Utawarerumono: Zan (PS4) Review

If you have seen any of my earlier reviews, you may have run across the one I did for Utawarerumono: The Mask of Deception on the Vita.  I liked its mix of strategy RPG and visual novel, even if some parts of the story fell flat.  I was cautiously optimistic about Utawarerumono: Zan, since it takes a game I like, changing it from one genre I enjoy, to another that I also enjoy.  Instead of being an SRPG/visual novel, it's now a hack and slash action RPG.

With such a genre shift, there are plenty of ways to make it work, and just as many to ruin it.  The first issue would be paring down the story.  It's a generalization, but I think a chunk of people that really enjoy action games don't want to sit and watch hours of story.  A lot of the plot is handled with text over a still image, or a brief scene of characters talking.  As much as I like the CG images, it would have been nice to have more scenes acted out between the character models, and made a lot more visually interesting.  I don't think it would be too much of a stretch, since there are already battle models for most of the characters.

The story is definitely missing large chunks from the original.  Most of the basics are covered, but there are still things that I thought were important that were left on the cutting room floor.  A lot of the everyday life sections are gone as well.  On one hand, these sections annoyed me more often than not, as they tended to be "pile crap on Haku".  On the other, it helped flesh out the characters, and gave voice to their uniqueness.  At least Anju is much more tolerable when they cut out 95% of her interactions.

However, I'm still on the fence about is how much of the story is covered.  When the game was first announced, I was hoping it would cover both Utawarerumono: Mask games, as I didn't think there would be enough battles from the first game to handle the genre shift from SRPG to Action RPG.  That would be the second issue.  While most of the battles from the original did make it over, there are a chunk that are wholly original.  Framed as missions given to Haku's group from their employer, they do fit in with the story without feeling tacked-on.  Still, I think it would have been better from a gameplay perspective to have both games, but I understand why that didn't happen.

But, the story isn't likely why you are here.  If you were more interested in that aspect, you should just play the original.  This game is mostly action. Each stage is set in a small location, with enemies that appear.  Square is your normal attack string, while Triangle is a different attack, many times something with range, or some other special property.  Triangle can also be used for a combo ending attack if used in the string, but it's nowhere as complex as something like Dynasty Warriors, despite sounding similar.  To add some unique moves to combat, holding either Square or Triangle will do another attack.  The Square version can be thrown into combos, while the Triangle cannot.  Still, some of the held Triangle moves are very useful.  Haku's with the pierce damage scroll is particularly effective.

If you played the originals, you might be wondering where the chain attacks are.  Well, those are also present.  These are mapped to circle, and require some of your spirit gauge to use.  As you attack foes, the spirit gauge under the health bar begins to fill.  Pressing circle will start a stronger, unique attack.  As the attack proceeds, a ring appears on the screen.  When the glowing ring reaches the edge, pressing the button again is a perfect chain.  Hitting it correctly refunds some of the spirit spent, so it's worth trying for.  Up to two different chains can be equipped, with a shoulder button switching between them.

The combat system is entirely functional, if not super smooth.  Normal combos are pretty good, but lack variety with so few ender options.  The chain attacks are nice, but can't be worked into combos, and can also be hard to aim at your intended target.  Maybe that's just me, though.  In the original game, the chains were ever present in your techniques, where they are used much more sparingly here.  Thus, it's harder to learn the timing, or knowing how many chains there will be before you use the skill.  Useful, but they take way too much practice and luck to be reliable.

There are a few modes offered.  First is story, which, predictably, covers the parts of the story retained from the original.  Some chapters are battles, while others are just story.  Next up is Battle Recollections, which is pretty much the story stages, but with two secondary mission objectives thrown in.  There is an unlockable hard difficulty version of these stages, for more content and challenge.  Next is Free Battles, which recycle the story locations, but with different enemies, objectives and secondary objectives.  These are broken up into five different tiers, each harder than the last.  Higher ranks are gated behind story levels and previous free mission completion.  However, they can reward you with higher tiers of equipment creation, so they are worth doing.  Lastly, there is the Battle Arena, which are individual challenges for each of the characters that reward them a new chain skill.  Some of these modes can also be played in online co-op.  My PS+ has sadly lapsed, so I was unable to try the online.

Gaining experience is fairly straightforward.  You do a mission, defeat some enemies, and get some experience.  Gaining a certain amount will get your character a level.  The stat increases from only gaining character levels are okay, but you really need to acquire bonus points to get the best bonuses.  These points, called BP, are usually only be gained from secondary objectives.  Sadly, completing the objective the first time gets you the biggest bonus, as the amount gained is reduced for any subsequent completions.  Add in that only participating characters gain the BP, and you can see where the grind comes in.  Doing every mission once with the same character (where possible) likely still wouldn't max them out, so you will be doing some missions over and over again.  I don't think it's necessary to max a character, but it's a long grind if you are inclined to do so.

Equipment is handled very much like the original game. Instead of things like armor and weapons, the characters equip skill scrolls.  These tend to increase a stat, like extra attack power, or add something else, like a health regen.  The total number of scrolls that each character can equip is different, and can sometimes be increased by their Specialty stat.  You won't get many scrolls going through the game.  Instead, you need to create them by spending the in-game money.  You pick a tier, and either create one item, or a group of 10 for a discount.  After that, what you get is a random selection from the list.  Gaining a scroll again will increase its level up to 10.  You can also get special elemental tomes and new costumes.  This isn't the only way to get costumes, because there are some in-game achievements that also grant them.  It's worth checking the Military Medals, and work toward completing it for those bonuses.  It's nice that it's not hard to get new and stronger scrolls, but the random aspect can be a pain when you just need that one last item in a tier.

Overall, Utawarerumono: Zan is pretty fun. It's not the best representation of the story, and not the best hack and slash, but it is enjoyable. If you want to experience most of the important parts of the story, but don't want to sit through the visual novel or SRPG battles, then this is the way to go. Even if you prefer the original, it's worth playing for Utawarerumono fans looking for something a little new.


The Good:
Quick and fun fights, get most of the important story bits without spending 40+ hours reading.

The Bad:
Powerful enemies can be cheap, story feels way too cut down.

The SaHD:
Why is any creature bigger than a person ungodly powerful?  How does anything survive in this world?

(Review code for Utawarerumono: Zan was received from the publisher.)

Shadows: Awakening (Xbox One) Review

Isometric action RPGs can be very fun experiences on consoles.  For me, most examples of the genre have been entertaining and engrossing.  While usually having multiplayer helps that a lot, there are some that have pulled off being single player, or are entertaining enough to not need a second (or third, or fourth) player with you to keep you awake.

On the surface, Shadows: Awakening looks like other competitors in the isometric action RPG space.  In some ways, it also plays like them.  You run around, kill monsters, get loot and complete quests.  Your characters travel from one area to the next, working toward your goal.  Several town and dungeon areas have teleporters, so you can jump to them for shops, or to turn in quests.  Button layout is what you might expect, with the A Button doing your auto attack, and the other three face buttons using other skills.  Unfortunately, you can only have three other skills equipped at a time.

However, it has a few distinct differences.  One, there is no multiplayer.  Yes, it's a bummer, but you get a party of up to four characters to make up for it.  The central character is the Devourer, a demon who is bound to a hero's soul.  He exists in the shadowrealm, while the puppets exist in the mortal world.  You can switch between them at almost any time.  In fact, you will need to.  Certain paths only exist in one realm or the other, and switching between them allows you to access them all.  Different enemies also exist in each realm, with some that cross over as well.  It's not an unheard of  mechanic, but it's used very well here.

Another difference is the soulstone.  Instead of chugging potions to survive, you use charges of your equipped soulstone.  Getting a refill of health or mana takes one charge, and different types have different max numbers of charges.  Defeating enemies and absorbing their souls slowly refills your charges.  Again, it's pulled off very well.  I always had access to healing, and was able to refill it without any difficulty.  That may change on harder difficulties though.

Thankfully, all characters share the same experience, and level up at the same time, even the ones you aren't using.  Every level increased gives you five stat points to distribute into four different stats.  Effects of each point increase are shown as you put them in and before you confirm them.  Each character also gains a skill point, which can be used to buy a new skill, or saved up to power up an existing one.  Since you can only have on three at a time, I tended to only try out the ones that sounded good, and power up the ones I found most useful.  Talent slots are unlocked every three levels, and allow you to equip a passive ability.  These are decent, but usually not super powerful.  The ones available are based on your main stats, and you don't seem to be able to change them once set.

There is a HUD in the game, I swear!

There are also several slots for different pieces of equipment, but not every character can equip every type.  That's not even limited to weapons, either.  Most make sense, since very large or small characters would need different size boots or gloves, or might not even have feet!  My only gripe with equipment is the reliance on the dreaded random number generator (RNG for short).  Sure, the shops sell some stuff, but enemies don't respawn and money is limited, so you can't buy everything.  Otherwise, you are stuck hoping that good stuff drops.  Unfortunately, the loot is entirely random within a level range.  I got a lot of drops for characters I didn't use, and worse, for characters I didn't even have, nor could have at that point.  That's not unexpected of the genre, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

Early on, you must decide who is your first puppet: the fighter, the mage or the hunter.  Me being me, I had to decide between the mage and the hunter, so I went with the hunter first.  As you go through the game, you have opportunities to add more puppets to your party, but only three can go with you at any time.  I was excited to get my second puppet, who was...a hunter.  Yeah, I guess I should have picked one of the other two then.

As I pressed on, I got another puppet after the first boss.  This was a large skeleton fighter that hit like a truck.  Awesome!  He complimented the Devourer and hunter well.  The next puppet I found was unexpected.  Upon being interrogated, I was faced with a choice.  I first accidentally agreed to sell out a town for freedom, but that wasn't what I wanted to do.  So, I loaded my previous save (thankfully there's no silly one-slot-autosave nonsense here), and decided to fight him instead.  Not only was this a better personal choice (I had no reason to sell out the town), but I killed the boss and added a new puppet to my roster.  He ended up being another fighter, which again showed that I should have just picked the mage in the beginning.

On the normal setting, the game isn't very difficult.  Save for a few circumstances, it was just right.  The "few circumstances" are annoying traps and boss fights, but that's mostly from the lack of a dodge or real defensive move.  You can save pretty much anywhere, and getting a game over just forces you to reload your last save.  The story length is really good too, giving you a suitably epic tale to weave through.  Plus, the different characters you can use gives good reasons to go through it at least once more.  While there are a host of sidequests, the game is pretty linear, and the maps are set.  That's not a problem for me, but I know some people won't like that.

If you enjoy isometric action RPGs, then definitely check out Shadows: Awakening.  It looks familiar, but has some unique twists that make it feel fresh and fun.  I recommend trying it out!


The Good:
Fun isometric action RPG.  Switching between characters and worlds is a great concept.

The Bad:
The dungeon traps are way too deadly for how sensitive the hit boxes are.

The SaHD:
I put a belt on my wood elemental, which he's not supposed to be able to equip.  Oops.  You can take the person out of the tester job, but you can't always take the tester out of the person.

(Review code for Shadows: Awakening was provided by the publisher)

Dragon's Crown Pro (PS4) Review

Dragon's Crown, the infamous game with beautiful Vanillaware artwork, fun fights, and odd design choices, gets released on the PS4.  It looks and sounds better than ever before...that's what makes it so Pro.  I honestly didn't think the game could look any better, but it does.  It's not a huge difference (I don't have a 4K TV), but it's there.  I enjoyed playing the original release co-op, and later, even my children had fun playing the game together.  Yes, there is some risque stuff, but they are too young to pay attention to it.  The updated music sounds great.  The entire soundtrack was redone with an orchestra, and I prefer this music to the old version.

One awesome feature is that your old save file will work on Pro.  I downloaded my save and jumped right back in...only to realize I don't remember most of the stuff.  So, I started another character and ran through a few stages, shaking off the ring-rust.  A re-release or updated version that allows me to keep my save file from before always gets my appreciation.  Maybe some people want to do everything over again, but letting me keep my work, while still allowing those people their fun, is a very good design choice.  Of course, the flip side of this is that this game shares the trophy list with the previous version.  So no getting new trophies, if that is your thing.

The controls for the game are pretty much the same. Square is used for attacks, X is jump, Circle is for your special attacks, Triangle is for item/pick-up weapon use, and the R1 dodges. The only new feature is the touch pad. This can be used in place of the touch screen (Vita version) or the right stick (either other version) for directing your rogue buddy, grabbing treasures, or cooking. The right stick can still be used, and in most cases feels better to me. The touch pad is faster, but less accurate, especially when clicking the pad down.

The game flows in the exact same way it did before. You go to each new dungeon, kill a boss, then move on to the next. Once you have done all nine, You have to do them again, this time with a slightly different route, and a different boss. While I'm okay with that, I still strongly dislike that at this point your destination is random, unless you want to pay in-game money. Considering how much you are already spending for repairs, items, and resurrecting helpers, there is way too much to take your money already.

Dragon's Crown is still a fun game, and the Pro release on PS4 is no exception to that. If you really want to play it again, or missed out while it was on the PS3/Vita, then this release will suffice. Otherwise, there really isn't anything extra to justify buying it again.  Being brought back nearly 5 years after release, I would have liked to see some new content.

The Good:
A fun and great looking game looks even better.

The Bad:
While the music is nice, I'd rather they changed some other things.  Unfortunately, everything but looks and sound is left the same.

The SaHD:
I saw the steel book in the store, and I totally want it!

(Review code for Dragon's Crown Pro was received from the publisher)

The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2 (PS4) Review

The first The Witch and the Hundred Knight came out on PS3 four years ago.  It's also been two years since the PS4 re-release, so I guess it's time for a full-blown sequel.  The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2 has a new setting and characters, with similar gameplay and a host of changes.

It's still an action RPG, so combat feels very similar to last time, with a few modifications.  You run around and attack, but the stamina bar is gone.  This makes combat feel more fluid.  Being away from the castle still takes Gigacals (GCs), and they drain faster as they heal your damage over time.  Dodging no longer takes stamina, since that system is gone, but instead takes a tiny amount of GCs.  There is another powered-up state that builds from defeating enemies, now called Third Eye.  It's slightly more useful than its previous incarnation, but I still rarely use it.  Instead of a separate running command, moving uninterrupted for a bit will make Hundred Knight move faster.  This does drain GCs faster than normal, but not near as many as it previously did.  That's good, since running is more automatic than it used to be.  Running out of Gigacals is harder than it was previously, since managlands (more on those later) have a nearby enemy that restores most of them, and gaining a level (no longer only at the base) will fully restore Hundred Knight.

Like before, your combo is determined by what weapons you equip to the five weapon slots.  Further slots get a slight increase in damage, but they no longer have an associated die that you can match for a bonus.  I'm fine with this change as well, since that system felt a little more complicated than it needed to be.  It's streamlined, not dumbed-down.  There's also a new feature called Depletura.  If you land the fifth attack of your combo, "L1" will appear on your screen.  When you press it, Hundred Knight will dash toward an enemy and attack them.  If the hit kills them, you get a brief cinematic kill that restores some AP and GCs.  It's not bad, but feels unreliable after the first two hours of the game.  At least the extra damage is useful.  While the left stick can be used to aim the Depletura attack, I wouldn't do that.  It will auto-aim if you only press L1, and that is much more reliable than trying to do it yourself.

My biggest complaint with combat is the boss fights.  They are very adept at hitting you (read: some cheap attacks), which is compounded by the generous enemy attack hit detection.  Unsurprisingly, they also have a lot of health.  Once I figured out that you are supposed to run around, avoid their attack, run in, hit them 1-3 times, then repeat, I did much better at the fights.  Trouble is, that isn't very fun either.  Once you gain the ability to make enemies weaker, I'd suggest doing that just for the boss fights.  You can still die, but at least the fight is shorter.

The map has also received an overhaul.  Instead of picking a different area on the map, it is now one big, linked map.  Plus, you won't spend GCs to uncover it!  The different areas have different enemies and scenery.  Each "square" of the map is also randomly drawn from a batch, so it won't be the same layout the next time you enter.  Similar to the previous game's pillars, there are many managlands on the map.  Once activated, you can teleport to them, or back to the castle.  It makes moving around the map easy, and it feels much more like an adventure than before.  As far as I've found, witch domination, powering up at a pillar, and the bonus gauge are now gone, and I won't really miss them.  I'm not as fond of the enemies leveling up as you do.  Each area has a limit, but you will usually fight enemies close to your level.  Since it is harder to out-level them, you have to rely on other methods to gain significant strength.  Even so, I really like the map changes.

Items you pick up from enemies or treasure chests are still stored in Hundred Knight's stomach.  The available room expands when you level up, and at a much faster rate than the first game.  Instead of needed a special stone to clear out unwanted inventory, you can now digest an item inside, and gain a tiny amount of GCs from it.  Running out of HP will have you lose a few items (which isn't fun), but I still think the inventory changes are for the better.

The hundred knight will still gain facets as you go through the game.  Each one is like a class, with different damage rates of weapons, defensive ratings from armor, and skills.  Again, this is like the first game.  However, now the facets share the hundred knight's level instead of having their own.  You aren't hindering yourself to switch, which makes them more useful.  The skills they have can be leveled up, and because the skill point pool is based off your level, that is also shared.  You get plenty of points, so it's definitely worth powering up the skills you use.

While you can kind of get by using what you find, you really need to use alchemy to make weapons stronger.  The system is easier to understand than it was previously.  While you can make things stronger by fusing other pieces of equipment into them, there are special items that give bonus experience to the different types of equipment.  These are fairly plentiful, so I'd recommend using most of the ones you get.  Higher ranked weapons start stronger, but it's rarely worth dumping an older, higher level weapon into it.  Stick to leveling up legendary and maybe some epic weapons, and you won't need to replace them for awhile.  After you get farther along in the game, you get special materials that directly give bonuses to a piece of equipment.  You can use one for every level something gains, which can lead to some really big stat boosts.  Because the maximum level determines how many can be used, legendary items, even weak ones, are far better to use than even higher ranked common and rare ones.

So, the gameplay is improved, but what about the other aspect of the game- the story.  Last time the main character was Metallia, a very unlikable, foul-mouthed braggart.  It was probably the low point of that game.  In this game...well, not much has changed.  This time you get Chelka, a very unlikable braggart, and Amalie, a lying and useless witch hunter.  So, not really an upgrade.  Witches go from being overpowered and invincible to completely powerless in the next scene.  It was easily the weakest part of the game, so much so that I wanted to skip most scenes, especially if Chelka was in it.

The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2 is improved over its predecessor in the gameplay department, but not in the story.  Even so, it's worth playing for action RPG fans, and anyone who enjoyed the first game.


The Good:
Some great improvements over the first game to combat and map exploration.

The Bad:
The story is still filled with unlikable characters.

The SaHD:
What child would name anything Huninnmuginn?

(Review code for The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2 was received from the publisher)

Cyberdimension Neptunia: 4 Goddesses Online (PC) Review

As is the case with Idea Factory's other PC releases, I sat down and played a few hours of Cyberdimension Neptunia: 4 Goddesses Online for review.  It plays pretty much the same as the PS4 version I reviewed, so I'll reiterate a few of those details for anyone that hasn't read my review of that version.  I was surprised to see that was just in November, then I realized that November was five months ago.  It feels like not that long, but was almost half a year.  WHAT EVEN IS TIME ANYMORE?!

Ok, that was weird, but we're back in the club.  4 Goddesses Online is an online MMO that the Neptunia CPUs and CPU candidates are playing.  As such, craziness happens in the game and threatens to destroy reality...or maybe just the game itself.  Not ones to let a game they enjoy be ruined, the girls band together and set it right.

The town looks much like the towns in many other Neptunia games.  There's the picture of the town, with several different places you can select, like shops and the quest guild.  Besides housing cameos from characters not participating in the fighting this time, these places also serve vital functions, such as buying items, fortifying equipment, or taking on quests for extra money.  Main scenario and extra skits are clearly labeled which I always appreciate.  Sometimes you have to do random quests to further the story, which feels aimless.

Battles are real-time action, and much more akin to the Tagmension spin-offs than the main series RPGs.  You can attack, jump, dodge, block, use healing items, lock-on to enemies, use special moves, and after a certain point, power up.  Since I played the PS4 version, I was quicker to acclimate to the controls, which take some getting used to.  Locking on to an enemy and attacking them works fine, it's the movement that feels a little off to me.  Moving in a different direction isn't just a straight switch.  Instead, you turn toward that direction.  For large moves, it doesn't bother me, but is a pain when trying to make minute movements, such as when you are trying to grab a chest or gathering point.  Like most minor gripes, it's not a deal breaker, but bears mentioning.

Combat is fast-paced, but it does remind me of a lot of MMOs, for better or worse.  A lot of the smaller enemies die off pretty quickly with your four party members hitting them, but larger ones can take quite a beating.  You and your party will hit it for a few seconds, then dodge or block its attack, rinse and repeat, sprinkling in some special moves, until it dies, then move on to the next threat.  Dodging is still inferior to blocking.  Blocking at the right time not only nullifies damage, but gives you a counter attack.  The timing on it is lenient, which offsets the strict timing of when you can block.  Holding it before you can block (like in the middle of an attack, for example) won't put you in the block stance immediately when you can.  You have to actually press the button when you can block, or it won't work.  Knowing this from last time, I can watch out for it, but it's something new players will want to learn.

I'm still using my i7-4790 PC with 16GB of RAM and Windows 10.  The game looked good, maybe a bit better than the PS4 version.  I didn't view them side by side to see for sure, though.  The only real strange thing was the in-game cut-scenes.  Not the still pictures with the dialogue, but the ones that use the battle graphics for scenes.  The ones I saw early on looked like a slightly lower frame rate.  It may be a setting, as I didn't really mess with those.  Overall, the game has some small issues, but is still enjoyable.  I would recommend Cyberdimension Neptunia: 4 Goddesses Online for Neptunia fans that like the action games in the series.


The Good:
The story is pretty good, and the MMO qualities of the game feel accurate.

The Bad:
Small issues with movement and blocking.  Plus the dodge isn't very useful.

The SaHD:
Did I use this opportunity to run a different party, or even play as a different character?  Nope, I stuck with Noire.  She's really good in this game.

(Review code for Cyberdimension Neptunia was received from the publisher)

Tokyo Xanadu EX+ (PS4) Review

The Vita version of Tokyo Xanadu was a pleasant surprise earlier this year, and I was looking forward to trying out Tokyo Xanadu EX+ on the PS4.  Newly added content should be the icing on the top of this cake.

The core of the game is largely the same.  Kou and his friends get caught up in the mysterious world of Eclipses, doorways to another realm, and Greeds, the monsters that live in the Eclipse and feed off people's negative emotions.  There will be story scenes as Kou goes through school, which leads to finding a new Eclipse, where you enter to save someone, and fight a boss.  The story is pretty good and the characters are enjoyable.  Each chapter has "free time", where you can hang out with various characters to deepen your relationship with them.  This costs a finite resource (now correctly known only as affinity shards), so you can't be really good friends with everyone in one playthrough.

When in an Eclipse dungeon, you will run around, fight monsters, dodge their attacks, and hit switches.  The controls are pretty responsive, but a bit unusual for me.  Attack is the X Button, Jump is Circle, and ranged attack is set to Square.  I would usually prefer them shifted one button clockwise, and set them that way in the options.  I still would mess them up, so I just set them back.  Maybe it was because I played the Vita one a lot?  New to this version are the EX moves that each character gets.  You build up the meter for them, same as the other special attacks, and unleash them with the R2 button.  These are cool and really powerful, plus you are invincible during them.  I don't know if they were needed, but I do like them.

While the difficulty of the original release felt just right, it now seems higher and also less consistent in EX+.  In the first dungeon, enemies and the boss both did a lot of damage.  It seems like that should be the most balanced portion of the game, since you know the player's level and equipment at that point.  The dungeon in the first bonus chapter was also more difficult than I think it should have been.  It was a little better in the second dungeon, but the difficulty changes were still noticeable.  The bosses seem to have more HP, which makes fighting them more of a slog than it was, and many enemies are just stronger.  I decided to bump it down from the "normal" setting to "easy", which made a difference.  However, there were still portions where enemies did too much damage with their attacks, and sections where I could just blow through them.  I suppose I have to grind now, even though it was very well balanced in the initial release.  It's not enough to make me dislike the game, but it is a disappointing change.

So what else have they added to make people double dip (assuming they are one of the small handful of people who own a Vita)?  Well, for starters the localization seems to be much better, as I haven't noticed the issues I had with the Vita release.  You can also travel to Kou's room, and put up decorations.  Certain decorations will have a cut scene with another character that raises your max HP.  While I would not be sold on just being able to decorate a room as a great new feature to highlight, the stat boost is always welcome.

The biggest and best new additions are the side stories available at the end of each chapter.  These focus on other characters in the story and helps flesh them out as characters.  The first one is especially good, since it gives you a preview for later in the game.  You play as new playable character White Shroud, and the new element: Light.  Light is strong against all the non-shadow elements, while shadow is strong against light and...the other elements.  Hmmm, that doesn't seem thought out, does it?  Anyway, White Shroud is fun to play as, and I really enjoyed the side story additions.

Despite the difficulty issues, I enjoyed playing Tokyo Xanadu EX+.  If you played the original, there is enough new content that I'd recommend playing it again (too bad the save file doesn't transfer).  If you didn't play the original, but like good action RPGs, then I'd also recommend the game.


The Good:
Added content make this good game worth revisiting.

The Bad:
Higher and inconsistent difficulty.

The SaHD:
Now that the original version has been out for a bit, I found a guide that specifies the hidden quests.

(Review code for Tokyo Xanadu EX+ was provided by the publisher)

ELEX (Xbox One) Review

Did you play Risen or either of its sequels?  Did you enjoy them?  If yes, then you will likely enjoy ELEX.

Oh, you'd like some more info?  Fair enough, as I have more to say, but be warned that there are many comparisons between the two.  The team responsible for the Risen games has fully entered the current generation of games with their new offering, ELEX.  Instead of being a fantasy world, this one is set in a post apocalyptic fantasy world.  That probably comes across as sarcastic, but I admit I really like the idea of the game and the world it builds.

ELEX's world is pretty big, too.  There are several different environments, which all make sense in the context of the game.  There are plenty of places to visit, items to loot, and enemies to fight.  Several factions all fight for dominance, and you can join them, or work against them.  There are lots of quests to complete, too.  For better or worse, these will send you all over the map.  While this is to be expected of later quests, there are too many of these early on.  When you are just starting out, and hit the first town, you'd like quests that are close by, with weaker enemies, so you can build up your level and inventory.  Too bad the developers don't agree with that player-friendly philosophy.

Some early quests can be completed in the town, but most involve running to other places.  I'd be fine with that but again, theses are past enemies that you have no business fighting.  You will just die really quickly.  You can get eventually get a partner to run around with you that makes fighting a little easier.  However, you still have to go past monsters much too strong for you before you can complete the companion quests.  The only real solution is to run away from enemies and try to avoid them.  Showing a suggested level for quests might be a good start, but I'd really just prefer the enemies around the town were beatable at reasonable levels.  It shouldn't be too much to ask to have a balanced game.

Now we get to the combat.  Like Risen, it is pretty stiff.  Enemies can do a lot of damage to you very quickly.  You have an attack, block, roll, and jump.  Attacks are fairly self-explanatory, and do well enough on their own.  If you connect with enough hits together, you will build up a meter that allows you to execute a special move.  This would be good, except for the bad aspect of combat: stamina.

Attacking takes stamina.  Dodge rolling takes stamina.  Blocking stifles your stamina regeneration.  Attacking enough times to fill the special rarely leaves you with enough stamina to then actually use the move.  Dodging and enemy's attack tends to leave you too far or without enough stamina to counter.  Blocking doesn't seem to reduce the damage much (maybe a shield would help, but I can't really afford that and skill training).  Worst of all, stamina isn't tied to a stat, so the only way to increase it is by training in a particular skill, which will take hours to be able to get.  I'm not a fan of these kind of limiting factors in fighting, as the fun level just crashes.

With no HUD, you know it's a glamshot.

On the other hand, ranged combat felt pretty good.  The damage seems good, and it gives you an early advantage in encounters.  The only drawback is having to find or buy a lot of ammo.  Needless to say, money isn't always that easy to come by, especially in the early game.  It gets better as you go (especially with some key skills), but doesn't help the first 10 or so hours, where the difficulty is killer.  Switching from melee to ranged worked okay at best, but I think that's because my controller's d-pad isn't what it used to be.

Probably the best aspect of the game is the jet pack.  This allows you to explore, take shortcuts, or sometimes avoid enemies.  It takes a bit to get used to how it works, but after a few minutes of practice I was long jumping like a pro.  The added vertical dimension to exploration really opens the world up.  The companions seem to have them too, so you won't leave them in the dust when you use it.  If it wasn't for the jet pack, I'm not sure I could have survived the first few hours of the game, since it is so dangerous.

When you level up, you gain 10 stat points and a skill point.  The stat points you can allocate yourself, while you must pay a trainer to use the skill point.  The skill trees are all clearly laid out, as is the requirements for that level of skill.  Trainers are marked on your map as well.  Except for the rising costs of training, I think the skill and stat system works pretty well.  I'm betting you can still mess up your character though.

At many points through your adventure, you will have to make choices.  These can affect your "coldness", which is how human you act.  Many of your responses affect this, even ones you wouldn't think.  If the coldness matters, I'd really like to know which responses affect it, since most feel random.  Depending on your answers in quests, there are different outcomes.  Standard, yes, but appreciated.  Of course there are also romance options in the game.  The dialogue in the game is pretty good, save for my problem with the coldness rating.

I remember the difficulty curve in Risen, so I put ELEX on easy at the start.  It was still very rough, and I shudder to think how bad things can get on the hardest setting.  You take a lot of damage from enemy hits, and can very quickly get out of your league when just moving around the map.  Since enemies don't display levels, your only indication of difficulty is the skull icon next to an enemy's health.  That means they are too strong for you.  If it's not there, they still might be.  Point is, the game is way too hard and unforgiving on even the easiest setting, since there is no effective balance.  That really kills my enjoyment.

ELEX has some very unique things about it, but is also massively bogged down by abysmal game balance.  It's very similar to the Risen series, just with balance that is somehow even worse.  I really wanted to like the game far more than I did.


The Good:
The setting, world, and story are pretty good.

The Bad:
Lack of quest and enemy levels, and did I mention the balance?  I think I did, but they game just doesn't want you to have fun playing it.

The SaHD:
The money is called Elex shards, Elex, and shards.  It's pretty confusing for the first few hours.

(Review code for Elex was provided by the publisher, THQ Nordic)

Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA (PS4) Review

While not a game series I talk about often, I do have a fondness for Ys III.  I played it way back on the SNES, when my friend bought the game.  I think I eventually traded him for it, but regardless, I remember it being hard but fun, and having cool artwork in the instruction booklet.  I haven't really played many other of the series, except some of Ys I and II on the DS...and Ark of Nepishtim.  Strangely, I don't recall much of either title.  Still, Ys VIII sounded interesting enough to give a try, and I'm very glad I did.

I'll say that the first impression of the game wasn't great.  It's a PS4 title, but the graphics don't seem to support that.  Especially the water.  This could easily be because it's also a Vita title, so I'll look past that.  Also, a game should not solely be judged on its looks, but they will and should play some part in the overall impression.

Ys VIII is an action rpg where you battle creatures and find other castaways on the deserted isle of Seiren.  Fights are in real time, and you will need to be quick on your toes to avoid getting hit.  Dodging at the right time will slow down time for everyone but you, allowing you some free hits.  Hit detection felt a bit off most times, with attacks hitting me before it looked like they should.  Still, there were plenty of times I pulled off the dodge.  The game is sometimes generous with it to, and enemies won't aim-bot you with their attacks.  There are times when they blatantly do so, especially the bosses.

The controls just felt a little off.  Attacking is done with the X Button, and jumping with the Circle Button.  I would have preferred them each moved one button counter-clockwise.  You can actually re-map most of the controls.  I thought this would help, but I think I used the default just enough to make switching not feel right either.  I ended up switching back, and just tried to get better.  I still made mistakes occasionally.  Maybe my brain is what's just a little off.

As you explore the areas, you also find materials and treasure chests.  Materials as used to trade for or make items, including weapon upgrades and armor to wear.  Sometimes you find a blockade that can be moved when you find enough people, which I thought was a pretty neat way to limit areas of the game.  Adol and friends also find adventure equipment as you wander around, which will help you reach even more areas.  I will say several of these were not stereotypical to me, like boots that let you walk on top of mud instead of sinking.  They are all useful in several places, so thankfully you can eventually equip more than one.  Even so, you might have to swap more than you'd like.

Besides the main quest, there are side quests, invasion battles, and suppression battles.  The side quests have time limits, but based on plot progression, not real time.  Still, it's best to do what you can as soon as possible.  Suppression battles are like small scale horde mode fights.  There are several waves of enemies, and you must defeat them before they can destroy the town gates.  While kind of fun, these fights are mostly optional.  Invasion battles are you going into an area to destroy monster nests.  You have to light torches and keep them lit to weaken the nests while you hit them.  They make sense in the context of the game, but still feel largely superfluous.

Ys VIII has its fair share of difficulty.  It starts off fairly easy, but steadily ramps up throughout the game.  There are a few annoying battles, usually involving a boss or the ancient species before you get special weapons for them.  Being an action RPG game, its content leans more toward the RPG side, offering many hours of playtime with lots of story and side quests to keep you occupied.  I'd say it's easily 35-40 hours for your first run through the game.

I wasn't sure I would like Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA when I asked to review it, but I'm happy that I did.  It's a very fun action RPG with fun exploration aspects.  It offers a good amount of content, too.  I'd recommend it to action and action RPG fans.  You'll find a lot of things to enjoy!


The Good:
Several characters to use, a big island to explore, many fights to be had, and lots to do.

The Bad:
Boss fights can be tiring, early fights against the ancient species are annoying.

The SaHD:
I really could have done without the murderer subplot.

(Review code for Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA was provided by the publisher)

Valkyria Revolution (Xbox One) Review

When first shown, Valkyria Revolution irked some people.  They thought it was supposed to be a sequel to Valkyria Chronicles, despite not having a number after it, or even having the same name.  It's a spin-off, and as such, does play pretty different from Chronicles.

That said, there are several similarities in Revolution.  The graphics have that hatched water color look to them, and the story menu is similarly contained in a book.  Starting out in the game is pretty rough, though.  There are several long cut scenes setting up the story, and a multi-part battle to go through, all before you can save.  It took me an hour to get to that point.  While I'm okay with the long scenes, spending so much time before you can first save is not my cup of tea.  The story is good, though.

Combat is action-oriented.  You can run, jump, block, and dodge on the battlefield.  While it does kind of play like a hack and slash, you don't just run around mashing attack.  You can attack or use your menu when your action gauge has filled, and it does so pretty fast.  If you open the menu, time freezes, so you have time to select what you want and aim it properly.  From this menu, you can cast your ragnite magic abilities, use your secondary weapon (gun), or grenade.  Grenades and magic attacks are very useful...and fun.  Blowing up a small group of enemies and making the rest afraid is way too satisfying.

There are sometimes a few bases you can/will take over, sometimes a boss fight, and others you will defend your base from foes.  Small enemy groups have commanders that make their squad tougher.  Killing them first can make the rest afraid.  To keep it fair, your squad members can also receive that status ailment, especially when taking heavy fire from an enemy tank.  Well, they are called tanks, but they are combat walkers, which are pretty cool.  The battles were pretty fun, save for the occasional crazy tough boss fight.

Besides the story battles, there are free maps you can undertake for more experience, items and money.  The game also introduces special defend and attack missions, which you can keep and expand your area of influence/territory.  For the defense missions, if you ignore them for too long, you will lose that area.  I'm not really a fan of that, since it kind of forces you to stall your forward momentum to take care of it.  Overall, the battles aren't usually very hard, but some can become quite tense.

When not in a fight, you can run around the town, talk to people, view events, shop, and upgrade.  Upgrading the sub-weapons and grenades just costs money.  Upgrading the weapon's grid requires you to sacrifice ragnite.  Trouble is, ragnite is also equipped to give your character their magical skills.  You will have to upgrade their weapon's grid to be able to equip stronger ragnite, so figuring out the balance is an evolving process.  Even after playing for many hours, I was still probably too cautious with giving up my ragnite.

When not in battle or running around town, you are probably viewing cut scenes.  As mentioned earlier, they can be numerous and lengthy.  You can skip them if you are so inclined.  There are also other scenes that are unlocked while you play, but they aren't required to view.  On one hand, it's nice there's so much story, as it helps to further flesh out the world and characters, but at some point it feels like overkill.  A lot of the game's length feels like its from the story cut scenes, as the balance between story and combat isn't the best.

The last gripe I have about the game is the menu.  Moving the cursor in the menu requires the d-pad.  As an option, sure, but as the only way, I don't like it.  There are menus that can be better served by using the d-pad, but some (like confirming a save) really don't need it.  I'm already on the stick, why should I have to switch to hit one direction?  Also, the d-pad sensitivity seems wonky at times.  It could be my controller, but I haven't had the issue in other games I've played recently.

Valkyria Revolution is a fun action RPG that is sometimes bogged down by lengthy cut scenes.  As long as you have realistic expectations, it's worth actually trying out.


The Good:
The story is good.

The Bad:
But, it can take awhile to get through the cut scenes.

The SaHD:
It's weird that people can get so up in arms about a spin-off that's not trying to be a sequel, then they are to a main character completely changing while supposedly being the same person.

(Review code for Valkyria Revolution was provided by the publisher)

Ever Oasis (3DS) Review

Chaos is taking over the entire land, and only the power of the water spirits can keep it at bay.  You, as a new chieftain of the last oasis, must gather residents to help combat the coming darkness.  That's the basis for one of Nintendo's newest 3DS offerings, Ever Oasis.

First and foremost, you will be gathering different people to live at your oasis.  Sometimes you find characters in the wild, and they will agree to visit your oasis.  Sometimes they visit if you have the right shops available.  You will usually have to do some sort of small quest to have them permanently live in your oasis.  It's pretty fun for me to track them all down and do their quests.  I would have done so even if the oasis level and happiness meter weren't so critical in the game.

When a Seedling (one of the races in Ever Oasis) decides to live in your town, you can put up their specific "Bloom Booth" shop.  Doing so the first time costs Dewadems (the game's currency), but you can move them around afterwards.  There's also special items you can place that increase sales, which you can go around and collect a portion of.  This is good because you will be the one resupplying them.  You give them some specific raw items, and they make the goods and sell them each day.  It's not as time consuming as I at first thought it would be, and it's pretty fun, too.

Battle is a relatively simple affair.  You have two different attacks, but very small and limited combos (you get a few more as you level up).  Your normal attack is pretty quick, while the strong attack takes more time, but packs a bigger punch.  Some combos will knock the enemy over, which gives you a few extra seconds to hit them.  You can lock on to enemies, which is really helpful on bosses.  Many times the lock-on did give me trouble.  It also centers the camera (for players without the New 3DS), which it tended to do when I would press it to lock on to a monster.  Having to struggle with that made it much easier for me to get hit.

Your chieftain also gets a pretty decent dodge roll.  You don't seem to get much (if any) invincibility from it, but it's pretty useful nonetheless.  It was responsive, and went the direction I wanted it to, both of which are critical for in-game dodges.  Characters can also get SP moves, which you have to build up the meter for (it starts empty when you leave the oasis).  These are kind of helpful, but you get them late enough that I usually forgot about them.

Unfortunately, it is really easy to get hit in battle.  Plus, you don't seem to have any invincibility on knock down, so enemies can chain hit you to pile on the damage.  To compound this, character max HP is very, very low.  Thankfully, your oasis happiness helps out with that.  When you leave the oasis, it effectively increases your party's max HP by a lot.  Also, you can resurrect on the spot a few times depending on your oasis' level.  This helps even out the combat.  While the chunks of damage you take did bother me, I will admit I rarely died...and even more rarely used healing items.  It was usually easier to pop back to the oasis if I desperately needed to heal.  When returning, your party gets the experience for any enemies defeated, too, so it was a win/win.

There are many areas and even a few dungeons in the game.  Most have some light puzzle solving, like using a spear for a switch, turning into a ball to fit in a small hole, or using a crossbow to hit a high switch.  I like that there are several uses for different things, like weapons and skills, but it can be a pain to switch to them.  Teleporting back to the oasis isn't hard, and neither is teleporting back, but having to drag someone off the list to help you in one room can get tiresome.  It's a bigger problem as the game goes on, since you get more abilities and weapon types, for more puzzle bits.  Still, it was never enough to make me stop playing.

Ever Oasis is one of those games that takes way longer than it seems.  It's also one that I would end up playing longer than I thought I would, simply because I would get wrapped up in recruiting new people or exploring new areas.  It's not an overly hard game, though there are harder fights.  While there were a few small things that bothered me, the game was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed playing it.  I'd recommend it for action RPG fans looking for something new.


The Good:
Recruiting characters has many benefits that quickly amass.

The Bad:
You can lose your health really fast in combat.

The SaHD:
Serkah mouths are kinda creepy when they talk.

(Review code for Ever Oasis was provided by the publisher)

Tokyo Xanadu (PS Vita) Review

A few days before I started playing Tokyo Xanadu, I finally cracked open my copy of Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel.  Why is this relevant?  Well, they are both made by the same company (Nihon Falcom), and had a few similarities, which I found kind of funny.

You play as Kou, a high school student who accidentally stumbles upon the hidden world of Eclipses.  These are doorways to another dimension brought about by strong emotions.  He quickly meets Asuka, a person who goes around fighting monsters to close the Eclipses, and decides to try and help her out.  As such, the game goes through a period of several months as new doors open, and Kou and his friends use their new powers to make sure the Eclipses get shut down.

Combat is very action-driven.  You have a normal attack, a jump, a projectile attack, and a dodge.  You can also hold down the projectile button for a powerful charge attack.  Both that and the projectile take SP, which fills over time, or from normal attacks.  Attacking is fun, but the SP can feel limiting when you are attacking enemies that are resistant to your physical attacks and need to be hit by your projectiles.  Plus, the dodge doesn't seem very good.  It's not an animation skip, so you can't cover for attack vulnerabilities, and it theoretically has invincibility frames.  I don't think I've ever hit them.  Considering how easy it is to get hit (there are a lot of cheap attacks), I would have liked a block, too, or at least a slightly better dodge.

A second meter you have in battle is for your X-Drive.  Using this will temporarily make all your attacks strike the enemy's elemental weakness, and give you infinite SP.  There's also a bonus effect depending on the element of your partner.  If that weren't enough, there is a third meter to fill, this time for your X-Strike.  These are basically super moves, which of course I save for boss fights.  they aren't quite as strong as I'd like, but they are useful.

Each Eclipse is a different dungeon.  They don't usually take that long to navigate, which is good because you are ranked on their completion.  Speed isn't the most important factor, though.  They also rate you on how many things you smash, enemies killed, and if you took advantage of an enemy's elemental weakness.  Sadly, it isn't always possible to get 100% for that, since you can only have three people with you at a time.  Switching to your partner is pretty easy, but switching to the "support" (third character) feels cumbersome.  You can always return to any completed Eclipse to grind or increase your rank.

Each character has an orbment soul device that represents their weapon.  There are several slots where you can equip crystals.  These crystals can give stat points, or even passive abilities like a percent chance to inflict a status ailment.  There are also spots that give extra combo damage and a couple of other effects once unlocked.  Monster parts randomly gained from loot drops are used to open and upgrade these slots.  There is also standard equipment, too.  Characters can equip an outfit (armor) and shoes, along with two accessories.

When you are not in a dungeon, you will run around and talk to people, advance the story, and maybe do some side quests.  Like Trails of Cold Steel, many of the people you talk to are tracked in your phone, and there are several pieces of information to learn about them as the story progresses.  You can also get side quests from an app.  Unfortunately, some are not shown in this way.  As a completionist, this bugs me.

The more important characters also have character episodes, where you can hang out with them, or help them out, and become closer friends.  As the game goes on, more people are added, and there are only a limited number of times you can spend with people per chapter.  If there is a free Eclipse, you will get an extra shard, but it's still nowhere near enough to spend time with everybody.  You are also at the mercy of who is available, so it's hard to focus on one or two special people.  I will give the game big props for being very clear about when the story is going to proceed, so it's hard to do so before you are ready.

My only real gripe with the game is that the localization feels a bit rushed, as there were several instances of typos.  The most glaring one was the shards used for the character episodes.  They are referred to as both affinity and infinity shards.  One time it's even called a Friendship shard.  Affinity makes more sense, but at the very least there shouldn't be two different names for the same thing.  Well, unless the character has a real name, but is always referred to as "mid-boss".

Tokyo Xanadu is a really fun action RPG that I enjoyed playing.  The difficulty felt about right (although it was a little too easy to get hit), and the length was good.  It is likely overshadowed by the enhanced version coming to PS4 later this year, but the Vita version is worth playing.


The Good:
I don't know if I could point to anything specific, but the game was just really fun.

The Bad:
Hidden side quests, and of course the typos.

The SaHD:
Wow, character models don't wear shoes in some indoor areas...nice touch!

(Review code for Tokyo Xanadu was provided by the publisher)

Akiba's Beat (PS4) Review

I had a lot of fun playing Akiba's Trip on the Vita and the PS4.  It was a unique action RPG where you defeated synthetic vampires by ripping off their clothes, exposing them to sunlight.  It was goofy and fun.  This made me eager to get my hands on the sequel, Akiba's Beat.

After starting the game, I quickly realized this has very little to do with the previous game, so I guess it's more of a side story rather than sequel?  The story is set in the same place, but involves no one from the first, and the battle system is completely different.  Gone is vampire stripping and in its place, battles straight out of the "Tales of"series.  You fight on a 3D plane, and pressing left or right toward your target will move you toward them, and the opposite direction moves you away.  Holding L1 allows you to free run, which I found very useful for 90% of the game.  Dodging wasn't as reliable as just running away or around targets to avoid attacks.  Plus, the dodge button was either not responsive, or too much so.

You have an AP number, which dictates how many times you can attack before you have to stop for a few seconds and let it fill again.  Even if you have more than your standard attack string, you will pause after it, unfortunately.  Attacking while holding up or down will do high and low attacks respectively, which mixes up what you can do.  Pressing the special attack button with different directions on the left stick can also give you different special moves, which you set in the menu.  Thankfully, you can set another set on the right stick.  I like this since you get so many useful moves, that one set isn't enough when at the end of the game.  You can also set the buttons in the options, which I did since early on I mixed them up often enough.  Like the dodge button, the attacks weren't always responsive either, and not just because I ran out of AP.  It's a fairly big deal in such an action heavy battle system, and was pretty annoying.

Fights with normal enemies tend to be over very quickly, as quick as a few seconds early on.  This is nice, since it means you can usually make your way through the dungeons without sacrificing an afternoon.  Then come the boss fights.  The first two are longer than normal fights, but not by a lot.  After that, the bosses become standard JRPG massive HP slogfests.  Toward the end, I was dreading the thought of duking it out with dungeon bosses, simply because it would take several minutes of mashing attacks.  This gets compounded when they start having two boss fights back to back, which sadly happens more than once.

However!  As you do damage, you build up the Imaging Gauge.  When you do, you have infinite AP for a few seconds, and your damage is increased.  If you use it when the gauge is fully filled, your damage increases as you land attacks, and it lasts for the duration of the song you equip.  Near the end of it, the percent jumps up, and you will output a lot more damage than normal.  The Imagine Gauge is way too strong for normal fights, and does make boss fights a little shorter.  Still, I would have liked it to be more effective on the dreary boss encounters, or even do something great like making casting instant, or even making special moves free/cheap.  Bottom line: it works okay, but could be more interesting.

The story places you in the role of Asahi, a career NEET that does little but stay up late, watch anime, and play games.  I'm pretty sure I went to college with someone who lived like this and also woke up at the crack of 2pm, but I digress.  Progress is broken up into two parts, one where you run around the map, talking to people, and another where you traverse the dungeon, fighting monsters and then the boss, dissolving the delusion.  There are times where you go into the dungeon in the middle of the talking parts, but it's still a back and forth between these two scenarios.  It's not the best balance, since sometimes the running around and talking is a bit long, or the dungeon is, but the fast travel can help with some of that.

As for the story itself, it starts off pretty strong.  Then toward the middle of the story, it starts to go down.  A chunk of that is from my own pet peeves.  I won't spoil things, but one character that behaves a certain way does something that doesn't make sense in context.  Sure, they try to explain it later, but I still think it just doesn't work.  There are other instances, like when the main character has their stereotypical "doubting themselves" arc.  Again, it just doesn't work with how it is presented.  It could, and I get what they are going for, but it's just not pulled off well.  Also at the end they shoehorn in some nonsense, and stuff in some more to pad the length a little too much.  It's a shame the story went so bad for me, since the localization and the dubbing are top notch...probably the best I can remember in an XSEED game.

The dungeons in the game are pretty basic, just rooms connected by hallways, all very block-like.  Some have switches to open doors, and there are treasure chests to find.  Later dungeons get pretty long, but thankfully, several floors are shorter on repeat visits.  Any shortcut is welcome because they get a LOT of mileage out of these dungeons (so get used to seeing them).  There are also enemy encounters littered throughout the dungeon floors.  Getting the spacing and timing for the first strike is a bit of a chore, but it helps.  Assuming it works, as I've had times I was back attacked while facing the enemy.  While I'm usually okay with palette swaps of enemies, Akiba's Beat goes all in.  There aren't many types of enemies, and you will see most of them in all of the dungeons.  I remember remarking to my son when I finally saw a new enemy type after 30+ hours.  The boss designs are pretty good, though.

The story and side quests took me over 60 hours to complete.  If you cut out the side/character missions and the monster killing quests, you could shave some time off of that.  Even so, the main story itself went on for about 10 hours too long.  It felt like the third Lord of the Rings movie, where there were several places it could have ended, but didn't.  It really could have cut out the last chapter or so, and be a much more concise (and better) story.  Admittedly, you will get your money's worth completing the game because of this.  I'd say it's worth trying for "Tales of" fans, but fans of Akiba's Trip should know it isn't really anything like that game.


The Good:
If you like "Tales of" combat, the fights will make you feel right at home.  Good references, localization, and voice acting.

The Bad:
Story goes down as the game goes on...and it lasts longer than it logically should.

The SaHD:
My favorite reference had to be the sequence from the children's trading card game.

(Review code for Akiba's Beat was provided by the publisher)

Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity (PS4) Review

Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity takes the characters from the popular PC-only Touhou shmups, and this time puts them into an action RPG.  Only two of the characters are playable, but more make appearances during the course of the story.

You can choose which of the two ladies to use.  Thankfully my new favorite Sakuya the time manipulating maid is one of the two.  Her boss Remilia is the other.  They both have separate equipment and learn different skills.  Both characters have separate save files, too, with multiple slots for each.  Their story dialogue is different, but they appear to follow identical paths through the game.

The game itself is pretty simple, you run around the 3D environments attacking enemies.  There is a default attack string and three skills, one of which is a spell.  Under your HP are little diamonds that represent your skill points (in groupings of 100).  Each skill takes a certain amount to use, and the points will refill fairly quickly over time.  The large diamond to the side of the HP is the magic meter.  It doesn't fill automatically, but by doing damage.  Using a spell will pause enemy movement and make you invincible while it is happening, as well as doing a hefty chunk of damage to any targets caught in the attack range.  As you level up, you unlock more skills, and you can change them just about anytime.  I routinely used skills that were better for groups, but switched to my stronger ones when facing bosses.

The flow of the game is pretty consistent throughout.  After some story, you can select your next destination on the world map.  There may be times that you can choose to do one or the other location first, but the game is pretty linear. It isn't until the end of the game before you can return to any of the previous locations.  Also when you beat the game a bonus dungeon opens up.  It even takes a few dungeons before you get a store, which seems like an odd choice.

The dungeons can get pretty long and sometimes have multiple paths to get through them.  There are treasure chests to find and pots to break, and plenty of enemies to fight.  Strangely, only half of the areas or less have mini-maps.  I see no reason why they all can't have them, so it would be easier to make sure you explored every nook and cranny.  I felt the enemies are a little too good at blending in to the scenery, and sometimes the environment restricts your sight.  Enemy attacks are pretty basic, but true to the series' shmup roots, many enemies have bullet spreads that you can try to dodge.  Bosses have very bullet hell-like patterns, and plenty of cheap hits.  The only real option you have to avoid damage is jumping, since there is no block or other defensive move.

Your characters can each equip one weapon, one piece of armor and one accessory.  The equipment slots go in this order, but they strangely don't label them.  There are several different pieces of each, and the stats of each are random within certain ranges.  Therefore, even though you get multiple of the same pieces, they are different from each other.  They also have equipment at different rarities.

Since you can jump, they also throw in some platforming in the dungeons.  There are ledges to jump up, and even pits to cross.  Unfortunately, near the end of the game, the platforming gets really obnoxious.  There are a few parts where you have small platforms to jump around, and some enemies that are more than happy to knock you back and off the platform.  Or, there are crazy trap-filled platforms to run through.  Thankfully, there aren't as many as they could have had, but they still all result in character death.

Dying in Scarlet Curiosity takes a percentage of your money (ugh) and puts you back a bit before the pit you fell in.  The only times I died in the game were because of the pits.  There were a few close calls on two or three of the bosses, but other than that I had no difficulties making my way through the game.  While you go around the different levels, there are plenty of pots to smash.  A lot of these have healing pick ups, making it easy to keep your HP high enough to mash your way through the game.

Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity is a decently fun game.  It took about 8-10 hours to complete, but this felt like it lasted just a bit too long for what the game is.  It's not too hard, save for a few tricky platforming parts.  The game is probably best for Touhou fans, since it is a pretty average game otherwise.


The Good:
A competent action RPG.  Two playable characters is also a plus.

The Bad:
Game felt like it went on just a bit too long,  Too many pits for cheap deaths.

The SaHD:
Even though I've only played two Touhou side games, I already have a hated rival: Utsuho the tengu girl.

(Review code for Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity was provided by the publisher)

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 1 & 2 (Xbox One) Review

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance joins a long and growing list of games being tweaked to release on current generation platforms.  With each offering being a hit or miss, where does Ultimate Alliance 1 and 2 fall?

Before we look at how the games have translated to the newer systems, let's look at how they play as games.  Both games are action RPGs that play from an isometric point of view.  You play as a team of four heroes (or villains!), attacking and using your super powers to fight off various enemies.  You control one character at a time while the AI handles the rest.  You can jump (some characters can fly), pick up and throw objects, and in general, cause a lot of mayhem in your quest to save the day.  The games are fairly linear, moving you from one location to the next as the story dictates.

Both games play largely the same, but Ultimate Alliance 2 adds team up special moves and healing items.  The healing items are self-explanatory, although it can be tough to know who to heal since it only shows your current character's HP.  The team up moves are pretty cool, coming in several flavors (aimed, AoE, etc.) and differing depending on which characters you team up for the attack.

Combat is pretty fun, but there are a few minor quibbles I have with the game.  In the first Ultimate Alliance, it can be hard to keep track of your character.  There are times when there are swarms of enemies, explosion effects, and even parts of the environment clogging your view.  Even with the colored ring at your character's feet, it can be very easy to lose yourself.  Plus, with no healing items it is a huge pain to resurrect fallen allies, as you have to wait out a timer and retrieve them from a save point, or reach a save point and swap them out.  It's kind of a bummer when you have characters you want to use, but can't since they are still injured.

The second game's problem is more the interface.  Switching character is still on the d-pad, but their position shifts on-screen when you switch.  It doesn't actually change which direction you press, but there is a disconnect with the direction their portrait is displayed versus the direction you select them with.  I don't have this problem in the first game.  To heal or use a team-up move, you hold a button and then press another to choose who to use it on/team up with.  The problem is the button is displayed over the character, not their portrait, so it is really hard to make out which button to press when it is displayed as a tiny picture over the head of a moving character.  These aren't game-breaking, but they can be really annoying.

The Xbox One and PS4 versions are smoother than their last-gen counterparts.  Beyond that, there isn't much extra flair added to the visuals.  The pre-rendered cutscenes look the same as they were before.  Character models, areas and visual effects don't appear to be beefed up in any way besides looking smoother.  Both games ran really well with no hangups, even after playing several hours in a row.  So while they haven't been changed in any significant way, at least they run really well.

Both games each offer 12-15 hours of content, with multiple characters to use and unlock.  You can play them with others online and off.  Couch co-op players will all need to sign in, which can be a pain.  That's mostly a symptom of current gaming rather than the game, though.  Also, since the game is several years old, keeping all characters on the same screen feels a bit more restrictive than something like Diablo 3.  Strangely, the Ultimate Alliance 1 DLC is not included, but it is for Ultimate Alliance 2.  Activision has confirmed that a patch will be en route fix this, which I am hoping comes soon.  I really want to use Venom and Doom in the first game!

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 1 & 2 are still fun games, whether you play by yourself or with friends.  Gameplay and content hold up well to current games.  Visually, they aren't much different from their previous gen counterparts, which is a bit of a shame, considering the price tag.  If you have played them before and would like to go through them again, or are now interested in trying them out, both games hold up well and are worth playing, but maybe not at the current price.  Digital copies of the games for the previous generation of systems have been much cheaper in the past, making the pricing on this release a bit on the high side.


The Good:
The games are still really fun and have some good character choices.

The Bad:
The games look slightly better, but that's about it.  No other real changes.

The SaHD:
I'd really like to know how they missed the first game's DLC coming with it.  The version on the 360 marketplace has it in.  Did they not use that file?

(Review code for Marvel: Ultimate Alliance Bundle was provided by the publisher)

The Technomancer (Xbox One) Review

The Technomancer is an action RPG set on the planet Mars, where a young technomancer must struggle to survive.  If part of this sounds familiar, it is because the game is made by Spiders, and set within the Mars: War Logs universe.  As was the case with that game, I really like the setting, society and world created for the game.  There is a lot of thought into how it all evolved, and it works well.

As with most other RPGs, you will be walking around towns and dungeons, conversing with people, looking for treasure and getting into trouble.  I'll give the game that it has lots of nooks and crannies that have loot in them, and there are valuable skills (like lockpicking) that have more than a few places to give you even more.  However, I still have problems with this part of the game.  First is the smaller problem, which is the camera.  When you are not in combat, the camera is just too close to the character for my taste.  It cuts off the feet, making it harder to see things close to the ground.  I didn't see any option to zoom out, which I would have liked.

Second, and much more annoying, is the character's move speed.  It's just too fast.  I know it sounds like nitpicking, but when it is obnoxiously easy to overshoot treasure chests and run past enemies you were trying to sneak up on, it gets in the way of enjoying the game.  You can move at a much more acceptable pace if you slightly tilt the stick, but having to constantly monitor that is annoying.  Strangely enough, you can hold down a button to run even faster, which I found totally unnecessary.  If the hold button speed was what he moved normally, and his normal speed was a bit slower (or had zero momentum to his run), basic movement in the game would feel much better, and would not be a constant negative to the game.

Of course there is also combat in the game, and lots of it.  If you thought the run speed was the only thing getting in the way of me enjoying the game, then you've got another thing coming.  Fighting in Mars was rough around the edges, unforgiving and needed you to use your gun with way too limited ammo to make it through the game.  The Technomancer somehow takes this in the wrong direction and has made combat even more convoluted.

Now you have three different stances, each with its own set of weapons.  In theory, it is really cool, so you can quickly switch between sets to fit your playstyle or the situation.  First is the mage stance that has a staff as a weapon, which is great for area attacks.  The second is the warrior stance, which has a mace and shield.  The mace is in the middle, speed and damage wise, and the shield is the most useful thing in the game, allowing you to block and parry attacks.  The third stance is the rogue stance, which uses a speedy knife and the gun.  The knife is underwhelming, but the gun tries to make up for it at least.

Early on, you get a small taste of what could have been.  There are some really weak bug-like creatures that rush you in groups of 4+.  The mage stance is great for them, since the staff can hit areas and kills them in 1-2 hits.  This part of the game works, and gave me hope that the stances had some strategic use to them.  However, it was not to be.  I had to rely on the shield for just about everything else, since blocking is so necessary.  Enemies are not just dummies for you to beat on until they are dead, since they back/side step every other hit, and counter you almost constantly.  It's really annoying, not to mention that it makes the game a lot harder.  That's just too much for the 'normal' setting in my opinion (which this is, obviously).

Trouble is, the whole game is basically like that, but worse.  Fighting an enemy one on one is actually fine and works well.  Two on one is a little tougher, but can still be done with next to no problems.  Unfortunately, they game routinely throws 4 or so enemies at you at once, which had me getting pummeled and reloading every minute or so.  They also shrug off hits while attacking to give you some more cheap damage.  I suppose that's why there is a disruptive attack, that doesn't seem to actually do damage.  Besides moving all the time to dodge and counter, enemies like to surround you, so your block won't work.  Well, at least you can dodge, right?

Yes, but it's not very good.  It doesn't seem to offer much, if any, invincibility.  To add insult to your poor technomancer's injury, it queues up button presses so if you mash (to make sure it actually gives you the roll), so you will likely roll twice.  It also likes to not dodge in the direction I am pressing, which always bugs me in games.  Even if all of that worked, when fighting multiple enemies, they love to basically poke at you when you are trying to hit another, making safe combat take much, much longer than it should.  If the enemies were like the bugs, and died in a few hits, this might actually work.  Unfortunately, they seem to have much more health than they should (again, on the normal setting), bottoming out the fun-o-meter.

Did I mention some enemies have guns?  No?  Well, they you can be as surprised as I am when I take a bullet to the back in the middle of fighting two guys in the corner.  These guys can do a lot of damage before you even know they are there, since they don't stand out from the rest until they are actively pointing a gun at your face.  At least the bug creatures have a bigger model for the ranged ones, so you can identify and eliminate them quickly.

The combat is also very unforgiving.  You die in few hits, which add up quickly when you are trying to fight several people at once.  Frequently I found myself low on health in a matter of seconds, which not much I can do about it.  Strangely, the boss fight at the end of the tutorial was easier than any encounter with humans.  That just shouldn't be the case.  I found the button combinations for using skills and switching stances to not be very intuitive, which then takes me precious time and attention to look at the screen to do.  Yes, this got a bit better with time, but it caused me several headaches (and reloads) early on, which is not a great way to welcome players to your game.

The difficulty was something that bothered me a lot in Mars: War Logs, and it is disappointing to see it not addressed for a sequel.  It is more sad to see improving fights not only ignored, but almost laughed at by adding another layer of complexity (the stance switching).  It just makes combat in The Technomancer much more awkward than it really should be.  At its core, it should be fun, but it's just slapped with the Dark Souls stick to make it an overly difficult mess.  If the combat were at least slower, to give you time to go through your various abilities and react to things before punishing you, it would probably make it tolerable at least.  I tried setting it to 'easy' at one point in an attempt to make it better.  It didn't really seem to make a difference.

Well, now that we got pretty much all the negativity out of the way, I can cover a few small high points to the game.  The equipment upgrade system from Mars is again present.  You find a lot of raw materials that can be used to strengthen weapons and armor by adding mods to them.  The mods (and even the equipment itself) can be broken down to reclaim materials and slots to use again.  It takes some practice to fully understand it, but I do like the way it is done.

Stat and skill points are gained at various levels, and can be placed in many different places for various effects.  Skill points can also be used to modify the powers you get and change the way they behave.  This is pretty cool, but it does take you a few hours to have the points to really start playing around with the system.  I can see lots of potential ways to build your character, but you should evenly distribute your points across the trees, since you should be using multiple stances throughout the game.  This does hurt the illusion of character choice, however.

The game is supposedly about 20 hours, but that would definitely not account for all the loading you will be doing after each failed fight.  Or maybe it just adds a lot of time for me (I could just be terrible at the game and everyone else is great at it).  There's also a few different endings, and romance options with the party members to add some nice replay value.  As briefly mentioned before, there is a difficulty option for any masochists out there (you can set it two levels higher for some reason), and of course achievements/trophies.

I really wanted to like The Technomancer.  The world the game has is cool and I would love to see more of it.  The idea of the stances in combat is solid, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired.  I could honestly get past the awkward buttons, fighting and high movement speed if the combat wasn't so punishingly difficult.  It's just too high for my tastes.  Instead of fixing what was bad about Mars: War Logs, it seems like they just wanted to make it appeal to the Dark Souls fan base with its cheap difficulty and bad controls.  I would like to see the developer go back to the more simple, fun and balanced experience of something like Faery than this amalgamation.  What parts of the game I do like just can't be overcome by all the things I didn't like, big and small.


The Good:
Just like Mars: War Logs, the setting and premise of the game are really good.

The Bad:
Too bad the combat isn't.  If I didn't say "awkward and difficult" enough in the review, here it is again.

The SaHD:
Honestly, if they made the combat turn-based, it would probably work out, and I'd like to see that.  Or, just make the 'easy' setting actually easy and not '5% less hard'.

(Review code for The Technomancer was provided by the publisher)