AngerForce Reloaded (PS4)

I have been playing "AngerForce Reloaded" by Zodiac Interactive for review purposes. I like it. It manages to add in a few tweaks to the standard bullet hell gameplay formula including an energy meter, and tied-in dual skills that can be used to maximize scoring potential. For some reason it reminds me of Borderlands in some ways, it's graphical design. Definitely with the visual cell-shading, and the named bosses you encounter. The fact that it has a campaign for each of the four main characters spanning 7 stages in total divided between Noob, Normal, and Hardcore difficulties really adds that incentive to play through it thoroughly. The perk system in Arcade, and Campaign mode adds a bit of enhancement to possible gameplay perfection for those who commit to the grind. In the campaign you'll use earned points to upgrade characters across the board. Things pertaining to health, energy, bombs, power-up suction, and other things can be upgraded to improve upon point earning potential as well as prolonged survival. These points can not only be spent at the final stage of the set difficulty or upon death, but can also be used to revive characters as well as buy intermediate power-up refills should you need them.

In total there are four main characters in the game that you can play as, and as the title suggests they all have some sort of anger issues, each pertaining to a sought out fight against a mysterious masked figure and a war against robots and humans. The characters include the adopted, and orphaned Samhill, Echo who happens to be the daughter of the man behind the creation of the robots, Asimo who is a robot himself, and a forest spirit named Shin who obviously has a beef with all the destruction and mayhem brought on by the ongoing conflict.

Funko POPs | My Growing Collection

Those of you who follow me know I've posted a few reviews of Funko's POP!Vinyls in the past, and that they've been showcased on my "Hobby Highlight" page from time to time. My initial reviews were somewhat critical, but when you are reviewing collectibles the quality matters. I'm thankful to say though that with passing time the product has been shown more care for the price that is asked, and I have personally seen the paint jobs improve. Case in point the three new POPs I picked up including the Fallout76 Mothman, and the Devil & Angel Betty Boop were all painted well. No out of line paint, over-spray or poorly painted details. It's what you'd expect from a collectible that costs upwards of $12 each. To put it in better perspective the paint jobs on a Hotwheels car that costs the buyer only 99 cents was previously more impressively applied than the POPs. That's a huge disparity in possible quality per dollar. I do imagine though that there may be some corner cutting with stencil & airbrush application via machinery on POPs which could explain some of the paint over-spray in the earlier toys. That being said I think it's been sorted out for the most part, and with POPs becoming more & more detailed in build it's only fair that the toys should reflect a more appropriate per dollar quality presentation.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (PS4)

By now you have likely heard the two different opinions of Sekiro. That some players think it's harder than the Souls games, and that others think it's easier. In accordance to opinions I have personally found Sekiro to be something of it's own. Something doable. While the base level design, and enemy layout harbor similarities to the Souls games it is functionally more diverse than said experiences. It is faster, more fluid, and offers different ways to progress and dispatch the foes in front of you. The new stealth mechanics, and the shinobi prosthetic gives the players multiple tools in dealing with the threats they face. Additionally there are skills with a skill tree that come into play later on that will add a sort of variation to the more traditional stance based parry and punish system that you are introduced to at the earlier stages of the game.

The gameplay itself is fairly straightforward though, in all due respect. You play as an aged shinobi named Wolf who was rescued at a younger age, and taught the ways of the shinobi in order to protect his master's young lord. As Wolf you will keep to that task as you forward your mission, and backtrack to unlock portions of the game previously hidden behind key items, and key NPC interactions. Your base of operations is a dilapidated Buddhist temple kept in order by a monk whose prosthetic arm you now don. As your savior early on he guides you with wisdom along with a shrine maiden or rather doctor's assistant, and helps tune-up your prosthetic with new shinobi tools when you find them, and bring them back to him.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice | Making the Mile