Topic: User Impressions/Reviews Thread

And so, for the hat trick of reviews I give you..

Guacamelee! 2

I loved the first game and picked this up in a PSN sale a while ago and it felt like a good change of style after finishing YK2 (yes, I went rogue and did my review for Observation before this).

The game doesn't shy away from bright colours. Or chickens.

Completion: 93% trophy completion with just the trophy for replaying the game on hard (I hate those trophies). 100% for each of the DLC packs.

Roughly 10hrs to finish my first run through the game and another 6hrs to do everything to achieve the good ending and complete the DLC.

A nice looking game and Juan looks suave in his Diablo suit

Story: Right, bear with me on this one. The game is a little out there with it's story and you'll have to take my word for it when I say it all makes sense when you're playing it.

The game picks up straight from the end of the first game. Well, it actually throws you into the final boss fight from the first game and continues from there (the boss fight is made much easier and the trophy I Remember That Being Harder pings up once you finish the easy fight).

Skip forward a few years and Juan is then off to fight the good fight to prevent the "Mexiverse" from collapsing as the evil luchador Salvador looks to obtain the secret relics required to access the Sacred Guacamole and become all powerful. Alongside the main storyline, you will also discover the secrets behind the Chicken Illuminati.

Yeah, it's a little weird.

Oh yeah, you can also transform into a chicken. As you do.

Gameplay: For those who don't know the games, the Guacamelee games are Metroidvania style with a good mix of platforming challenges and combat. New moves are acquired along the way which are used in combat and to open up new areas. These moves are pretty much all the same ones you got in the first game so it's just like putting on a pair of comfy Mexican socks as it all feels so familiar.

One thing I really appreciated here is that the in game maps colour code the walls that require special moves to get through so you can easily go back to them once you acquire the required move. However, there is a paucity of fast travel points so there is still a lot of backtracking involved to get to these areas.

One of the classic moves makes an early reappearance

Some of these areas have niche little tasks with one memorable one seeing you recreate the famous car smashing bonus round from Street Fighter, much to the dismay of the cars owner. The "dankest timeline" also throws up some well known memes with their own Mexican twist.

The game balances platforming and combat about right with good puzzle areas too which require using all your abilities to navigate. These never felt unfair and weren't so obtuse that you couldn't see what you are supposed to be doing; it's just your own failings as a gamer and a human being that stop you from doing them. The mechanic to swap between the living and dead worlds also returns and is used frequently in these sorts of platforming sections.

The combat itself is quite simplistic but very satisfying as you try to rack up big combos using basic attacks and grapples. The enemy types is varied enough to keep things interesting and the boss fights are also good fun but the final fight was a little easy for my liking.

The dankest of Mexican memes

DLC: The two packs that came with the complete edition include the "Enemigos" pack which allows you to play as some of the main baddies from the game. These are essentially just skins as they all have the same base moves as Juan but with some perks/flaws, such as giving more damage in the dead world but taking more in the living world for one character.

The second pack gives you access to the Proving Grounds which is the kind of thing I love and hate in equal measure. This gives you multiple bonus levels focused around combat of varying difficulty which all have their own unique twist, such as fighting on a treadmill without allowing enemies to fall off the end. These were all good fun and a reasonable challenge without being as tough as some of the levels on Rayman Legends or the infamous Path of Pain in Hollow Knight.

Obviously I got gold in all of them (eventually).

Who doesn't enjoy a Dark Souls reference?

Overall: I had great fun revisiting the world of Guacamelee. The game never takes itself too seriously and just about refrains from going over the top with the silliness. The good mix of platforming and combat makes this the sort of game I love.

While Hollow Knight is the Metroidvania game that has set the bar for these games, Guacamelee doesn't set out to be the same game and is possibly all the more fun for it.

Bonus video of one of the platforming sections that looks so much easier than it was.

@Thrillho I get where you are coming from. I feel a lot better about my gaming session if I feel I have achieved something in it, even if it is an arbitrary story mission or some target like finishing an objective.

@Thrillho I really liked this game but it was also borderline in that any more frustrations and it might have pushed me over the edge. The stupid Jackson Pollock painting puzzle was ridiculous, and trying to find anything without a waypoint was torturous. Part of the issue is that nothing is explained to you in terms of puzzle solving, but you're the A.I. for the ship so you should know everything. You shouldn't be spending forty minutes randomly clicking black blobs on a computer screen wondering if this is the specific black blob you're supposed to be clicking on.

I did like it though despite all that moaning.

@Thrillho Yeah, racers have been a little neglected on PS4, at least the kind you're talking about. The kind where you can boot it up and just have some fun, without worrying about your tyre pressure. I love Dirt Rally but by the time I actually got the car out onto the track, I was exhausted. No pun intended.

@RogerRoger Cheers. I'm almost done with it, except I'll never really be done because it's such an easy game to dig out for a quick blast. And I've not really explored the jumps of Big Surf Island yet. I've only got one trophy left for the platinum, but it's that irritating 'meet up with seven other online players in the stadium' nonsense.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy If you've never played any other Burnout games then you'll probably enjoy it all the more. Definitely give it a go if you get chance.

@Ralizah If another Driver came out tomorrow, I think I'd buy it. It was just such a satisfying game to play.

@Thrillho @Gremio108 Great reviews, guys! Both are game genres that I don’t typically play much but the games seem to be top shelf both. The first Guacamelee just kinda frustrated me with the Metroidvania confusion and so I never finished it. My brain just wasn’t clicking with it. And I haven’t played a racing game for a while (except OnRush if that counts) but after watching “Ford v Ferrari” the other night I got a little bit of that racing game itch again.

@Th3solution Cheers! OnRush is the closest thing to Burnout Paradise on PS4 (although I haven't played Dangerous Driving so maybe that is). Imagine OnRush, but an urban version. OnRoad, if you will

@Rudy_Manchego Yeah, my normal gaming sessions are obviously a lot shorter and with something like Yakuza you can spend all that time running around doing stupid/menial things and not actually achieve anything.

@johncalmc I think I still enjoyed the game overall but, like you say, an AI system shouldn't really be so slow or bad at doing some of the tasks you get given in the game. I wouldn't want the game to hold my hand too much but being given clearer routes around such a small area would have been nice. The bits where you went out into space were also frustrating for the same reasons and I struggled to find the character outside for ages like you also mentioned in the review.

@Th3solution I'm a sucker for a game with good platforming, whether it's something like Rayman or Hollow Knight, and Guacamelee scratches that itch really well. The Metroidvania thing never bothered me too much and the combat in the game was just an added bonus really. Games like Super Meat Boy sound like they should be my thing but when the entire game is punishing I find it more annoying than enjoyable.

@Thrillho I just hate it when I hit a roadblock in a game and don’t know how to progress. After wandering through the same areas repeatedly looking for a door, key, or passageway to get to the next section Is maddening after a couple hours. I don’t mind the whole hubworld / shortcut style level design, but when you go back and forth not knowing where to go next, I tend to give up. I had that experience with Guacamelee and also with Muramasa Rebirth, among others with that 2D style. I think I have a mental block for some reason with these types of games. I guess I’m more of a 3D spatially oriented person.

@Thrillho I can't remember what hyperbole I used in the review, but there's a bit where you have to go out of the station to find another astronaut and honestly I was on that bit for ages. It was so annoying. With a game so narrative heavy, where you really want to know what's going to happen next, stopping for forty minutes to float around looking for someone who's dressed in a white against a white backdrop is just infuriating.

The puzzles generally I thought were fine as most of the time they made sense. Swapping cameras or putting a fire out etc. But unless you're a scientist, some of them don't make sense. Most games handle messing around with hardcore scientific things by holding square or something and your character doing it automatically, or by simplifying things like circuitry into one of those puzzles where you move wires about to create a route for the electricity.

Here, some of puzzles give you a mad task to do using words you've never heard of and your only solution is to just click everything until you win. That's fine if you're like the chef or something trying to survive on a space station. But you're the A.I. You should know. And if you don't know, because you're not really an A.I., that's where the aforementioned simplification should come in.

@johncalmc Wait, your not an A. I.? Your reviews make way more sense now!

I think I'm going to take a break from the Last Labyrinth on PSVR.

The puzzles you're presented with after the first credits scene can get pretty tough, and my brain is pretty worn at this point, lol. Due to the horrorish nature of the game, each failure really gets to you as well (not so much your own death, but the death of the little girl. It's never gory, but certain scenes of her body just going limp are quite disturbing, particularly the scenes with the guillotine & noose), which has also contributed to me wanting to put it down a little early. Still, I think I've gotten a pretty decent grasp at what's going on (story wise), so I'm pretty satisfied.

@KratosMD
Great write up.

I've got the Sword and Shield double pack for my daughter for Christmas, which should hopefully keep her well entertained.

@KratosMD Glad you enjoyed Pokemon Shield. I'm (very slowly) working my way through the game. I'm not nearly as impressed with it as you are, although certain aspects are nice (I also really like the changes they made to the gyms, as well as the way wild Pokemon skitter around in the grass and interact with the player).

Very nice write-up, btw.

@KratosMD Nice write up. The open world area sounds like a pretty cool feature, especially with the raids.

Seems mad how long ago Red and Blue came out now and I'm still peeved that I never got Tauros to get all 150..

@KratosMD Internet controversy tends to spiral out of control rather quickly. Especially when you have online echo chambers full of people stirring one another up into a lather, leakers spreading misinformation, GF being terrible at PR, etc.

Of course, the sales numbers for these games have been phenomenal so far, which tells you just how non-representative this hate bandwagon is of the market more broadly.

I'm proud of you for not mindlessly adopting the mindset of that vocal group, though. You played the games and came to your own conclusions about them. Good for you.

I liked Gens 5 and 6 quite a bit, personally, aside from their relative linearity (which was made worse in Sun/Moon and Sword/Shield, Wild Area aside). X/Y knocked it out of the park with its multiplayer features, too.

@KratosMD Well, the dex cuts seem to be what triggered most of the anger. Apparently, based on what I've heard from a lot of people online, they were fine with somewhat mediocre games so long as they got their yearly 'fix' of Pokemon. But, to them, a lack of Pokemon is a severe cut in the amount of content in the game. A lot of these people are reportedly also emotionally connected to the Pokemon they've been transferring forward from gen to gen over the years (on one hand, if I put myself in their shoes, I can kind of maybe see that? On the other hand, it seems a bit sad to invest emotional energy and attachment into a bunch of pixels. I have a strong emotional attachment to a couple of stuffed animals I've owned since childhood, though, so who am I to talk?)

Given the "lack of content" compared to previous games, then, they don't think Sword/Shield do nearly enough in the quality department to make up for it, and think that it's actually less polished than most of GF's earlier games. They also point to it having a higher price tag than the handheld entries, and many are bitter that Mega-Evolutions were cut to make room for Dynamaxing, which they consider to be a silly gimmick.

There's also the lack of GTS, which makes it difficult to trade for exactly what you want online, the general instability of the Raid Battle system online, and the weird stamp system that spams you with messages every time you or a friend captures anything in the game. Oh, and the poorly handled weather system in the Wild Areas, and the way the game slows to a crawl when you're online.

There was also a lot of noise made about low quality animations, but, having played the game, I think this is overblown. Some of these animations ARE bad or lazy (Double Kick and Tail Whip are particularly notorious now, thanks to the online drama), but many are excellent.

There's also the perception that the series has been devolving in quality since Gen 5, with obnoxious friendly rivals who pose no challenge, the overall difficulty dropping drastically, regions becoming more and more linear, and obnoxious game design where the characters feel the need to lead the player around by the nose.

Well, I think that covers the bulk of the complaints. There are giant lists of detailed complaints floating around Reddit, if you're interested. It's worth mentioning that there have been complaints about the series for years, but the culling of the Pokedex seems to be what pushed it over the edge for a lot of people.

Personally, I think there's a social element that the angry fans aren't acknowledging. Consciously or not, they seek a sense of belonging within their community, and so they adopt the concerns of the people around them and allow themselves, as I said, to be whipped up into a lather about a set of games that hadn't even launched yet. Some still played, but did so with conceptions that made it almost impossible for them to enjoy the games.

Also personally, I think some of these people are rebelling against the fact that the series never grew up with them. It's fine for adults to play the games, but Pokemon titles are clearly developed with children in mind, and, now that they're not in that demographic, long time fans feel alienated. Watching my young nephew play games like Let's Go! Eevee and Pokemon Shield, I came to realize that probably a lot of children today appreciate the streamlined design and easiness of these new games (actually, my nephew still dies when he plays, so I think the difficulty is just right for him).

I'm surprised by your accuracy about when many older fans probably dropped out of the series. Personally, as a 90s kid, I started with Gen 1, and after Gold and Silver, I skipped all of the mainline releases until Black and White, and even after that, I've only played Pokemon games sporadically (generally, I'll play a set of new gen games when they release, but ignore third releases/sequels like B2/W2 or Ultra SuMo in addition to the remakes).

One Piece Pirate Warriors 3 (Switch) - the long running anime series gets the Musou treatment.

Pros:

• The core Musou gameplay is here and as strong as ever (if you're into it). While I don't think it shakes things up as much as Hyrule or FE Warriors, many of the story missions do have unique elements such as a giant boss or a battlefield that shrinks as large portions of it become cut off over time. Plus, it looks good both docked & portably with no performance issues that I was able to notice.
• It has a large array of varied characters & tons of maps. I'm personally not a huge One Piece fan, but it feels like they really wanted to do the series justice, and I'm sure bigger fans would be giddy at the options on offer.
• Like the two Nintendo varieties, it features both a decently lengthed story mode (I'd say just north of 20 levels) that isn't too much trouble to get through (that can really showcase the excitement of the anime with action packed cutscenes, usually after defeating the enemy commander), as well as a seperate mode with tons of extra levels that later on can really challenge the most hardcore Musou players (that I'm not one of, lol). Oh, then there's also the "Free Mode" that lets you replay the story missions with anyone.

Cons:

• You can't swap between characters mid battle, nor command CPU characters from the pause menu like you can in certain other entries. I never found this to be a huge detriment, the abscence of the QOL features was missed.
• Really digging for negatives here, but it doesn't feature your character doing a victory celebration cutscene whenever you clear a battle (like the other Musou games I've played have featured). It's not a "real" issue, but a nice touch I missed.

Overall it's a very solid Musou game. Not the sort of experience that'll win any awards, but if you like it's brand of gameplay there's quite a bit of fun to be had here (especially if you're a One Piece fan). I'll admit I let my inner teenage self take over as I took tons of closeup screenshots of Nami & Robin in their various costumes, lol.

@RogerRoger Ha, 007 Racing sounds gloriously bonkers and the sort of game we will probably never see again.

I do remember playing TWINE and I'm sure I mentioned the blackjack level on here recently. Otherwise a relatively bland and forgettable game.

And I have never actually played the Goldeneye game as I would never betray my Sony overlords.

Ooh nice a triple pack of game reviews to look over! (With @RogerRoger's being a triple bill too!)

Sounds like you had fun with One Piece Pirate Warriors 3 @RR529!

... Think the closest I've got to a Musuo game is a Dead Rising game. No particular reason why I haven't played any of this specific genre other then wanting other games more but I've always wanted to try one!

Not terribly fond of One Piece myself ... But I'm glad you had fun with it!

Kinda reminds me of my Digimon Playthrough earlier in the year.

Not trying to do anything particularly fancy or groundbreaking... Just being an enjoyable and fun game... Good to hear it does just that!

As for your bond triple bill @RogerRoger

... Good job

I'm not the biggest Bond buff... I think the last bond I watched was Spectre... and turned it off after ten minutes... before that it must've been Thunderball or something back when I was really young.

Never heard of any of those games at all! Only the mention of Goldeneye thanks to the N64... 007 racing sounds particularly daft but good fun as well!

Well written and enjoyable to read too as always mind and nice to hear you had fun with them!

And finally @KratosMD and Pokémon Shield

On the one hand I've not played Sw/Sh so I can't particularly comment on this title.

On the other hand I've played Silver, Blue, Yellow, Crystal, Ruby, Emerald, Diamond (Break from the series) X, White & Omega Ruby (break from the series again) soooooo... I think I know how the series works by this point lol

I think I'm with Ralizah in the more reserved camp side of things personally...well if I was able to play it I would!

Buuuut... It's not like Sword and Shield has turned the series into a dating sim or something lol

You in particular Kratos are very passionate about games... It's a little funny comparing this overwhelmingly positive review to your post a few weeks ago in the switch thread after hearing about the notable dex cut and some of the other stuff like the awful PR gamefreak have had involving the title

I'm glad you enjoyed it! (I know I've said that to the other two reviews as well but sush 😅)

@RogerRoger Great write-ups, as always. I'd never even heard of that 007 Racing game. You're a fount of information about obscure licensed games on the PS1/PS2, and I think that's fantastic!

@KratosMD Peoples' issues with the dex cuts were never about the number of Pokemon you'd run into while playing the game. The regional dex is on par with other games in the series, I believe, and it has a great balance of Pokemon from previous generations (no Gen 1 favoritism here, interestingly). Rather, it's primarily the people who maintain a living dex and religiously transfer their digital animals from generation to generation who are so miffed about the change.

I do agree that this is the first gen in a while where I'm actually sort of tempted to try and "catch em all."

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy

"Buuuut... It's not like Sword and Shield has turned the series into a dating sim or something lol"

If you ask old-school Fire Emblem fans, this exact thing happened to the series during the 3DS era.