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Longstory
After 2064: Read Only Memories left a rather bad impression of “inclusive gaming” on me, I figured I would give another story-driven game that touts itself as an “LGBTQ+ friendly dating sim”. Before I begin, I want to preface that I am not a member of the LGBTQ+ community, and I don’t think that should matter for someone to enjoy a game that wants to be inclusive. Dating sims aren’t really my thing. I have no issue with them, but rarely have found them to be something worth drowning myself in. Most are anime or fan-service oriented. This one has its own art style, and looked somewhat appealing. I was…
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Survive! Mr.Cube
Survive! Mr. Cube! Well, that’s the dream at least… Chances are, Mr. Cube won’t survive. At least, not in the sense that one would often attribute to the word “survive.” Because, in all likelihood, for Mr. Cube to be triumphant, he must die. That is the nature of the mysterious world he finds himself in. A dark and dangerous land, filled with creatures that want to kill him for…reasons. Armed with his trusty longsword and, not much else, the odds truly are stacked against our hero’s favor. Survive! Mr. Cube is an action adventure game with some roguelike elements mixed in. You play as the titular Mr. Cube, a Minecraftian…
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Punch Club
perhaps a more accurate title would be, “Get Punched Club.” Sometimes it’s even just “Get Clubbed.” However you want to call it, one thing is for sure…You will take far more punishment playing this game than you will deal out. This game is just brutal, that’s all there is to it. So what exactly is Punch Club? Well, essentially it is a time/resource management game where you navigate a wannabe MMA fighter through his day to day dealings in the hopes you gain fortune and glory. What’s that now? You were expecting a game named Punch Club, featuring an aspiring MMA fighter to be an action game? Well, you’re sorely…
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Clustertruck
Clustertruck…Oh where to begin. I guess the name is a pretty accurate representation of what you’re going to get in this package. Using any sort of permutation of “cluster fuck” as your game title should be a red flag at this point. The joke has worn FAR too thin, but in this case, you actually are getting a cluster of trucks. So it works, and i’ll let it slide. Well, when I say works, I mean it works about as well as a concept like this realistically could work. The whole game takes place atop of a cluster…of semi trucks. Frantic semi-trucks with panicking spider monkeys driving them (Not really,…
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Earth Atlantis
Earth Atlantis is a visual delight when you first see it, but everything that I loved about it, eventually became its downfall. The visual style is one not unlike my own school doodles of monsters and space ships, and other things. Naturally, my classroom doodles were far less refined or focused. Earth Atlantis, on the other hand, has a very focused style; everything is some kind of sea creature look alike robot. In Earth Atlantis, the world is submerged in water. The Statue of Liberty prominently stands in the background of the first area, albeit mostly submerged in water along with whatever buildings weren’t destroyed in the apocalypse that ravaged this world. Other…
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Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II
I wanted to talk about this game the minute I started playing it, but I knew a lot of people had just gotten into the first game to play them in order. Since it’s nearly impossible to talk about this game without discussing the ending of the first, I decided to wait a long time before I gave my final verdict. I originally wanted to do this in two parts. The first part was going to be how I felt about the game during the beginning chapters where Rean is searching for his classmates. The second was going to be how I felt about the game after pushing through to…
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BlazBlue: Central Fiction
As the fourth entry in the Blazblue series, Central Fiction grants access to over thirty playable characters, several modes with upgraded features, and a story section that brings a grand conclusion to its very intricate plot. This iteration of Blazblue is unlike the rest, in perhaps, a good way for most, and represents a fantastic arcade fighting game experience. Blazblue Calamity Trigger was released in 2010, by Arc System Works, as a Japanese arcade game under the fighting game genre. It featured 12 characters in a brand new system. With the console release, several various modes were barebones at best, with the story mode being the most fleshed out, featuring…
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Final Fantasy XV
Final Fantasy XV (FFXV) is the latest entry in the seminal RPG series that is a mainstay of Square-Enix (SE). In it you play the role of Noctis; a prince on his way to his royal wedding accompanied by his retainers. This is the first game in the main series to truly cross into being an action RPG, and SE bills it as “A Final Fantasy for Fans and First Timers”. This distinction may be great for first timers, but is a bit of a mixed bag for fans. There’s a bit of something for everyone, and a lot of small details they get right, but the gameplay itself is…
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Odin Sphere Leifthrasir
Originally released on the PS2 half a year after the PS3 came out, Odin Sphere launched with much fanfare. It’s music, art direction, and gameplay was just what everyone needed at the time. 2D beat-em-ups had all but gone the way of the dodo, but Vanillaware showed us that we needed them in our lives. With all of it’s beautiful environments and colorful characters, the game was a success with the niche market, and even got some positive mainstream press. Much of that praise came from lead designer George Kamitani’s animation decisions. I’ve always enjoyed his art style as well as his animation techniques. Using multi-sprite bosses where each body…
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Monster Hunter Generations
Anyone who knows me probably knows how much I adore Monster Hunter. I’ve played well over three thousand hours between the different games. I skipped Monster Hunter Tri and only played a little bit of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate. I was not fan of the decision to bring the games exclusively to Nintendo platforms, but eventually I accepted it and bought in. I doubled down with Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate by buying the *New* 3DS XL and I haven’t regretted doing so one bit. The right analog nipple is a godsend for these games. Here we are just over a year after that game and Capcom has graced us with…
Handheld Gaming Reviews
