Bangledeschler

April 2022

    Guacamelee! Gold Edition

    Guacamelee! Gold Edition

    7 hours playtime

    Revisit
    Solid Metroidvania with Latino flair. Be the Luchador you are and face against supernatural foes as you save the damsel and stop the end of the world. Combat is decent with an emphasis on grapple moves. What makes this stand out more is the ability to freely shift between the living and dead dimension. Shifting will not only change the tone/music/environment but also the ability to combat certain foes and progress in ways that you may not in be able to in a specific dimension. There is co-op capability, though I’m not sure how that plays.

    The game features an incredible amount of reference and love towards other games both in the fore front such as collecting power ups via Chozo-like statues (Metroid) to plenty of background references with various posters, statues, and establishment names.

    Lewd? Nope.
    Recommend? Yes, solid metroidvania and a love letter to video games as a whole. It should be noted that this is not the definitive version despite being called “Gold Edition”.

    Middle-earth™: Shadow of Mordor™

    Middle-earth™: Shadow of Mordor™

    21 hours playtime

    Revisit / Steam Deck
    Assassin Creed-like game set in LOTR universe yet fairly separate from a lot of the protagonists of the movies/books. Story is alright and the unique warchief mechanic gives the game continued playability as new orcs replace the ones you have killed or converted. However, the land is pretty bland and there really is not much to do between missions or outside of messing with the War Chiefs. DLC is more of the same with some new monster variants and skills, but they are in their own separate instances. I would have loved if they incorporated it as an option to include in your main playthrough instead.

    Lewd? Nope
    Recommend? Generally, yes. It hasn’t aged particularly well, but it is a decent stealth/action game.

    Yooka-Laylee

    Yooka-Laylee

    11 hours playtime

    Very obviously inspired by Banjo and Kazooie, but lacking in all of the feeling and heart. Levels are left incomplete until you find collectibles and upgrade the world. An interesting progression system but ultimately the execution just wasn’t right. Levels just end up feeling too big and empty in the early game and by the time the world has been upgraded the pay off just isn’t enough. The music is alright, but the sound effects are not. A particular sound that your duo can make while moving sounds like a straight up squeaky toy and it is the worst. Boss battles are pretty inconsistent, some are decent while others seem to be a bit wonky.

    Lewd? Nope
    Recommend? Not really. It tries to capture everything that went well in Banjo and Kazooie and misses all marks.

    NARUTO: Ultimate Ninja STORM

    NARUTO: Ultimate Ninja STORM

    16 hours playtime

    Steam Deck
    Naruto fighting game that offers a semi open world story mode. Genuinely impressed with the performance and look of this game despite being older. The cell shaded cartoon/anime style keeps the game looking fresh while the frame rate seems to run silky smooth. The game follows the original Naruto show from the Genin period all the way to the end with the Sound Ninja Four and Sasuke leaving arc. However, they do miss some critical moments including the Land of Waves arc with Zabuza. In between the main story missions you can play to gain mission points which allows you to progress as well. Unfortunately, these missions are not only very repetitive but kind of unimaginative. You either get to do a tree climbing race (lane racer type game), tree jumping race (avoid obstacles to either get to a destination or catch up to a target in a limited time), hide and seek, and general battles with goals. A somewhat neat aspect is that between missions you get to explore the leaf village fairly freely. You can only climb buildings at certain points, but you can otherwise run, jump, throw yourself, destroy objects, and collect scrolls (currency 1 out of 2) as well as deliver and purchase items. As neat as this is and populated as the village is, there really isn’t much to actually do in the village. More annoyingly so, is you’ll have to accept missions at a save point, run to a person to initiate it and then possibly run to another destination to actually access the mission. It’s super round-a-bout and becomes cumbersome quickly.

    Outside of regular battles, there are 3 giant battles that have you facing against, well, giant adversaries which include QTE cutscenes that recreate epic moments from the show. I’m not sure if it is a problem solely for the Steam deck, but there were some performance issues with some stages and character moves. Chunin Exam final arena causes consistent slow down and Might Guy’s Ultimate move creates massive stuttering and slow down for example.

    Lewd? No Sexy Jutsu here.
    Recommend? Generally, yes. Though I think the later storm games massively improve on the story and fighting system, this game generally performs and looks great while providing decent gaming experience.

Elden Ring
PS5
Yet another Soulsborne game that doesn’t quite reinvent the wheel but does expand on pre-existing mechanics creating another well enjoyed experience. The biggest change being that it is now open world which creates both pros and cons. Pros being great sceneries, more options for exploration and progression, as well as more encounters/bosses. Cons is something that open world usually have which is repetitive bosses, useless/egregious crafting system, and empty/disappointing areas. Combat is pretty standard for the last few releases from FromSoft where you have your normal, heavy, and weapon arts among other things such as a plethora of magic/miracles. The interesting thing is that weapon arts can now be changed, with some limitations, to fit your needs. Bosses are generally great all around though it seems like every update is causing a new issue for one boss or another.

Lewd? As you are maidenless, no… no lewds.
Recommend? Yes. Though I don’t consider it to be the best Soulsborne it is still a very solid entry

Final Fantasy 20th Anniversary Edition
PSP
Despite being the Final Fantasy, it is far from the last. There was genuine surprise on how much this game introduced that would become staples in the later series. Basic job classes, airships, Bahamut, among other standard FF tropes. The biggest critique in this game is that it is really vague on where you are supposed to go and since you get the ship so early on you can very easily get lost at sea or go places you shouldn’t quite go yet. This is especially true in the 20th Anniversary edition as it adds additional content that could easily be interpreted as progression but is definitely out of your league for quite a while. Combat is pretty standard turn based RPG. Classes are pretty limited and do not have some of the key features or skills available that future installments implement. Basically only the mages can really cast magic and any melee class is a matter of stats and equipment. This is not terrible, just makes them feel less unique or requiring strategy. Spells are also incredibly limited in that you only have 3 spell slots per tier and you won’t know what spells you can get until you get to each shop. This means you have to risk spending the many gil on a spell that may not be used and thrown away for something you missed or find later.

Lewd? Nope
Recommend? Kinda. The game definitely inspired many JRPGs to come and set in place the rest of the series, but it is pretty much a standard JRPG and is far too vague in giving directions. Guide recommended.