Future Update Info

Hey everyone!

          Time for some real talk.  I have not posted anything on here since the Bayonetta 2 review in June.  I have been very busy with work and school as of late and simply have not had much free time to write.  I typically use my free time to play games instead of writing about them.  Over the next few weeks though, I plan on writing severl opinion pieces (probably short posts) about some things I have wanted to talk about recently.  I also have a Xenoblade X review planned when I finish the game (which should happen by the end of the month; the game is huge).  So please look forward to some new content and don't forget about me.


~Bob

Please follow me on twitter  @HitokiriSEVEN to get more information about games I am playing or gaming news.  Feel free to leave comments or suggestions in the comment box below or message me on Twitter.

Bayonetta 2 In-Depth Review

Reviewed by Bob

(Played on Wii U using the Pro Controller)

Platform: Wii U

Developer: Platinum Games

Release Date: September 2014

          Bayonetta 2 is a Wii U exclusive action game. The player takes control of one of the last surviving Umbra Witches: Bayonetta, as she embarks on a journey that takes her into both Heaven and Hell. Along the way she gains many weapons and accessories that help make this game an extraordinarily action packed and fast paced marvel. How does this game fare as one of the Wii U's most violently fun and sexual games? Let’s have a look:

Bayonetta is happy to be back

 

 

          The story takes place shortly after the events of the first game. With the world once again at peace, we find Bayonetta and her short & fat Italian stereotype Enzo shopping in the city. Jeanne arrives telling Bayonetta how both Paradiso and Inferno are strangely quiet. Wouldn't you know it, just then angels attack leading into a brawl that results in Bayonetta losing control of one of her summons causing Jeanne to get her soul knocked out of her. This sets Bayonetta along with Enzo and the lover of Japanese sake Rodin on a path into Hell to rescue Jeanne before her soul is devoured. Along the way we meet a few new comers like Loki and the Masked Lumen and some old favorites like Luka. Plenty of ups and downs in the story and a few plot twists that are pretty easy to see (I wonder who the Masked Lumen is?)

Who is that masked man?

          While confusing at points, the story does a decent job at getting us and Bayonetta where we need to go. In the story, we can see how much more development Bayonetta got as a character. She certainly has one of the strongest personalities for a video game character in recent years. In my opinion, a stronger story when compared to the first, but nothing too special as the story serves mainly as a tool to take us from one place to the next. If anything, the story is kept at a quick pace. Almost no part of it seems to drag.

          The category that can make or break an action game is gameplay. Largely unchanged from the first game, Bayonetta 2 has great controls and plays well. In terms of controls, you get three main fighting buttons with triggers that allow for different maneuvers; the highlight being witch-time which causes momentary slowdown when you dodge an enemy attack. This is critical in harder difficulties and insures that the player doesn't mash buttons in order to win. In general, the game isn't too difficult; even on the hardest default setting, I died only a few times. On the normal difficulty, I didn't die a single time. Unlike the first game, you are no longer punished for using items during a level by having it drastically impact your final score. Due to this, I got almost all gold and platinum trophies on my first playthrough of the game. The overall score takes into consideration the time it took to complete the chapter, the combo score and damage taken.

Yes, you can fight with a chain-chomp

          Looking closer at how the game plays, there are sixteen chapters in addition to the prologue. Each chapter looks different and has different challenges insides. The levels at there core are just areas that lead the player from one battle arena or set piece to the next. You fight, break a seal to continue and fight some more. The game does a good job about adding variety to make this formula stay fresh instead of becoming quickly stale. It does this by adding new bosses and enemy types, puts Bayonetta in flying or driving situations or in a mech just to name a few. At one point she even surfs up a water tornado on a board while battling a giant snake angel.

Just an ordinary day

          Aside from the battles, each stages has collectables such as crows which unlock Miiverse stamps, journal entries, golden LPs for new weapons, witch hearts and moon pearls (for health and magic boosts). Hidden away are the returning challenge portals which task Bayonetta with killing enemies while adhering to certain conditions such as not touching the floor or doing it all in one combo. New to the collectables are Witch tombs that require collecting broken pieces to be collected in a given time before you can open it to get the treasure inside. The gameplay is fast and tight which gives the player a sense of amazement at the fact that the chaos they are creating on screen is all their doing.

          The visuals in this game look amazing for being on the Wii U.  Given the scope of the battles and bosses, the visuals are a nice treat.  Granted, there are some poor textures if you look close enough at certain spots and things clip from time to time (mainly the extra costumes).  Given how the first game was very dark and had a very limited amount of truly colorful and eye-catching stages, the sequel is a massive upgrade.  Most stages are very vibrant and colorful.  Many stages stick out in my memory from when I played this game.  The prologue fight on top of the jet was a spectacular way to start the game.  The first stage in Inferno was memorable along with Chapter 14: The Witch Hunts which puts the player in control of a mech.

Just one of the epic moments in this game

          All in all, the visuals took advantage of the hardware.  This is especially true of the animations.  The game runs smoothly and both character and weapon animations are wonderfully stylish and brutal. 

Don't forget about the many Nintendo costumes in the game

          During my several run-throughs of the game, I didn't encounter any slowdowns and framerate was very consistent.  Most character models also look very polished.  The main characters especially are great looking along with the various enemies; angels look great with their shiny armor and multiple layers as they take damage.  They make for some really grotesque looking creatures.  The NPCs, however, in some stages look pretty minimal.

Don't you dare say that I should do a barrel roll

          The sound and music in this game are utterly fantastic and ear catching. I can't tell you how long the "Moon River" remix and theme were caught in my head. I had to remove them from my favorites list on Youtube for a while just so I couldn't accidentally listen to them and get the songs caught in my headagain. I almost resorted to bashing my head in just to get the music to stop playing. Besides these two tracks, the rest of the music does its job well. Most of the music isn't very memorable, but while you are playing they give you a sense of action and urgency. My only complaint would be at the end of the game when Bayonetta is doing her traditional pole-dance, the original version of "Moon River" plays and it is kind of weird. Aside from the music, the sound effects are well done, the hits seem impactful and the gory sounds pleasant. Voice acting is very well done; the main characters comeacross with real personality and flair (although some of the dialogue is a really cheesy). Overall, the sound is fantastic and the soundtrack would be a good buy in my opinion if only for the two songs I mentioned.

Music sets the mood...

 

                                                         
          The replay value is really strong with this game. There are three starter difficulties withfourth unlocked upon beating "3rd Climax" (hard mode). Your first playthrough will takeabout 12 hours given you aren't rushing through the stages and are searching for the collectables. Your later runs will of course be much fasterbecause you know how to play and where everything is. My first playthrough clocked in at about 13 hours on 2nd Climax while my next on a higher difficulty only lasted 6 hours. Aside from the four levels of difficulty through the 16 stages, there are plenty of items to collect that require a few hours of grinding the same level. You can also challenge yourself to getting Pure Platinum on each chapter, a feat which for me is impossible. There is even a secret boss battle if you save up the maximum amount of halos. This boss is extraordinarily tough and in my opinion cheap as hell. He will kill you with a few hits, even if you have maxed out health. 

I did not.

          After completing the main story for the first time, you also gain access to Witch Trials which are just gauntlets of monsters that increase in difficulty. Lastly, there is the Tag Climax mode which is fun with a partner. You don't really get anything from playing it too much besides a rank which does nothing as far as I can tell. Lot's to do after the credits roll, but if you are looking for something more meaningful besides just a few unlockable items, there is probably no point in coming back to it. The game is so fun however, you might just want the excuse to play more of it.

          This game is incredible. It is amazingly fun, fast-paced and energetic. Bayonetta 2 has a strong personality and is a game that knows exactly what it wants to be and hits every note. Of course, given you aren't too keen on what the game looks like or find its quirkiness too weird, the game has a very nice appeal. The levels are beautiful, the art fantastic, the music catchy, the weapons and animations superb and the pace is near perfect. This sequel improves on the original in every way and outdoes itself. I don't think I have ever played an action game like this before and thought it was THIS good. While I was playing it, I kept thinking to myself "this game is one of the best I have ever played." If you own a Wii U, it would be an injustice not to buy this game. It saddens me to think that many people won’t get a chance because they refuse to purchase the console. This is as close to gaming perfection as it gets for me. Put simply, it does what a game ought to, it lets the player have fun. That being said, I hope there is another sequel down the road. The world would be a better place if we all had some Bayonetta in our lives.

Dollar to Play Ratio: About $2 per hour (29 Hours total)

Do you agree with my review? Post in the comments section and let me know what you think.

Interested in getting daily game news and random things about Japan?  Follow me on Twitter @HitokiriSEVEN

Yoshi's Island DS Quickie Retro Review

Reviewed by Bob

Played on a Nintendo 3DS
Platform: Nintendo DS (also on Wii U 's Virtual Console)

Developer: Artoon

Release Date: November, 2006

          Yoshi's Island DS is a sequel to the critically acclaimed Super Nintendo game: Yoshi's Island.  The story goes that Luigi and other babies are being captured by Bowser and it is up to Yoshi and Baby Mario to go through various platforming stages to get them back.  In the DS adventure, there are four new babies that join Yoshi and Mario, each having their own special ability to help gather the three various collectables in each stage (20 red coins, 5 flowers and 30 stars).

Plenty of new babies, plenty of wasted opportunities

          The DS game takes advantage of the dual screens by allowing players to see what is high above or below Yoshi.  The game consists of 5 worlds, each including 8 stages and three unlockable stages that you can obtain by beating the game, gathering a hidden baby coin in each stage or accumulating a certain amount of points by collecting everything in each level. 

The divides don't even match up

 How does this sequel to a beloved classic fare?  Let's look at the pros and cons:

• The visuals are very nice and colorful.  Sprites look and animate very similar to the original SNES game.The music in a few stages are catchy and nice to listen to.  I found myself whistling along with the game several times during my playthrough.
• The stages are varied and for the most part they each offer something slightly different from the previous stages. 
• Four babies means there are different ways to explore the levels.  Adds more variety.
• Plentiful lives.  The player gets extra lives like candy being tossed at a parade.  I ended my playthough with about 226 lives.  I didn't farm lives or anything, the game is just very generous. 
• Has a certain amount of charm to it.

(This is the point where you discover how much I disliked this game)

•   There are only 5 worlds.  This makes the game much shorter than its predecessor.

5 Worlds and 3 Worthless Bonus Stages

•  The game is boring! Boring, Boring, Boring! 
• Granted there are slightly different things in each level, the game is just so bland.  Despite several good music bits, most music just blends into the background.
• The babies allow you to do different things in the stages. However, of the five total babies, only three are with you most of the game.  Wario and Bowser only have about 3-4 stages and then you never see them again.
•  Wario comes in more than 3/4 though the game and Bowser only in the last world. 
• The DS/3DS screen divide is a nightmare.  In some levels, collectables are hidden behind the divide and you miss them.  Sometimes Yoshi was behind the bar during auto-scroll levels which was also nightmarish.  Aiming your eggs past the divide is terrible because the projectile angle slightly moves when past the bar.
• Terrible level design on many stages.  Things like cheap deaths, one hit kills, confusing maze design, etc.  I was mostly angered by the fact that for some flower collectables, you barely get a second to react in order to get it, then you miss it and have no opportunity to get it again unless you kill yourself or restart the whole level.

•  The camera is so zoomed in on you, Yoshi is forced to makes leaps of faith all the time and flying enemies pop out from nowhere and hit you because of your limited vision. 

If I drop down, will I die? Who knows?!

•  Unlockable stages are a waste.  Two of the three are just mini-games to gain more lives (like over 200 isn't enough) and the last are just bonus stages that take the most infuriating parts of the game and combine them into one.  Most of these unlockables just are not worth the time.
• Adult Bowser looks as if he came out of a CD-i game.  He does not fit the rest of the game's art at all.

  

  Silly Bowser, this isn't the CD-i

          As you can tell, I did not like this game.  I wanted to, I really did.  But with the boring gameplay, terrible level design, underutilized characters and lackluster bonuses, the game is really hard to recommend.  If you really love Yoshi and don't mind putting up with very frustrating elements, give the game a try (the cartridge and VC versions are dirt cheap).  If you would like to play a better platformer, there are certainly many out there that are much better than this piece of garbage. 

Total Play Time: 9 hours 30 min

Do you agree with my review? Post in the comments section and let me know what you think.

If you liked this review, please follow me on Twitter @HitokiriSEVEN for daily updates and gaming news.

Steamworld Dig HD In-Depth Review

 

 

Reviewed by Bob
(Played on Wii U using the gamepad) 
Platforms: Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, PS4, Vita, PC

Developer:  Image & Form

Release Date:  Aug 2014 (Wii U Version)

            Do you enjoy digging?  What about games where you dig and occasionally find stuff?  That pretty much sums up the experience I had with Steamworld Dig HD for the Wii U.  The game, originally released on the 3DS in 2013, has been called a hybrid of Dig Dug and Metriodvania style games.  You take on the roll of Rusty in a steampunk influenced world inhabited by robots.  Upon receiving the deed to his dead uncle's mine, Rusty begins his journey by digging deeper into the mine uncovering various materials and secrets while meeting new friends in the town that acts as the main hub for the game.

Diggin' in the dirt looking for material

          The story, while simple, is enough to keep you going in the game.  While it serves this basic function, don't expect to find yourself too involved in what's happening.  I found that while the townsfolk had personality, I didn't much care for them outside of using them as the shops or material trading services they offered.  Rusty himself only has a few lines of dialogue while other characters tend to speak much more.  The story is functional and is well paced, but don't expect too much.

Rusty in the hub town selling materials

          The gameplay can be summed up as responsive and tight.  Gameplay consists of three things, digging, attacking and jumping.  The flow of the game follows this pattern:

Step 1)  You enter the mine and use your pickaxe to make paths in the dirt.  Every now and then you will find raw materials that you can collect and bring back up to the surface to sell.

Step 2)  With the money you receive from trading, you will level up which unlocks an ever increasing variety of digging tools, health upgrades, water upgrades (water in the game is what powers most of your add-ons), and light upgrades which allows you to see for a longer time in the mine before it gets too dark and you have to resurface.  As you get more money, more townsfolk will appear to offer you more items to buy. 

Step 3)  Re-enter the mine and use your new equipment.  You will find random caves with special treasures inside and numbered caves which lead to enhancements like running faster or double jumping.  With these, you are able to explore the mines faster and reach places you couldn't before.  While exploring, you will find a small variety of enemies to kill, but none of them are too hard and only take a handful of hits to destroy. 

Step 4)  Rinse and repeat steps 1, 2 and 3.  With each visit to the surface you get more money and continue your steady progress of upgrading.  The pacing is very good because just when you reach an area that proves too difficult to dig or too high to jump, there is usually an upgrade waiting for you. 

About death:  My tip to you is don't carry around too much money.  If you die, you lose half of it and all your materials drop where you died.  If you die too often, you will not be able to buy everything in the stores which can make for an extremely difficult time.  I died once in my play through due to negligence, so you surviving shouldn't be too hard.  

Cranky has a lot of upgrades for you to use in the mine

          Visually the game is very crisp and clean.  The original version on the 3DS looked good for being on a handheld, but the HD port looks very nice.  The characters have good cartoony detail to them, the environments (of which there are three) all have personality to them and the various monsters you fight all stand out nicely in the mines that you'll be spending all your time in.  My only complaint is that while the environments do look nice and the developers tried to vary the look of the mines, there is only so much you can do to make dirt look different.  That being said, there is still good visual variety, even if what you are looking at half the time are rocks and brown squares of dirt.

The mine gets more dangerous the deeper you go

          Sound in the game does a good job at portraying what you are doing.  The mines have an ambiance that encourages the player to explore while also giving the feeling of solidarity as you are alone in the mine to deal with its many dangers.  In town, the music is straight out of a western.  There isn't any voice acting; instead we hear the various robotic sounds of the townsfolk.  Most of them are fine and add a distinction between characters, one in particular is torture to the ears and you'll want to avoid him whenever possible.  Overall, the music and sound effects are good, but nothing that will keep you whistling after you're done.  

          Each new game randomly generates the world.  The material and unmovable block locations are changed around.  The game itself also never changes difficulty. The true replay value comes from how you want to play the game.  You can go through it buying items in different orders or try to beat the game without upgrades to your health, steam power or light energy.  You can pretty much make the game as difficult and as long-lasting as you want.  When you complete the game, you are graded on four things from your play-through.  Going for the gold in each category in one run is challenging and adds much to the replay value.  

My results screen at the end.  Not bad for a first run

 

          Steamworld Dig HD, while having a few flaws is well worth the $8 I spent on it.  There is always something to do, whether it be digging deeper in the mine, buying new items and upgrades or gathering raw materials.  The game will be a decent length on your initial play through (mine took a bit over 8 hours), and you will enjoy every minute of it.  I recommend the game shouldn't be played for more than an hour at a time because you will get burned out quickly if you just keep digging.  Take the necessary breaks and you will enjoy this game a great deal.  If you have the choice, play it on the Wii U because the gamepad's second screen acts as a map and inventory guide and is very nice for keeping things off the main screen giving the game a slightly more cinematic feel.  No matter the system you will be playing on, Steamworld Dig HD is a charming, fun and unique game that is well worth a play. 

For the Budget Gamer ~ Dollar to Play Ratio: $1 per Hour (8 hours total)

 

 Do you agree with my review? Post in the comments section and let me know what you think.
Don't forget to follow me on my Twitter: @HitokiriSEVEN and share if you liked this article.