Red Death (REVIEW)

Returning with a shmup that foregoes the nature of the first entry in their series, Panda Indie Studios brings to us a worthy prequel to 'Project Starship'. A four tone shoot 'em up that not only ramps up the challenge, and does away with the rogue-like formula, but that also gives background on the main two characters of the first game. Following pilot RED-001 we are invited along with the accompanying instructor to see the demise of worlds at the hands, or rather tentacles of the old gods. Gods of Lovecraftian origin who have decided to wage war on the Earth, and force pilots like Nick (aka, RED-001) to face a final fight for the remainder of humanity. In his fight, and flight of nightmarish proportions we learn that Nick's wife departs the planet via shuttle during his skirmish with a baby on the way. A surprise bundle of joy that ties-in with the 'Project Starship' plot. It is in the eerie, and ominous revelation of potential doom, and hope for the future that the color scheme of reds, greens, whites, and greys along with thematic music elements geared towards intensifying the situation plays out in a per stage basis, and in an oldschool way.

The MISSING: J.J. Macfield And The Island of Memories (PS4)

Hidetaka Suehiro, or Swery65 (as you may know him) is a master storyteller. Mostly noted for his work with Deadly Premonition. He is no stranger to the darker themes in gaming, and is not afraid of tugging at the players' range of emotions. In "The MISSING" Swery65 takes on a topic less tackled this time around. Something he brings into light in such a way as to be heartbreaking, and true to life. His characters, fictional or not, embody his idea that people should not feel ashamed of who they are. Along with this heavy hitting precursor that comes in the form of a similar noted quote the developer also discloses his intentions on touching base on topics such as sexuality, and suicide. Two additional themes that coincide with the main character's plight.

Shadows: Awakening (PS4)

Sometimes I find myself scouting the PSN Store before I ever hit the internet for potential review projects. In this instance that's exactly what I did. I had been eyeing "Shadows: Awakening" for a while, and it was on my list of potential RPG pick-ups. Seeing the user based 5 star rating peaked my interest further. The PSN Store critics are usually more fair and honest than reviewers in general, because they have paid for the game out of pocket, and are more than willing to let you know if it's good, bad or somewhere between. Seeing a perfect rating is definitely something you don't often see. Upon playing my copy of the game I was personally met with a quality presentation certainly befitting of the praise. From the constant well voiced narration and the vocal NPC banter to the visuals, and gameplay the game felt worthy of it's price. While some compare it to Diablo, or oldschool DnD RPGs though I have to be the odd one out, and say this is more of a unique adventure. One that is in a class of it's own.

SNK HEROINES ~ Tag Team Frenzy (PS4)

Some things in life make you wonder WTF!? They literally make you wonder what in the hell someone was thinking when they did something? Such is the case with "SNK HEROINES". I was going into this playthrough, and review expecting a competent fully fledged fighter in the vein of older SNK fighters, but what I was met with felt more like a low budget novelty. It felt like it was one step above games like "Dive Kick". Moreover it felt like it was a game catering to female gamers while implying they aren't competent enough to play a proper fighting game. It was like a dollhouse dress-up fighter filled with SNK's version of Barbies made available for all those gals who like to play with said Barbies like boys do with their toys. The kind of childhood experience that leads to naked, and headless dolls. The story, which was itself lacking in seriousness, revolved around a perverted KOF character named Kukri and a pocket dimension he created just for the occasion. It felt so out of place and fantastical that the only thing that rivaled it's lackluster and ludicrous nature was the simple mechanics that anyone could pick up on and win with.

Blade Strangers (PS4)

I have decided to approach this review differently than past reviews. I'm gonna ditch the artistic word play, and get to the point section by section. Those sections will include a story, characters, mechanics, modes, and visual/audio breakdown. By doing this I hope it will make digesting the information easier, and help you to find what you want to know about the game easier. Without further adieu here is my review of "Blade Strangers" for the PlayStation 4 ...

Shikhondo: Soul Eater (PS4)

I am in love!!! ... maybe lust!!! There's finally a shmup with a mature Asian folklore theme that I can get behind!!! This shmup I speak of is none other than Deer Farm's original shoot'em up creation, "Shikhondo: Soul Eater". A shmup brought to us by Nephilim Game Studios via conversion, and published by Digerati Distribution. The game itself is a five stage fright fight featuring a female Grim Reaper protagonist, and some sword wielding girl with equally soul sapping powers. They face off alone or in co-op against some of ancient Asia's/Korea's most frightful haunts. Ultimately battling through bullet hell, and facing off against truly hellish forms of yokai bosses after having bested their slightly lesser than hellish forms. It's a shoot'em up with expertly choreographed bullet hell patterns fitting of the bosses, and 6 modes of play that cater to all the challenges, and desires a shmup enthusiast might like. The experience itself is complimented by an electronic soundtrack filled with haunting melodic tunes, laughter, screams, and heavy hitting synthesized sounds when the action is at it's most intense. Combined with the traditional, and layered style of Asian scroll-like artwork everything comes to life in a way befitting of the theme it encompasses.

Warhammer 40K: Inquisitor Martyr - Post Review Post

My initial impressions of NeoCore Game's new ARPG addition to the Warhammer 40K video game franchise may have been a bit misleading, or overly zealous. The more I've played the game, and the more it has opened up the more flaws and new features have come into light. One of my few complaints regarding the flaws lies with how complicated the control scheme is in comparison to the game's obvious Diablo inspiration. The way the developer has the evasive roll for the Assassins mapped everywhere but the tilting of the 'Right Thumbstick' only serves to complicate things. Additionally autoguns which feature auto-tracking/auto-aim will often times target distant enemies or objects instead of what is directly in front of you. From what I can tell the options menu gives you no option to turn off auto-aim. I think the developer needs to either ditch auto-aim altogether, or fix the auto-aim targeting, especially in regards to mob situations.

Warhammer 40K: Inquisitor Martyr (PS4)

Going into this review I had preconceptions, and expectations. Knowing of GamesWorkshop's Warhammer table-top RPGs, and the legacy thereof I had initial concerns as to how lore inclusive the game would be. I also assumed it would be an action-RPG akin to the Diablo series. Both guesses weren't too far off the mark when it came to the reality of what the game presented. In regards to the lore it felt, as I feared, like a game that would be more appreciated by diehard Warhammer fans in that the lore wasn't origin oriented so much, and at the same time like a game that Diablo fans could appreciate without prior knowledge of the expansive series/universe. I greatly enjoyed my time with the game despite being lost in some of the lore references at times. It is a beautifully rendered masterpiece filled with some of the most impressive cutscenes you'll ever see, and overall visual design elements that impress in their own right as well as a voice actor cast that truly compliments the characters that are being portrayed. The gameplay itself isn't hard to pick up on, and with the touchpad tutorials shown in the initial singleplayer playthrough players will grow easily accustom to mechanics that feature a unique cover system, weapon swapping, weapon based skills, and combat that is more fluid than you could imagine.

Fall of Light: Darkest Edition (PS4)

Before you read further into this review you need to understand I gave up on it at the very first level/stage, and for a valid reason. This game, which boasts about being like Dark Souls, is made artificially difficult through the control setup. The control arrangement, which cannot be remapped, is so awkward in design that it makes the fights and tasks at hand difficult where they would otherwise not be if the controls were mapped differently. I think the developer knew this, and that's why they chose to not allow the player to change the controls ...

Disgaea 5 Complete Edition PS4!!!

Probably one of the coolest JRPG surprises to hit the PS4 PSN store this year is "Disgaea 5 Complete Edition". This All-In-One bundle not only features the robust gaming experience that is "Disgaea 5", but it also comes complete with all of the story expansion DLC which features character tie-ins as well as special party member DLC that features minions and mainstay characters that hail from all of Disgaea. I reviewed "Disgaea 5" a while back on here when it first released, and I was personally so impressed that I actually put my own money down on some of the DLC. Disgaea, as a series, has always given gamers more bang for their buck. It has always featured an engaging, and somewhat comical story with a colorful cast of original characters. It has built upon as well as innovated the genre strategy offerings, and continues to offer over 100+ hours of playthrough and replay value that will more than likely satisfy any JRPG fan's SRPG itch.

Aces of the Luftwaffe - Squadron (PS4)

Every shmup has a gimmick. From the lesser involved mechanics of games like that of "Space Invaders" to deeply applied mechanics of games like Rising Star's "Akai Katana" you'll find each game within the genre contains either a unique spin on shoot'em ups or borrows mostly from others that they take inspiration from. In the case of Handy Games' "Aces of the Luftwaffe - Squadron" the developer does a bit of both. Through character radio interactions that build upon a story being told they create a World War II era shooter that goes well beyond the realm of the given theme, and the traditional shmup setup. As the last part of the title suggests you are a part of a squadron. A squadron consisting of four named pilots who each contribute to the fire fight at hand against a Nazi regime of sci-fi proportions. The fight has Mark, Melissa, John, and Steve all facing off against the enemy as they follow the fight to the US in an attempt to turn the tides of battle. Each pilot in the closely knit squadron comes complete with their own unique fears, ailments, and personality quirks that sometimes conflicts with the missions that are given. They either temporarily drop out of formation, become afflicted with negative status effects, attack other allied pilots or even fall asleep behind the cockpit. This gimmick adds a level of challenge to the already challenging fight. A fight which also carries with it side missions that will have you doing everything from escorting friendly aircraft to taking out specific targets, or even rescuing civilians among other things. Each chapter within the limited tale will have you taking on several missions in total as you upgrade your squadron's skill trees via gained skill coins ultimately affording you a more sustainable crew with added benefits to boot.

WoblyWare's "Omega Strike" Does Decently What Retro Does Best

If you fancy indie games, particularly the sort that take inspiration from the retro gaming era, you might not be disappointed with "Omega Strike" for the PS4. It's a game that borrows a lot from such an age, but that does so in a way that is, at the very least, aesthetically pleasing and unique visually. It's a mixture of 'Mega Man', 'The Legend of Zelda II', and even 'Metal Slug'. If I dare say so myself. Along with these obvious nods it features blood and gore with a super soldier project gone wrong theme to boot. Of course you'll find that you have two different scientists behind it all. Both malevolent, and savior-like in the guise of a good professor, and a doctor gone mad. No doubt inspired by Mega Man's famous two doctors. The trick, or what makes this game different than others though is not so much the base gameplay, the doctors, or the given plot, but more so the main playable characters' functionality. As the player you at times control one of three different freedom fighters in a fight against Doctor Omega, and his mutant minions. The diabolical genius who concocted the super soldier serum, and in turn created his own army of super mutant soldiers. Each freedom fighter which can be swapped out on the go via the good Professor's teleporter device gives the players different weapon options, and special character functions that aid in getting further into the game as well as help to solve puzzles.

BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle - The Short And Sweet Of It Review

BlazBlue has evolved quite a bit over the years. There's no denying it. It started off as an anime fighter in the vein of the flagship fighting game series Guilty Gear. It was fast paced, and featured an entirely new roster of characters with an entirely new story. Regardless of the new offerings the early or initial games in the ongoing series that is BlazBlue were simpler in the sense that they weren't as mode inclusive, or as story heavy as series entries midways, and later on down the line. As the series continued to grow though the story expanded as did the lore, the roster of characters, and the modes of play. Even in the online portions of the games innovation showed, if slightly so. New ways to stand out as players were given, and things like nameplates, avatars, and titles made their way in. Fast forward to today's times, and BlazBlue has all but strayed from it's beaten path. In "BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle" it has ditched the tried, and true formula for a lesser spin-off that in most ways gives the paying players less. The roster, though inclusive of different characters, does not present the game in a light that truly builds upon, or even changes the core experience in such a way as to be awe inspiring. It borrows mechanics from tag team oriented games like MvC and Dragon Ball FighterZ, renames said mechanics to seem different, and in doing so only manages to rehash what's already been done. Perhaps to a slightly different degree.

The Importance Of Being Thorough And My BlazBlue Video Review

By now you've no doubt read my "BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle" impressions article. In all honesty it didn't paint a very good picture of the new entry, and like the IGN review itself you were no doubt left with more questions than answers. Since that article posting I was given the opportunity by Aksys Games to play through, and review the game myself. To experience it for myself, and share with you what I experienced. In this instance I decided to do things differently though. I decided to do a raw hands-on review via Twitch to allow everyone to get my reactions as they happened in accordance to the features contained within the game in the most genuine fashion possible. That and to also disclose important need to know details in a manner that would be more beneficial to someone than having them to read through ten paragraphs of technical breakdowns regarding in-game features. I think I succeeded in doing so, but you will have to sit through nearly two hours of video, and commentary to get the most of it. Supposing you can you will get enough coverage of the game's inner workings to be able to decide for yourself if this is a worthy fighter to add to your collection. At least I think so.

BlazBlue Cross Tag Impressions Taken from Reviews And Gameplay Footage

So ... I spent part of the day watching gameplay, and reviews of the latest entry in the BlazBlue series. I saw IGN give it a beat around the bush passing review that pointed out both good, and bad things. The bad mostly attributed to a lackluster, and repetitive story mode element as well as some matchmaking quirks. Being the observant fighting game player that I am I paid attention to the roster. Those guys, and gals who transferred over from RWBY, BlazBlue, UNIEL, and Persona Arena Ultimax. What bothered me was the fact that the roster was made up mostly of the easy to use, and abuse characters. The projectile pests, and the ranged reachers. Even Iron Tager in all his abusive magnetic glory returned to my dismay. The only exceptions I noticed were Rachel Alucard who is a more technical BlazBlue character, and Chie from Persona Arena who is an up close melee martial artist. I had paid attention to the roster situation since the first announcement, and knew it was going to be the deciding factor as to whether or not I bought the game for myself, and as it turns out I did not end up buying the game for that very reason.

Gekido Kintaro's Revenge Proves Some Things Are Best Left Alone

I fondly recall, as an original Playstation gamer, my experience with "Gekido". It was a rocking 3D arcade style brawler that was unique for it's time. It dared to do something different. It had an amazing in-game soundtrack, a hidden song that could be played on a CD player, and gamplay that was overall fun. The art style was akin to something seen in comic books back when comic books were actually good. For whatever reason this tried and true formula was ditched for what best could be described as a blatant middle finger to fans of the first entry in the series. Gekido Kintaro's Revenge, in all of it's mediocre glory, puts players in control of two seemingly familiar characters (Tetsuo & Travis), and has them taking on the arduous task of finding out why the dead are rising in a nearby village. It feels, and plays out a lot like a plot inspired by the anime, "Ninja Scroll". While this could have been cool it falls short of being so through bad controls, poorly implemented combat, bad graphic design, and cheap sucker punches that happen way too often. It's almost as if the developer who made this game had a grudge against the gamers who bought what they were selling the first time around.

My Brief Impressions Of The "Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection"

For what it is offline Capcom's re-release of the various Street Fighter series entries is very much worth the asking price. If you value a proper offline experience over an online one. For $40 you get 12 full games that can all be enjoyed alone or in the company of local friends. Ports of games that can be tweaked to a decent widescreen HDTV presentation, and adjusted with different visual filters for added effect. The games from Street Fighter (original) to the Alphas, and on to the 3rd Strikes all play out as you'd expect them to. As you'd remember. Offline the games are a proper trip down memory lane with the addition of historical timeline info entries, newly introduced art galleries, and various other features that give you more for your money. Oddly enough though things aren't all perfect with this particular collection. While most of the problems are player induced in the online portion of the game the netcode Capcom chose to go with for their four online titles is truly a step down from their previous online releases of "Darkstalkers Resurrection", and "Street Fighter 3rd Strike" for the PS3. I'm fairly certain they did not pay for high end netcode this time around, and more than likely cut corners for cost efficiency. Not only is the netcode bad this time, but the matchmaking also suffers from a lack of much needed options like that of region selection, and ping/connection identifiers. This lack of needed features only serves to further hurt what could have been a good online competitive scene.

Street Fighter's Impact On My Interest In Fighting Games Plus USF4 Code Contest!!!

I've told this story a few times on this blog. A story about how I grew up in an extremely religious home with parents who frowned upon violent entertainment, and who strictly adhered to the various ratings systems implemented across the entirety of the entertainment industry. I mentioned that it wasn't until my 13th birthday (through some begging & desperate pleading) that I was able to convince my mother to buy me "Street Fighter II: Championship Edition" for the Sega Genesis as a birthday present. Of course after that big feat my world opened up in huge ways allowing me to enjoy various other fighting games, and violent video games while not being strictly monitored or chastised for doing so. Street Fighter, more or less, was my gateway into fighting games and so much more. Some things to my moral detriment ... certain adult things. That aside I have invested years of my life in playing, enjoying, and learning fighting games. None more so than Street Fighter though. It is for that very reason I decided to pre-order Capcom's "Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection". I wanted to relive the moments I experienced as I played through the various series entries in the Street Fighter game library, and after having picked up my copy today I aim to do just that. I don't expect the games to be as impressive as they were the first time around, but the trip down memory lane will be more than worth the $40 asking price. At least to me.

Riddled Corpses EX Mixes Old School Mob Brawlers With Shmup Mechanics

Complete with two co-op score based modes, and a cooperative story mode with five stages of progression CowCat Games, and Diabolical Minds challenges the gamer or gamers to take on one of the most grueling fights for apocalyptic survival ever! Whether you love the oldschool appeal of the side-scrolling wave filled brawlers, or the arcade shoot' em ups of old you will find tons of replay value in this story driven fight against the evil of all evils. A furious fight against an evil which has, and continues to resurrect the dead in order to destroy all of humanity. Through a character upgrade system that alters gun play Gradius-style, and unlockables in the form of other characters and weapons with their own unique combat offerings you will face wave after wave of the undead in an attempt to best the true prince of darkness. The ultimate end goal being a complete story playthrough, or an arcade mode playthrough. Each with a different way to experience the trek through madness. That and one of the most difficult static survival modes to ever grace the shmup genre!

Digerati Distribution's Monster Slayers Proves Fun Is Better Than Facade

Some games look amazing, but play poorly. Other games look somewhat primitive, but are tons of fun. I think the latter category is where "Monster Slayers" falls. It's not particularly the best looking indie, but it's rogue-like elements, and strategy RPG mechanics come together in such a manner as to make each playthrough just as fun as the first. Saying "Monster Slayers" is simply a rogue-like strategy RPG wouldn't do it justice though. It is a game inspired by a particular Hearthstone creator's work, and it has it's own unique card battle system in play along with several randomized elements.

The game, like many games in the genre features a cast of class based characters you can choose from, and visually/audibly customize for personality sake. Each class of characters whether it be the rogue, archer, knight, barbarian, dragon, merchant, or any of the remaining class options therein has an underlying class based perk or perks that change the way the player approaches battles in the game. The knight, for example, is a defensive character that can dabble in spells, and strong physical attacks. Others, of course, are a tilted balance of offense, defense, and a particular set of uniquely applied skills. While they all differ according to class they each can use their given AP (action points), HP (health points), MP (mana points), and card collection in the same manner to best the monstrous baddies that lie in wait in the equally rogue-like dungeon areas. Their action points along with their mana points will allow for the usage of color coded, and function varied cards (Attack, Defense, Support, Magic, Interrupt/Counter Spells). The cards, like just about everything else in the game, are initially randomized, and are offered in a class specific manner. Choosing the cards to play in the turn based combat sequences will weigh heavily on that characters' survival. Along the way they'll also pick up companions with helpful cool down focused skills of their own that can be utilized as well as gear/weapons, and additional cards or attribute boosts that can be equipped to better sustain them as they journey from dungeon to dungeon battling the lesser monsters, and even the monsters of legend.