Topic: Games you've recently beat

Pretty much.

I think even this approach could have some redeeming value with the right execution, but the game's scope is far too limited for it to have the sort of devastating impact that would make it, if nothing else, a visceral and unforgettable warning about the dangers of untreated mental illness.

At the end of the day, I would have even been somewhat satisfied if the entire experience hadn't felt so... well... phoned in. This should have been a short story or film or animation or something. It's clear to me that the developers didn't care about it AS a game (they even go so far as saying: 'This isn't a game, it's a portrait' during one of this game's many droning text-based monologues), which rubs me the wrong way. Every medium has its strengths and weaknesses, and it feels like this was developed as a game because they could spend a few hours inserting a screed into an RPGMaker game with minimal effort.

Well, now that's out of the way, it's time to start working on a review for a game I enjoyed a whole lot more.

I guess, intellectually, I understand that, in any profession, you're going to have some subset inept, corrupt, or disinterested people who are going to muck things up, but I still find accounts like this to be incredibly chilling. Especially in the mental health field, where it's so vitally important for professionals to be... well... professional.

But, you're right. Things like this absolutely have happened, and things like this will probably continue to happen. I should have taken that into account, and, with that in mind, I have some edits to make.

I do find it annoying in general, though, how often mental health professionals, and therapy in general, are presented as useless in fiction. How many people are hit with the message, over and over, that therapeutic regimens and, in some instances, strategic use of medication, are pointless and entirely avoid seeking professional help for issues that are manageable? I think this kind of factors into what you were saying about the additional social responsibility that comes when developing media that centers on mental illness.

@JohnnyShoulder Imagine it in VR!

@RogerRoger It's fine. The edit is more accurate, and reflects my feelings without erasing experiences such as yours.

On the subject of tropes regarding psychologists in popular media, it's pretty fascinating how common it is to see them portrayed as Freudians, considering psychoanalysis in general is broadly understood as quackery today (not as bad as something like phrenology, but certainly unscientific in its base assumptions and methods). Which, come to think of it, is probably why it survives in pop culture to this day. A professional sociopath scribbling on a notepad and asking you to talk about your mother is almost an inherently funny image.

Another thing to note, I guess, is that stories about people struggling with untreated mental illness are going to be more engaging and gripping than ones in which people learn therapeutic techniques in order to live happier lives.

@Kidfried Well, when I say "entertaining," I mean that term very loosely. I don't think "entertainment" is synonymous with "fun." But it has to be something that makes the experience feel worthwhile. A great example is the Studio Ghibli film Hotaru no Haka. It's a heart-breaking, semi-autobiographical film about a couple of young children who suffer tremendously after losing their home to an American fire-bombing raid in WW2. Not what I would call a good time, but I also wouldn't say it has no entertainment value, insofar as it's a very engaging, emotionally involving experience done with a supreme regard for artistry.

Life is usually messy and doesn't conform to the contours of art, certainly, which is why art that reflects personal experience is usually edited and filtered in such a way that the emotional core of the experience stands while also making it something palatable for the audience. Art is life experience filtered and focused to certain core essentials.

Keep in mind that I'm only speaking of commercial art. Non-commercial art (that is, art designed for its own sake) can be whatever it wants to be, and is legitimate insofar as it reflects the priorities of the creator. But, when you have an audience, you HAVE to play to that audience, to some extent. Art that doesn't cater to the audience to some degree is supremely self-serving.

Your comment is fine, by the way! I appreciate the engagement.

Played Power Rangers Battle for the Grid. I didn't manage to platinum it but I did tried a lot of matches and as well beat the story mode.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised for what it was. I mean, compared to most Power Rangers games, this is the least garbage. The combat, while janky at time, has a lot of depth and gives me some Marvel vs Capcom vibes. I especially like the classic sound bites from the TV series when you manage to succeed on hitting a high combo, as well as the ability to summon a megazord (as an assist of course). Kinda wished there was more stages but they're nicely designed either way. The main stars are the characters themselves, and every character has their own role and move pool. You can see there was a lot of effort when the developers were designing the characters and their moveset. It's not perfect by any means but it definitely has great potential. My favorites so far were Lord Zedd, Mastodon Sentry and Magna Defender.

And as for the story? I thought it was alright. The issue is that the pacing felt very rushed and didn't have enough time to develop the other characters more. Still, for what it's worth, it at least has a story mode, since before it didn't have one at launch. Another issue is that fighting the same mastodon sentries can get very repetitive and tedious.

However, I have two real big issues with the game. First off, while the game runs fine during matches, is trying to find a math that gets problematic. Sometimes, it just gives me an error and automatically disconnects. I really hope cross-play comes soon to the game now that Sony is fully allowing cross-platform support for every developers. And second, the soundtrack. It's just very generic metal rock and lacks any catchy oomph. Even some of the worst Power Rangers openings like from Operation Overdrive's are more likely to stick into your head than any of the songs in the game. The only piece of music from the game that was actually decent was sadly exclusive for the Cenozoid Blue trailer. Honestly, they should really hire Ron Wasserman as the composer.

Anyway, all in all, for a licensed fighting game, it's pretty decent. It's still rough around the edges, and I have to admit that the balance patches might ruin some of the combos players were already accustomed to, but I can see it improve very much in the future. There are still a few things I'd like to say but I want to keep things simple. I'd give it a 6.5/10.

I'd probably bump it to a 7 if they add Zen-Aku in lol

So here we are. The lastest entry getting the F-G-S review treatment is Let It Die.

Naturally I played the PS4 version (also availible on steam) and I played the Free To Play title for a total of 103 hours and 47 minutes. You can probably take off about ten or so hours as I left it running a number of times to go do something else.

I didn't spend a penny on it.

So...

This particular pic will make sense in a bit... Kinda

A little Background

I've heard of Suda 51 and the titles No More Heroes, Killer 7, Lollipop Chainsaw & Shadows Of The Damned. Never played them though.

This is my first Grasshopper Manufacture game (and Gungho too I guess). Suda apparently wasn't involved in this much at all but it seems an awful lot like his style from what I've heard.

Let It Die started out life as the title Lily Bergamo in 2013. A female protagonist led adventure with online features and described as an EXTREME ACTION game.

It... only got one trailer however.

At the Tokyo Game Show 2014 it was announced they'd completely changed styles and the name was changed too with Let It Die being born.

Lily Bergamo ironically(?) dying.

Still retaining most of the gameplay concepts... Let It Die revolves around some unknown person, you, sitting across from the skateboard riding, Japan loving, Uncle Death in the Hater Arcade and playing the video game Let It Die (Yup. Game-ception) that's projected from a beetle shaped game console called a Death Drive.

Yeah. It's weird.

It's like Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey. Except Death is a super radical otaku with a scandavian accent (in the english dub at least)

Let It Die (The game within the game and just the game as a whole really) is a rogue-like, hack and slash game (And I guess I could be a professional reviewer too and say it's partially Souls like ) which revolves around you ascending the Tower Of Barbs.

A 40 Floor dungeon (for the main game at least... it goes up to 300 apparently now) with there being four bosses, 3 actually 4 minibosses, thousands of enemies, oodles of loot and a wide array of weapons including fire spewing irons, thunder embued bowling balls on sticks and the top half of a motorcycle.

Did I mention it's weird?

Story & Gameplay

... You've already got all the story.

Seriously.

Ok ok every boss gives you some gibberish about you being a chosen one or something along the lines in an incredibly weird live action segment with a pair of lips imposed over a cardboard cut out of the boss in question (this is where the first picture of the review comes from)

That's it though.

... Barring the "major" spoilers below

... Thankfully you aren't here to play through a well crafted and thought provoking tale.

You're here to kick ass with over the top blood-plosions from beating enemies and chew gum. And you were out of gum half an hour ago.

Because of COURSE there's a spoopy amusement park section

There's a wide array of weapons. 53 at the moment and every season (a 3 month long event, more on that later) adds a new weapon along with a armour set or two.

From the wacky Bowling Ball stick to the mundane Assault Rifle each weapon has a small but satisfying move pool (well guns just function like guns for the most part with an ammo count).

There's "rage moves" which use up some of your rage meter (built up as you fight or through the use of items) that varies between weapons & use a good chunk of a weapon's durability as well in exchange for a powerful and unique attack.

There's also a "mastery" system which as you use a weapon you get experience towards your proficiency with it and you'll unlock extra combos, alternate moves, less stamina usage etc

You'll find/acquire new weapons temporarily through the defeat of enemies (They're rather weak though with extremely low durability) or finding blueprints that allow you to make, buy and upgrade weapons (and armour) at your home base. Still have a durability metre but it's a lot better.

Each floor of the Tower of Barbs is littered with materials, weapons, armour, mushrooms (That have various effects, mostly buffs), beasts (like frogs or scorpions) that you can eat to heal or kill for a specific beast related mushroom.

Here's where the gameplay loop swings in full force.

Do you head up one more floor, knowing you haven't got much space left in your inventory and a nearly broken weapon for a shot of some more upgrade materials?

Do you kill that frog and take the mushroom to lob at an enemy that'll blind them for five seconds & let you wail on them without mercy... or do you keep froggy intact so you can stuff your face with it as an emergency heal?

Floors start off being about 5-6 minutes long and get a little longer as you go through the game to around 15 minutes a floor. The floors aren't entirely randomly generated... more so sections might shuffle about.

Also every day the layout changes slightly between floors with new paths rotating in.

Design & Sound

This and the previous picture are the nicest looking areas. Really.

Having a grungey post apocalyptic setting, in a tower, with random elements... means that the levels feel a bit ho-hum at times. Especially the first twenty floors.

The first ten being particularly dank & grimey based on a sewer/industrial section whereas the next ten are just set in generic winding alleys and dilapidated buildings.

Whilst a spooky fairground might be a cliché, floors 21 to 30 are the most memorable looking of the four areas and even a bit unsettling at times.

31 to 40 are a teensy bit nicer looking then the first two areas but still on the crummy side. It's also one of the most poorly designed. (More on that later)

The weapons themselves look nice enough and whilst the graphics overall aren't anything to write home about, they do the job. The comically over the top blood fountains spurting out fallen enemies do give it a B-move grindhouse look which may of may not be your fancy.

As for the sound. There's a soundtrack here of over a hundred songs from a hundred different artists. From death metal to a jaunty almost medievally minstrel/bard like tune.

There's all kinds here.

They're mostly in japanese though there's some english tracks too. All with the title Let It Die to boot.

Too bad you'll barely hear them.

They're limted to the main base & the online mode. You can't choose a selection that'll play whilst traversing the tower (a seriously missed oppurtunity). You'll just hear the song you've chosen endlessly on a loop or the radio station being blasted through the home base from the radio in the Hater Arcade.

Instead whilst playing the "main" game you'll hear the most generic sounding soundtrack you'll ever hear. Not even a Dark Souls'-esque minimal approach to the sound design with the lovingly crafted boss themes that hype them up as big events.

Instead it's just beeps and boops that'd even be out of place if you were put on hold. It's mindnumbingly awful.

The weapons have decent sounding effects though.

and so we come to...

Online & Microtransactions

There would be a section on the characters but... Aside from Uncle Death the others are just window dressing really.

Don't let her looks fool you. She wants your hard earned cash with a smarmy sounding voice to boot.

This is a free to play game. As such it come with a premium currency.

Death Metals.

A rainbow coloured skull you buy in stupidly high amounts for absurdly high prices.

Death Metals are used to:

• Instantly revive when you die for a skull
• Buy crafting items (Usually high leveled) from the vending machine at the home base for ridiculous amounts
• Buy weapon/armour blueprints for insane amounts from the same vending machine
• Remove a cool down timer from purchasing/finishing developing items
• Retrieve your body when you die instead of using other currencies or deleting the character

You get given a decent amount as you play through the game. Whether as a log in bonus when you start, through various quests or as a reward from the "Tokyo Death Metro" mode (more on that in a mo).

Now you may be thinking that sounds pretty decent considering. Hell that's not that predatory at all even to anyone with patience or a brain cell!

And had you asked me this as I started thinking up my review I'd have said the exact same thing.

Then I got to floor 31.

The game has had difficulty spikes each time you entered a new area. But it was rather manageable and expected. Sure I had to grind a bit and start small but it didn't take too long.

The final "ten" floors of the base game though are a nightmare.

• There's insta death falls littered everywhere.
• The enemies hit like rocket fueled 18 wheeler big rigs and rip through your armour like it was wet cardboard.
• The "ten" floors are needlessly padded out reaching the upper teens going on twenty minutes of length per floor.
• There's actually more like twenty floors with a huge amount of backtracking, wrong paths and progress being blocked off as you have to face the three Four rather mini bosses on awfully laid out side routes with insanely jacked up stats.
• The retriveal cost to get your character back (with items and weapons intact if you die) using coins sky rockets to 150,000!

This is coming from a woman who spent 40 hours and six different characters trying to get Demons' Souls before the gameplay FINALLY clicked for me and has since played through all the souls games without any assistance.

All the good will Let It Die had earned up to this point was insantly hucked out the window.

You know what the best "strategy" I found online for beating the final boss is?

Farm for mushrooms that give you invincibilty for 30 seconds and stuff as many down your character's mouth before you start up the fight.

You read that right.

Grind hours on end in a completely over powered area to get a bunch of items that make it like you put a God mode cheat on is the best strategy to win.

That's no strategy at all. That's just predatory and truly terrible game design.

As for the online component. It's an always online game. You never actually play against another human player though.

When you die your character's data is sent to another player's game on that particular floor and the AI'll duke it out.

People can also specifically send characters to your game. But they're handled by the AI... never an actual player.

Even Tokyo Death Metro, the "multiplayer" mode where you raid another player's home base for some of the games' normal currencies, is all done with Ai opponents.

Speaking of the multiplayer mode there's small seasons or rounds in Tokyo Death Metro that last a week with a ranking system and you're given 5 random rewards and booted back to the lowest sub rank of the rank you currently are.

At the end of the entire season you're given a weapon blueprint based on your overall rank and booted down two whole ranks when the next season starts.

Because of when I started playing by sheer luck I caught the tail end of the sunmer season and start of the autumn one and was gifted a special flamethrower blueprint for a weapon with 3000+ atk.

My best weapon at the time had 500.

Funnily enough the weapon that I hadn't used much because I deemed it too op wasn't op enough for the final main boss or the last area even...

It certainly won't Uncle Death

Final Score

Had you asked before by complete 180 on the game I'd have given Let It Die a 6. Maybe 6.5 or even a 7 if I was feeling pretty generous.

2/10 is what it gets though

Pro's

• Whilst not in it a whole lot, Uncle Death is rather quirky, fun and likeable.
• The gameplay loop is quite addicting and the gameplay quite satisfying...

Con's

• ... At least til the absurd difficulty spike
• The grind for upgrade materials is ridiculous as you get higher up.
• Awful "music" as you traverse.
• Bland area design.
• Premium currencies and the mobile timer mechanics can do one.
• Next to no story. Not even intersting background lore.
• Characters that aren't Uncle Death are bland, boring and unintersting.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Really in-depth analysis there, Foxy!

I tried this when it first came out and... hated it. For a number of reasons. The controls felt kind of stiff and unpleasant. The quirkiness felt forced. The lack of interesting story or characters (reminds me of a Souls game, actually, where a lot of it felt like an almost completely plotless romp). The sound in the actual dungeon (as you mention) is awful. But, more than anything, I just cannot enjoy F2P games. There's always a catch, and 99% of them are predatory in some way. These companies want their money, and if there's some sort of premium currency that makes the game easier, you can bet they'll design the game in such a way that it's a lot more fun if you open your wallet. And, look, I understand that: it's why I like normally priced games. They have my money. They can focus on making the experience fun to play.

I probably only got seven or so hours in. Your 100+ hour playtime is mind-boggling to me, but good for you for sticking with it.

Anyway, like I said, really nice break down. I'm so glad I didn't stick with it long enough to hit the really infuriatingly unfair section that almost broke you.

Thanks @Ralizah but there is one thing you got wrong.

It did break me.

After dying to the final main boss (that involved 4 rounds of fights, starting without gear but slowly getting it back) I lost to the actual boss. Even using 4 death metals to revive during the fight.

Being booted to the home base the salvage option for my fighter was 250,000 coins... Or 3 Death Metals.

So I turned it off and looked up the "end" online.

It's a shame. I've never 180'd so hard, so quickly in all my life. The last area was a slog and trying my patience...It broke at that boss though

If the grind was reduced, they used the actual 100 or so tracks they had as the soundtrack rather then a stupid gimmick, and didn't have that absurd difficulty spike with it being a normal priced game without any mtx nonsense I would've easily bought it and played it just as much, if not a bunch more thanks to the roguelike elements.

It's not perfect, definitely flawed but it was rather satisfying til that point with the gameplay loop being quite addicting to me.

Oh well... Glad you enjoyed reading it none the less. I was so steamed Wednesday night I was tempted to just destroy the review I'd started for it but... here we are

Next one'll be for Jade Cocoon 2 and that'll be positive and fun to write at least

Finished Titanfall 2

What a pleasant surprise it was. I had heard good things about the campaign, but it exceeded expectations. I’m not crowning it the game of the generation or anything but it’s a solid, well executed FPS campaign - something that is actually pretty rare.

The game is well designed and technically sound, it’s just what I want from my solo campaigns. It flowed really smoothly, and never seemed to drag too much. The length was just about right at about 8 hours or so, although it still left me wanting more because of the enjoyment I had. I might dip my toe into the multiplayer just because of how fun the combat is, but MP online isn’t typically my forte.

The gameplay is bolstered by the ability to play both as a Pilot and the Titan, each has their own moves, gunplay, and special abilities. It keeps the usual [in my opinion] rather stale gameplay mechanic of a first person shooter diverse and more enjoyable. The game mixes in light puzzles and platforming, with the whole package shrouded in a solid storyline with decent character interactions.
Is the story going to win any awards or blow your socks off? Well, no — but it keeps your interest and has enough twists and turns to be serviceable. I really loved the relationship of the main character Cooper with his Titan named BT. There is a smattering of humor and I honesty felt a personal emotional bond develop with BT as I played through the game — similar to other good gaming partnerships in games such as Joel and Ellie, Booker and Elizabeth, or maybe more appropriately Ratchet and Clank. Of course Cooper and BT don’t have the large impact of those classic partnerships but honestly I cared for BT on a visceral level in the same vein.

The voice performances were a mixed bag. The main two characters were very well done, especially the robotic dry unintentional humor of BT. The supportive cast was more ho-hum, despite a refreshingly large number of Australian accents which are a nice change of pace for game characters. A shout-out to the mastermind villain’s (forgot his name) monologues though. These are present mostly through optional voice recordings, which were splendidly cold and calculated and probably needed to be highlighted more, rather than side content.

Graphically, it was also a mixed bag but the vast majority of the textures and art design is really quite good. The environments are a little ‘samey’ but each chapter has a few different hooks to keep it fresh.
The character facial models are pretty poor, actually, but I only noticed this at the end credits when they showed all the characters and credited the voice actors. The fact is, you don’t spend much time with face-to-face interaction in the game so it makes sense they didn’t spend resources making the facial features look more realistic than a late PS2 game. Also the character movement animations are occasionally wonky and especially as the pilots are jumping and wall running, the clipping and execution of portraying such amazing skills is a little bit unrealistic looking. For example characters float and move in ways that defy physics — all for the sake of keeping the game movements easy to execute. The floaty-ness and mid-air drifting is janky but nothing too horrible, and I prefer the game being really forgiving when I’m wall running and trying to make a difficult platform combo rather than looking more realistic at the expense of making me fall to my death over and over.

Speaking of difficulty, I played on normal, and it was just right for my taste. But there is easy as well as hard and master difficulties. There is a nice mechanic when you are at a platforming section that may require some difficult or non obvious jumps that your helmet computer analyzes the terrain and produces a ghost hologram for you to follow. You can also hit the touchpad to highlight the next objective. Overall, it’s makes the game very approachable for a novice of the genre like me.

Closing thoughts — I’ll not over-sell the game, it’s really good but not necessarily transcendent. I would welcome a sequel for sure. I don’t usually give concrete scores for my games, because my opinions of a game often drift a little over time, but I’m thinking something in the 7-8 range.

I said this earlier on another thread, but Titanfall 2 has amped my excitement for Respawn’s forthcoming Jedi: Fallen Order. If they can nail the fun factor like this, then we’re in for a treat. Thematically it’s going to be a very different game, and being third person will shake things up compared to the TF games. Not to mention it’ll be more saber-play and force-skill based but we’ll certainly see the wall-running and this style of platforming return. I am worried about the facial animations since they will be more critical in a third person action story driven game. Also, Titanfall 2 campaign is a very linear experience, and they’ve said Fallen Order is hub world / 3D Metroidvania type of set-up. But if they can just get the game to feel solid and fun like this, then I’ll be happy.

@Th3solution Nice review! I agree with you mostly, especially on the relationship between Cooper and BT. You really do get attached to your Titan. A bit harsh saying that the facial animations were like a ps2 game though! Not sure how busy the servers are these days, but I found the MP a blast. I'm pretty much the same as you, rarely dipping my toe into that side of things but I still enjoyed it.

@JohnnyShoulder Lol, yeah, I think maybe I over-stated the lack of facial animation quality. Not sure if you paid attention to the scenes during the credits where they show Cooper interacting with all the other characters while they credit the voice actors, but that was my final impression of the facial graphics and they all look pretty wooden. But early in the actual game I do think I remember them being better. I think I exaggerated somewhat on that.
The graphics otherwise are beautiful. The Titans and the helmeted soldiers all look really fetching.

Just recently played three games. Managed to nabbed them when they were on a sale since August. The games were The Walker (PSVR), Hidden Dragon Legend (PS4), and Immortal Legacy (PSVR). However, I'm just gonna start first with the former:

The Walker: Beat the game on all difficulties. It's...very average. Despite the fact that it got selected by China Hero Project and awarded for "Best Vr game of 2017" (despite the fact that at that time, the game still wasn't released), the game is yet another by-the-numbers wave shooter. It tries to do something unique with its sword play but it feels flat and lacks the oomph the gunplay has. Plus, Raw Data and Killing Floor Incusion do it way better. The sword is only useful when on the 4th stage and when you don't have enough time to dodge the arrows. And speaking of which, the gunplay is the best part, is also the most basic. The only time is was satisfying was headshotting those zombie soldiers. However, the accuracy with your gun can be sparratic, sometimes even the bullets missing despite the enemy being incredibly close to me. Despite that, it's still more satisfying to use than with the sword. Although the damage numbers are almost random and are only there just because. You can also use magic talismans (can't on hard though), which while the functionality is nice, in execution it either turns the next shots into an instant kill or just stops the enemy on its track. The freeze talisman being the most useful. On bosses, it can slow them down while with the electricity talisman does the exact same effect as when used on normal enemies, which is to paralyze them. However, even that's usually random. Oh, and no, there aren't anymore talismans other than freezing and paralyzing.aDoesn't even have a fire talisman (I do remember an explosion on the 2nd stage but maybe it was just a barrel or something cause after that there's barely any of that again). The only fun factor the game has is ranking up scores (despite not even being mentioned in the marketing). You get points for time clearance, damage taken (which is rather convoluted), accuracy and items (which you obtain from killing enemies but again, it's random). Only the accuracy has anything gameplay related. The game doesn't even net you bonus points for doing cool tricks with your swords or guns. Even Guns n Stories did it better.

Anyway, the game lacks in variety. There are only 3 enemies and 2 bosses. One of the enemies gets red-skinned solely for one scripted scene on stage 3. After that, it reverts back to generic bald crawling zombie. As for the bosses, only the final boss was actually good, constantly evading attacks while dealing with enemies that thankfully aren't much of a burden. However, the payoff is a letdown. There isn't even an actual ending. The talking armor in your house just says "congratulations" and that's it. In fact, I remember reviewers like Gamepitt, Zombie Chimp and Gamspew calling the story "immersive and amazing", which is a fat lie. Heck, the guy in black hood that appears on the tutorial never appears again, so what's the point? I would compare the story to that of an NES game. And speaking of which, about the first boss (a harpy which was introduced out of nowhere), the problem with it is how annoyingly long it takes. It really isn't hard, since the boss does the same attack over and over again. Just block, attack, rinse and repeat. The problem is that you have to deal with enemies while you're at it, which wouldn't be much of an issuof the game didn't made me waste my time clearing these waves of enemies. Whenever the boss escapes, you're forced to kill some of the resting enemies, and you have to do it 2 or 3 timesho. Really shows that the game is only fun in short bursts (4-5 minutes), because the first boss took me around 9-10 minutes and I was awfully exhausted. Worst of all, the way she does is so unsatisfying. She just disappears almost like you defeated a mini boss than an actual boss. It sucks cause I really dig her design, as well as how her stages look. Too bad the boss itself was boring and tedious.

Anyway, the game has around 8 stages (1 that's exclusive to the tutorial, 2 exclusive to survival, and 5 that are from the campaign). The game's other modes includes Legend Mode and Rampage mode. Legend mode is basically the game's challenge mode (according to Winking), which is just surviving 3-4 waves against the same 3 enemies. Except sometimes the final boss will appear in its mini boss form (and don't worry you can kill him in just less than 30 seconds). Meanwhile, Rampage Mode is just...there. The only difference it has compared to Legend is that it's infinite. The problem though is that it lacks a scoreboard and you can only use the submachine gun from the normal difficulty. Another problem is that it's just 3 stages in a loop, in the same order. Another thing I've just realized after the playing the game is that the game is only hard because 1)the sound is all over the place, from sounding faint to barely even making a sound at all (Zombiechimp commenting that the game has a rain sound effect but I barely heard in my playthrough), 2)enemies are pure damage sponges, even when you get a stronger weapon, and 3)enemies literally spawn out of thin air and they all start ganking you DkS2 style. It gets so annoying that it starts becoming less fun. If when you unlock the dual weapons on the hardest difficulty, it barely makes any difference because it still feels the same game. Doesn't help when the three weapons are locked behind difficulty so it's not like you can choose any weapon on any difficulty (compare that to other previous wave shooters which did have the option). Plus, the game is just overall erratic. From the AI to the sound to how you score points to how much damage you deal to the enemies' health. Honestly, the only things the game did right were the final boss and the presentation, which I guess is where the budget was spent. Oh, and I just want to mention that the enchanted armor dude's only real purpose in the game is too just praise the player when you win or criticize him when you lose, and maybe also to redo the tutorial level.

To be honest, is not that the game is bad. It's just painfully average. The fact that there are people out there thinking this game is a masterpiece amuses me, because there's a good reason why it was removed from the Australian PS store and why it got a 50% price cut in the west. Also, I remember when they promised that the game will recieve physical copies later in 2018 but it never happened. Is like even Winking lost interest in the game.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy As someone who actually somewhat enjoyed playing the game, I agree with you with your criticism. If the difficulty wasn't so BS on the later floors and if the microtransactions was easier to ignore, then I think the game could have been good. Yeah, it's very janky but the same can be said with other cult games like EDF, Deadly Premonition, Greedfall, Chaos Legion, etc. Heck, the same can be said with the majority of chinese games on the PS4 As well like Sinner, Hidden Dragon Legend and even Don't Even Think (you know, the game that Push Square is refusing to acknowledge lol). As for the soundtrack? I really wished they could have given you the option to play at least more than one licensed song during the tower. Still, there are two original songs that are atleast good, and those are Jin Die theme and the final boss theme.

Oh, and I actually don't mind the lack of PvP. I've played plenty of games were the PvP was mostly Ai fights, which also includes mobile games. If anything, the lack of actual PvP was a good thing due to how OP some of the decals and weapons are. There's a good reason why the PvP in games like the Souls games, Warframe, Nioh and Freedom Wars were terrible.

Anyway, I still liked the game. Sure, it's not for everyone but the same can be said with Suda's other games. Just kinda wished they toned down the difficulty and maybe add some story events imo, while pulling a MH World by giving players the chance to take on timed events that they missed.

@RangerTwin You really went all in on a vr wave shooter huh lol.

Anyway, I share the same feelings. What sucks is that the developers, Haymaker Games, seems to be selling their website, and even deleting many of their social media accounts like Facebook and to a lesser extent Twitter. I even went as far as to contact to of the people who appearantly worked there and ask them about the situation but no dice.

You know, if China Hero Project's purpose is to kickstart chinese developers in the market, then I can say that then definitely failed with this one sadly enough. It's no wonder that even in the China Hero website, the game's page was barely updated. Kinda feel bad for them. Hope they're okay.

Up until they purposely cranked everything up to want money I was enjoying it too @SoulsBourne128

I wouldn't of played it for 100+ hours over the course of a month and a half if I didn't 😂

As I said multiple times throughout the review I found the gameplay loop quite addicting.

Also I never said the AI or lack of PvP was strictly a bad thing. Just that it's kinda weird it's basically a single player game made into an always online game with not much of an onliney focus.

Not to mention as I said in the beginning Suda 51 had nothing to do with this title. It's actually directed by a different person and Suda isn't listed anywhere in the credits.

Just ol' 51 is a figurehead of Grasshopper Manufacture, hence why I mentioned him!

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Oh, I see. My bad, then. I guess it's no wonder why the game is very flawed compared to Suda's other games. Really wished he was the one directing the game. Maybe he could have helped on adding some additional flavor to the game and possibly some improvements or something down the line.

Anyway, as I said before, even though I still do like the game (especially when compared to how it was at launch like how before you would lose literally everything if you died at a TDM invasion), I still agree with your review. If the difficulty wasn't so unforgiving later on, I would have forgiven the game for its major flaws like the story and the microtransactions.

And man, I really wished Lily Bergamo actually happened. I don't mind Let it Die but the fact that Lily got cancelled for this? Yeah...

That and they were bought/merged with Gungho @SoulsBourne128 who are a mobile game company... No surprise at the mobiley type mechanics at work there.

I can only imagine what it was like at launch...

And I'm glad you enjoyed reading my review

Astral Chain (Switch)

Pros:

• Combat is deep and satisfying, and they introduce things at a pace so you're never overwhelmed. While normal encounters can be dangerous if you're not paying attention, the bosses in particular were pretty great.
• It's mostly a very smooth experience. The only notable frame drops I noticed were during a boss fight about halfway through (it's a very large enemy, and the frame drops occur once it's health gets low & it starts running like crazy along the side of the buildings around the arena), but even that wasn't very distracting.
• While it's an action game at it's core, it's actually a pretty well rounded package that breaks things up with investigations, environmental platforming & puzzling, the occasional stealth section or on rails shooting section, and a few other optional minigames (such "moving block" puzzles, delivery minigames, and even a retro game minigame), which are mostly quality experiences themselves.
• It's very replayable if that's your thing. Of course it has what you'd expect for an action game, outside of the easiest difficulty, every section is graded so you can replay scenarios for a better score, and it has an unlockable harder difficulty. Outside of that though it has a decent photo mode (which can be used to unlock character, enemy, & location entries in an extensive encyclopedia), hidden cats & toilets to find in every mission, and an in game achievement system that can be used to collect goodies. There's a lot of accessories & a few different costumes to collect as well.
• Even if you're not into replayability it's still a pretty meaty experience for an action game, lasting roughly 35-40 hours for a run (I played on Pt Standard, and finished about 38 hours in). It also has a post game chapter, so even if you're not into replaying past missions, you can get some extra playtime from this, though I haven't really delved into it.
• It's a very visually appealing game, with great art direction.

Mixed:

• the story is okay. I like the worldbuilding & some of the characters, but it ultimately devolves into typical anime pseudo-science technobabble.

Negative:

• You can't 100% most missions the first time through, as there will be some areas/items inaccessible due to you needing an ability you don't yet have. This works well in more open world or "Metroidvania" games, but is less appealing in a chapter based game such as this (also, you can only replay previous chapters via a PC you can only access at the start of a chapter at HQ).
• While most gameplay elements are quality, the platforming is a bit rough (probably because it centers around having your Legion yank you across gaps, and if you happen to as much as brush anything you lose all momentum & fall like a rock, and your character won't grab ledges & pull themselves up even if you're right at the edge). It's not so bad that I had any issue with any of the main objectives, but there's quite a bit of goodies off the beaten path only accessible past tricky platforming, and that's where it becomes an issue.

Overall my criticticims are pretty minor and it was a great experience. The most engrossing Switch exclusive I've played since year one's BotW, Odyssey, & XC2, IMO. As a disclaimer, I played it exclusively docked.

Finally...

It's taken me 120 hours, played in chunks over the past two years, but I've finally completed The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Second Chapter. It's important to note that it didn't take me so long out of boredom or any dislike of the game, more that I'd complete a chapter of the story, be very satisfied with its conclusion, and then move onto something else. Second Chapter is an absolutely massive game, and with a gargantuan amount of text and some very long story scenes, it may not be to everyone's taste.
I feel fortunate that Second Chapter was even localised in the West. It had a difficult road to release, given the gargantuan amount of text needing translating and editing, and the fact that by that point the PSP was completely obsolete.

Taking place a few months after First Chapter's cliffhanger ending, the story picks up largely where things left off. It is therefore absolutely essential to play its predecessor first. Second Chapter sees our heroine, Estelle Bright, continuing her work with the "Bracer Guild" (a sort of civilian police force) while simultaneously searching for the one she loves, who happens to have gone missing. Along the way she reunites with her friends and comrades from the first game. Coincidentally, strange phenomenon begin occurring throughout the kingdom of Liberl at the precise moment she sets out on her journey, and she is quickly drawn back into the fight against Ourobouros, a mysterious Illuminati-esque society. As Trails in the Sky is part of a larger series of games within The Legend of Heroes franchise, not all the mysteries surrounding the society are revealed by the end of the game - not even their ultimate motives. Indeed, the fight here is personal to Estelle and focuses quite sharply on the activities of just one of Ourobouros' Anguis (which I'm guessing is some sort of general) and his kooky band of Enforcers. There is also a sense of tension in the wider world of Zemuria (Trails' continent) with geopolitical concerns lingering in the background.

The world building is brilliant. Liberl is a kingdom rich with history and stories, and almost every character, including NPCs, feel like they have a real stake in the world. Every NPC has something unique to say, which will change depending on where you are in the story and the events that have occurred. Many even have their own full-fledged personalities, backstories and relationship with Estelle and will recall events from the first game. There are also newspapers to read that reflect the events of the world, as well as books containing some thoughtful fables that tie into the themes of the game.
There is also unique dialogue depending on which characters are in your party.

There is real skill in how Second Chapter engages the player, because while the story is new, outside of a few areas the world is identical to that seen in First Chapter. You'll retread the same areas, visit the same towns and talk to many of the same people. Normally - and I'm sure most gamers would agree - I'd balk at the idea of playing a game with this level of repetition. Producing a game in this way obviously saves a massive amount of money and development time, and Falcom are acutely aware that what sets their games apart is the writing and attention to detail in the worldbuilding and character arcs.

The writing itself is generally of a high standard, with few errors (I counted three in my entire playthrough) though at times the dialogue can be rather dry - particularly from Estelle herself. An all-round do-gooder she isn't the most charismatic protagonist, and as a result while she's likeable, she's also not always easy to root for. Thankfully her comrades and the colourful villains more than pick up the slack.

Second Chapter is split into nine chapters, with the first five containing discrete stories revolving around each region of Liberl, while still tying into the overarching narrative. There are a number of side quests, listed as "jobs" in the Bracer branch offices, though as quests are the only way to make money I would argue it is necessary to complete them. Surprisingly for an RPG side quests mostly contribute to the game's rich worldbuilding foundations. There is an exhaustive record of all quests taken, which proved useful to me given the long breaks I took at various points of the game.

Battles utilise a solid turn-based system, taking place on an isometric grid. There are a few cues from tactical RPGs; for example, characters can move around to avoid getting hit and attacks have specific areas of effect. There is a turn-order displayed on screen which is useful for planning attacks and can be manipulated to your advantage. Some turns have certain perks such as "critical attack" or a small health regeneration, which can also benefit enemies. In additional to physical and magic attacks there are "crafts" which are techniques unique to each character. No character is useless, and all feel important not simply in terms of the story, but gameplay too.

While each character is predisposed to either being physically or magically gifted (or balanced between both), players can shape their skills and attributes via "Orbments", which work a little like Materia from Final Fantasy VII. These confer certain attributes on characters and may be used to offset weaknesses or greatly augment strengths. In turn magic - and the spells available - is entirely dependent on the orbments set to each character, so you will need to think carefully about their placement.

Thanks to an XP system where points are dished out on a downward slope depending on how high a character's level is, it is extremely difficult to overlevel during normal play. Conversely, this has the benefit of allowing under-levelled characters to catch up to their peers quite quickly. Generally characters are kept around the level the game wants you to be, and ensures the challenge is quite evenly pitched throughout. However, there is a rather nasty spike in the final chapter, which features one of the longest and most difficult RPG battles I've ever played outside of Shin Megami Tensei 3. It required every single ounce of strategy I could muster and almost took my sanity with it.

In terms of presentation the visuals blend spritework and basic 3D elements. Character designs, represented through portraits next to dialogue boxes, are very nice indeed. I really appreciated the lack of "fan service" (something I feel cheapens the messaging of many a Japanese RPG), and Estelle is not remotely sexualised.
Music is absolutely brilliant. It's not quite the aural orgasm of the Ys series, but it genuinely brings Liberl and the situations unfolding on screen to life. There is no voice acting.

Trails in the Sky Second Chapter is an extremely solid RPG that I thoroughly enjoyed. I feel it's easy to recommend to fans of the Trails of Cold Steel series, but I'd also heartily recommend it to fans of the genre, though only after the first game has been played. Aspects that stand out are the exceptional worldbuilding, engaging story and mostly excellent writing - though this second point comes with the caveat that Estelle's dialogue can occasionally be a little dull. The battle system is solid and quite tactical. In all a well-balanced and finely crafted Japanese RPG from the oldest master of the genre.