

This is where I started to have a few issues with the experience. Those helpful civilians who'd pelt rocks at my enemies? They just got in the way, and I'd invariably end up harming or, worse, killing a couple in each encounter (particularly since the scale of my devastating attacks grew to an uncontrollable crescendo just as public opinion reached the "Everybody help Cole!" threshold). There's also a frustrating lack of grey in a game which stakes its claim to a binary morality system. At one point, I was given a choice to either save a large group of doctors, or save my girlfriend; the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, so I started to climb towards the doctors... but when I accidentally bumped into one on the way up, I electrocuted them. The game registered this as an attack, thinking I'd killed the doctors to save my girlfriend, and I was promptly awarded the "Evil" trophy for that mission before I could pause to restart and try again. That was it. One or the other, no room for error.

Each of these morality decisions comes with a neat little set-up, whereby time pauses and Cole narrates his options. Later in the game, after I'd been playing as an upstanding citizen for hours on end, it felt bizarre for there to be any question; hearing Cole snarl "...or I could just kill this guy and steal his stuff to make myself more powerful" became a little uncomfortable after the two-thirds marker. Perhaps locking things down (or providing a pivotal point of no return, a'la Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Dark Forces II) would've been prudent to avoid Cole sounding like a bit of a jerk.

But then I was already suffering a bit of disconnect with the storyline anyway. As beautiful as the numerous cutscenes were, presented with dynamic comic book art, the juxtaposition between them and the in-game graphics gave me a disjointed overview of the narrative. I couldn't really grow to like or dislike any of the characters, except in broad sweeps, which is a shame as it's the kinda stuff that probably worked really well on paper. It doesn't help that, as soon as you beat the final boss, you're presented with a heck of a lot of information in an all-too-brief revelatory twist that, by itself, is a brave and fantastic piece of writing... but in context, is simply used as a quick set-up for a sequel. A year before, fellow PS3 exclusive Uncharted: Drake's Fortune told a story with a beginning, middle and end which leaves you with a satisfying fullness upon completion. Conversely, inFAMOUS might have me leaning forward in anticipation of the next course, but I'm smacking my lips at the bitter aftertaste of falling for a cheap trick.

Especially since there were a couple plot threads that went nowhere. There are (very loud) random Anonymous-style broadcasts peppered throughout the runtime, vilifying Cole's heroism and calling for civil unrest... except they amounted to zilch. One character who had some interesting interactions with Cole just stopped being included right before the end. Another had a well-thought-out, fascinating character arc which I was really enjoying, only for them to do a complete 180° during the finale that felt Disney-esque and therefore randomly at odds with the overall tone.

Perhaps I'm overthinking things. inFAMOUS is at its best when you treat it like its pulpy comic book inspirations; an entertaining diversion that's fun to play in short bursts. It's a satisfyingly healthy dose of superpower wish-fulfilment, making you feel like a total badass whilst also making you care about the world around you. For ticking those boxes (and ticking them well) it earns my approval.

And hey, that obvious sequel set-up isn't so bad in hindsight, knowing that Sony built a multi-generation franchise out of it... so I'd best crack on, then.

Even if my overriding memory will be of having to fetch things eight times in a row.

"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."

PSN: GDS_2421
Making It So Since 1987

DerMeister

@RogerRoger Great write up on inFamous. It's always been one of my favorite PS exclusives, moreso than some of the actual best titles in the lineup.

For me, it's one of those games where the gameplay supercedes everything else. I have a huge blast of a time that it's easy to forget about the niggles it has. It's story isn't groundbreaking, but it's a perfect superhero origin. The graphics and animation aren't the best either, and the game itself can get pretty tough at times. But playing with Cole's powers is just too fun to drag it down for me. It certainly helped that at the time of it's release, the only other superhero game of high quality was Batman Arkham Asylum, so it also added more to a genre that needed quality.

Hopefully you enjoy inFAMOUS 2 when you get around to it. It improved quite a bit on the original.

"We don't get to choose how we start in this life. Real 'greatness' is what you do with the hand you're dealt." -Victor Sullivan
"Building the future and keeping the past alive are one and the same thing." -Solid Snake

PSN: HeartBreakJake95

JohnnyShoulder

@RogerRoger Great write up!

If I was a doctor I would be very afraid of bumping into you!

Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.

PSN: JohnnyShoulder

HallowMoonshadow

If it makes you feel any better i saw your comments on this the other day and @RogerRoger I've never played an InFAMOUS game either! Nice impressions!

Might have to see if I can pick up a copy myself on the cheap sometime!

Previously known as Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy
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"You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life. Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of"

Kidfried

@RogerRoger

inFAMOUS is at its best when you treat it like its pulpy comic book inspirations; an entertaining diversion that's fun to play in short bursts. It's a satisfyingly healthy dose of superpower wish-fulfilment, making you feel like a total badass

I think that pretty much sums up the whole series. The sequels are cool too, but don't expect a lot more of them than this (which is totally fine!)

Kidfried

RogerRoger

Thanks for all the replies, folks. I'm certainly a gamer who has absolutely no problem with fun-yet-shallow experiences (understatement of the century) so despite a lot of my ramblings sounding quite negative, I genuinely enjoyed inFAMOUS and am keen to play the sequels.

Just might need to take a break before I do, I think. Perhaps some random bits of DLC or an older, shorter game. Otherwise I might be in danger of burnout, but then that speaks to the near-perfect length and pacing of this first game, I guess. It got the maximum mileage from its schtick without outstaying its welcome, which is such a tricky sweet spot to hit... seriously, I'm struggling to think of another sandbox adventure where I haven't gotten a little bored two-thirds of the way through (or sooner).

It does a lot right, a heck of a lot right. I deliberately didn't wanna score it because I couldn't land on a solid number; seven feels too low, eight too high. It's around that mark, at any rate.

"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."

PSN: GDS_2421
Making It So Since 1987

R1spam

@Ralizah fantastic post, you articulate so well what I think about the game. I think the cauldrons in the game (bar one) were brilliant, the best dungeons in any game I've played. If human combat had been better (let's queue up to wander over to this murder bush), melee had more heft/diversity and the illusion of choice that sits over decisions about whether you deal things emotionally etc replaced with impact in the sequel then it could be AMAZING!!

PSN: Tiger-tiger_82
XBOX: Placebo G

PSN: Tiger-tiger_82

Th3solution

@RogerRoger Great post, and a well thought out and interesting commentary! I waited until the end of my work day when I would have time to really read the fullness of your impressions and they didn’t disappoint. And how did I know you’d play the hero role 😄?

I can agree with all of your views on the game, I think. The narrative is good, but not particularly tight (as you point out - the dissonance of moral choices, lack of logic behind NPC character actions, etc) The presentation is fun with the comic style, but a little disjointed. And the same could be said of some of the gameplay mechanics. But the game is just plain enjoyable. It’s one of those “greater than a sum of its parts” type of game experience.
Infamous 2 will improve on this with a better world and gameplay is a little more refined, as I recall (hopefully less of your accidental slaying of innocents for example) and then even better in the Second Son games. But yes, more of the same however. I think if you enjoyed this one, you’ll still enjoy the others. Likely even more so.

The question is, will you dare try an Evil Cole playthrough? 😛
I think I know the answer to that.

Edited on by Th3solution

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

RogerRoger

@Th3solution Thank you; don't worry, you're still batting a thousand with your recommendations as far as I'm concerned. I had a heck of a lot of fun. You saying that there are noticeable incremental improvements in the sequels just makes me wanna get to them quicker.

And no, I doubt I'd ever do an Evil Cole playthrough. Platinum or no platinum!

But I do think I'll replay it someday, at least once. Because @DerMeister is bang on when calling it a "perfect superhero origin" story and I think, now that I know all the moving parts to the narrative, that I'll enjoy and appreciate it much more second time around. Part of my disconnect with some of the characters is that they were randomly introduced during in-game dialogue whilst Cole is traversing the city, and that's never good. I'm half-concentrating on movement, a quarter keeping my eye on the radar to avoid enemies and therefore only a quarter listening to who's saying what in my ear. Now that I know who's important and who perhaps isn't as much, I think that I'd "get" everything better (and perhaps even moreso once I've seen the sequel).

"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."

PSN: GDS_2421
Making It So Since 1987

RR529

School Girl Zombie Hunter (PS4) - A mission based TPS that sees a group of 5 high school girls fighting for their survival once zombies overrun their high school.

Pros:

  • While a bit janky (it's a budget title), the gameplay is generally fun, with the guns being fun to shoot, especially since you can dismember the zombies.
  • Ally AI is actually pretty good considering the budget. They generally stay near you, so no wandering off by themselves to get killed, and shoot anything that moves. The only downside to this are base defense missions with a collectable off the beaten path, as they will follow you away from the base leaving it defenseless when you go for the collectable. This only happens once or twice though.
  • There are a decent amount of unlockables, such as outfits that can be hidden in a level, or Charons (bird zombies) strewn about that unlock hair & underwear colors, and the most powerful rocket launchers, if you kill enough of them. Then there are the numerous varieties of the six weapon types regularly dropped by enemies (though I tended to pick options I liked relatively early on and didn't mix it up).
  • I really mostly really enjoyed the schlocly B-Movie vibe it had going on (including the cheesy rock theme song), even if it could have used some more environmental variety.

Neutral:

  • Although the weapons all feel good to use, ultimately things tend to get so busy that I tended to only use shotguns, and ocassionally a rocket launcher to get me out of a pinch (other than the sniping specific sub-missions).
  • Each of the 5 girls has a special ability, and while Akiha's (who can indefinitely revive fallen allies, at half health, using no items) and Mayaya's (who reveals the locations of all a level's key & hidden items) are really useful, the various combat buffs the other girls' abilities involve aren't nearly as useful, IMO.
  • Being a budget title, the characters are a bit wooden, but generally all have a character arc that shows how they've grown.
  • It's a fanservice game, so take that how you will. It's not as over the top as something like Senran Kagura (especially in terms of design), but you can dress the girls up in outfits like swimsuits & nurse uniforms, clothes take damage as you get hit, and as a last resort move you can strip down to your underwear to temporarily distract the zombies.

Negative:

  • Difficulty is all over the place. Sub-missions not withstanding, there is a huge difficulty spike around the end of chapter two/the start of chapter three (missions are suddenly filled with very aggressive, infinitely spawning zombies that make routine point A-B missions and card key missions highly annoying, especially considering you're on the clock & they spawn as fast, if not faster, than you can kill them), it was almost enough to make me quit the game outright, however that huge spike is gone as fast as it came, and later missions become much more manageable once again (the only time infinitely spawning enemies appear in the main story again are in survival & base defense missions, which are much more manageable since you can stand your ground & fight). Not only this, but boss missions (first introduced in Chapter 3), with the exception of the final boss, are much EASIER than anything else in the game.
  • It does drop frames ocassionally, I think once or twice into single digits. Not often or long enough to hugely impact the game, but it is a noticeable mar.
  • From a story perspective there's no "how", or even "who" or "why". Relatively early on it's revealed that an intelligent zombie named Ren is causing the infestation using a science facility below the school, but other than stopping him, the story doesn't go any deeper (no explaination as to who Ren is for example). A deep story is probably not the biggest equation that goes into a game about high school girls fighting zombies, but a weak link it is.

Overall a pretty average experience, but there's just something that draws me to these B grade experiences from time to time.

@Ralizah, sorry for aping your write-up format. It just seems so useful.

Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)

Ralizah

@RR529 I'm pretty sure people have been listing the pros and cons of various pieces of media for centuries before I ever walked upon the Earth.

Currently Playing: Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re- Boot Camp (NS)

PSN: Ralizah

Ralizah

Two games this time, since I don't have too much to say about either of them.

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Mutant Mudds

Platform: Nintendo Switch

Completion Status: 100%. All levels completed normally, including the moon and ghost levels. All hidden retro levels completed, both of the normal variety and the more hidden ones only reachable with the overpowered "Grannie" character. All hidden character skins found. Only took a little over five hours to do all of this.

Description: A comet falls from the sky and mud monsters take over... or something. Aside from a cutscene near the beginning that's less than 30 seconds long, there's no story here. You play a kid with a hoverpack and a gun that shoots bullets of water. Otherwise, it plays like a normal platformer: you shoot enemies, navigate across the stages, collect gems or something and try to get to the goal at the end of the level. Hidden levels are themed after older systems such as the Game Boy and Virtual Boy, which render levels in grey or red and black, respectively.

This was originally released in 2012 on the 3DS, where I originally played it, but it was soon ported to every other imaginable platform. Now that includes the Switch.

Likes:

  • Simple, mildly challenging gameplay that's reflexively enjoyable for me.
  • Vibrant color scheme.
  • Controls are tight.
  • Pretty much the definition of a "pick up and play" experience. You can mix and match sessions of this with almost anything else without getting your cognitive wires crossed (kind of the opposite of playing two complex RPGs at once, I would say).
  • I like the twist on traditional gameplay in the ghost levels. Unlike normal, you can't just kill enemies and then progress through stages in a carefree manner. Enemies are immune to your attacks and, with only a few exceptions, you never get the right ammunition to kill them, so you're attempting to platform while also avoiding enemies. When you do get ammo that can hurt them, it'd often only enough to kill baddies that are unavoidable in certain sections and, even then, they respawn a few seconds after killing them.

Dislikes:

  • It's the video game equivalent of junk food. You gobble it down, often too fast, and enjoy the activity enough while you're in the midst of it, but, afterward, there's little to remember. It's hard to even remember anything about this game. There's no real story, the music is forgettable, everything is just sort of designed to be mildly pleasant and passable and absolutely nothing more.
  • There's very little variation in-between different worlds or characters.
  • The game was originally released on Nintendo 3DS, and you can tell, because a lot of the levels have you navigating between various layers of the screen. On the 3DS, each layer had its own visual depth, allowing you to tell which enemies were on which layer of the screen even when they overlapped, but here, without the aid of the stereoscopic 3D effect, screens often become cluttered and confused and it's difficult to tell which layer of the level enemies are operating on.

Conclusion: Decent, but mostly forgettable little game. It does very little wrong, but, at the same time, its lack of ambition or ingenuity makes it difficult to recommend to people unless there's a deep sale (which is actually the reason I repurchased this).

Verdict 6/10

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BoxBoy!

Platform: Nintendo 3DS

Completion Status: Finished the main story levels and most of the optional score attack and timed levels. Didn't quite complete all of the optional post-game worlds, though. Spent 11 hours playing it.

Description: You're a boy who is also a box. You're eventually followed by other silent box people. You complete levels by manipulating the main character's abilities to spawn more boxes out of his body.

Likes:

  • Despite the limited number of mechanics and simplistic controls, there's a surprising amount of stuff you can actually do with them. When the game eventually becomes challenging in the post-game, it can be interesting to experiment and see just how wild your solutions need to be to complete a level while collecting all of the crowns (the currency in this game).
  • You can use the optional crowns you collect in each level unlock outfits, music tracks, and optional challenge levels, which is nice, I guess.
  • There seems to be a decent amount of content in the game. Despite the levels themselves being short, they eventually feel longer just because of the sheer brainwork that goes into figuring out what to do in them.

Mixed:

  • Most of the game feels like an extended tutorial, because each of the story worlds introduces you to a new mechanic (or a new twist on a previously introduced mechanic), and, as such, the level design primarily revolves around learning to manipulate these mechanics.

Dislikes:

  • I have no issue with visual minimalism, but this game is... too basic. The game's color scheme is monochrome. There's no texturing or detail to any of the characters or levels. It's pretty much just a step above ASCII art. While it's very clean looking, it's also pretty bland.
  • No stereoscopic 3D. I hate this. It's not like the developers needed to disable the 3D because the game needed to use as much of the system's resources as possible.
  • The minimalism extends to the use of sound and music as well. I can't even remember any of the aural components of this game. They're apparently purely functional and nothing else.
  • There's no story, or context for anything that happens, which makes it difficult to care about completing the game.
  • The game gives you nothing for completing optional challenges, which makes them feel kind of pointless.
  • There's a mechanic where you can extend boxes away from yourself and then contract your character to the point where your line of boxes extends. There's also a mechanic where you can 'break away' your extended box body and use the shape it makes to help you when you're platforming. But, oftentimes, it would break off instead of allowing me to contract, and I feel like the game never clearly explained the rules governing this behavior.

Conclusion: The puzzle aspect of this puzzle game is solid, I guess, but everything around it is so plain that it's hard to maintain interest.

Verdict 5.5/10

Edited on by Ralizah

Currently Playing: Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re- Boot Camp (NS)

PSN: Ralizah

HallowMoonshadow

Interesting games you've reviewed @Ralizah . I've heard a lot of people praise the Boxboy! game series. Isn't it by one of the nintendo companies? S'not Game Freak or Monolith... Ummm Hal laboratories or whatever they're called?

Never heard of Mutant Mudds before though!

Shame both of them are dissapointingly...

Untitled


I'd actually scrolled down to the bottom of the page waiting for it to load and when it eventually did I saw the 5.5 score and I thought it was what you'd given DDS at first! 😅

Edited on by HallowMoonshadow

Previously known as Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy
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"You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life. Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of"

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