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Tag Archives: Nintendo Switch
GATO ROBOTO Review
July 10, 2019 ReviewsAdventure, Adventure games, Console games, Console gaming, Devolver Digital, Doinksoft, Gato Roboto, indie, Indie Games, Indie Gaming, Metroidvania, Nintendo, Nintendo eshop, Nintendo Switch, PC games, PC Gaming, Steam, Valvethedeviot
Like the term or not, Metroidvania games have seen something of a resurgence in the world of independently made games. Large maps where you have to slowly discover and uncover areas through exploration have been around for years. But the best games with this design philosophy have had their own little hooks that make them stand out from the crowd. Axiom Verge, VVVVVV, and The Messenger all had unique takes on the idea. And Gato Roboto also has its own things it brings to the table.
PROS: It's Metroid, The Nodes Of Yesod, Blaster Master, and Mega Man. With KITTIES!
CONS: Short. Veterans may find their way through even faster.
HUMOR: This game will get some laughs out of you.
Let's get this out of the way. Gato Roboto is an excellent game. I think most people who buy it will enjoy it immensely. You'll enjoy the gameplay, laugh at the jokes, and the Undertale inspired character designs are pretty good too. Aesthetically, Gato Roboto also wears the clothes of games played on our IBM PC Compatibles, Apple II's, Commodore 64's, Atari 800's, and ZX Spectrums back in 1984. Outside of a handful of other mentions, most games that take the retro look take inspiration from the NES. So Gato Roboto stands out from the crowd a tad bit more in this regard.
It also helps that everything about this game is so darn cute. It's like the folks at Doinksoft pretty much knew this was going to have to resonate with the Hallmark Card crowd, and it really does. You play the role of a cat who is on a military vessel with its owner. You, being a seemingly oblivious pet step on a keyboard which causes the navigation system to go off course. This results in a crash getting you and your owner marooned on an alien world. Your owner can't escape the wrecked ship, so you agree to go do the job they cannot. Fortunately, they know a little bit about the planet and give you some clues.
Before long, you'll discover a lab that looks suspiciously like the save stations in Super Metroid. You'll also find a vehicle that looks suspiciously like the vehicle from Blaster Master. And like the latter, throughout your adventure, there will be times you'll need to get out of it. The difference is in Gato Roboto you're entirely defenseless when roaming on foot. These moments have an element of stealth gameplay, where you have to sneak around or approach a situation like a puzzle. When riding around in your vehicle you convert into a tiny kitten themed mech. And much like the Metroid games, you'll have to find items to give you more powerful weapons, longer health bars, and the ability to go places you previously could not.
It also has a bit of the pre-Metroid exploration games like The Nodes Of Yesod, and The Arc Of Yesod. Those games also had you rolling around a large map for items. But they didn't scroll. Gato Roboto has some areas like this, where the screen just flips to the next one. And with the art style used, it really fits the motif. Even if it can be jarring with the spots that do have four-way scrolling.
If Undertale made you laugh, it will be apparent to you that Toby Fox was an inspiration here. There is a lot of similar humor here. Characters balk at certain interactions. They'll make references that are just vague enough that the intended audience gets them. And there are a few spots where they go the opposite direction with reference humor to make sure everyone gets the gag. They also throw in some stuff that only pet owners or the friends or relatives of pet owners will get.
Through it all, everything feels pretty tight. There aren't too many moments where you'll die and wonder why. That said, things do feel different when exploring the world on foot than they do when you're piloting a vehicle. You have a little bit more momentum when scrambling around on four legs. You have a different arc and sense of gravity when jumping. There are also places you can go on foot that you can't when piloting your mech. It all feels really good.
Boss fights usually feel right out of the Metroid games. Though there are a few that will hearken back to the NES Mega Man games. One fight, in particular, reminded me of a very specific Sonic The Hedgehog fight. While another reminded me of playing Super R-Type. So there are a number of old-school references geezers like me can enjoy along with the contemporary ones those I have a decade on will love as well.
Throughout it all, the audio soundtrack complements it well. If I had any complaints about it, there isn't any particular tune that really stood out to me. Nothing that I know will make me go "I know this was from Gato Roboto!" years from now. But there's nothing here that will feel out of place.
The only thing I feel that some people won't like is just how short it can feel. My first playthrough was done in less than four hours. I found nearly 75% of all of the items in the process. By contrast, I probably put a good 20 hours into The Messenger, and Axiom Verge each. Be that as it may, Gato Roboto's vehicle mechanic and collectibles do feel unique from other exploration games. It's also a good candidate for speed running. In fact, one of its achievements on Steam is centered around it. As for the collectibles, you can find up to 14 hidden cartridges in the game's map. If you manage to get them, they'll allow you to change the color scheme from black and white graphics to other two-toned visual solutions. But more importantly, finding them all will allow an NPC to give you better equipment. If you go for a 100% completion run this might extend that playtime a bit. Especially if you decide to do that before trying to speed run the game or getting through it without going for the better items.
In conclusion, Gato Roboto does do enough to set itself apart from other Metroidvania style games. It's very funny, has some challenging bosses, and some of the items can be pretty tough to get. I just wish it could have been just a little bit longer. On the other hand, a good game should leave you wanting more. Gato Roboto is a good game. One you ought to check out. Especially if you've already played some of its acclaimed contemporaries. And even if you haven't, you'll still likely enjoy it a lot. Especially if you like to get legitimate moments of comic relief in your games. Gato Roboto is one stray worth taking in.
Final Score: 8 out of 10.
GUNLORD X Review
May 26, 2019 ReviewsArcade, Arcade Games, Console games, Console gaming, GUNLORD, GUNLORD X, Indie Games, Indie Gaming, Neo Geo, NGDEV, Nintendo, Nintendo eshop, Nintendo Switch, Sega, Sega Dreamcast, SNKthedeviot
Turrican. It was one of the most beloved games to come out of the European home computer scene. Created and published by Rainbow Arts, the game would go onto see a multitude of sequels across many computer platforms. Most popularly on the Commodore 64, and Commodore Amiga. Future games would be made by Factor 5. Yes, *that* Factor 5. The series would eventually make its way to North America where it would gain most of its prominence on the Sega Genesis, and then the Super NES.
But whether you prefer one of the home computer versions or one of the console entries Turrican is an all-time classic for a reason. It blended action-platforming, and run n' gun gameplay very well. Plus it encouraged exploration over simply running in any given direction. There's a good chance if you pick up any one of the games in the series, you'll want to spend a considerable amount of time trying to complete it.
PROS: A wonderful send-up of Turrican. Fantastic Soundtrack.
CONS: Some enemies blend into backgrounds. Small bugs.
X: Features some modern tweaks.
GUNLORD X is a love letter to the Turrican series. It is also a modern update to a 2012 release on the Sega Dreamcast which in turn was previously a game on the Neo Geo. Previously, I had only heard of the Dreamcast game but never played it. Largely because of the fact that it wasn't a wide release, and became pretty collectible fairly quickly. I was informed by Mike of DYHPTG and XVGM Radio about the Neo Geo original, which as it turns out is also quite expensive these days.
In any case, the folks at NGDEV have made a fantastic send-up of Turrican. GUNLORD X plays very similarly to the old Rainbow Arts and Factor 5 games. Throughout the game's 11 stages you'll find yourself trying to get to the end of each, blowing away hundreds of threatening enemies in the process. However, the game only becomes that much tougher if you treat it as a typical 2D action game.
While the game does have a more standard stage progression, each of these puts a huge emphasis on exploration. As was the case in the Turrican games, you'll need to go off the beaten path looking for secrets, 1-Ups, and items if you want any hope of having enough in reserve to make it to the end. The game also has a gem system similar to that of Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams. Except that instead of giving you a star rating to unlock stages, these are needed to earn continues. So you'll spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to get to those giant pink gems that seem just out of reach.
This is where GUNLORD X can even feel a lot like a Metroidvania. While there is no massive overarching map that you're trying to navigate, the stages do have branching paths. There are also plenty of secret rooms, and areas that are hidden behind walls that must be clipped through. One of the key moves in the game even takes a page from Nintendo's adventure series. You'll need to turn into a ball to get into crevasses, tunnels, or discover certain tiles you can pass through. You'll have to spend a considerable amount of time finding hidden platforms or ledges to reach other spots or in order to solve puzzles.
As a result, you can't really approach the game like a Metroid game or a traditional action game. The combat is far more hectic and fast-paced than in Nintendo's acclaimed series. The platforming is very much an homage to the home computer games of the 1980s and 1990s. There is a very European computer platforming feel in this game. You'll have to make very calculated jumps that require you to be right on the very edge of a platform in order to make it to the next. Again, like Turrican. Floaty, meticulous jumps. On paper, when combined with some of the firefights you'll get into it might sound like an insurmountable amount of chaos. But with the brilliant level design on display, it really isn't. This is an action game that doesn't rely solely on your reflexes. Instead, you'll need to be very focused on everything else going on around you. If you pay too much attention to enemies, you may not notice a trap. If you pay too much attention to a trap, you might not see that one tiny enemy hiding on a ledge.
There's a little bit of give and take. You don't necessarily have to be the fastest shot or the absolute best jumper. But you do need to be aware of what is going on around you at all times. You have to give yourself some time to plan. But you also need to think on your feet sometimes. Instinctively you might want to blast everything in sight. But sometimes that might end up destroying your only path to a gem that might have netted you another continue in a particularly tough section.
But it isn't all branching paths, secret rooms, and hordes. GUNLORD X breaks up things with shoot 'em up sections and some auto scroll stages for good measure. Be that as it may, even in these stages you're going to want to keep an eye out for those hidden gems. Sometimes that means looking for any kind of variance at the risk of potentially becoming crushed. The shoot 'em up sections are shorter stages than the rest of the stages, but they're still challenging in their own right. While I wouldn't call these Bullet Hell sections, there is still a ton of stuff to avoid and shoot down.
GUNLORD X is by no means an easy game. but it isn't an insurmountable one. There are plenty of tools the game gives you to get through even the most troublesome areas. For one thing, there are a wide variety of guns you can pick up. You'll start with a standard issue gun, but upon shooting your first invisible platform you'll find little cards jettison. If you pick one up you'll change guns. There are all types, and as you play through sections multiple times (which you probably will because you likely won't get through it on an initial playthrough) you'll learn what weapon suits the predicament the best. There's a spread gun that isn't that powerful but can clear waves of low-level enemies and projectiles. There's a flame thrower that takes down targets fast at the cost of not covering every angle. There's a green laser that has a high fire rate. There are also rocket launchers, a blue beam, and more. You can also drop bombs when you're in your *Not* Samus ball mode. There are also some generous health pickups and shield pickups. Be that as it may, you can't afford to get careless. Three hits and you're dead.
The arsenal also includes a laser beam that can clear enemy projectiles, and destroy enemies themselves. Over time during continuous use, it becomes weaker though. There is a meter at the bottom of the screen that depletes as you use it. When you stop using it, it will slowly recharge. You use it by moving the right thumbstick in whatever direction you want. You'll find many times you'll have to stop firing your main weapon to use it, and then go back to using your main weapon. It's a very handy tool in that you can go through most walls with it, which lets you get a jump on some of the tougher regular enemies.
Of course, the major stars of the show are the enormous bosses. Some stages have one, others have multiple bosses, and others do not have a boss at all. Still, when you do go up against one it won't be enough to simply memorize an attack pattern. Certain weapons do a better job against certain bosses. This gives the game a dash of Mega Man, and Contra spices into the proverbial brew. Fortunately, you won't have to defeat the entire gauntlet of a game in a single sitting. The game has limited continues, but it does let you start on the last stage you've reached. This is something of a Godsend when you've made it to the end of the game only to reach a fail state.
Completing the game will unlock a speed run mode where you'll try to complete the game again, as fast as humanly possible for your personal best record. I'm sure that this mode will attract a lot of hardcore fans, and runners since everything else in the game is just so good. The game also offers a couple of visual options one can tweak if they wish. It has a scanline filter you can turn on or off. If you leave it on, you can also fine-tune the look of the scanlines so that you can make them as authentic looking as you want. You can also render the game in 4:3 or a 16:9 aspect ratio and the game will let you put borders on or off when using 4:3. Generally, I found I left the scanlines off as I like the crispness of the pixel art. I also played in the classic 4:3 aspect ratio since that would have been what the original versions ran under.
So other than the added letter to its name and some visual options what does this offer over the Dreamcast or Neo Geo versions? Well as far as I can tell after seeing footage from the original some of the stages have been reworked. Some of these are longer stages than they were before and the game appears to have more bosses to contend with. There are also a few minor aesthetic changes too. A background scene or two have seen some edits, along with some grammatical errors seeing a correction. One disappointing change is a slightly toned down introduction cinema. Where an enemy was previously gunned down, they now narrowly escape. It's baffling since the Nintendo of today allows for things like Mortal Kombat 11 to appear unaltered.
Violence reduction aside, things look absolutely terrific in this game. The pixel art is breathtaking, allowing for a lot of details even the old Amiga computers would have had to have been really pushed to pull off without losing a steady frame rate. The 16-bit palettes are only one aspect of this one. Everything just has an awe-inspiring look to it. The character designs, backdrops, enemy designs, and bosses look fantastic. And while the story is very much a simple B+ Action film staple of a hero rescuing their spouse, the world building is intriguing. By the end of the campaign, you're going to want to see more of GUNLORD X. The game's soundtrack is equally great, taking a lot of inspiration from the Amiga 500's sound chip, and the Sega Genesis' sound chip. Rafael Dyll's soundtrack takes a cue from Chris Huelsbeck's fine work on Turrican too. As with a lot of the other Turrican homages, this one features a really nice New Wave synthesized sound that fits the cold, harsh, dystopian world of GUNLORD X. Not only has this wonderful OST carried over from the original version of the game, but the added trailer tune by Fabian Del Priore fits right in with it perfectly. This is a soundtrack that is very memorable in its own right, and while inspired by Turrican, sets it apart from Turrican.
Frankly, GUNLORD X is an essential download for any Switch owner who loves Metroidvanias, Run N' Guns, or Eurocentric computer platformer games of the action variety. It's a cut above many of the other retro-inspired indie games you can find on the Nintendo e-shop. Those who absolutely demand a physical cartridge might be disappointed that (as of now) this is a digital only release. Be that as it may, you get more than your money's worth in terms of content, and challenge. Plus there are just enough additions to make it worth nabbing even if you decide to splurge hundreds of dollars on one of the original Dreamcast or Neo Geo releases.
There really isn't all that much to complain about here either. As far as gameplay issues go, some enemies blend a little too well into the backgrounds. So sometimes you may take damage, or lose a life to something a couple of times before realizing why. Annoying, yes. But far too rare to dilute the overall experience. On the technical side, there are a couple of bosses that don't seem to load in until you move to a very specific place in their arenas. Most notably the dragon, and the initial henchmen of the final battle. Weird, but it doesn't really affect the game much at all. But it is something to be aware of if you're going to attempt speed runs as you're not going to want to lose five seconds because you stood on the wrong brick.
Beyond these two complaints which could very likely find themselves fixed in a patch should the developers discover them I can't complain. GUNLORD X is one of the best games on the Nintendo e-shop. It combines action, adventure, and platforming elements in a way that the average player will love. Turrican fans will especially love it as the best elements have all carried over. But it still retains its own identity thanks to the excellent visual and sound design. As well as the excellent level design. This game is awesome.
In short: GUNLORD X is a really cool game you really ought to check out.
Final Score: 9 out of 10
PowerA Enhanced Wireless Controller for Nintendo Switch Review
May 15, 2019 ReviewsConsole Accessories, Console gaming, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Nintendo, Nintendo Switch, Peripherals, Power A, Splatoon, Splatoon 2, Super Mario Odyssey, Techthedeviot
The Third-Party Controller. It's been a mainstay since the days of the Atari 2600. For over a generation, one of gaming's running jokes has been this familiar scene. You've invited someone over for a night of video games. You want them to play with you, but you don't have the cash for a second controller. They're expensive. You need an alternative that isn't as costly. So you pick up a compatible controller for a third of the price and force the guest to use it. Why is this a joke? Because for over 40 years, there have been countless controllers made by companies other than the platform holders. Controllers that have often been shoddy, made from cheap, brittle plastics. Controllers that often wear out fast, or simply aren't as responsive as the stock controller that came with the console.
In short: Third-Party controllers have often been largely inferior to their First-Party counterparts. But, over the years there have been exceptions. The long-defunct Suncom often made controllers on par with the likes of Atari, and Coleco. ASCII made a couple of terrific pads for the NES, Sega Genesis, and Super Nintendo. But, by and large, these were never the rule.
PROS: Feature rich. Build quality. Affordable.
CONS: No NFC chipset for Amiibo figures. No Lithium-Ion battery.
NOW: You're playing with PowerA.
In recent years a newer name has come into view. PowerA. This company has controllers you'll see sprinkled along with First-Party controllers on pegs in Walmart, Target, and Gamestop stores all across the USA. They started out making some inexpensive wired controllers, and have slowly introduced some wireless alternatives. This is especially true in the Nintendo Switch sections. Near the end of 2018, their wireless offering began showing up, and initially, it might seem easy to write it off like another bad knockoff. But quite honestly, you might just want to consider this one.
With Nintendo's own Pro Switch Controllers costing nearly $80, you may not be prepared to get one on a whim. A set of Joy Cons and another grip is also not an inexpensive endeavor. PowerA's offering is almost less than half the price of Nintendo's and is as responsive in its reaction time. I'm serious. You can approach any game you own on the console with it, and it performs wonderfully. The thumbsticks have a very nice grip along their circular rims and feel great. It also has a sturdy, yet light feel. Enough heft without weighing down your wrists during long play sessions.
There's also a nice bonus in that there are two programmable buttons they've added to the underside. If there's a game that has a sequence you want to assign to either of them, you can press the center button on the other side, and then program the sequence to either side button. This can be handy in some games where you don't want to deal with a combination of simultaneous movement. Maybe you have a game that requires you to press Y, and X at the same time for certain tasks. And for whatever reason, you can't get a handle on it. Now you can make that a single button press. Or maybe there's a game that makes pressing a weird, unintuitive combination mandatory. Now, you can skip that.
PowerA also made a controller that pairs with the Switch fairly easily. All you have to do is go under the grip order menu and press the sync button along the top. It may take a moment longer on an initial synchronization but after that, it's pretty quick. The controller also features some really well-made face buttons. the A, B, X, Y buttons have a nice feel, and the D-pad feels terrific. The shoulder buttons and triggers also have a great feel to them. The +, -, Camera, and Home buttons feel a little bit brittle and cheap. But they're also not the most essential ones either. Unless you just have to take 30-second clips of everything, it probably won't matter much to you.
The controller also includes a gyroscopic movement! Until recently, most Third-Party offerings omitted this to get to a lower price. The thing is, there are a handful of games that really do play better with motion controls enabled. Super Mario Sunshine's Cappy trick jumping, and Splatoon 2's smooth, quick aiming go much, much better with motion controls. In the case of the latter, the difference between using the right thumbstick, and tilting the controller is night and day. So having that feature in a controller is a must for some players. Some who enjoy Mario Kart 8 Deluxe might enjoy motion steering.
But, there are a few concessions here to be aware of. First, the battery. The PowerA solution does not have a rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery like the Pro Controller does. Instead, the company went with traditional AA batteries. There is a plus, and a minus to this. On the minus side, you'll have the expense of buying AA batteries in bulk or rechargeable AA batteries, and a AA battery wall charger. You won't have the same battery life Nintendo's solution gives you either. But on the plus side, if you're still playing games on the Switch in 15 years, you'll still be able to find batteries. And you won't have to take the controller apart to replace them.
Sadly, this controller also eschews the NFC chipset the Pro Controller has. So you can't use Amiibo figures or cards with this. You'll still need to use your Joy-Con controller to scan in the collectibles if you want to use their features. It isn't the worst thing in the world, but it is inconvenient if you want to play Smash Bros with this controller while also training Figure Players.
Considering the cost of the controller (at the time of this writing) though, these omissions may or may not bother you too much. It manages to come through on all of the most important fronts. It also performs as well as the Nintendo options in your games save for the cut feature or two. If you're in the market for a second controller for your Nintendo Switch, this is definitely one worth considering. Just keep in mind you'll need a stash of batteries, and Amiibo Figures aren't compatible with it. You can also find it in a variety of different colors or screen prints. Sadly none of these feature the Squid Sisters or Inklings. Despite there being a non-motion controlled wired Splatoon themed controller by PowerA. Hopefully, future revisions will include other Nintendo themed screen prints.
Mortal Kombat 11 (Switch) Review
April 26, 2019 Reviews2.5D Fighting Games, Console games, Console gaming, Fighting, Fighting Games, Microsoft, Microsoft Windows, Midway, Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 11, Nether Realm, Nintendo, Nintendo Switch, PC, PC games, PC Gaming, Playstation 4, Shiver, Sony, Warner Bros, Xbox Onethedeviot
A few days ago the highly anticipated Mortal Kombat 11 came out, and has mostly gotten praise. But the Nintendo Switch version is often left out of the conversation. Like many people I was curious about how the game was going to work out on the console. So I picked it up after work on its launch, and I've been playing it after hours since. This is what I've found about the game on Switch, and the game in general. Much of this will likely apply to the other three versions out there as well.
PROS: Everything in the other versions is here. Plays great.
CONS: The visuals are downgraded. Crashes. Issues with the Krypt, and Towers.
WB: Still pulling pre-order shenanigans with Mortal Kombat.
Let's talk about the elephant in the room right away. The graphics. Between the trailer we saw at the Game Awards 2017, and subsequent footage, everybody was wowed. NetherRealm studios did a terrific job building some of the most beautiful backdrops, and character designs in a Mortal Kombat game yet. They didn't do this alone though. The level of graphics, and animation work in this game is staggering. So it should be no surprise upon seeing the end credits you'll notice over 20 software developers, and animation studios were paid to help the game along. You can tell a lot of hard work went into the visual aspect of the game alone.
So how does the Nintendo Switch version of this massive, illustrious fighting game fare? A small developer out of Miami, Florida called Shiver was contracted to port the game to Nintendo's gaming tablet, and they did a fantastic job. While none of the consoles have bleeding edge tech in them at this point, there is a gap between a Tegra II tablet chip, and the AMD processors, and graphics chips in the Microsoft, and Sony boxes. As such there wasn't much of a question that Unreal Engine 4 (the software that powers the game) would work well on those. It was possible to use on tablets, but how well was in question for the average player.
Shiver has gotten the game running insanely well on the Nintendo Switch. It has all of the content the other versions have, and it looks pretty good too. It even runs at a high frame rate like the other versions. It just comes unsurprisingly, at a price. The best way I can describe it, is that fights look like you're playing the PC version on just above the lowest settings. Which tells me that Shiver had the option to either make the game look like the other versions, but have a lower frame rate. Or they could have gone the route they did. And if I'm right about that, frankly, everyone should be happy they took that route. Mortal Kombat 11, much like previous games, requires very fast movement in order to pull off some of its best combos, and other moves. Frame rate doesn't just effect what your eyes are seeing. It can often make a game feel more responsive. Something you need to have in order for a fighting game to work. Especially at a high level of play.
And the end result still doesn't look bad. You'll notice the game changes visual quality at times too. During the pre fight banter the game looks like it runs at the lowest settings possible, and then ticks up to the lower, or medium settings when the fights begin, and stays there during them. The most noticeable downgrade is that the UE4 lighting effects have mostly been toned down or turned off. You won't see a lot of reflections, or sheen on costumes, or metal objects in most of the game. Antialiasing effects are lowered, or off so you'll see "Jaggies" as we used to know them. Most of the textures are still rendered at the standards of the other versions. But some of the background objects aren't so they won't look as crisp. Rather they'll have a slightly blurred quality to them.
And on some stages very little of these downgrades are that noticeable right away. It's only going to be the absolute worst nitpickers among us who this will be a problem for. And at that level one could begin to nitpick the other versions too. Mortal Kombat 11 on the Switch may not look as nice as it does on the PS4 or XB1. But it doesn't look bad either. If I had any issues with the graphics its that during the story mode it can be a little jarring to have the cut scenes running at their higher settings, then going to the lower settings for fights, and back to higher settings for more cinematic story.
That said, Mortal Kombat 11 has a lot of content in it. As I've said before, the Switch version has everything the other versions have. The main single player mode on display is the Story mode, which has been an expected feature since Mortal Kombat 9. I didn't play the tenth game, so I can't really compare the story in this one to that game's. But I did play through MK9, and I can say it is a substantially better storyline here. I don't want to go too in depth here as a lot of folks still have yet to experience it. But the game introduces a new villain. A Goddess known as Kronika. She looks suspiciously like Sinead O'Connor, and can control time, and space with a magic hourglass. She sets up a plan to wipe out the realms, and so our heroes, and villains in the roster set out to stop or help her. There are plenty of moments that will make you laugh, surprise you, and the story even tries to make you cry a few times. It doesn't really earn that much from you, but you will be entertained. Thanks to some terrific voice acting performances, top-notch animation, and pretty good writing it does feel like one of the old 80's action movies that inspired a lot of the classic Mortal Kombat games.
Like I said before, the Switch version can feel a little jarring as you go through it, because the game switches graphics settings on the fly between fights, and cinematics. There was a rare moment in my playthrough where the game hiccupped doing this near the final chapter. It didn't effect the game or story, but goes to show there's a glitch or two that may require a bug fix in the near future. Beyond that though, I enjoyed playing through the story mode. It held my attention, and a few times in it, you'll get the option to control one character or another. So you do get some replay value by going back, and playing with different characters.
Beyond the story mode, there is the classic arcade ladder mode you can play. Doing this more or less is what you'd expect. You play a gauntlet of opponents the way you have since the original Mortal Kombat. As has been the case since Mortal Kombat 3, you can choose longer, and more difficult arcade ladders as well. Clearing these with each character gets you those classic arcade style endings. Each told from the perspective of the character had they been the canon protagonist.
Spinning off of the arcade ladder is something called Towers Of Time, where you play a similar series of arcade ladders. But the difference is the fact that each match has conditions in them. Such as "Don't touch acid, or your opponent gets health back.". These can be a lot of fun, and can even help you get better at avoiding certain attacks. The mode is also tied to the game's returning Krypt mode. Winning in these towers, will give you a lot of the green coins, and other currency you'll need to spend in the Krypt. It can be fun to go in to these fights to grind for money. But there's one major problem with it. It takes forever. The rewards you gain, for some of these brutal fights can be miniscule. Plus on top of the main currency, hearts are another currency. Hearts are needed in the Krypt to unlock some of the biggest stuff in the game. And you can only get those by getting fatalities, and brutalities while playing.
And before you spout off about Warner Bros. doing to Mortal Kombat 11 what they've done in their other games by closing stuff off with microtransactions, that isn't the case here. Yes, there is a store. Yes, you can pay for easy fatalities. Yes you can pay to unlock Frost instead of just playing the story mode, and using her for free. You can spend money on a virtual currency it calls Time Crystals. But aside from a few skins, and one button fatalities for each character there isn't much you can buy that would affect gameplay. So when it comes to the stuff in the Krypt, you really can't. You can pretty much skip the store in this one. The one thing you can levy at WB is the fact that Shao Kahn was hidden behind a six dollar pay wall in order to encourage people to buy the game before it came out, or at least pre order it. If you didn't put your trust in the game before having picked it up, it costs you another six bucks to play as the character. He isn't in the DLC bundle pack either. So that is the one blemish here as far as microtransactions go.
Be that as it may, grinding away the coins, green gems, and hearts for the Krypt can take a long, long time. Supposedly NetherRealm has addressed this on a recent video update, and will be putting out a patch soon as of this writing. This should make things feel a bit more manageable for players who don't want to devote all of their game time to Mortal Kombat 11.
As for the Krypt itself, it feels somewhere between the ones in Deadly Alliance, and Deception. It isn't a simple grid done in a graveyard style. But it isn't a full-fledged adventure game involving NPCs either. You go around Shang Tsung's island finding boxes. But there are some hidden walls you can break open to get to new areas, as well as puzzles to solve to gain access to certain chests. There are even a few booby traps. You can die in the Krypt.
Opening the chests gets you anything from concept art to stuff you can use in the game. There are a few extra costumes, second fatalities, and augmentation parts you can use to enhance how your characters will play. This is a system that has been carried over from Injustice 2, and refined for this game. It's a neat system because it adds an RPG like element to the fighting genre. One that might entice someone whom may not play many fighting games to give it a look. Of course, when it comes to the game's online play there are modes where you can or can't use them. Once you eventually open everything in the Krypt there is a building early on, with a round lever on it. If you have enough coins you can press it to close all of the chests in the Krypt, and fill them with different things. The other interesting thing about the Krypt is that every player will have a different experience. Because while everyone will have the same key items, the chests they are in, are in different locations. So you can't simply try to look at a walkthrough on YouTube. The skin they found in a particular chest, may be in that chest. But in your playthrough that chest will be in a different place.
The Augmentation system also ties many of the modes together by requiring you to play everything the game has on offer. If you want a certain hat for Raiden for example, you'll have to unlock it by going to a certain mode, or completing a certain challenge. Some of these items will be in the Krypt of course, but many will not. So you'll have to go down the list, read the description, and then try to unlock it by playing that mode. You can also create custom move lists here too. You may want to use a version of Liu Kang where you use a different attack in lieu of the bicycle kick for instance. You can have different profiles of each character with different move sets, different gear to buff said move sets, and an overall customized look. It's honestly pretty cool. But again, when talking about the competitive side of fighting games, you'll want to play without these things, as these things can affect the balance of the game.
The game also gives you a Kombat Kard which gives you your stats, as well as a custom banner when playing online. It's pretty much in line with other modern fighters like Street Fighter V, Blazblue Cross Tag Battle, and others. It's nice that you can personalize your online avatar somewhat, and it makes it easy to look at your Win/Loss record, most used characters, and other information.
So the fighting is fast, and responsive on the TV against a friend, but what about online? Honestly, I've been pleasantly surprised by the game's net code on the Switch. You can choose to display the ping while playing which is going to give you a good indication of how well it's going to hold up in a match. If you see an opponent in the 100ms – 150ms range, as I've had most of the time, it's pretty solid. I haven't felt like too many button presses haven't registered or that there's been a notable amount of lag. Somebody who is a contender at EVO or other tournaments may have a different opinion, but I think for most people it is pretty good. Obviously, if you connect to an opponent with a 300ms time you'll want to decline the fight to avoid warping, moves not working as intended, and the other signs of a lag ridden match.
That is one feature I really appreciate. It's not one you see outside of multiplayer PC games very often, and it can give players a much better idea of how the experience is going to be than the usual red, yellow, or green bars found in many other online fighters. There are also a few ways you can play online too. You can do casual matches with other people. Here you can choose to play with or without the augmentations on. They'll force the competitive move sets, and options the developers intended to be set on. You can play matches, enter a king of the hill mini tournament, or have A.I. characters battle it out.
If you choose to play the competitive mode the augments never come into play. Also the competition is fierce. As good as you may be, this is the place where people who love fighting games will be found most of the time. But it's also the best way to learn the game. Really. If you're new or lapsed the prospect of losing a lot may sound scary, but it's where you're going to learn the nuances much better. Yes there is a training mode in the game, and it will get you set up with the basics, as well as let you practice the game's combos. But going up against other people is where you're going to really learn things like zoning, looking for openings, and how to get around something you might initially find insurmountable. Even if you're not looking to be the best in the world, it is a great way to pick up some new things to take with you against your local friends, and family. Rounding out the online mode, are areas where you can do private matches, and lobbies. So if you just want to play with friends online, or a place where your groups can meet up, it's convenient.
All in all I really like Mortal Kombat 11, and the Switch version is a very viable version. If you're somebody who only has a Switch it is very easy to recommend in general. I can also say if you're someone who has multiple consoles, and already bought it for your PS4, you might at some point want it on the Switch for the portability factor. The graphics downgrade is less noticeable on the smaller screen, and the fact you're getting something that plays just as well is something to marvel at. Shiver should really be commended on what they've accomplished. One small thing to note however is that also like every other version this one does have some infrequent crashes. You'll be going along, playing a ladder or going through the story, or exploring the Krypt, and see an error message that will be burned into your brain. It hasn't been a frequent occurrence for me. But it is something I hope they'll be able to figure out soon. Also the game does play better with a Pro Controller, or equivalent or Arcade stick on Switch. The C buttons just don't feel as familiar as a true D-pad does.
Still, with the refined fighting system, wealth of content, solid net code, and a meaty story mode, the good outweighs the bad. If you have a Switch, Mortal Kombat 11 is definitely worth looking into. It's an experience that will raise eyebrows at the local Starbucks, as well as play exceptionally well on the big screen. The downgrade in visuals isn't enough to make the game any less fun, and they still bring the buckets of blood, and guts you would expect from the series. I didn't even talk about just how over-the-top, yet somehow unsettling some of this iteration's finishing moves can really be. Whether you're a long time fan or newcomer, MK11 will impress you on any of the platforms it has landed on.
Elgato HD60 PRO PCI Express Capture Card Review
April 5, 2019 ReviewsBroadcasting, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Wii U, OBS, PC Components, PC Peripherals, Peripherals, Playstation 3, Playstation 4, Production, Recording, Streaming, Tech, Twitch, Upgrades, Xbox 360, Xbox One, XSplit, Youtubethedeviot
Maybe you've decided you want to migrate old home video footage to your computer through a daisy chain of adapters. Or maybe you've decided you want to dip your toes in the waters of video production. Or perhaps, (more likely) you've decided you want to capture video game footage for your fledgling YouTube channel. Or maybe you've decided you want to try your hand at streaming video games on Twitch. Whatever the reason, you're going to need to find a way to get that content to the intended audience through the use of your computer.
PROS: Excellent build quality. Small enough to fit any case type. Intuitive software.
CONS: Drivers are tied to software utilities.
LTTP: Retro Speed Run streamers will need to find a good scaler to use with it.
Enter the Elgato HD60 PRO. You can find this in either a PCI Express card for your desktop computer, or you can find an external version that connects to your machine with a USB 3.0 cable. We'll be taking a look at the internal card version here, as that's the version I bought after getting a better than expected tax return this year.
The Elgato HD60 PRO comes in an attractive package. There's a sleek slip cover over a gate fold box. Upon opening that box, you'll be greeted with the card itself, a booklet, a HDMI cable, and a handy low profile bracket for those with a flex case. You'll know if you have a flex case, they tend to be used on computer models that go for the small, sleek, and rectangular look. Often times these cases do not have the height needed for expansion cards. Yet, they're often built using motherboards that do allow for some expansion. Unfortunately, this usually means hunting for specialty "Half-Height" or "Low Profile" cards. So it is nice that this card comes with that low profile bracket. If you have such a computer, and want to stream your PlayStation 4 games through it, this card makes that possible.
Once you have the card installed, you may or may not be surprised to find no CD or Flash Drive in the box. Elgato doesn't include drivers in the box. Instead, you have to go directly to their site to get them. And they don't simply give you the drivers, they include them in their software utilities. This is the first of the two grievances I have with the product. In the grand scheme of things both are fairly small. But they do make things needlessly complicated. The software itself is actually quite intuitive. But it is broken up across a few different utilities depending on what you want to do with it. There is an audio utility for those who only want to capture sound. The Game Capture HD utility which records video, as well as streams video. The Control Center for managing accessories. Finally, there's the Stream Deck which is for the optional Stream Deck device. You don't have to download the latter two, but you may just want to get them, and install them anyway in case the need should arise.
The main one you'll really need is the Game Capture HD utility. As I mentioned before, this is a great piece of software. But even if you've decided to use something else, you'll need to install it because it contains the drivers for Windows 10. Without those, your computer won't know what you've installed into the motherboard. If you do decide to use the Game Capture HD though, you'll be surprised at how simple it is to navigate.
There's a clearly marked button for the capture settings you want to use. You can go with standard resolutions like 480, 720p, or 1080p, and you can set the frame rate to record at 30 or 60 Frames per second (FPS). If your computer is newer, you shouldn't have any problem running things on higher settings with newer consoles. If your system is older though, you can tinker with the settings until your happier with the performance. Do make sure your system is above the minimum requirements before you buy this or any expansion for your computer though. If you don't have compatible hardware, you're not going to have a great experience. Still, my machine is getting long in the tooth, (i7 4770k, 16GB RAM, a 250GB SSD, 1TB SSD, and an Nvidia GTX760) yet had zero issues using this card.
The software also has an easy to spot recording button, and streaming button. Once you tie the software to your appropriate account (Twitch, YouTube, etc.) it easily syncs up with your settings there, and just seems to work. At least it did for me. There are also a host of preset overlays you can choose to use, all of which can also be customized. You can import your own art, websites, banners, and more. You can put in a webcam PIP. You can run a green screen. The software is an amazing little utility. Especially if you're not familiar with video production, or you're new to streaming. When you are streaming you can easily move back and forth between full screen gameplay or windowed with your various settings around it.
Other easy to tweak settings are sounds like your microphone, and game audio levels. You can have the software lower game audio while you're talking for example. You can also tinker with your bit rate settings so you can try to find a balance between performance, and clarity for your stream as well. It doesn't however have a lot of options for specific plug-ins. You can work around this by adding website links to things that will behave like a plug-in. Like a chat box for example. But there aren't a slew of dedicated Elgato software plug-ins.
That said, other utilities like OBS, and XSplit give you a lot more freedom if you're willing to take the time to learn how to use their features properly, and experiment. If you want to really do more unique things with your channel, and you're looking to be a more professional looking personality on a streaming or video site you'll want to either master using one of those, or buy a more feature-rich suite that the card is compatible with.
I've really liked using this card thus far. It has an excellent build quality, and it outputs as well as inputs. That means you can take the feed from your Nintendo Switch dock for example, and bring it into the card to be processed. But you can also run a second HDMI cable out to a TV or Monitor. This makes it especially nice if you're looking to multitask on a computer screen, while you're playing a game on the second one. Those who want to have Twitch opened in one window, their utility of choice (Elgato, OBS, XSplit, etc) in another don't have to worry about having to play the game windowed, or continually have to Alt+Tab between things constantly.
Of course, it isn't going to be perfect for everyone. The other minor issue for me is this card doesn't have legacy inputs on it like Composite, or S-Video. So if you want to use it to stream things like NES games you'll need to get an adapter or scaler to convert the signal. For merely capturing footage this is fine, but for streaming speed runs, keep in mind this will induce a little bit of input lag. A really high-end scaler like the hallowed Framemeister will be a safe bet for reducing it to a minimum, but if you don't have that kind of money there are a wide variety of options. But you'll have to do a fair amount of research to see what device in your budget will give you the best results.
The other thing to consider are the number of other cards that do include legacy support. If you're planning on mostly recording from legacy consoles, or want to digitize old analog VHS or Beta tapes from elder family members, you may not need to get a separate scaler with one of those other cards. However, not all of those other products are built as nicely, and few have a utility as seamless, and easy to figure out as Elgato's downloadable one. Really you'll have to decide on your own which route is the way to go.
That being said, I'm actually quite pleased with this card. The performance has been excellent, it has a great build quality, as well as fit, and finish. The software utility while, broken up across two programs, and two optional ones, is intuitive. It's very easy to use, especially for someone like myself who isn't as familiar with customizing things in OBS as many streamers, and YouTube personalities are. If you're just starting out, and want something you can get into using right away, this is an excellent card. It might cost more, but the convenience, and quality are worth it. Just remember if you're looking to broadcast speed runs of games on consoles of old with it you'll want to find a scaler that can mitigate some of the inevitable input lag to go along with it. For anything current though, the Elgato HD60 PRO is a winner.
(Minimum Requirements: OS: Windows 10 64-Bit. CPU: Intel Core i5 series 4 or newer. Graphics: Intel HD, Nvidia GeForce GTX 600 series or better. Expansion slot: A free PCIe x1/x4/x6/x16 slot on your motherboard.)
Splatoon 2 tips from a merely average player.
March 22, 2019 CommentaryCompetition, Competitive, gaming, Multiplayer, Nintendo, Nintendo Switch, Self-Improvement In Gaming, Splatoon 2, Strategies, ThatSrb2Dude, Tips & Tricks, Tournament, Wadsmthedeviot
It's no secret that I've really enjoyed the Splatoon series a lot. I've reviewed the original game, the current game, and its downloadable expansion pack already. But I've been playing the game regularly since getting my Nintendo Switch. And the fun I've had with it over that time has led me to wanting to write a little something more about it. True, there are full-fledged guides you can find out there from the Prima guide that launched alongside the game to Nintendo's *Splat*-egy guide. A guide they include if you're fortunate enough to find either the Starter Edition or the Starter Pack version of the retail release. (The former also includes stickers.).
With this in mind, one might wonder why I'd even bother attempting to write my own article when these in-depth books are out there. Especially considering that I am not a professional level player who has been on a competitive team winning tournaments, and getting paid to do so. While this is also true, I have been in a competitively minded group in the past. I was in the Maximum Carnage clan in the heyday of Unreal Tournament 2004. While Splatoon, and Unreal Tournament are quite different competitive shooters, there are some parallels. Both are fast paced, and frantic. Both offer multiple modes, and both require a mastery of their respective weapon line up. And with Nintendo's recent free demo push, some newcomers may just stumble upon this.
For the purpose of brevity I'll be keeping the focus of this article on the competitive multiplayer. So there won't be a walk through of the campaign, the expansion pack campaign or the Salmon Run cooperative horde mode. I will say however that completing the campaigns are even beneficial to those whom prefer the multiplayer. Clearing the campaigns unlocks aesthetically alternate gear you might want to flash around. If you'ved purchased, and cleared the DLC even via the simplest means you can choose to play online as a Octoling. The mainline campaign also has tickets hidden throughout itself. Find these, and you can use them for temporary buffs at Crusty Sean's (The food truck in the plaza.). Clearing the campaign also means The Squid Sisters can prattle off multiplayer stats to you.
The plaza is also going to be very important as it has all of the shops you'll need to visit to unlock weapons, and gear. It also has the Street Urchin named Murch whom you'll need to visit from time to time. When you first start playing online you won't have access to these right away. You'll be armed with a Splattershot Jr., a Splat Bomb, and you'll have your Ink Armor special.
The weapons in Splatoon 2 are broken up into a few categories. Each of which come as a *kit*. You'll have the primary weapon which is the general gun you've selected. Then a sub weapon which is usually an explosive, though sometimes it will be a utility like a water sprinkler or a radar dish. Each kit also gives you a special weapon. These are powerful weapons, moves, or perks you can employ after filling a meter by painting floors, and killing opponents. Some of these are moves like the Splashdown, where you can jump up like WWE Superstar Roman Reigns, and punch the ground. Which will cause a massive blast of ink to appear, killing enemies in its wake. Or the Ink Strike, a weapon that can target enemies, and fire a wave of ink based missiles after them.
Weapon categories consist of a few main groups. First are Blasters. Blasters are the game's equivalent to rifles, and machine guns. These can give decent coverage while inking, and a respectable dose of damage. There are a couple of them that are exceptions, but by, and large they're going to be for those comfortable with faster firing weapons.
Sloshers are the first of two categories that kind of feel like shotgun equivalents. They're basically buckets, or variants of the bucket. A few of them like the Explosher, and Sloshing Machine are based off of the look of a washing machine. Most of these weapons perform insanely well at close range, with a few being ideal at medium range. The Explosher can actually be used long-range, and can almost be compared with a grenade launcher as it can lob a blob of ink a great distance. No matter the case, these also give you a fairly wide coverage when inking floors, and so they can serve a great purpose in either painting or combat.
Rollers are a popular choice as they can be very instrumental in quickly claiming territory. They're also a high damage line of weapons. You can run right into enemies, and take them out. Fans of stealth kills will want to go with one. Alternatively there are also brushes which can be used the same way. Brushes are also fairly great melee range options as they can dole out high damage when standing toe to toe with an opponent. The brushes don't have the same fast coverage as the rollers generally. But they do allow for some fast path creation.
Chargers are a great option for those who enjoy the Sniper class in other shooters. These are long range weapons that lie down a fairly long line of coverage on the way to a target. They have a slow rate of fire though, and many of them have laser scopes. So you have to be able to lead targets properly. You'll also want to master some movement techniques in the event you're the last one in the group, and you're spotted. You can repeatedly fire them for some short-range action too, but they lose a bit of power. Still, these can be a beneficial choice in a tight-knit squad. Especially during ranked modes.
Splattlings are basically the chain guns of the game. They have rotating barrels, and fire copious amounts of ink in a wide-spread in a short amount of time. They also tend to run low on ink quickly, so there is a bit of a trade-off. That said, they're an excellent way for players to give cover while teammates go for the goal. They're also a great choice for defensive players who like to cover choke points, or their own bases. They do a high rate of damage too, making them formidable in the hands of a skilled opponent.
Splatoon 2 also introduced the Dualies class of weapons. These work like automatic pistols like Uzis in military themed shooters. They have a high rate of fire, and allow the player to do a roll dodge while using them. This combination makes anybody who uses them much harder to hit. They might not be as potent as the Blasters, but they are as dangerous as the stick, and move approach allows them to hit, and run effectively.
Finally, there are the Umbrellas which are the other Shotgun weapons. At point-blank range they are very powerful, and they have the added benefit of shielding you from enemy fire by opening them. These aren't permanent shields mind you. After taking so many hits they'll be temporarily disabled. That said, they can be a great front line choice, as you can withstand a couple of shots, and give cover to a teammate who may follow behind. And they're very useful in close range combat situations.
Each of these weapon classes has an entry that can be placed in one of three play style categories. Attacking, Support, or Defense. I can't go over every single weapon in the game in this article as it would take far too long. But the gist of it is that some weapons are geared more toward attacking opponents, and taking them out. Other weapons are suited more toward backing up the rest of the team so that other members can get to the objective. Then there are the ones geared toward hanging back, and providing cover while also defending their position. Depending on the map, and mode being played you may be the type to change your load out, and style.
Your Sub Weapon is also important. There are a few categories. The first are the bombs. These are more or less the water grenades of the game. Bombs cover fairly large areas in ink, and they also dole out massive damage. Some of them like the Suction Bomb can be stuck to walls. Others like the Auto Bomb follow people around for a while before exploding. Others like the Ink Mine are obfuscated until a moment before they go off.
There are also gadgets. The Sprinkler can lay down ink continuously until it is destroyed, or you throw one down in a new spot, or until you die. One cool thing about that is you can try to hide one in a hard to reach place so that you can be laying down ink while taking care of an opponent, or trying to claim an objective. Others like the Squid Beacon will give your teammates a place to jump to. Really handy when you need to get them closer to the goal at hand quickly. Point Sensors are a great utility to tag enemies, and have their locations temporarily shown on the map.
Again, each of these kits tries to give you a versatile combination of items that complement each other. How do you get these kits? The same way you get your gear, and that's through the shops. There are four of them. A shirt shop, a footwear shop, a headwear shop, and the weapon store.
The shops are opened up to you once you reach level 4. You raise your level by playing in the game's online modes. There are really only two major level moments you need to hit, and that's so you can experience everything. The first of course is level 4. Getting to level 4 allows you to go into the shops where you can spend the points you earn winning, and losing battles online. The second is level 10. If you want to play the ranked modes you'll need to play online regularly until you reach that number. After that? Your level really won't mean anything other than you've played a lot. Getting to level 30 will get you a Sea Snail every level upgrade from that point on. But beyond that it's meaningless. So when you start out, don't feel intimidated by seeing 35's or 50's in your matchups. It isn't an indication of skill. In fact, it isn't uncommon to see highly skilled players in the teens.
Of the shops, the one you'll probably want to go to first is Ammo Knights. Here the fast talking Sheldon, will prattle on about the guns you can buy. It's also the place where you can test your weapons out on dummies, and rafters. It's nice because you can come here to see results of buffs or nerfs to weapons when Nintendo releases a new patch. You can also get a feel for a weapon before you decide to go ahead, and unlock it with hard-earned points. When I started playing I just went for every weapon I could afford after playing matches for hours at a time. And when any update brought along new weapons I was sure to buy those once I hit the appropriate level to use it. My reasoning was that I would have the option to use anything available, and I could worry about the other stuff later.
However, that might not necessarily be the best way to go about the shops because the clothing options do more than look cool. Each of the clothing options come with perks called Abilities. There are a wide variety of these, and can greatly help you in online matches. Not only do they have a perk on the clothing item, but there are an additional one, two, or three slots on the apparel for more.
As you play online, the clothing will level up at the end of each round. The amount will change depending on whether your team won or lost, as well as your performance during the round. When you fill the meter up you'll randomly get another perk. There are two main types of Abilities: Unique, and Regular. Unique ones are only on specific types of clothing. These can not go into the additional perk slots which limits them to one slot on only a handful of possible clothing options. This is likely for balance.
Regular chunks however can be used in the sub perk slots, as well as appear in the main perk slot. Moreover, some of the fictional clothing brands have a better chance of randomly generating certain types of Regular chunks. It is possible to have pieces of apparel with the same ability in every slot on it as a result. And it isn't uncommon to see players online with them. Be that as it may, it can take a long time to get perks on each slot, and some clothing items may only have one slot on them. You may ask yourself how it is that someone managed to get three slots, with the same ability in all three of them.
Enter Murch
Murch is the short Urchin I mentioned earlier, and he is key if you don't want to leave what perks you end up with to chance. He can do a number of things for you, for a price. For starters, if you have any Sea Snails you can give one to him to re-roll your Abilities. You can also have him use a Sea Snail to add a perk slot to a clothing item that might have only one or two by default. The easiest way to gain Sea Snails are to take part in Splatfest events when they occur. These are 24 hour events where players pick a side (ie: Ketchup Vs. Mustard), and compete in Turf War matches. These matches take place in Normal or Pro varieties. Normal being a bit better for those whom want to play with friends (assuming you've chosen the same side) as it has the option to do so. Pro being the better way to go if you want to gain a higher individual score, and get a chance to be entered in random 10x or 100x matches with more potential rewards. At the end of the Splatfest you're given a number of Sea Snails based on whether your side won or lost, and what Splatfest rank you hit (from Fanboy or Fangirl to King or Queen).
Another thing Murch can do is scrub the Abilities from an article of clothing for 20,000 points. When you do this, the chunks that were on the item go into a sub menu where they can be used later if you have enough of them. During Splatfests you're given a T-Shirt. Often times the game will announce the Splatfest a week before it takes place. If you choose a side immediately you can begin filling, and scrubbing slots all week-long, farming chunks. Murch will scrub Splatfest T-Shirts for only 2,000 points. So you can get a head start on saving up those chunks.
Here's where it gets really interesting though because once you have 10 of any given ability chunk you can assign it to a perk slot on a clothing item. So you can then begin to choose what perks you want, and base them around your kit of choice. If you want the same ability across three slots, it can also be done however, stacking an ability costs more. You'll have to have 10 for the first slot, 20 for the second, and 30 for the third. If the main ability on the clothing item is a regular one, that is up to four of the same perk across the item. This is where taking part in Splatfests can help you immensely. Of course it should be noted each one you stack is a bit less potent than the last, so on some level there are diminishing returns. Still, having a hat with four run speeds, a shirt with four run speeds, and a pair of shoes with four run speeds will net a noticeable run speed difference.
You can also pay Murch to order a competitor's gear by choosing to when looking at their layout in the plaza. It costs more than finding it in one of the shops, and takes 24 hours per order though you can order up to three at once. But if it's one of the rarer items that never seems to show up when you go into a shop it might help. Do note, that the perks on the clothes aren't guaranteed to come along with it though. And while I'm not covering it here, do know that playing the cooperative Salmon Run mode (When it cycles on) can gain you some costume options, and perks as well.
The main mode of the game of course is Turf War. As you likely know by now the goal is to paint a map your team's color while the other team attempts to do the same. You'll run into skirmishes almost instantly, killing each other so that you can gain ground while opponents are spawning. While it's generally considered the game's casual mode, it can still be rather cutthroat. This is a mode you'll actually want to play a lot of to practice the mechanics, as well as see which of the game's massive selection of weapons best suits your play style. You can also join up with friends, though if they're in a full game you'll be waiting for it to end until it lets you do so.
The game cycles its maps, and ranked modes every couple of hours. While it can be annoying to be on the same two maps for a while, it does negate the voting fights that break out in other games that, ironically, often end up going between one or two fan favorites. So this solution forces everyone to play every map eventually.
Anyway, Turf War is a great means for both casual, and competitive players. If you're not particularly great at fragging opponents like an Unreal Tournament fiend, you can focus on painting. Pressing the X button pulls up the map at any time, and is a great tool in every mode. Pressing it again, will make it disappear. While it is up, you can see where your three teammates are at any time, and then jump to them if it looks like they'll need backup. It also lets you see any Beacons a team member may have placed, as well as any enemies that may have been spotted. The obvious sight will be what ink is splattered where. You can see areas that haven't been painted yet. You can see lone splashes of enemy ink surrounded by yours. This might give an indication that an enemy is planning an ambush.
Along the top you can also see what weapons enemies have. As you play more over time you'll get used to seeing how these function. Knowing an enemy is wielding a Splatbrella means you'll be better suited trying to find a place to flank from the side. This way they can't just shield themselves. Likewise you can see what your teammates are using, and try to modify your tactics around their strengths to help win. Maybe you notice you've chosen a sniper class weapon, but the random teammates all have Dualies. Try finding a point where you can cover them from the left, right, and behind as they rush to the center of the map to paint.
A lot of skills, and techniques from other games can help you in Splatoon 2 as well. Map control is a universal skill. If you know a map like the back of your hand you can better anticipate where enemies will show up, because you'll know the most common routes. You'll know what spot gives the best advantages, and know to help your team hold it. Also, it's easy to forget you have a sub weapon, and a special move or weapon. Remember as you get frags, and ink turf, you'll fill your meter. Many of the specials have a variety of uses. You can use the bubble blower to shield your teammates, or you can just blow up your bubbles to take lives or turf. The same can be said of the sub weapons. Going back to controlling a map, as I said earlier you may want to hide a sprinkler on a ceiling or sneak a Beacon deep in enemy territory.
While Turf War may only count painted floors toward your score, don't discount inking a wall to get to higher ground. You can swim up walls, and you can even use that fact for some stealthy maneuvers. Keep in mind too, that if you swim quickly you'll leave ripples that an astute enemy may spot. But if you move very slowly, barely pushing that control stick you won't. You'll also barely make a sound. If you're wearing clothes with the Ninja Squid ability on them, you won't make a sound making surprise attacks, and escaping some assaults a little more manageable. Don't discount the saying "Run away, and live to fight another day.". Sometimes you'll find yourself in 3 on 1 firefights, you simply will not win. Pulling up the map, and jumping back to spawn can allow you to regroup with your team mates as they spawn so you can try to regain composure.
When you reach Rank 10 you'll be able to play the Ranked modes. These focus far less on inking the map, but keep in mind it's still beneficial. You can move faster in your own ink, so always keep that in mind. There are four Ranked modes. Splat Zones, Tower Control, Rainmaker, and Clam Blitz.
Splat Zones is a microcosm of Turf War. Instead of trying to make the entire map your color, your team must control one or two tiny areas of the map until your counter hits zero. If the other team takes that control, a cool down timer gets placed on your team that has to count down before the main timer continues when you take it back. It's a lot more important to work together here because these spots will be a non-stop hot spot the entire game. At least two of you should be on or next to the area at all times. But this is easier said than done. If you're wiped out, the four of you are going to be at a massive disadvantage when trying to take it back. There are a variety of strategies a team can take. Do you all hold the line? This may work best if the enemy team rushes you, but they can also try to flank you. Do you have one person distract the enemy by running toward their end of the map so the others can take it? They may not take the bait. Paying attention to what people have chosen can really help you plan accordingly.
Tower Control is a push cart mode where both sides run to the center to take control of the tower. Once upon the tower it will move into enemy territory, and if unopposed will eventually land near the enemy spawn for a win. Someone on the team has to be on the tower for it to move. Over the months I've seen several impressive strategies from random teammates, as well as enemy teams. Often they've involved creative exploitations of sub weapons. Putting shower curtains on the tower as a shield. Booby trapping the tower with an ink mine. Putting Beacons on or near the tower for team mates to take it. Some teams have had their entire squad on or next to the tower, attempting to bum rush the opposing side. Others have sent one lone combatant out on the tower while lying in wait to ambush the enemy if they killed them, and claimed it for themselves. Again, knowing the map will help you plan strategies immensely.
Rainmaker is also a push cart mode except that instead of a tower, one person on one team can take control of the fabled Rainmaker. Which is kind of like the BFG of Splatoon. It can deal massive damage, as the wielder can shoot powerful ranged attacks. Of course there's also a big target on their back, as opening the map reveals their location. So its imperative the cohorts of whomever holds it, gives them ample cover. If they die, they'll drop it, and both sides will fight over the gun again. It's important to have an attacker who can scout ahead of whomever is going to hold the weapon, and have defenders who can protect them from incoming flanks or surprises from behind. Again, knowing the map layout is key, and constantly checking the map for signs of reprisal is going to be important.
Clam Blitz is a weird hybrid of a football game, and a base attack/defense game. Each side has a net protected by a shield. The goal is to fill the enemy net with clams. In order to see the net, you have to destroy the shield with a football. You get the football by collecting enough clams or by having one spawn eventually. You can't throw the football very far, so you have to get really close to the shield with it, and the football shows up on the map so resistance will be fierce. If you do break the defenses, your teammates will also be able to throw clams they've found into the net. You have to be fast because eventually the net will become shielded again.
Some strategies I've had luck with have been throwing clams to a teammate who has a lot of clams to spawn a football. But you want to wait until you've managed to infiltrate enemy territory, and you're close enough to the shield. Otherwise you're easily seen coming. Another is getting my own football while another player has one, causing confusion, and either going for the shield while they're busy with them. Or by distracting them long enough for the teammate to break the shield with his.
Other times I've hung back, and tried to just defend our net with surprise flanks while my team tries to push into the enemy camp. You'd be amazed at how often both teams can have footballs going simultaneously. You can also try to throw the football from below or above the shield when the enemy team is standing guard in front of it. This isn't always easy to pull off, especially on some maps like Camp Triggerfish where one can often see that strategy coming from a mile away. On the other hand you can often combine this strategy with others.
While I am by no means a professional grade Splatoon 2 player, I hope if you're a newcomer, or a lapsed player some of this stuff can help you get up to speed. It's a great game, with a growing community. There are over 8 million players so there are a ton of opportunities to improve. You can even play all of the modes privately with friends which makes for a great way to practice. As well as bring in other newcomers without intimidating them with veteran strangers. You should also strongly consider mastering the game's motion controls. For some of you it might seem cumbersome, especially if you're accustomed to twin stick shooting. The game lets you shut them off, and use a traditional twin stick scheme. But hear me out. Motion controls can be far more effective. Aiming is far smoother, especially when going after higher or lower targets. Even with them enabled you can still do snaps to the left or right with the right control stick. I generally use the joycons in a grip when playing. Some swear by the Nintendo Pro Controller, or an equivalent like the ones by third-party Power-A. It's not quite as seamless as a high dpi mouse being used on a PC FPS game. But it's far more responsive over a thumb stick in my experience.
I also recommend watching some tournament level players on Twitch or YouTube if you want to pick up pointers. ThatSrb2Dude, and Wadsm are two such players whose content has been a wealth of help in my own quest to do better. Some of the things I've talked about here, I've learned by watching them. So be sure to check out some of their content, and live streams if you get the chance. And of course, simply playing regularly will help you improve. Whether you're looking to become a competitor, or you're like me, and just simply want to be a better all around player. Hopefully something I've listed in all of this rambling has been of some value to you. Have fun inking, and until next time….. STAY FRESH!
Bloodstained: Curse Of The Moon Review
March 2, 2019 ReviewsAction, Action games, Action Platformer, ArtPlay, Bloodstained, Castlevania, Console games, Console gaming, Curse Of The Moon, Indie Games, Indie Gaming, Inti Creates, Koji Igarashi, Microsoft, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo eshop, Nintendo Switch, PC games, PC Gaming, Playstation 4, Sony, Steam, Valve, Vita, Xbox Onethedeviot
Ah, Konami. These days it's become fashionable to belittle their games with good reason. But that's partly because they used to be one of the kings of game publishing. From Pooyan to Gyruss. From Gradius to Contra. From Crime Fighters to Metal Gear. From Quarth to Super Cobra, this giant has scores of legendary games under its umbrella. But over the last decade there has been a shift in its focus. One that has led many of its best known talent to leave the company. Most know about Hideo Kojima's departure. But less known is Koji Igarashi, the man behind many of Konami's better Castlevania games. In 2014 however he would leave the company as he felt his console roots weren't a good fit for the company's shift toward mobile phone, and tablet games.
Taking some inspiration from what Keji Inafune had done after leaving Capcom, Igarashi, also took to Kickstarter to raise money for a new project. Bloodstained: Ritual Of The Night. This was a successful enough endeavor that today's game, Bloodstained: Curse Of The Moon came out of it as a stretch goal for backers. For the rest of us, it's an indie game inspired by the classic game series its producer worked on. It may sound like a familiar story. But is it one of the ones that ends as a success?
PROS: A nearly 1:1 representation of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse's look, and feel.
CONS: It's almost too similar. Minor bugs.
CASTLEVANIA VETERANS: Will wish you could start with Miriam.
Bloodstained, truly does take many of Castlevania's mechanics, tone, and visual flair to heart. In fact, this game plays nearly identically to Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse. That game had you playing as the protagonists ancestor, with the mechanics set up in the original NES version of Castlevania as a baseline. From there it added other characters you could choose to join you, and depending on which path you took through the game each had specific roles. This was to give you an incentive to go back through it multiple times.
This game is very similar in its approach. Except that to set itself apart, you aren't a vampire slayer. You're a demon hunter named Zangetsu. You've been cursed by a powerful demon, and so you're on a mission to find, and kill him in order to break the curse over you. You also don't use a whip. Zangetsu is armed with a sword. So unlike Castlevania, you won't have the range you're likely accustomed to. What you will have however is the same walking speed, and knock back from the NES Trilogy of old. You'll also find yourself facing very similar attack patterns as in those old games. Sure, the bats, and Gorgon heads may have been replaced with new faces. But you can still expect those wavy patterns over pits, and other traps that will make traversing a trial.
You may not see two dragon heads stacked, spitting fire. But there will be an equivalent. There may not be a chain of skeleton bones, and a lizard skull coming out from a wall. But here will be something similar. The list goes on, and on, and on. As the story, and stages progress you'll meet other characters whom you can choose to add to your party. Miriam is the Simon Belmont clone you'll wish you started the game with. She has a whip that works very much the same way, as Simon's. This gives you that sweet balance of ranged, and melee attack power, and familiar gravity when jumping or walking off of ledges.
Later on you'll meet Gebel, this game's take on Alucard. He's also a vampire, and you can also turn into a bat as him. Finally, there's Alfred who is a magician. He's also elderly, slow, and has a fairly small health meter. He attacks with a small cane at essentially point-blank range. As in the Castlevania games, there are candles, and other hanging objects you can destroy for items. Some of these are ammo for special weapons, while others are weapons themselves. What sets this one apart a little bit is just how different each character's weapons are. No special weapon is represented twice. There are a set exclusive to each character. For instance, Miriam can have a spinning disc attack that goes back, and forth. Alfred on the other hand can get a weapon that lets him turn enemies into ice blocks he can then jump on, or have another character jump on.
There are all sorts of possibilities. The other thing is that each stage, even the earliest ones all have branching paths in them that only specific characters can go to. You may need to switch to Gebel so you can turn into a bat, and fly through a small gap for one path. You may need to slide under something for another, and so you'll have to switch to Miriam. This sort of mechanic gives the game a lot of replay value, as in order to see everything each stage has to offer you'll need to try each of them with the applicable characters.
The thing is you have more options with them than you do with the ones in Castlevania III. What I mean by that is, you don't drop one when you meet the next. If you choose to take one along for the ride, they stay with you the entire game. The game can be quite a challenge too, especially near the end of the game. So having all of the characters working together makes defeating Gremory, the leader of the Demons, more manageable. However, what makes the game worth playing over again even more are the multiple endings. Depending on which characters you take along, or leave behind you'll get different outcomes if you clear the game.
And beyond that there are a few difficulty settings. You can play the easiest setting if you just want to go through the game at your leisure. It reduces the knock back so it isn't as cruel as the NES Castlevania trilogy could be. It also gives you unlimited lives, so you also won't see the continue screen. But the veteran mode is the hardcore NES game difficulty you remember. Or if you're too young to remember, but want to experience anyway. Getting knocked back into pits, crumbling bricks, rotating trap floor tiles. It's all here. Clearing this will unlock an even harder mode though. So the absolute biggest Castlevania transplants will want to check it out, as it makes an already tough job more challenging.
Visually the game also follows the Castlevania III mold. It has a very similar color palette, and a very similar pixel art style. This isn't to say everything is exactly the same. There are background animations, and graphics based puzzles the old Konami games don't have, and a slew of special effects the old 8-bit 6502 chip variants, and accompanying graphics chips simply can not do on display. The music in it, and synchronization with the cinema screen animations are spot on too. It sounds very much like a Famicom console game through, and through. Inti Creates has done a phenomenal job in the graphics, and sound department with this game.
But all of this success might be a little too successful. In being so close to the Castlevania NES fill in so many wanted, it doesn't retain its own identity as much as it needs to. Other than Alfred, the main characters are very much your Simon, Sypha, and Alucard stand-ins. As detailed, and beautifully laid out as the stages are, they could easily be mistaken for an NES Castlevania outing. The mini bosses, and bosses are where the game really begins to turn the tide on this a bit though. These are great multi part affairs that don't look they would necessarily be in one of Konami's games, but fit this spiritual successor at the same time. The game also has a handful of minor bugs in it. Mostly collision based bugs. There were a few sections with crumbling blocks designed to make you lose a life if you fail at navigation. At one point I fell, but landed safely in an area where I had to jump to my doom anyway. There was nowhere else to go. Some of these seem to be helping in speed runs. But for the rest of us, they're the rare inconvenience.
Still, beyond these observations I really enjoyed playing through the game's many stages. Anybody who loves the old school Castlevania games probably owns this by now. But if for some reason you don't, it's an absolute blast. It's a truly great action-platformer with some great obstacles to overcome, and some of the best boss fights I've been in. I only wish the game did a little bit more to make it feel unique. Sure the main protagonist doesn't use a whip, but before long another character does. Sure, you're fighting an army led by a demon, rather than Dracula. But that army still has a lot of skeletons, and zombies in it. Hopefully the upcoming Ritual Of The Night will address this while continuing to do everything else as well as this game does. Be that as it may, Curse Of The Moon is still a keeper.
One Strike Review
February 13, 2019 Reviews2D Fighting Games, Console games, Console gaming, Fighting Games, Indie Games, Indie Gaming, Nintendo, Nintendo eshop, Nintendo Switch, PC games, PC Gaming, Qubic Games, Steam, Valvethedeviot
Every now, and again a game comes along with the idea of simplifying things. Many look to the Super Smash Bros. games, Nidhogg, and even Divekick as primary examples. All of which take different approaches to doing so. Smash simplifies inputs, and goes for ring outs. Nidhogg goes for a fencing theme, while Divekick reduces everything down to one button. One Strike doesn't quite go that far, but it does try to be interesting in its mission.
PROS: An interesting take on simplifying the fighter.
CONS: It doesn't take long to notice a formula.
CLASH: Of the art styles.
One Strike is a one on one fighter that tries to be different by living up to its namesake. You simply lose a round (or a match!) by suffering one hit. It takes a page from Soul Calibur by making each character a master of a specific weapon. There are sword masters. Dagger masters. Staff masters. They have you covered. And controlling your fighter is pretty straightforward. You can move left or right, block, strike, or dodge. That's pretty much it.
The game has a really nice art style considering that it's a bite-sized fighter. There are really great painted portraits of each of the fighters. But the characters themselves are done in a sprite art style somewhere between the look of an Atari 800 computer, and an NES. This isn't bad by any means. There are all kinds of cool, little details in the backgrounds, as well as animations in them you wouldn't likely see on these retro platforms. The drawback of course is that these art styles clash somewhat. Seeing the 8-bit inspired sprites represented by icons that could have made it into a late 90's arcade cabinet can be a little bit jarring.
Still, while that may be jarring, and the character select screen is a little anemic, One Strike has a really cool look to it. Unfortunately there's one major thing that kills the whole game that I'll get to shortly. One Strike gives you an arcade ladder for some single player content. You can choose to play it on a five lives per match setting, or you can play it as a gauntlet match that provides you but one life. And these modes aren't too bad. They'll take the average person a fair number of attempts to clear. The concept is simple. Stab the other person once to win the round or match. Kill everybody, and you win the entire tournament. There is also a Team Battle where you can pick three characters, each with one life, and go on either an arcade ladder by yourself, or you can play in a head to head versus battle. One nice feature the game also has is the ability to set up a tournament bracket. It's something small, but it is nice for any venue looking to have another tournament for, as your brackets are already set up in it.
But like all fighting games, the head to head fighting is what keeps you coming back. The challenge of trying to outwit, or outmaneuver them. Or to learn how to properly defend yourself. There are no combos here because it's a one hit, and you're dead affair. But you can still overpower your opponent in theory. Unfortunately, there is one tactic that most will discover in a couple of hours, and that is how to utilize hit stun. All fighting games have a tiny window of time when you can make an opponent unable to react. Usually a second or less. In this game you can do this with a successful block. Blocking at just the right time will employ hit stun on your opponent. They'll have a split second where they can't block in time or move backward. So if you're the least bit quick enough you can bait them into swinging, you can get the block, and immediately stab them for the win. And the reverse is true.
So matches often boil down to a Swing/Block/Stab/Match Over formula. Which can get really tiresome really quick. Now to alleviate this to some degree, block windows are very small. You can't sit in a blocking position forever. After a moment your character will go back to their standard animation. Some characters also have the ability to cancel a move by creating stances. For instance, Oni requires you to press attack twice. Pressing it the first time gets you into a combat stance. Pressing it again swings his club. So you can dodge backward after the first button press if you don't think it's safe. With advanced strategies like this, the aforementioned formula isn't always going to be the way a match goes down. Be that as it may, it does happen often enough that many people may grow bored with things quickly.
It's a shame because this hinders strategies. I'm sure someone far better at One Strike may see this, and have a difference of opinion. But as far as my experience has been playing with both people who are adept at competitive games, and others who are not, matches often result in either predictable fast matches, or (once both players have become more adept at blocking) drawn out matches reliant on turtling, or being overly defensive. All in all, One Strike isn't a terrible game though. It functions very well, it has likable characters, and a really cool concept. But in practice, there isn't enough here to keep most fighting fans playing it days on end. Nor are there enough characters to draw more average players into playing it for long. You could easily play this over some of the other stuff out there it's true. But then you could also go back, and play the classics. In spite of its shortcomings I wouldn't mind seeing a sequel though. There's a decent foundation here. You'll likely really enjoy it initially. But after some time with it, that excitement may wane. If it had a couple of other options in the combat to keep things interesting, a few more characters, and internet matches it would be a better game worth checking out. If you don't mind a fighting game you'll play for an hour at a party with friends every few months you'll have some fun with it. But for others, unless you're really starved for newer fighting game concepts you might just want to go back to something else. Your mileage may vary with this one.
Battle Princess Madelyn Review
February 4, 2019 ReviewsAction, Adventure, Battle Princess Madelyn, causalbitgames, Console games, Console gaming, Ghosts N' Goblins, Indie Games, Indie Gaming, Microsoft, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo eshop, Nintendo Switch, PC games, PC Gaming, Platformer, Playstation 4, PSN, Retro, Retro themed games, Sony, Steam, Valve, Xbox Live, Xbox Onethedeviot
Ghosts N' Goblins is one of the classics that is often imitated these days. It isn't hard to see why, as it's pretty much a winning formula. A hero that can only take two points of damage before dying, must go on an action platforming adventure of quarter-munching proportions. Some of these games simply take that essence, and try to provide a carbon copy. Others take the idea, and try to build upon it.
PROS: The brutal, unforgiving, and yet somehow addictive fun you love.
CONS: Bugs, minor collision detection issues. Inconsistencies.
GHOST PUPPIES: May haunt your dreams, but they can also help you.
Battle Princess Madelyn is one such game. It uses the combat of Capcom's classic series as a foundation, and puts a large skyscraper of ideas upon it. For the most part it works because it does something substantial. It has not one, but two campaigns to play through. The first of which combines the tried, and true combat with adventure game, and JRPG conventions.
The primary campaign is a Story mode. It opens with a little girl named Madelyn lying in bed playing a Minecraft clone on her tablet. Her Grandfather comes in, and in true The Princess Bride fashion proceeds to read her a bedtime story. He tells her the tale of a warrior, coincidentally also named Madelyn in a European kingdom in what is presumably during the Medieval period. This Madelyn has a tiny lap dog named Fritzy. With the castle overrun by monsters, the little canine sacrifices his life to save the Royal Guard.
After some dialogue with her Grandfather, it turns out that Fritzy's soul isn't content to go to the afterlife just yet. As a spirit, he decides to follow Madelyn into glorious battle. Over the course of the game Fritzy goes from being a merely cute avatar that follows you around, to being a very useful back up character that will help you immensely. While the initial area looks like it will be another Ghosts N' Goblins clone, (Super Ghouls N' Ghosts to be specific), That is quickly proven not to be the case, as a fellow warrior sends you into town.
Once in the town you begin to do things that are more akin to an Adventure or JRPG. You have to talk to townspeople, whom give you vague clues, or demand you go on fetch quests. You eventually find your way to the castle where key members will send you on the adventure. The castle is also home to two major spots. A toy room, and another room that becomes important much later.
Over the course of the game you'll find dolls of low-level enemies, major characters, and bosses. Collecting every one of these gets you the best possible outcome, so its something you just might want to invest in. The other room becomes important later in the storyline, and involves warping you around to various areas.
The game's many stages are interconnected though not as intricately as something like Metroid. Be that as it may, you'll still want to map it out, because you're going to spend a large part of the campaign going sector to sector on foot. Why? Well remember the villagers I mentioned before? Many of the fetch quests they send you upon involve finding, and rescuing their friends from zombies. Aside from that there are also ghosts that can lead you to other secrets. And there are many hidden paths, shortcuts, and items that you'll have to destroy parts of environments to even find. Basically, if you want to get the best possible finish you'll need to do a lot of rescuing, and a lot of discovering. The rewards for many (but not nearly all) of these feats are the aforementioned dolls. Each of these dolls gets you one step closer to unlocking the door in the toy room, and the resulting end game.
Not only that, but the only way to open up the game's shop to buy power ups is tied to one of these fetch quests. Many of the villagers throughout the game want you to find one of the items they've foolishly lost. Each of the game's areas has a village of their own, and many of their citizens lost these items in other areas. So you'll be warping around a lot too.
Throughout it all though, the game has that classic Capcom arcade game play down to a science. Well mostly. The majority of the time you'll feel like you're playing the unofficial sequel to Super Ghouls N' Ghosts. Zombies rise from the Earth in much the same way. There are all sorts of monsters, and demons that show up out of nowhere, and you'll have to master your jumping, and shooting pretty quickly. Where things falter a bit is in the hit detection.
Unfortunately, there will be a few times where you'll have your foot stand near, but not on a hazard. But the game will say "Nope. You touched it." which leads to a cheap death. Other times you'll suffer cheap deaths when enemies spawn on you, or shoot a projectile that gets stuck in a part of the environment. Thus making hitting it unavoidable. These aren't heavily widespread moments, but it can be enough to get frustrating. In the case of the story mode, this is mitigated by having pretty decent checkpoints, you'll automatically start in when you run out of lives. When you die, you'll start right where you died too, so at least you won't have to start an entire section over.
Eventually you'll find your way to boss rooms. Throughout the game you'll need to find keys to the boss rooms, so again, keep exploring. Boss fights are quite frankly the highlight of the game. All of them can hang with the best fights in some of the best Super NES, and Sega Genesis games of yesteryear. They're very inventive. Even when one of them might seem generic, like the Spider bosses, or the Skeleton, they do things that throw that impression out the window. Either through the environments they take place in, or through their attack patterns, or even character mannerisms.
When you defeat a boss, and move to the next area you'll almost always find yourself near a town, and in that town you'll find a fast travel artifact. Late in the game you'll need to collect items to be reassembled in that second room I mentioned earlier. Here you'll feel like you've reached the end. But you're still far from it. It opens up all new areas that can only be accessed in the room, and you'll also find your dog's soul will now become even more useful. Over the course of the game you'll acquire the expected knives, spears, lances, and such. All of which you can cycle through using the left shoulder button. But you'll also start finding puppy soul powers you can use. These can help immensely, especially on bosses. Do keep in mind however, that these have limited supplies shared with your lives. So you'll want to save these for key moments.
Upon beating the story mode, you'll find you won't be done. You can go back, and find all of the dolls you missed. But beyond that you can play the Arcade mode. This mode is very much a Ghosts N' Goblins experience with stages feeling more linear, and with the brutal challenge fans of that series would expect. You'll have to start a stage over when you're out of lives. Lives are really tied to Fritzy's meter more so here, as when it becomes depleted completely you know you're going to start the level over. Thankfully, you'll still start where you last died. At least until the meter is depleted. You also get to use Fritzy's powers in this mode as you find them by holding the attack button until it's charged. Keep in mind as in the Story mode this will deplete the meter, so it reduces the number of lives you can use. Over time you can refill the meter the better you do. Getting to the end is a lot more streamlined as a result. Stages don't feel exactly the same, as large chunks are completely different. Though you'll still go up against the same bosses. Be that as it may, it's still quite a tough game that will take all but the most devoted players a while to get through. Mostly due to the overall challenge of it. But some of the problems from the Story mode do rear their head here. So while the stages are shorter, and in a specific order, they add their own challenges, and sometimes the technical issues can make them even tougher. You can basically keep continuing, but each time means you'll start the current stage over again, through all of its phases.
The most striking thing about the game is just how good it looks, and sounds. This game is a wonderful send up of Super Ghouls N' Ghosts. It has an amazing portfolio of sprite graphics, and animation that look like it could have appeared on Nintendo's 16-bit juggernaut or even Commodore's Amiga line of computers. The game even has a soundtrack that will evoke memories of the Commodore Amiga, early MS-DOS Adlib sound, and even a dash of the Sega Genesis for good measure. But even beyond that, you can have a more modern, CD quality orchestrated soundtrack if you choose. The game also has an optional scan line filter if you prefer a slightly blurred look to everything rather than have everything looking crisp.
Still, on the whole it's hard not to recommend this one. There may be some inconsistency in the FMV sequences, and the rest of the graphics. There may be some hit detection issues, and you'll suffer a few cheap deaths here or there. But when the game is at its best it works so well it just has to be experienced. With two primary modes to play, it's almost like having two games in one. Of course the main attraction is the Story mode. The variety of missions, and side quests while similar, will appeal to a lot of people who might normally skip it out of fears of the high difficulty, as it is a bit more forgiving. Be that as it may, the Arcade mode is something any fan of Capcom's classic arcade game might want to play. The combat, while not perfect, is noticeably better than many of its peers. If not for the handful of technical issues you'll likely run into, this would be a must own. But just because it falls a few notches away from perfection doesn't mean it shouldn't be played. It is true that it can feel, cheap, relentless, and unfair at times. But it's also a lot of fun the other 90% of the time, with its solid action, loveable characters, and the fact it makes you want to spite it by beating it. It isn't going to be for everyone. But for fans of adventure games with an old school twist, or Ghosts N' Goblins fans yearning for the day when Capcom will finally take their money, it's worth recommending. If this sounds like you Battle Princess Madelyn is still worth firing up on your computer, Xbox One, Switch, or PlayStation 4.