Topic: User Impressions/Reviews Thread

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As a smaller adjunct to the excellent recent work by @RogerRoger @RR529 @Ralizah and others, I humbly submit —

My Review of
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune
(Or Ludonarrative Dissonance: The Game)

When I decided this year to revisit some old favorites in my game library, the first to come to mind was the Uncharted series. The whole series has always been a favorite of mine, but I’ve never played any of them more than once. Thanks to Bluepoint studio’s fine work and PS Plus’s generosity, I have the Nathan Drake Collection sitting on my PS4 hard drive. So I thought to myself, “What’s stopping me?”

The timing was ripe for a relatively short (by today’s AAA gaming standards) gaming adventure. I chose to start with Drake’s first outing since I want to replay the series in order and watch it grow and develop with each passing entry.

The Master of Remaster

Before I get into the gameplay experience, a word on the technical performance — I spent my first couple hours of the game wondering why the game felt so foreign to play. It wasn’t until I remembered the game played at 60 FPS that I knew why it felt so much quicker than I remember. I’m not a frame counter, so I don’t really have the expertise to know how many frames per second I’m seeing, but I could feel the difference in how the game camera moved and how Nate responded. I’ve often seen people say that upgraded game specs make a game feel like a whole new adventure, and I think this is the first time I’ve actually understood that statement.

The environments look wonderful, and I mentioned this on another thread, but the character models appear to have received an upgrade. Elena looks graphically splendid (can a Western game have a waifu? If so, she’s just become mine) but I felt like Sully aged poorly. His face is more washed out and I don’t remember those old-man wrinkles under his chin, in any of the entries. Also, Nate’s clumsy chicken-like running animation is still intact, unfortunately.

And I don’t know how many times I’d click L3 in an attempt to sprint. Alas, improvements still could be made.

Now, if I had a complaint about the visuals or performance, it might be that the camera was too snappy. There were many times where the camera would shift around (either from my movements of the right analog, or by a preprogrammed rotation within the game code) and it would be disorienting and may end up in my falling to my death, missing a jump, or losing track of an enemy. I wish the camera was less touchy and more easy to command. But the fact that I never went into the settings to see if I could tinker with camera sensitivity tells you I acclimatized.

A Tale as Old as Time

As was recently stated elsewhere (attributed to @TheBrandedSwordsman ), the game is akin to playing a Hollywood blockbuster movie. Focus is on the action, keeping the player engaged, and having bombastic moments. The quality of storytelling a real strength of the series. However this time around I tried to take a more objective and critical eye to the storyline. And the realization I came to was that you can’t make an over-the-top narrative with all the twists and turns if you expect to stay within the realm of logic and the laws of nature. Swallowing a good serving of ‘suspension of disbelief’ is the only way to keep your brain traveling from one outrageous set piece to another. Never mind the fact that you play as a homicidal mass murderer who shrugs and smirks as he leaves hundreds of bodies in the wake. Ludonarrative Dissonance indeed.

And I never realized how much of a, how should I say... homage (read: knock-off) the game’s narrative is to Indiana Jones. I mean, even the hero is a lovable lug of a quipster that a young Harrison Ford would not feel out of place with at an archaeological society meeting. Adventurous strong female companion? Check. Globetrotting for ancient artifacts? Check. Supernatural Forces? Check. Nazis? Sure, why not go all in. It makes me wonder if Sony called Lucas and Spielberg seeing if they could license an Indy game and upon refusal decided to do it anyway.

A last thought on the story - It’s been said many times but the vocal performances are spectacular. We all know Nolan North and Emily Rose, but special shout-out to Richard McGonagle. His Sully performance is so outstanding that I can only assume we don’t see (well, hear) him in other roles because his Sully is so spot-on that he’s been typecast and could never be realistically fit into anything else.

Gameplay is King

But how does it play?
I can say the game is still oozing with 3rd person cover shooting goodness. The aiming and gun control has apparently gotten an overhaul (although I don’t remember the game’s shooting to be a problem in the original) and I really felt the unadulterated joy of trying out all the weapons and burning through enough ammo to stock an entire nation’s defense system. I’ve never been good at shooters, first or third person (much less second person for that matter) but the game is very approachable and easy to pick up and play. The waves of enemies can be frustrating at times (as well as making zero logical sense) but it’s all about the fun of taking down enemies, trying to get headshots, and running from one locale to another. The climbing and platforming is actually my favorite part, and it feels as satisfying as ever. The thought did occur to me: Is this the first game to highlight ledges and handholds (in this case with white paint) so as to know which are “grabbable”? It’s a nice touch and wonderful innovation to lead and guide the player.

Overall the gameplay is fun, offers a decent challenge, and doesn’t grow old. Sure, it’s shallow by today’s standards. There are no ability trees, experience points, armor or weapon upgrades, or side quests. But the game feels right without all that stuff.

Is It Nostalgia or Legitimate Quality?

I came away from the game feeling more convinced than ever that the original game from the Uncharted series is a bona fide classic and has stood the test of time. The gameplay’s a tad cursory and the story doesn’t survive a critical analysis of its granular components, but in the end I don’t think it’s meant to. It’s popcorn-flick type of fun and it definitely delivers there. The fact that the game ushered in a new era and sub-genre of story driven third person action games means it deserves its spot on the PlayStation wall of fame. Can’t wait to play Among Thieves.

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Super Mario Sunshine

Platform - GameCube (2002); Nintendo Switch (2020, reviewed)
Completion: 111/120 “Shine Sprites” (including 162/240 blue coins of torment)

There is something rotten on Isle Delfino. A festering black ooze festoons much of this tropical former paradise, reducing tranquil beaches and sleepy mountain villages alike into warped grotesques. Welcome to Super Mario Sunshine.

As the long awaited followup to 1996’s Super Mario 64 and helmed by Nintendo EAD and Yoshiaki Koizumi (who went on to direct Galaxy), Sunshine arrived on the GameCube to much fanfare in 2002. It was the first time since the release of the Japanese Famicom that there wasn’t a Super Mario game ready for a system launch, so Nintendo were keen to release Sunshine as quickly as possible in order to shore up weak post-launch GameCube sales. It certainly seems as though there was some degree of rushed development, as the game became known for its abundant bugs and glitches, as well as some padding and rough edges. Nonetheless Sunshine garnered rave reviews from most of the gaming press of the time. While I was not fully enamoured with Sunshine when I originally played it, I was excited to replay it as part of the Super Mario 3D All Stars collection and eager to see if my opinion would be more positive this time round.

The GameCube ushered in an interesting period where Nintendo were eager to innovate, although players reacted with genuine befuddlement over Sunshine’s central gimmick. The headline feature is the utilisation of the Flash Liquidiser Ultra Dousing Device jetpack, otherwise referred to by its rather awkward acronym, FLUDD, and used by Mario to squirt water and hover around Isle Delfino like an overexcited kid in a candy store. We’re informed that it’s designed by Luigi Mansion’s own Professor E. Gadd, in an unusual piece of Nintendo continuity. Nintendo have a crafty knack of making things feel organic, if not integral, and FLUDD is therefore an important piece of the overall Sunshine gameplay experience, eventually turning most of those anecdotally confused players round. I’m happy to report that FLUDD works for the most part, although the turning angle of the hover mode is quite narrow, and aiming the squirt function is akin to a geriatric amputee attempting to use a urinal.

Mario himself feels quite snappy and has a pleasing degree of fluidity to his movements, although precision platforming is at times tricky because of how sensitively he reacts to movements of the analogue stick. It’s therefore easy to misjudge jumps, rendering FLUDD a necessity in steadying Mario’s landing over platforms. It’s now easier to pull off certain signature moves such as the triple jump, side somersault and wall-jump, but Mario’s moveset is slightly more limited than in 64. Gone is the long jump, although its functionality is essentially replaced by FLUDD’s slower hover move. FLUDD does introduce some fun new tricks to Mario’s repertoire, such as the ability to quickly cover large distances by spraying a little water and sliding on his belly. He can also spray water all around himself after spin jumping via a twist of the analogue stick.

Sunset on Sirena Beach

Core Mario games are not well known for their stories; usually the princess is kidnapped, it’s up to our stout moustachioed plumber to rescue her, and that’s that. It’s therefore surprising that Sunshine does have a slightly more involved story, complete with some horrendously voiced FMV cutscenes. One can only assume that as this was Nintendo’s first major foray into the brave new world of video-game voice acting outside of wahoo’s and mamma mia’s, they thought it would be okay to hire the office tea lady and a few people off the street before calling it a day. Some time after the events of Super Mario 64, Mario, Peach, and an army of Toads decide to holiday on Isle Delfino. Luigi isn’t invited, as usual. Upon landing they soon find that the island is soiled with black goo and red graffiti, and seeing as the perpetrator looks like a watery, shadow version of Mario, Isle Delfino’s famed criminal justice system pins the blame on real-Mario and immediately sentences him to clean up the mess. We don’t know what the implied “or else” is, exactly, so we’ll just assume that if he doesn’t do as he’s told he’ll be forced to play Wand of Gamelon for all eternity. As it happens Peach is soon kidnapped, but there’s a whole other disturbing subplot involving dinosaur sex that I won’t get into.

Delfino Plaza serves as the island’s capital city and the game’s hub world, from which all other levels are accessed. While it doesn’t have the same sense of grandeur and is more compact than Peach’s Castle from 64, its design is nonetheless fairly intricate and it effectively serves as a full level. Isle Delfino itself has a real sense of space; other levels can be seen far in the distance and each area is fully populated by various island folk, most of whom have a few lines of dialogue. This gives it a unique identity among Mario platformers, and is something that wasn’t really explored again until 2017’s Super Mario Odyssey.

When I played Sunshine in 2002 I felt that the tropical visual motifs of the levels were lacking in variation and imagination, but this reappraisal has changed my mind completely. Yes, there are sandy beaches, sunny skies and palm trees abundant, but level design is for the most part excellent, and the tropical setting is a breath of fresh air when judged against typical platformer staples. One highlight is a coral reef where the level has incredible verticality. An enormous cliff rises from the water, littered with caves and crevices that Mario can use to reach the higher portions. A later level includes a haunted hotel where most of the rooms' doors are locked and Mario must navigate an alternate route through its maze-like interior.

Noki Bay

The massively increased power of the GameCube enabled Nintendo to craft quite a beautiful game by the standards of the time, with considerably more intricate level design and visual motifs. Eighteen years later it is still reasonably impressive; bright, crisp colours abound, and clever use of the system’s texturing abilities yield effects such as heat haze and motion blur, although it is the water that is the true star. While the GameCube was incapable of rendering the complex shader techniques we take for granted today, it did have a few tricks up its sleeve, resulting in absolutely gorgeous water effects. It’s easy to see why Nintendo placed such importance on this, given the tropical island setting and ways in which water is integrated into the gameplay. Mario himself also saw a huge upgrade, now more closely resembling his CG renders and modern design. In keeping with the setting he now wears a short-sleeved shirt under his dungarees, which is a nice touch. In terms of the HD port itself, this is a bare-bones presentation, with little done outside of a resolution bump to 1080p and new widescreen presentation. Performance is disappointing, with frequent stutters below its nominal 30fps ceiling, particularly in the Delfino Plaza hub. This is surprising for an 18 year-old game, perhaps suggesting that less time had been spent on the emulation process than Sunshine fully deserved.

Bianco Hills lake

While this increased processing power allowed for intricate geometry and level design, it also meant that there was simply more for the camera to get stuck behind. As you may recall, the real battle in Super Mario 64 was not against the King of the Koopas, but his loyal acolyte Lakitu, who served as the game’s cameraman. This cruel and demented soul would not settle for shattering the spirits of all who played Mario 64. No, it was world domination he was after. After an epic showdown, a coven of medieval Sicilian witches at last managed to seal his physical body and video camera in the pit of Tartarus. But it was not to last. In the darkness his spite and lust for power only grew, and from the depths he cursed the Mushroom Kingdom and its surrounding lands to an eternity of torment and poorly framed camera angles. In Sunshine it often feels like Lakitu is directly manipulating events from his underworld lair. Naturally, his faithful servant Pat Butcher is back - no witch could banish her - and tired from an eventful Christmas Day episode down The Vic’ she’s now parked firmly in front of Mario so that half the time he can’t see a bloody thing.

Pat Butcher

Nintendo’s answer was not to fix the camera, but to give Mario a silhouette when the view is blocked. Sounds good, right? The only problem is that level features such as platforms do not have a silhouette, so the player still has little clue what they’re doing. The silhouette doesn’t appear at all when the view is not technically blocked, although in these cases the angles are so skewed that it may as well be. A problem common to many 3D platformers is that it can be difficult to judge depth when jumping into the z-axis. Like some warped Lahaina Noon many platforms, ropes and poles lack shadows, complicating matters further.

I don't even remember what this was supposed to be

Sunshine follows the same general structural template established by Super Mario 64. There are 120 Shine Sprites (a tropical stand-in for stars), obtained by completing a predictable set of challenges, ranging from collecting red coins, winning races, and finishing boss battles. Boss battles are a genuine highlight; all are unique and feel more akin to Zelda bosses in terms of their size and the different methods needed to defeat them. My favourite is a giant oil-squirting Blooper squid in the port-themed level, where Mario must grab and pull off each off its legs. Much of the joy in playing a 3D Mario game lies in utilising Mario’s arsenal of moves in a range of uniquely designed environments, so while the challenges may be largely the same, the way in which the player goes about completing them will always be different. For much of Sunshine this principle mostly holds true, Lakitu and Pat notwithstanding. Shine sprites are split across discrete “episodes” in each level, and have to be obtained in order, excluding each level’s “secret” sprites. Each of the seven main levels contain ten shine sprites apiece, although there are also a total of 240 blue coins spread throughout the game. Delfino Plaza in turn houses a shop staffed by a shifty raccoon where ten blue coins can be traded in for an additional shine sprite. This undoubtedly pads the experience a little and there’s no real way of tracking how many blue coins are scattered in each “episode”.

Unfortunately the whole experience is dragged down by the many challenges that simply aren’t fun. One level sees Mario collecting red coins atop a giant bird comprised of cubes of sand. If the random gusts of wind fail to push Mario off, then the bird’s frequent loop-de-loops will. Another challenge requires pushing a ridiculously fragile watermelon across an enemy infested beach. The theme park level, Pinna Park has a red coin challenge where the coins are scattered across a series of swinging ships, and a later shine sprite where Mario must ascend Satan’s private ferris wheel while the camera does its best to destroy the will of the player. This left me with the impression that the game would have perhaps been a far more polished product if it was given more development time.

All this is nothing, however, compared to the darkest terror lurking within each level. Dimensional voids are concealed in such inane locations as giant mushrooms, sandcastles and random caves, yet even medieval Sicilian witches are unable to divine their precise origin or purpose. Either way, upon entering these wretched domains Shadow Mario instantaneously appears and snatches FLUDD away, leaving Mario with only his wits and a bottle of gin to soothe his sorrows. In these levels he must then navigate a series of moving blocks suspended over a void of nothingness, in order to reach a Shine Sprite conveniently placed at the end, as if mocking the player. These platforming sections are among the most difficult and frustrating in the whole game given how integral FLUDD is to the wider gameplay experience. Without the device to steady Mario and correct mistakes, and joined by the rather uncooperative camera, he frequently falls to his death. It feels like some Sisyphean horror; time and again he’s plunged into the abyss, and by the time the Shine Sprite is finally grasped, yes, Mario has the golden trinket, but in return Lakitu has splintered the player’s soul into jagged shards and now holds them to your throat. A war of attrition, it’s fair to ask was it worth it?

Was it worth it? As an experiment within the timeline of 3D Mario platformers, there are certainly many aspects to enjoy. Sunshine both iterates and builds on the formula established by Super Mario 64 in some interesting ways, mainly courtesy of FLUDD. But it also grates and grinds. Its camera frustrations and the high difficulty of many of the challenges compound like a jackhammer. Super Mario Sunshine is an uneven experience, and in the end Isle Delfino is just a place festooned with festering black ooze.

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Sorry for the late replies, everyone.

@RogerRoger FINALLY got a chance to properly sit down and read your opus and, I gotta say, Rog, I'm stunned. Your encyclopedic knowledge of all things Bond-related, your natural wittiness, and your increasingly excellent grasp of the art of game reviewing all contributed to make this not only your best piece yet, but arguably the best piece of writing submitted to this thread to date!

It really was a vision of hell for you, though, wasn't it? You're such a good-natured dude that I was impressed with the sustained level of contemptuous snark you managed to muster for this game. Not that this is at all inappropriate, mind you: while I think we both agree most games are made by people trying their best and are deserving of some certain level of consideration for best efforts made, sometimes a game comes along that really is just ill-conceived in all regards and deserves a proper and public caning. In that regard, your piece reminded me of some of Roger Ebert's unapologetically (and hilariously) scathing pieces on films he hated.

I really liked the way you structured your cold opening. It flows brilliantly into the body of the piece, and the use of your first screenshot as a well-timed punchline was excellent.

The screenshot of Blofeld putting up his dukes is pretty ridiculous. I kinda like it, not least of all because I can just laugh at the idea of it being included in a Bond game at all.

Also, for the record, stealth missions in non-stealth games are pretty much always the worst parts of said games. And at least as late as 2017, developers were still including them in their games. Here's to hoping for the final death of the forced stealth mission.

RE: screen tearing, did you mess with v-sync on your computer? Sometimes older games have weird v-sync issues that require hardware-based solutions. It's really weird that the game doesn't support resolutions over 720p. Really, really weird.

Oh, and I'm impressed you created your own videos to show off music and compare tracks with other versions that appeared in Bond movies.

I should also note that you now have the notoriety of posting the longest piece in this thread to date, displacing the record held by my Three Houses write-up. Wear your crown of thorns proudly, my friend, as the curse passes onto you now until someone is foolish enough to try and beat the record again.

But yeah, incredible contribution. Truly.

@Th3solution

Great piece on Uncharted! The trilogy collection on PS4 is indeed a great way of seeing how the games evolved over time and adopted a unique identity (as you point out, the first game is more than a little reminiscent of the Indiana Jones films; I guess they all are, but subsequent entries felt more grown into their own mythology and narrative tone). I didn't have a great time with the first game myself, but some of that could be due to my using it as a test case for the viability of cloud gaming on PS Now. So, the unpolished old PS3 release plus the latency issues inherent to cloud gaming.

Even if it's not as slick as its subsequent entries, though, it does seem like the series started off on a solid foundation. Glad you enjoyed it, and would definitely be interested in hearing how your experience with this series evolves as you replay through the games via the Nathan Drake Collection.

@mookysam

I like the extended mythology you're establishing with Lakitu.

I played this game circa the mid 2010s and was still super impressed with how good this game looked on the GameCube. The water effects truly are out of this world, and the image quality as a whole was such a massive step up from the blocky, polygonal nightmare realm of Mario 64. I ended up liking this game less upon replaying it (probably primarily due to my insistence on doing EVERYTHING in this game, which led to some rather frustrating road blocks, and irritation at the blue coin collecting in general), but I think I still had a lot more fun with it than you did. At least, when I wasn't screaming at the TV during those chuckster shine levels, or after being knocked off the underside of the village for the millionth time during The Goopy Inferno level (Pianta Village really would be better off just burning to the ground). The 3D All-Stars Collection hasn't been treating you well thus far.

A fun read as always!

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Dragon Quest Heroes: the World Tree's Woe and the Blight Below (PS4)

The first entry in the Warriors/Musou style spinoff of the long running Dragon Quest JRPG franchise.

Gameplay:

• Like most Warriors style games, it is a mission based action game where you take a party of 1-4 characters into battle against hundreds of foes. While most other Warriors titles have you taking control of a battlefield by completing various tasks (such as capturing forts, defeating important named foes, etc.) DQH tends to be a much more singularly focused experience. Maps (particularly in story mode) tend to be smaller in scope compared to it's contemporaries, and while you sometimes get a pretty basic objective (such as "defeat all monsters"), the game largely has a "tower defence" style bent to it, and you'll more often than not be tasked with protecting a specific location (such as a gate or statue) or an NPC (escort mission style) from waves of enemies as your sole objective in a mission.
  
  Escort mission the game, pretty much.
• Maps tend to be more maze-like, where you have to figure out the best way to stem the incoming tide of enemies so you can safely venture out to slay the "Mawkeepers" (tougher enemies that guard the portals mooks endlessly spawn from). To do this you'll need to summon your own monsters to the battlefield (which you can do after picking up dropped "monster medals" from defeated monsters) in key defensive positions, as well as take advantage of other strategic elements, such as stones dotted across a map you can warp to (they need to be activated first, but only once, so it's completely viable to leave your main objective unprotected your first go around as you go around activating all the stones, that way you can make use of them from the start on future attempts) or map specific elements such as cannons or switches that open & close gates.
• I'll be honest & admit I really didn't care for the general gameplay loop in this. Don't get me wrong, mowing down hundreds of mooks can be as fun as ever (and it was kinda a relief whenever I didn't have to protect something), but general character control felt a little more heavy & not as snappy as other Warriors titles, and whenever you had to protect an NPC that has their own weapon they have a tendency to bum rush the strongest enemy that's currently in their "zone", even if they only have a sliver of health left, which makes for many a failed mission. Plus, I encountered at least one bug during a story mission where I had to protect a barricade, and the game considered it a failed mission whenever it reached half health (I've since watched a couple gameplay vids of people completing the mission with much lower barricade health, so it had to have been a bug, and not that isolated as I found a thread discussing the issue on the Steam forums). Luckily, you keep all EXP, Gold, & enemy drops you obtain in failed missions, so at least there's always some level of growth.
• I will concede that I enjoyed the boss battles that closed out each chapter, and while they have nothing on the boss encounters seen in something like FFVII Remake, they do tend to be more involved than your typical Warriors bosses, and were nice & challenging IMO (though it has a tendency to reuse bosses, or at least pallet swapped versions of them, as regular enemies later on, which is a bit of a pet peeve of mine).
• Each character has a series of combos they can execute with various combinations of the Square (light attack) & Triangle (heavy attack) buttons, Cross is used to jump, and Circle activates Tension mode whenever it's guage is built up (think the "Musou" mode from other games. you'll get a brief all around stat boost & status effect immunity, followed up by a screen filling super attack once the guage empties, or if you pull it off early by pressing Circle again). By pressing one of the shoulder buttons you'll bring up the special attack (these attacks use MP) & Healstone (these heal everyone in your party, though not any NPCs you're protecting) menues, another shoulder button makes you guard, another is dodge, and the last one switches between characters.
• In terms of powering up your characters, they level up (general stat boosts) upon earning enough EXP (characters not in use earn EXP, but at a slower rate), by spending skill points on upgrades (you earn skill points every time you level up, and can learn/upgrade special attacks, upgrade combos, obtain extra stat boosts, and unlock other boons), by equipping new weapons/orbs (you buy these at the shop back at base, and the new items that appear at the start of each chapter are universally better than what came before, though a few characters have super weapons earned through late/post game side quests), and by equipping accessories (you synthesize these back at base with monster drops, and they offer boons non-stat related, such as protection against status effects or damaging terrain).
• From my experience there are only 13 playable characters in the game (outside of any potential DLC, which I haven't checked), and while this means the scope of the franchise that it represents is quite small, the characters it does have are well realized & play very uniquely. It has a whopping 4 OC's (Luceus, Aurora, King Doric, & Isla), 4 reps from DQIV (Alena, Kyril, Maya, & a secret character), 2 reps from DQV (Bianca & Nera), 2 reps from DQVIII (Jessica & Yangus), & 1 rep from DQVI (Terry, who is also the protag of the Dragon Quest Monsters spinoff series). Barring Terry, all the characters present are from titles I've actually played, so lucky me.
• In between missions you'll spend time at your base of operations which houses the world map (which you select to set out on missions), the aforementioned weapon & orb shops, the aforementioned synthesis shop, the Mini Medal shop (rare collectables you obtain from a variety of sources that you can trade for synthesis recipes, monster drops, & a special selection of weapons), the side quest counter (more on these next), accolade counter (earn Mini Medals for earning achievements & defeating certain numbers of enemies), the mail counter (mostly just goofy letters awarded upon completing a sidequest, but certain sidequest rewards are obtained here as well), a Church (saving & refilling Healstones), & a Tavern (swap out party members here).
• A fresh group of sidequests become available at the start of each chapter (and in post game), and while there are a number of them that offer a bespoke mission, the majority just ask you to defeat "X" number of this enemy type or collect "Y" number of this enemy drop. The problem with this is that, as far as I could tell, there's absolutely no way to replay missions (story or otherwise). Instead, when you select a certain location on the world map (unless there's a new mission to play) you're only option is to take on an endless wave of enemies at one of three difficulties (which determine which monster types spawn, which you can check by pressing the touch pad). This makes grinding out the "Kill X enemies, or collect Y items" type quests (or heck, grinding in general) the absolute worst kind of rote grinding imaginable. You'll be roped into doing quite a bit of them too, as worthwhile upgrades are locked behind them (like expanding the number of enemy drops you can hold, number of total Healstones, and number of monsters you can call to your side in battle), and story mission difficulty ramps up quickly enough that you'll need to do most of them to stay properly leveled, in my experience.
• The only missions not completely pulled from availability after completing them are the boss fights, as souped up versions of them get their own map locations (appearing as caves) after you clear their associated chapter.
• Oh, each character also has a couple of alternate costumes to unlock (via sidequests...), but they're all pallet swaps, so nothing too interesting, and kind of disappointing considering DQVIII & DQXI both offer actual alternate costumes (like armor sets, bunny outfits, etc.) for party members. Apparently there are a couple of interesting armor sets available as DLC, but this only applies to Luceus & Aurora (the player character OC's).

Story:

• It takes place in a kingdom where humanity & monsters have lived in peace for as long as can be remembered, however strange events are afoot & monster kind turns against humanity. After securing Arba (the capital city), King Doric and his head knights Luceus & Aurora (the two player character choices) head out to protect the troubled kingdom & find out what's going on with their monster friends (which happens to involve slaughtering them by the hundreds, lol), and along the way they team up with iconic DQ personalities, who've been mysteriously transported to this realm.
• It's a simple story with legendary heroes of light & dark lords awaking from slumber, but it works, especially since such simple tropes are what set up most DQ games proper. The strength of DQ's stories has always been the games' eclectic casts, and as an all star crossover, you'll get your fill here (I especially enjoyed Alena, Kyril, Jessica, & Yangus).
  
  Most of the time the cast hangs out at the tavern back at base, where they'll usually have something new to say after every mission or so.
• DQ tends to have a way with wordplay & puns, and this holds true here as well. Even the iconic "Puff-Puff" gag makes it's return here, though I'm not sure what exactly triggers it (every once in awhile a party member at the tavern will treat you to a "Puff-Puff" of a various kind, though this only happened to me twice. Once from Kyril, & once I think from Bianca. From what I understand there's one from each party member though?).
  
  Writing is always in top form.
• Oh, the game also makes liberal use of one of the DS4's unique features, the built in speaker! All spoken dialogue is fed through the TV and the DS4 at the same time. While this is kind of neat during the heat of battle (character chatter from the controller will be louder or quieter depending on how close you are to the speaker on the battlefield), it gets kind of tiring back at base, where you'll have NPCs blaring the same lines at you at full volume everytime you want to save, visit the shop, etc.

Graphics:

• I will say it's a nice looking game that nails the vibe of the DQ franchise, and has all the typical environmental locations.
  
  
  
  There'll be a lot of various particle effects going on, and many marble & stone floors are plenty shiny.
• Likewise all the iconic DQ sound effects, music, and various voice accents & speaking patterns are here and accounted for, for better or worse.
• There's no performance issues as far as I could tell, other than the aforementioned barricade bug.

Conclusion:

• As someone who has really enjoyed the other licensed Musou games I've played such as Hyrule Warriors DE, Fire Emblem Warriors, One Piece Pirate Warriors 3 (might be my favorite, and I'm not even a big OP fan), and even Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3, I was looking forward to this as someone who likes the DQ games, and while there are aspects of it I do like, in the end I found it to be a slog to finish, and chose not to bother with any of the post game stuff (which apparently includes a total of 3 superbosses). To be honest the experience will likely put me off trying out the new Hyrule Warriors for awhile, and especially the second DQH game (which I hear is a lot better, apparently).
  Bye, we're off to return to more enjoyable games!