Game Review: Shovel Knight

What is 'Shovel Knight'?:

Shovel Knight is like an ancient relic someone dug up off the old days of gaming(Specifically 8-bit platformers). As the opening sentence would tell, it's a platformer from Yacht Games for the PC and gaming consoles. Having been funded via Kickstarter, the developers have delivered as advertised(With more to come). The main game revolves around the titular Shovel Knight, named after his signature weapon. After the loss of a beloved ally while exploring the Tower of Fate, his will for adventure is broken until his homeland is terrorized by The Enchantress and her group of rogue knights The Order of No Quarter(They seem to hate spare change). Seeing this as a chance to right his wrongs as they are all related to The Tower, he digs himself out of his slump and sets off.

Gameplay:

 

Shovel Knight pretty much replicates the kind of controls one would find off an old 8-bit platformer(I.E directional buttons for movement, two buttons for jumping and attacking. Press the up direction and attack for special weapons). Shovel Knight's shovel has many a feature itself besides being used as a beatstick. True to its original purpose, he can use it to dig up dirt piles for treasure or destroy certain walls and uncover hidden areas. A well-timed swing also lets him reflect projectiles, even magic. Somehow.

Another gimmick that Shovel Knight uses is the Shovel Drop, which is executed while he is in mid-air. By stabbing down his shovel, he can bounce off and damage enemies.

Besides his signature weapon, he can be also armed with various sub-weapons that give more options when dealing with enemies or even level obstacles.

Shovel Knight's source of growth comes from the Village and later the Armour Outpost, wherein he can purchase weapons or upgrades. The interesting thing about this is that you can actually find said weapons while going through the stages and finding the hidden rooms that contain them. Armour upgrades affect how Shovel Knight plays, like giving him more mana at the cost of reduced defense.

Why would you be interested:
-RETRO 2D PLATFORMING.
-Stages are designed well, each one with unique features and usually aren't long enough to make you tire of them(Unless you keep dying of course).
-Sub-weapons do more than
-Worried you missed a sub-weapon? Fret not, for a merchant in the town would still provide you with it, so there's no need to backtrack a stage.
-Story isn't overly complicated but it still gives a sense of investment.
-Some enemies and bosses actually test player skill to a degree as certain they adapt and bring out countermeasures to repeated tactics.
-You're rewarded with exploring and interacting with whatever you can find using your shovel, be it in the stages or back in town.
-Achievement/Feats that give a challenge to those who want more.
-CONTENT. Yacht Games has promised more content for the game like additional game modes and playable characters(Read as BOSSES). As of the time of this review, Plague Knight is a playable character alongside the Challenge mode with the Specter Knight expansion coming in the Spring of 2017. 

He makes an explosive entrance(You know. Cause he uses bombs-)

Why would you NOT be interested:
-RETRO 2D PLATFORMING. IT'S PRETTY HARD.
-Well-designed does not mean it's free from giving you nasty last minute surprises that send to back to the last checkpoint with a cheap death
-It's 2016. Everything has more buttons. Be it using a controller or keyboard, there should be a separate button for using sub-weapons instead of pressing up+attack.
-Specter Knight's stage does not have an Achievement/Feat titled 'Grave Digger'. Damn shame.

It was asking to be made.

Final Word:
If you've been interested in how old 8-bit platformers were like but can't be bothered to dig them up off the vast internet, this is your reference. Now you too can know the fun and frustration of the old days of gaming.

Mobile Game Review: Granblue Fantasy

What is 'Granblue Fantasy'?:

A turn-based Role-Playing mobile game by Cygames, Granblue's design would likely remind some of the famous Final Fantasy series(more for the older games in the series). It makes sense, since the initial designs and soundtracks are provided by Hideo Minaba and Nobuo Uematsu, who have both worked on the Final Fantasy series before. In the game, you play as 'yourself', a skyfarer who travels though various islands with your companions on adventures against the Empire as well as solving the mysteries behind the ancient beings known as the Primals.

(Special note: The game can also be played using internet browsers such as Google Chrome with this link: http://game.granbluefantasy.jp/#top )


Gameplay:

Prebattle set-up involves setting up your party members, Equipment and Summons. The latter two affect party members with passive effects(Typically damage boosts to characters of a specified element).

           

The combat itself is centered around these elements: Skills and Attack. That's it. Player/character skills are cast within the turn, meaning multiple skills can be cast in one turn before ending it by pressing the Attack button. As characters attack or are attacked, the Charge bar would get filled and they would use their Charge attacks when full. It can be saved up and stacked as chaining Charge attacks will cause a finisher move that is affected by how many Charges were triggered. As for enemies, they would mostly take a certain amount of turns before using a skill. Some are more special, with an Overdrive bar that boosts their abilities once a certain damage threshold is hit(Damage from Skill attacks are also counted), though conversely, if enough damage is dealt while they are in Overdrive, they would Break and have a reduction in ability as well.

As for character growth, there is Upgrading and Uncapping.Upgrading strengthens characters/weapons/Summons by having them absorb other material weapons/Summons(Though characters can just gain experience normally via battles). They all have a maximum level capacity, however, in which bring us to Uncapping, which increases their level capacity. Uncapping is somewhat easier for characters in this case since their materials can be hunted for, unlike weapons and Summons that need duplicates of themselves to uncap.

Granblue's primary means of revenue is the Premium Draw, which provides Rare(R) to Super Super Rare(SSR) items, through crystal earned from quests can be used to draw as well. 

Why you would be interested:
-It's so Final Fantasy
-Turn-based combat is easy to get into, though later requires more thought in distributing skills in battle.
-Game has Raid battles where players fight a super boss for rare items/materials, which provides a good means  for player interaction.
-Game is generous on crystals and early-game difficulty is reasonable.
-Various Classes to experiment or try out.
-Engaging storyline, with sidestories littered about.

One of the greatest mysteries of all as 'you' set out to find dad.

Why you would be NOT interested:
-It's so Final Fantasy IT HURTS
-Like most FF games, the game would have you start grinding. For? Everything. Materials to uncap characters,  forge items, levels, class points to unlock classes etc etc
-MORE LIKE GRINDBLUE FANTASY
-Class balancing needs work
-Playstyle can be affected by what characters you have on hand
-Game plays on a BROSWER no matter what. If you download the game off the App store(s), it'll play off a  browser by Cygames which makes the game fairly choppy and you might as well play it off the phone's  browser(Note that the link provided at the start of the post would still work on phone broswers)

-Difficulty spikes to the point where you'd need at least one SSR character to pull through or struggle  miserably.

At least they have the courtesy to show you the rate of-
Oh. 

Final word:
If you were an fan of Final Fantasy or traditional turn-based RPGs, this shoe would fit just right. Just watch for the grinding and relatively terrible draw rates.

Game Review:Battle Girl High School

What is 'Battle Girl High School'(BGHS)?:

BGHS is a 3D smartphone game by Colopl that tells what it is right off the title: An action RPG where you take charge of various high school girls as their teacher while they fight aliens and stuff.
If you want to play the game, you'd need to either:
1.Gain the APK file off a download site and manually install(Android users)
or
2.Somehow access the Japanese I-tunes store(iOS users)

The Gameplay:

With a team consisting of 3 girls, the game's combat is executed with one-hand: Dragging for movement, tap to attack and flick to dodge. The controls are simple to understand but still feel rewarding to master, considering that it combat happens in real-time and there's a combo system that gives the game a bit more depth than blindly tapping the attack button.Weapons also affect attack patterns. After playing for awhile, however, an odd realization would come: Leveling up characters through combat quickly ends up barely filling their experience bars.

Character progression actually happens more OUT of combat as you take care of the girls(Cause you know, you're the teacher). The means of which are to give them affection(though gifts and head pats. Yes. Head pats) and sending them to training/exercise. Due to the game having no stamina limit like other games, this system becomes the means of properly limiting playtime, since the training takes time(10 minutes for the quickest and 8 hours for the longest).

Rising affection unlocks perks for the characters. Each girl has their own array of 'class' cards that decide their stats and skills. As you increase affection, sub slots are unlocked to put in unused class cards which add a portion of their stats. This also means that when you get 'subpar' cards, they can at least still be used as stat supplements. Of course, increased affection also means you unlock more information of the girls, some class cards even having their own 'story'(Which is good if you understand the language).

Monetization comes in the form of using gems to summon class-cards or weapons. Besides purchasing, gems are rewards for clearing stages for the first time as well as completing certain requirements given by the stage.

Why would you be interested in it:
-Simple controls but combat itself still feels it has depth as you try to maintain combos while dodging enemy attacks
-Stages reward masterful play. Passing a stage normally gives 3 gems, but completing stage requirements gives another 3.
-Graphically pleasing
-Class-card system and sub-slots give flexibility.
-Due to above mentioned system, cards obtained via summoning will have some kind of use, be it as stat supplements or extra costumes. Duplicate cards are converted into items that allow remove the level cap for class-cards.
-Fairly generous with resources, making it terrifyingly friendly to newer players.
-Story content(For those who know Japanese)
-Head pat the cute girls.

A smile to protect.

Why would you NOT be interested in it:
-Using some weapons can be annoying cause they cycle through their patterns randomly.
-Play the game long enough and you'll end up crossing your fingers hoping not to get duplicate cards when you summon. It gets worse the more you play and summon.
-Character balancing can be a bit poor, be it in terms of stats or their special attacks.
-Missing out on a chunk of story if you don't know Japanese.
-Micromanaging. You are taking care of 18 girls in total by the end, so it might feel like a hassle to manage their growth. They also get upset if you neglect them and focus on select girls.

Oh no-

Final word:
If you don't mind the somewhat inconvenient means of getting it, the game is pretty well-made and friendly to get into.

Game Series Review:BlazBlue

*Dusts off the blog*
.....I should be here more often. Testing a new format of writing with this.

Anyway-

What is 'BlazBlue'?:

Blazblue sprite-based fighting game series created and published by Arc System Works in Japan, with English localization handled by Arcsys Games and Zen United in the North American and Europe regions respectively.

Beginning with 'Calamity Trigger'(Released in arcades in 2008 and 2009 on consoles), the game has spanned it's story across 4 games, ending with 'Central Fiction' in 2016.

The Gameplay:

As described by the image above every character has a basic set of four attacks: Weak, Medium, Strong and Drive. The first three are easy to grasp on how they work(Weak being fast but dealing least damage to Strong being slow but dealing most of the three). The Drive button is an attack or gimmick unique to each character, such as the character Ragna's Drive being able to drain health of opponents onto himself. Combining directional commands with attacks executes various other special attacks as well. If executed correctly, attacks can be chained, though naturally practice is required.

For the sake of those new to fight games, the developers did include a separate layout which makes executing attacks and chaining them easier, called the Stylish layout.

It basically allows instant execution of special moves and chains.

The game does not seem to take kindly to those who use it in the long term though.

A certain unique point of the series is that it has story focus, playing out like a Visual Novel with battles littered in between. The games also have various challenge modes to provide replayablility.

Although there has been changes to some mechanics between each entry, the basic combo system remains intact through the series.

Why you would get it:

Blazblue is one of the few fighting game series's that still utilizes character sprites instead of 3D models, feeling easier on the eyes. The game's combo system is one of the easier ones to pick up.

It has quite a selection of characters to choose from, so one is bound to happen on a character that appeals to them(Hopefully with the aesthetics and playstyles intersecting) . Fights are pretty fast-paced, with each entry adding new mechanics that can turn the tide of battle if used well.

Its story is a lot bigger than what most would see in fighting games, making one invested in the characters as they go through the struggles.

Like Japanese anime or fast-paced fighters? Then Blazblue would be highly recommended for you.

Why you would NOT get it:

Due to the nature of its system, the utmost focus in timing and muscle-memory is needed, cause the window for chaining some attacks can be very short. Like, 3-4 frames of animation short.

>This is a 'basic' Combo

Having a huge pool of characters can feel a bit overwhelming, seeing that there is 28 charac-

(Select screen from the latest game's arcade version)

THERE'S MORE!?

Balancing can be a bit of an issue here considering that there are 32 as of the current(Arcade) version of the latest game.

Likewise can be said of the story, the scale being a bit intimidating(We are talking a visual novel's worth of story here), but bits of plot are only better explained by their other media out of the main game(Prequel and side story novels). 

Takeshi's Challenge, Spec Ops and what Video Games give.

For those who don't know the first game in the title, its an old NES game created by Taito with the help of comedian-turned actor Takeshi Kitano, who actually actively took part in the game's development. Something like this was rare back in the day as even though there were games that bear the names of Japanese celebrities, most didn't take part in the game's development beyond lending the name. And such a decision was....Well, let's just say that here's a fun fact: He apparently HATED video games. And whist discussing ideas for the game, he was drunk.

The game's plot is about a salaryman who seeks treasure on an island. Possible events in the game include fighting(Or running away from) the yakuza, divorcing /your/ wife and dying from punching the guard on the password screen. There were also some tasks needed to be completed unconventionally such as leaving the controller untouched for an hour.

The game itself was very difficult to complete due to the very specific and unorthodox feats demanded. And in the end what was the reward given?

A black end game screen. It would also have the word 'Congratulations' written on it. 

Some might not see the big deal if one looks online at the kinds of things needed to be done to complete it and the effort, it would probably make one go mad with rage.

And just to add salt to the wound, if the player chooses to leave the screen alone for 5 minutes(Either out of choice or sheer bewilderment), another message appears and says:

It's a fan translation, but it's not fair from the actual message.

You work so hard and tank through all that just to get....An ending like this.

But then what if that's the point? What if that's what Kitano was trying to convey on his thoughts of video games? That they were nothing but time wasters in which the reward was nothing tangible or meaningful. Thinking about it, would he be wrong to say that?

Playing a game, you do the various tasks it requires you with the mechanics given. Sure, you'll gain skill in playing the game and be better at it, but what else? At most it would give you a virtual reward such as a congratulatory message for saving the 'world' or some such. Nothing much you can really carry or apply into the real world. 

Then again, the game itself is pretty dated, so could the rather bitter message by Kitano be as well?

For the most part, it still stands. But then there are some games of recent memory that seem to use the same method as Kitano did(I.E using the game to send a message) in order to make it something more.

Spec Ops: The Line was a third-person shooter where by the player takes control of a Captain by the name of Martin Walker. As much as it may seem like a run-of-the-mill military shooter, it later unveils itself as a journey into the unsightly side of military life as we follow Walker's decent into madness.

Sadly, I only have second-hand experience with the game. But from what I could infer, it managed to criticize modern military shooter games and how the glorification of what soldiers actually face is actually that isn't really right.

Such games provide a perspective and let us think. The game attempts to makes us contemplate on a subject matter. In my perception, such a game like this is a useful tool for a parent in the military who wants to educate their teenage or young adult sons on the actual risks and how it might not be as 'heroic' as it seems at times. How many games have managed that?

Another example would be Telltale's episodic The Walking Dead series. Taking place in a zombie apocalypse, the game puts the player in the shoes of whoever is the protagonist of the season as they meet up with and gather survivors. 

As much as the characters and settings are fictional, the moral dilemmas within makes a person invested and tests their moral compass. Discussions of decisions made in the game could possibly show a person's way of thinking and their rationalization for making that choice.  

As rare as it might be, I would love to see more games provide something for people to think and bring into the 'outside' world. As a medium of interactivity, video games are powerful since they pass decision making to the player and show them the results of their choice.

Game Review:Metal Slug Defense

For those who don't know, I'm currently enlisted in the army due to conscription. What better time to talk about a game with a military theme, eh?

Metal Slug is a series of primarily run and gun games that were pretty popular in arcades. The games focused on the exploits of the Peregrine Falcon Squad and their battle against forces that desire world domination, such as a rebel army and aliens(Specifically referred to as Martians or Mars People). The series has spin-off games as well and we're going to look at one of them since I've been spending some time on it.

Metal Slug Defense is a tower(?) defense game on smartphones that recycles the sprites of existing games. The main 'story' involves General Morden, the recurring antagonist of the series, planning a coup d'état (again), with the assistance of Martians and causing incidents about the world. The military sends its forces around the world to stop them.

Example of a stage being played

The game's levels are split into areas, with stages that can be played in any order. Though most tower defense games have the objective being to survive wave after wave of enemies, the objective of the stages in MSD's main game is to destroy the enemy's base. This is done by creating units of your own with AP points that's built up automatically. The maximum amount and rate of build up can be increased by spending some AP. The units created can execute special attacks or functions when the bar below them is filled and they are tapped.

Before battles, items can be used to provide support or boosts, such as a satellite that assists in attacking or increasing the rewards after the stage. There are also Prisoners of War that are hidden and appear randomly in the stages. Rescuing all the prisoners in an area provides a reward, granting a degree of replayability.

After each stage, players earn MSP, which can be used to upgrade the units or upgrade the 'base'(Player aspects), examples being  AP generation rate, Unit Production Rate and MSP gain.

Besides the main game, there is also a 'Mission' mode, whereby there will be presets provided and an objective given such as surviving or destroying the enemy base in a certain amount of time.

Medals are the premium currency of the game, which can be earned by clearing a 'World', finishing certain missions or purchased via real world currency. They are used to purchase items ,new units and to increase the upgrade limit for units.

At first glance one might suspect this to be a simple cash in on the Metal Slug brand, but the game provides more depth as it goes on. Units have their specialties in battle, some better at being in the front lines soaking damage while others back up with powerful fire support. This degree of depth is better displayed in the 'Mission' mode. As Missions go on, they will demand the player to utilize fully the abilities of the provided unit(s).

The user interface is responsive enough and the game provides a fast forward function for those who want the stage to go faster if they feel they can complete it or they already know how to and just want to speed up the process.

DAAAWWW(Death SFX of Marco, one of the characters. We're talking about the game's flaws now.)

The balancing of the game needs work as some units cost of purchase don't seem to match up that well with their in-game efficiency. For example: A unit that costs around 150 or so medals can out perform and be more efficient than one that costs 280 considering the 'cooldown time' and AP cost of the units.

Another issue of balance is the stages themselves. After selecting a stage, they would state the stage's difficulty, but it is very subjective.There would be some points where it feels that a player must have a certain criteria met in order to progress.

Because some character sprites are small and the stage map moves when you sweep, it can be very easy to accidentally move the map and disorient yourself, wasting vital seconds.

The game feels like it deserves a 6.5/10. If you were to remove the Metal Slug IP and replace it with something else, I would still say the game is worth a good amount of one's time. One's money, on the other hand, is a question that is subjective, since it does feel like the purchase of one or two units from the Medals earned freely can carry a player for a very long time.

Game Opinion(?):Phantasy Star Online 2

Due to life being a bit....Uncooperative, my blog posts will be slowed down even more and I won't have as much time to go through games as well.

That's why we're having a Game Opinion section for the list of games that I feel I've played enough of but haven't quite reached end-game yet(So these 'reviews' need to be taken with more pinches of salt than usual).

That being said, let's begin.

Phanstasy Star Online 2 is a Massively Multi-player Online Action Role-Playing Game played in a third-person camera view by SEGA. The players are known as ARKs, best described as inter-planetary explorers who explore the reaches of space and investigate incidents caused by D-arkers, beings of dark energy that corrupt.

Character creation lets the player choose from 4 races: Humans, Newmans(Bio-engineered humanoid elves ), Casts(Mechanical beings) and Dewmans(Humans with recessive Darker genes). The character creation is also rather extensive in the sense that besides the presets of faces and hair, customization includes armour colours and proportions of the face and body. There are a total of five starting classes to pick from:Hunter, Ranger, Force, Braver and Bouncer, though previously level-locked classes(Fighter,Gunner and Techer) are also available for use at the start now so it should be eight.

Combat in the game is simple and reactive. Basic 3-part attacks are executed with the assigned button(depending on what control the player is using i.e mouse and keyboard or game controller). Special attacks called Photon Arts or Technics are integrated differently depending on the weapon. Striking weapons(colour-coded orange) have their Arts attached in a 3-block interval alongside the attack command, meaning that they can be chained into while Ranged weapons(blue) are individual attacks. Technic weapons are basically the 'spells' that are also cast individually(Except when using Jet Boots). Arts and Technics are learned via Discs, which are items and spend no resources to be learned. Weapons also have secondary functions that are assigned to the Shift key, usually involving dodging or accessing more Photon arts. There are also Weapon Gears, of which are usually gauges that add an additional feature such as improved performance.

Classes in the game can be freely accessed and changed, removing the need to create a new character if the player wants to try a new class. Another feature is the Subclass, which allows the player to pick a secondary class which arguments the stats of their main class and allows access to their class skills.
Assuming a player also possesses a rare weapon that can be used by all classes, they can also access the Photon Arts of the subclass.


In the game, there are various missions on different planets that can be taken. During a mission, Emergency Orders can appear randomly , which are events and tasks that occur in that instance. Completing all of it for a certain planet unlocks the 'Free Exploration' for it. Beating the boss located in the final area of it would unlock a new planet. As a player gets deeper into the game, challenge modes such as Extreme Quest and Time Attack Quests(The former which I have no experience in and the latter being incomplete).

The game's Premium currency Arks Cash(AC) is used for improving a player's experience more than improving the player's character. It's mostly used for aesthetics and expansion of item storage, removing the danger of power-creeping in the game.

The game's battle system provides a good sense of depth and accomplishment, since it's very customizable. The game modes give content that manages to maintain interest as harder versions of the missions get unlocked as a player's Class level gets higher.
Because AC is used to merely enhance a player's experience, it doesn't feel like the game forces players to pay in order to catch up to paying players.

But the game does have a slight issue involving the weapons as the secondary function of some weapons are useless unless the Weapon Gear is learned. The harder version of the missions basically increase enemy health and damage as well as the density of enemies. On the difficulty of Very Hard and Super Hard, the values make the missions quite punishing.

Overall, PSO2 is a very well-made game and it's business model of using it's premium content to bolster game experience makes it feel more inviting than most.