Saturday, February 17, 2018

Slice, Dice & Rice (PS4)

Slice, Dice & Rice (by Dojo Games) is a gimmick fighter in the vein of games like 'Dive Kick' and 'Bushido Blade'. It takes the rock, paper, scissors formula in regards to trumping one's attacks or Bushido Blade's opening focus and wound system while utilizing a four button controller layout with 3 melee attacks (horizontal, vertical, heavy) & a parry along with dash options, aerial attacks & cancels to do so with. The fights last up to several rounds depending on the mode being played with each round being a potential insta-kill depending on the attack landed. There are fatalities done through a heavy attack no matter what round you might be on as well as splashy blood effects. The graphics are cell shaded, and the stages layered. It has an ancient Japanese folklore appearance, and a traditional instrumental soundtrack with a variety of different fighters included that each move, and attack differently according to fighting style & weapon type. The 'Dojo' mode which takes the place of a practice mode allows for learning the characters attacks on a basic level while the Story mode allows for a ladder style series of matches against select characters with story elements embedded.

In the Story playthrough you'll encounter sub-bosses in the form of Yokai mirror matches & Yama character versions that are more aggressive & harder to kill along with a final boss character. Each character, for some reason, is pursuing the fabled divine rice which is guarded by a monk. Hence the word "rice' being included in the title of the game. Completing a character's story arch will unlock the next character in the roster allowing for that character's story to play out through comic bubble dialogue & intermittent story text between fights. The Story mode battles are four rounds each with the player reaching the fourth kill first being the victor.

Aside from the story you'll find local play options with vs Player, vs CPU & CPU vs CPU matches. This is the only other option outside of network play that allows for a proper multiplayer experience. The 'Network' mode, which is currently void of players is also an option, and has the usual matchmaking choices in place including a quick match, create a match, and search for a room selection menu. Ranked is called "Duel Matches" in this game, and the player matches called "Player Matches". As with most modern Arc System Works fighters there are lobby chat greetings pre-made for basic communication along with a player profile card that keeps track of ranked, and player match progress (wins & matches played) along with specific character usage and win stats. There is even an online global leaderboard for bragging rights. Along with all of that you can also create a room with a password for only friends to join with things like round limit, region, connection status, and player count accounted for. As of now I am unsure of the quality of the online experience, and to me the lacking online community presence makes the game worth less than the $17.99 asking price if you don't have local players or don't intend to hookup with friends via Player Match.

As it stands "Slice, Dice & Rice" is an alright offline experience at base level. Again, it is a gimmick fighter & a hybrid of the Paper, Rock, Scissors/Bushido Blade formula with attacks taking place of the guessing game/opening options. It also features gameplay that could become pro tier in spectacle if the players playing can read the game's indicators & mind the other player properly. One thing I forgot to mention is that there are visual indicators in the form of Asian text symbols that light up white as a player attacks and goes away when there's an opening. There's that, and colored light rings on characters' heads/bodies that will give away hints at what the player is about to do. Learning to read a character via understanding of their movement, and attacks as well as through the given visual indicators can give you an edge, but at the same time minding everything in the heat of battle can lead to missed opportunities. Overall the game isn't bad structure-wise, mechanics-wise or presentation-wise, but with the network mode being currently vacant I cannot pass judgement in favor of the game or it's high asking price. Only if you aim to play with friends online or locally will it truly be worth your money. That is my verdict. So sayeth Dante.

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