Monark: A Grindy Take on Strategy RPGs

Monark is such a weird game for me. When I originally got the code I fell in love with the game. Everyday I couldn’t get enough of it until I did get enough of it. Monark is a strategy role playing game and a rather good one. It’s just that it’s easy to forget that fact when you have to repeat battles over to stand a chance in the next story encounter. In a more traditional role playing game, this wouldn’t be an issue. However, in a strategy game, that can be a huge detriment.

Coming to us from developers Lancarse and a few of the original creators of the Shin Megami Tensei series, including the original author, Monark is the latest game from publisher FuRyu. FuRyu is a Japanese company known for creating and publishing RPGs in Japan. They tend to team up with Western publishers to get their games across the pond. One of their past projects was the fun and underrated the Alliance Alive.

One thing I feel this game gets right is narrative. It puts you in the role of an amnesiac high school student who suddenly becomes what is called a pactbearer. The school he goes to is covered in a strange mist and no one can exit it. You learn that in order to remove the mist, you must defeat the other pactbearers. However, things aren’t that simple. You set out to solve the mystery of the mist and the pactbearers.

The story goes into some really interesting and dark places. If you were ever a fan of the narratives of Shin Megami Tensei or Persona, you should feel right at home. This is very much a story of high school kids. Though I should mention that not only students become pactbearers.

School Management

When it comes to gameplay, Monark is great but not without issues. Let’s start with navigating the world. Monark’s world isn’t a huge one, owing to the fact that it takes place in a single school. The game is divided into two parts. The first part is then divided into individual arcs centered on certain party members. You see, you can only have one party member at a time so when you do one of their stories, it’s just you and them. I feel like this helps you to get know each companion because you’re only focusing on their story at the time. There are four in total, and they each have their own interesting personality quirks. Each arc limits where you can travel to in the school building that concerns the companion you are with at that time.

One of my biggest gripes with these sections of the game is map management. The game gives you a map in the menu and mini map. Those are good; the problem is when you need to know exactly where you are. The minimap can’t be expanded and the menu map doesn’t tell you exactly where you are. This led to several headaches trying to find my next destination.

Quelling the Madness

In order to get into a battle you need to have a particular phone number. You can find phone numbers all around the school. This is very useful for grinding; more on that later. When it comes to story battles, you’ll be exploring a particular floor of a building and see a stack of phones. Your party and the enemy units are made up of fiends. You can customize your fiends look with multiple options for voice, hair, and various other things. The fiend units are the only ones that you can change the equipment of. Human characters have gear they equip and can evolve through the skill tree.

The battles in Monark can be quite intense. You have your usual set of stats and abilities that you would normally find in a strategy rpg along with some more unique moves. There isn’t an MP gauge but instead a madness gauge. It starts at zero and the more you use things like magic spells the higher the gauge gets until that character goes berserk. There’s also another gauge for particular units that allows them to awaken and have a stat increase. The protagonist has the ability to link with other units and share skills and stat buffs and debuffs. Linking a maddened unit and an awakened unit enlightens both.

At the end of each battle your performance is graded. Taking advantage of all the different mechanics usually yields a better grade in addition to finishing battles fast. I found most battles thrilling and challenging. They often left me thinking long and hard about making certain moves. There were times when I tried to brute force my way through and had my protagonist surrounded by enemy units.

The Grind

While I enjoy the battles, halfway through the game things get difficult. The only solution for some of these difficult battles is to grind. That got kind of annoying seeing as some battles can take up to ten minutes. Luckily, there’s no fail state, so you’re never really losing progress. You also are fully healed after every battle. The only downside to battles is your madness gauge goes up but you can see the school infirmary to get that taken care of.

In order to grind out battles, you find numbers that will take you to battles you can grind out. The problem is you’ll be replaying battles over and over again to level up. The only thing that changes for a number’s particular battle is unit placement. Your team will spawn in on the same side of the map every time. Now, you can learn certain strategies later on that shorten these battles up but before that they can take up to five minutes to complete. That’s pretty long for battles you’re meant to repeat.

Leveling up is pretty weird in this game. At the end of every battle you’re given skill points, however, the skill points aren’t for a particular unit. The points you earn can be spent on any unit in your party. That’s a good thing if you have units just joining you and you need to level them up. Your characters level up by unlocking skills. This means that the usual stat boosts you would normally associate with a jrpg is now tied to skills. Honestly, I had no issues this way of leveling up.

Presentation

It’s pretty obvious Monark was made on a budget but that doesn’t stop it from looking good. Sure, if you really look at the character models, they look real cheap. However, the character designs are really striking. The menu is awesome, imitating the form of a cell phone. The only thing that stands out is that most of time you’ll be battling the same fiends repeatedly.

And I don’t think this has happened before but NIS America worked with Sentai Filmworks on the English dub. I have to say that this is one of the best localizations I’ve heard from NIS America and they have some pretty good ones under their belt. I feel like everyone does a good job but nobody sinks into their role in those production more than the talented Brittney Karbowski. She really brings her character to life but I can say no more due to spoilers.

Also, the soundtrack absolutely slaps. I really enjoyed the boss music most of all. Each boss fight is accompanied by a J-Pop song that had my head bouncing.

Conclusion

Monark is an easy game for me to recommend. While it can get a bit grindy further in, I never got bored with it. The story is easy to get into and features some fully realized characters. Learning the battle mechanics will help with the fights ahead. If you’ve ever been a fan of japanese role playing games, the Persona or Shin Megami Tensei games then you owe it do yourself to pick up Monark.

Monark is available on Playstation 4 and 5, Switch, and PC via Steam.

Labyrinth Legend: Short, Fun, and Grindy

I knew absolutely nothing about Labyrinth Legend before playing but I’m glad I did. Labyrinth Legend is a retro inspired, indie dungeon crawler. It’s one of a few indie games, like Giraffe and Annika, being published by NIS America. Apparently, it first released on mobile and PC back in 2020 and has now finally hit the Nintendo Switch. These seem like the perfect platforms for it to be if you ask me.

Labyrinth Legend begins with a text scroll explaining your objective in the game. You are a lone adventurer who has made their way to the Kingdom of Kanata in search of a royal treasure. Once you enter the kingdom, you find out you can’t leave because it’s been cursed by its queen and the only way out is to lift the curse. And that’s pretty much it when it comes to story. You have a hub village where you can talk to npcs but there isn’t an actual plot. Which is fine because the gameplay is the star of this show.

The Grind

The land of Kanata has multiple dungeons that need exploring. They are all randomly generated and have five floors. Gameplay is your typical hack and slash in that you climb the various floors and destroy everything in your path as you level up and collect loot. You’re able to equip different weapons like swords, whips, spells, and so forth. All of your gear can be upgraded at the blacksmith using materials you find during your adventure. Gear can only but upgraded five times so you’re forced to switch up and keep things fresh.

Combat is simple. You have two buttons dedicated to attacking using whatever two main weapons you equipped to those buttons. On top of that you can buy a single special move for each weapon type. I found the loop fun but I did have a problem with hit detection in later dungeons. There’s a dodge mechanic that can be a little finnicky when there are multiple enemies on the screen. Every dungeon ends with a boss fight and this is where combat truly shines. In these battles you truly have to make use of all of the games mechanics to persevere.

Each dungeon has a recommended level and sometimes you’ll have to go back to earlier dungeons to grind for gear and levels. Fortunately, the procedural nature of the dungeons keep you from thinking about how you visited this area before. It makes sense for a game like this to be as grindy as it is. You can beat a level in ten minutes or less.

Presentation

I love the style of this game. The graphics are presented in a 16 bit style reminiscent of a Super Nintendo game. Not only that but there are so many cool effects that that classic system probably couldn’t handle. The music is also great. It sounds like something from a Nihon Falcom game.

Conclusion

Labyrinth Legend is hidden gem on the Nintendo Switch. It’s the perfect game to play when you just want to play one more level when you a little free time. While some may take issue with the grindy nature of the late game, others will adore it.

Deathloop: It Kind of Overstayed Its Welcome

Deathloop really is a hard game for me to talk about. The whole time I was playing, I constantly confused my friends and coworkers with my feelings on the game. One minute I was heaping praise and the next I’m talking about putting it down. At release, Deathloop got a bunch of perfect scores so my interest was through the roof. Unfortunately, that’s not the experience I had.

Deathloop is about a shady organization that’s found a way to continuously loop a single day so long as you’re on the island of Black Reef. Our amnesiac protagonist, Colt sets his sights on eliminating each visionary spearheading the looping project. The only issue is he only has a single day to so. In order to achieve this goal, you as Colt have to explore the four districts of Black Reef to get them all together in one loop. For the most part that’s it story wise and it’s here where my first issue with Deathloop is. I’m such a huge story guy when it comes to video games and I was so excited to see it go places. It’s just unfortunate for me that story is so set to the side the way it is.

Make no mistake, though, what storytelling is here is pretty good. Colt and central antagonist, Julianna have such a great chemistry together. Almost every time you enter a new area, they banter back and forth about either what you just did or about the loop itself. The writing is just so witty and funny. The major mystery you’ll be uncovering is figuring out the relationship between these two. They’re relationship is built up all the way to the end.

Black Reef

In terms of gameplay, Deathloop lives up to its name. You explore the four areas of Blackreef, looking for clues on how to kill each visionary. Days are broken up into 4 times of day: Morning, Early Afternoon, Afternoon, and Night. Each time you visit a district, that’s one time of day used up but there are no time limits nor does the time pass in real time. Once you’ve complete all times of day, you go right back to the beginning of that day. Deathloop doesn’t really have a traditional mission structure either. Instead, you get leads that you can follow up on as you learn more about each visionary. I like how every time you find a note or audio log, the game summarizes it for you on the screen with a single paragraph.

Arkane Studios has done a great job of allowing players the flexibility of tackling their objective any way they like. I’m a fan of going in guns a blazin’ and the game pretty much obliged. I’m sure if I wanted to take a more stealthy approach I could’ve but if I’m playing a first person shooter, then I’m more than likely going to try to take everyone out. The gunplay feels really good though I wouldn’t put it on the level of a Halo or Call of Duty. The guns all have a unique feel to them and additional upgrades can tune them you like.

Customization

Four of the visionaries carry power granting Slabs that allow them to do things like teleport or link targets together to be killed with one shot. All you have to do is kill them and you pick it up off their corpse. Each slab has four additional upgrades you upgrades you can get by killing them again. All this customization gives you a chance to take objectives the way you like. However, once I found a loadout I really liked, I kind of just stuck with that instead of experimenting.

Colt has a slab that allows him to come back to life two times. Once you’ve lost all three lives, the day restarts again. Because Colt is restarting his whole day that means anything you collect over a day’s period is lost. That is until you discover residium. By applying residium to his gear, Colt is able to keep all his gear over multiple loops as long as he has enough. You can find it on random items out in the world, by sacrificing equipment, or by killing visionaries.

Julianna

Deathloop does something cool in allowing other players invade your game as Julianna. Her mission is to find Colt and kill him to protect the loop. This is a cool thing to add to the game as it gives you another perspective to tackle the game from. I turned off this feature, however, as it stops the game from pausing. As a busy dad, I had no choice but to choose the ability to pause over facing another player as Julianna. By doing so, you are left with a cpu controlled Julianna. I found her easy enough to take down, though she did take me out a few times. It would’ve been cool to do that with another player. Killing Julianna rewards you with whatever slab and weapons she’s carrying at the time and a whole ton of residium.

My Issues

So, as much as I loved playing this game, I didn’t exactly fall in love with Deathloop. After visiting each district and facing each visionary, at a certain point it I just felt like I was done. A lot of outlets disagree but I feel like the game goes on for longer than it should. There just wasn’t enough there to keep me completely invested the whole 15 hours it takes to beat it. I found my loadout pretty early on so anything I picked up afterwards would just sit in my inventory. Also, as I stated above, I’m a story guy and the story here just didn’t live up to my expectation. When the game ends, it just sort of ends and I was left with the feeling of, “I guess.”

Conclusion

There’s a lot to love about Deathloop. Even with my issues, I still enjoyed my time with it. And to be fair, my issues are mostly nitpicks that others can and have looked pass. I fully recommend it but don’t go in thinking you’re going to get a flawless masterpiece.

2022: The Games I’m Looking Forward To

I won’t lie to you. 2021 was a strange year for games. Not a bad one, mind you; just a weird one. Most of the notable games of the year were indie darlings and strong Japanese role playing games (my genre of choice). I’m sure the continuing crisis that is COVID-19 played a huge part in the lack of tentpole AAA titles. 2022 seems to be a return to form with a lot of big games coming out.

Unlike last year’s list, I’m going to be highlighting games coming to all platforms. And you also notice that my list doesn’t include a lot of those huge tentpole titles I mentioned earlier. Well overall, I’ve never really gravitated towards those genres to begin with so this is par the course.

Strangers of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origins

Yes, I remember the memes that spawned from that initial trailer but if you played the demo that accompanied that trailer you’d understand my hype. Sure, the character designs are really dumb, I get it. But as a huge fan of the Nioh and Final Fantasy series there was no way I wouldn’t be hyped. Strangers of Paradise takes the gameplay of Nioh and molds into a Final Fantasy game. Also, the story looks interesting. Especially, after having finally finished the Pixel Remaster of the first game.

Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin comes out March 18, 2022. You can preorder here.

Metal Slugs Tactics

Who predicted this game coming? No one, that’s who. Traditionally a run and gun series, Metal Slugs Tactics takes SNK’s beloved franchise into turned based combat. The pixel art in this one looks really beautiful and it looks like the franchise transitioned pretty well into this new genre. The only way to tell is to actually play it.

Metal Slug Tactics comes out in 2022.

Star Ocean: The Divine Force

I’m not going to lie, I was a little worried about the Star Ocean franchise. After the response the mediocre fifth game got and the quick closing of the mobile game’s global servers, I thought that was it for the series. Fortunately, Square Enix announced this Star Ocean: The Divine Force for a Spring 2022 release. Though Tri-Ace is still using those creepy doll like models, I see a lot of improvements to the gameplay. At the very least, you can actually see the space battles unlike in Integrity and Faithlessness.

Star Ocean The Divine Force will ship sometime in Spring 2022.

Sonic Frontiers

Please stop hurting me Sonic. Growing up, I was an avid fan of Sonic the Hedgehog. I would watch and rewatch all the cartoons and anime, read the comic books religiously every month, and of course, played the hell out of all the games. Then, Shadow the Hedgehog came out and things haven’t been the same since. I haven’t fully enjoyed a Sonic game since Sonic Heroes. Every game using the boost mechanic feels like a glorified rollercoaster that you can sometimes interact with. Sonic Lost World tried to change things up but I felt the level design was a bit horrendous.

It is my hope that Sonic Frontiers is the game that brings me back into the fold. We still have no idea what this game is or what it’s about but what we do know has me cautiously optimistic. Earlier I mentioned those Sonic comic books. Well, the writer of said books is finally writing one of the games. The newest trailer also showed what could be an open world. Hopefully this means Sonic Team will slow down the gameplay and go back to doing some fun exploration.

Sonic Frontiers is due out next holiday.

Horizon: Forbidden West

Horizon: Zero Dawn took me by surprise. It was an unknown game from the makers of Killzone, a game I never tried. I didn’t know what to expect and at first, I didn’t care for it. Fortunately, I stuck with it and it became one of my favorite experiences on the PlayStation 4. The mystery of Aloy’s lineage, finding out the origins of those mechanical wildlife, and just taking out enemy bandit camps had me constantly coming back. Now, with Horizon: Forbidden West coming in February, this is a no brainer pickup for me. My biggest hope is that they expand on the melee combat as it felt kind of stiff in the original.

Horizon Forbidden West is due out February 18, 2022. You can preorder here.

God of War: Ragnarök

God of War as a franchise was never my jam growing up. I saw it as a competitor to the Devil May Cry games and felt it was inferior to them. Flashforward to 2018, I spent the year marathoning the whole series and I found out I do love those games. But the one I loved the most was the reason for that marathon: God of War (2018). The game was fun and frenetic and the story was touching and memorable. Gone was the angry action hero and in his place was a father trying to do right by his son. That game left on a cliffhanger and I can’t wait to see where it goes next.

God of War: Ragnarök will release sometime in 2022.

Bayonetta 3

The wait for Bayonetta 3 has been far too long. Originally announced in 2017 and now slated for a general 2022 release, it seems we may finally get this game…maybe. Bayonetta seems to be using different abilities than what we’re normally use to. Her clothes don’t come off in combat anymore which isn’t a problem for me but may be for other folks. The gameplay reveal trailer ends with a mysterious swordsman. I’m quite interested in who this character is and if we’ll be able to play as them.

Bayonetta 3 is due out sometime in 2022.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land

Kirby finally has his first 3D action game after three decades of sidescrollers. I want to see what changing the camera perspective will add to the game. Kirby games are normally really breezy and comforting platformers. The perfect type of game for beginner players, a trend I hope to see continue.

Kirby is set to release in Spring 2022. You can preorder here.

Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope

Mario is teaming up with the Rabbids for another big adventure. This time the scale gets even grander as the crew takes off into space. There seems to be a number of changes to the gameplay like encoutering enemies on a field map and battling them on a different one like a traditional jrpg. There also seem to be new weapons for the characters to equip. The first one took by surprise with how much depth the combat had so I’m definitely ready to pick up the second one.

Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is due out sometime in 2022. You can preorder here.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge

TMNT: Turtles in Time is one of my favorite video games ever. If you tell me that some of the developers of Scott Pilgrim are making a spiritual successor to that, better believe that I will be there. When Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge was originally revealed, my jaw dropped. It feels like they nailed why I loved Turtles in Time so much: the pixel art, the music, the gameplay, and, most of all, the spirit. Let’s kick some shell!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge comes out in sometime in 2022.

Granblue Fantasy: Relink

2022 seems to be the year a lot of long in development games finally see a release. Originally announced all the way back in 2016, Cygames have reaffirmed this year that Granblue Fantasy: Relink is coming 2022 with a more concrete release date to be announced later. Relink is the first console game developed by Cygames, who’ve only had mobile games under it’s belt. They were originally partnered with Platinum Games but their Osaka based studio took over when Platinum’s contract was up.

Relink is an action rpg set in a land unique to this game. The developers are boasting 10 playable characters and both a single player story mode and a quest based multiplayer mode. I’m excited because Granblue Fantasy feels like a combination between the old school, medieval Final Fantasy style and anime designs. Also, the gameplay looks pretty dynamic.

Granblue Fantasy: Relink is coming out sometime in 2022.

Elden Ring

And of course I end this list with a game that’ll probably take all year or into the next to beat. After taking a break from the action role playing genre, From Software have returned but even grander than ever. Elden Ring is a game born from the developers’ Dark Souls roots mixed in with a dash of open world. The map that they revealed is truly ginormous and can’t wait to skulk around to discover all of its secrets. Action packed battles against some truly horrific and powerful bosses await players who are patient enough to handle a challenge.

Elden Ring comes out February 25, 2022. You can preorder here.

Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster Review: Almost the Definitive Way to Experience a Masterpiece

For years I had never played the original Final Fantasy. For some reason or another, the multiple ports of the game just seemed to past me by. Then in 2018, I started playing the mobile port and I was captivated by it. Unfortunately, I never finished the game because something happened to the device I was playing on and there was no cloud save. Though I wanted to try again on a different device, I just couldn’t get into using the touch screen and the archaic design of the game.

That’s where the Pixel Remaster of the game comes in. The original Final Fantasy is a masterclass of a game. The developers do a good job of drawing you into the game with world building through npc dialogue. It’s nothing like the games of today, but you can see how this game was mind blowing for 1987. The entirety of the game feels like a really good Dungeons & Dragon campaign.

Original Greatness

The story is pretty simple. The king of the land of Cornelia‘s daughter has been kidnapped by the greatest knight, Garland. Four heroes (that’s you) show up to save day. However, in defeating Garland, the heroes find out they have a bigger mission to deal with. From there you travel land, sea, and even air to fulfill the mission of the Four Warriors of Light. This game features the starting point for a lot Final Fantasy staples: airships, crystals, and even a mention of Cid. Not only can you see the D&D inspiration but the original two Dragon Quest as well. The way Final Fantasy tells its story is very reminiscent of the way Dragon Quest does. Also, there are no side quests to speak, well except for getting a specific weapon.

The original Final Fantasy is unique in the series because it doesn’t feature a set cast of characters for your party. Here, you select from six different classes: warrior, monk, thief, blue mage, white mage, and red mage. Party make up is very important. Your decision could ultimately affect how difficult the game can be.

For those who came to the franchise later, the turn based battle system may not really vibe with them. Later entries introduced the Active Time Battle system, a system that made turn based battles more engaging. Final Fantasy doesn’t really have that. It takes another page out of the Dragon Quest handbook. You have to enter all of your commands before the turn and then watch them all play out. The spell Haste which normally allows you to take your turn faster, doubles up your attacks in this game. Healing is a bit of gamble because you never know if you’ll be too late and waste that healing spell. Also, magic works a little bit different than the later entries. Each level of magic has its own set of MP, meaning you can have 8 points to use Cure but have 4 points for the higher level spell, Cura.

The Features

While I loved what I played from the original mobile port, there are some design limitations that every port of Final Fantasy had carried over. One of the biggest things this remaster addresses is the lack of a map. I’m sure this wasn’t a problem back in the day, but as an adult who has a child, this was a big deal for me. In the Pixel Remaster, there’s both a mini map and a world map. At the press of a button, you can also pull up a map of your current location, including dungeons. There are a few maze like dungeons you can get lost in and just having a map cut my most recent play time in half.

Another feature I appreciated was the auto battle system. Auto battle just reuses whatever action you used in the previous turn. It wasn’t really a feature I thought I’d use. The encounter rate is so high in Final Fantasy that I became overleveled. By the late game I could end most fights with regular attacks in a turn or two so I just used the auto battle feature.

What’s Remaster?

I was a bit nervous coming into this new port. Like I said before, I played the mobile port which itself is a port of the PSP remake. It featured detailed sprites that could never be on the NES or SNES. The Pixel Remasters are meant to reimagine the original NES trilogy as SNES games. This means the sprites would be less detailed than every port that came before it. As I started playing, I forgot about all of that. These sprites look great and fit in with what I was use to from Final Fantasy IV back in the day.

If there is one thing Square Enix almost always get right in all their games it’s the music. Originally composed by the great Nobuo Uematsu, the original soundtrack has been rearranged by Square Enix’s music department. They absolutely knocked it out of the park. The soundtrack already sounded great but this is the definitive way to experience it.

So one of the most contentious changes to the port is the font. When the Pixel Remasters were announced, Twitter was filled with tweets from unhappy folks. They just felt like the font chosen had no personality and just looked plain ugly. They probably went with this font to make it easy to read on a phone screen. Whatever the case, there is a sect of fans not happy with the font choice. My opinion on this issue is going to be a very unpopular one but it really doesn’t bother me. There are fans out there creating mods that change the font into something more in line with other 16 bit games. While I admit, they do look and fit a lot better, I’m not bothered enough to care to seek these mods out.

Closing

Now, do the question is not only do I recommend this version of the original Final Fantasy but I do I recommend the game in general. My answer is mostly yes but there are some caveats. If you’re a fan of SNES Final Fantasy then I feel like you owe it to yourself to check it out. Also, I think more modern JRPG fans might find something to like about it, just play with a guide for a smoother experience. As for this pixel remaster, if you don’t have access to older hardware that had earlier ports, then absolutely. The only problem I feel that would prevent anyone from enjoying this port is the font. A quick google search will help you find mods that can fix that.

The Final Fantasy pixel remaster is available on steam, iOS, and android.

Ys IX Monstrum Nox: A JRPG Take on the Open World

Ys IX Monstrum Nox is a game with a small budget but big ambitions. It’s very clear that developer Nihon Falcom doesn’t have the budget of a Square Enix or Bandai Namco. However, this doesn’t stop them from making as big a game as they can. I spent three months devouring this game inside and out. I wanted to see everything it had to offer and I was not disappointed. It’s a game that feels traditional yet forward pushing at the very same time. After working some very long hours and parenting, it was always a pleasure to get lost in the city of Balduq.

The setup is a bit different for an Ys game. Adol and Dogi find themselves visiting Balduq when Adol is arrested on the spot for seemingly no reason. He plans a daring escape and runs into a strange woman who imbues him with a curse that prevents him from leaving the city. He also has a new look, abilities, and the moniker of the Crimson King. As the Crimson King, Adol must uncover the secrets of both the curse and Balduq all while protecting the city from invisible beings known as Lemures. He doesn’t have to this alone, however, because there are five other “Monstrums” there to help him with his mission.

The Troubles of Balduq

It took me about sixty hours to complete this game from top to bottom. There is so much more to the story than what I wrote. Ys IX’s story really took me by surprise. The only games I’ve played in the franchise are Ys Books I & II, Ys Seven, Ys Origins, and Ys: Memories of Celceta. In those games, story takes second place to the gameplay whereas I feel in this game it’s more balanced. Each chapter introduces new wrinkles to the plot that you don’t see coming.

One of the things I appreciate most about Ys IX Monstrum Nox is that everything is additive to the overall narrative. 100% the game always leads to getting more story out of the game. Side quests are things the jrpg genre rarely gets right. They just never really have an impact on the story but not in this game. There are some quests that have no combat at all and it’s just adding more character to the world around you. This wasn’t always the case for this franchise and is likely an influence from sister franchise, Trails of Cold Steel. If you don’t do certain side quests, you can even miss out on certain characters joining Adol’s cause of finding out what’s going on in the city.

The Legend of the Monstrums

Ever since Ys Seven, the Ys has stepped away from it’s Zelda influences. While exploration is still key, each entry in the franchise has placed more emphasis on action and combat. Ys IX brings back some of the exploration elements with the Monstrums’ gifts. Each monstrum has an ability that is shared with all party members that help with traversal. You can scale walls or glide from one structure to another. Exploration for the most part is limited to Balduq, where normally in Jrpgs, there are multiple towns to visit. Falcom did a great job creating such a massive city to explore on what I imagine was a small budget. There are treasure chests and other collectibles to find while exploring. In a way, it comes off as a jrpg Assassin’s Creed.

Now, combat is where Ys IX shines the most. Battles are crazy and frenetic, with all kinds of color all over the place. Gone are the days of bump combat from Books I & II. Now we have a full on action RPG, with special moves and ultimate attacks. The controls took me a little while to get used to because you aim with the triangle button which seemed kind of weird to me. There is a fair bit of challenge in the game but at a certain point towards the end I was overleveled and was just spamming special moves. The boss battles are the true highlight. These fights normally feature huge creatures that’ll completely wreck you if you’re not careful. Even at the point I was overleveled they kept me on my toes.

Conclusion

In the beginning, I really didn’t know what to expect. I hadn’t really watched any trailers so all I knew was the basic premise. I tried to write this review in a way that kind of does the same thing while giving you, the reader, enough to go on to help make your decision. This game is definitely worth your time especially if you love JRPGs. This is a no brainer of a recommendation.

Ys IX Monstrum Nox is available on Playstation 4 now with PC and Switch versions releasing July 6. I would like to thank publisher NIS America for providing me with a PS4 review code!

Maneater: Perfect Comfort Food Gaming

Maneater is probably the most unexpected game I thought I’d fall in love with. Nothing about it screams, “Cody Game” and yet I found my self coming back to it over and over again. My job has been a bit stressful lately, so I found myself wanting to play games that I didn’t need to pay attention to. Enter Maneater. If I had a bad day, then I’d just go and terrorize a beach or two. Maybe collect a some collectibles and level my bullshark up. There’s a narrative there. Something about a shark hunter killing your parent and now you’re out for revenge. Nothing too narratively gripping but enough to get you going.

The presentation isn’t anything to write home about either. I’m pretty sure playing on Playstation 5 didn’t really enhance my enjoyment of it, either. I haven’t done any research or anything, but I’m sure playing on the Playstation 4 or PC or heck, even Switch, will yield the same fun. What makes Maneater great to me isn’t graphics or music. To be honest, I couldn’t even tell you what the music sounds like. That’s not to say that it’s bad, I just wasn’t paying attention to it in my playthrough. Most times, I just played the game while talking to friends over party chat. However, I will say that I found the narrator and his observations pretty funny.

A Shark’s Life

No, the reason I couldn’t put this game down was simply because it was fun to play. Every time you start the game, you begin in a grotto which is like your hub for each of the game’s different areas. This is where you upgrade all of your shark’s mutations and things like that. Every living creature in this game can be eaten. Whatever you eat can be in used in upgrades so you’re kind of incentivized to eat everything. Each area comes with it’s own set of quests. Do all of these quests and you end up tasked to fight the apex of the area. Terrorizing humans is another fun activity you can take part in. Trying to eat as many people as you can leads to shark hunters coming after you. These bouts can get kind of wild after you’ve reached a high enough infamy.

Verdict

Recommending Maneater seems pretty strange to me. It just isn’t the type of game that I normally fall in love. Well, I say that but growing up, beat em ups were in constant rotation for me. That ‘s all this game is as well. A shark role playing game where you just go around fighting and eating everything in your way. In a way, it gave me the comfort food gaming that I didn’t know I needed. So if you’re like me and need a break from giant open world and hundreds of side quests, give this game a go. Believe me when I say you won’t be disappointed.

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales: A Worthy Expansion

Marvel’s Spider-Man (2018) took me by complete surprise. Never before have I ever had the chance to live out my fantasy of being Spider-Man so vividly. The combat, web swinging, and story completely blew everything that came before it out of the water. Instead of being a slave to the movies or comics, Insomniac decided to create their own universe with it’s own history. Being able to see my favorite characters under this new lens led me to connect even more with the world they were building. Now, Insomniac Games is looking to do the same with Miles Morales.

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales sees our boy, Miles moving with his mom to Harlem. Peter Parker has to go on a trip with Mary Jane and leaves New York in Miles’ hands. Now, Miles has to defend New York from the threat of Roxxon and a new criminal organization, the Underground. This leads to a narrative about family and the things you’d for them. I can’t really go into anymore detail with the story but I will say that the narrative is strong in this one. It hits a bunch of surprising notes, especially for a Spider-Man story. Since Miles is such a new character in pop culture, it must’ve been a lot easier to come up with unique takes on his mythology.

The actors do a fantastic job bringing these characters to life. Nadji Jeter has played Miles for years in both the most recent animated series and in Insomniac’s first Spider-Man game. This is by far the best interpretation of the character and his world outside of comics.

Improving On Perfection

Marvel’s Spider-Man (2018) was a damn near perfect game in my eyes. The only thing they had to do to make me happy with a sequel is give me more of the same. In many ways, that’s exactly what we get with Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. There are some ways in which it does improve on the original game. The Spider-Man games make use of the rhythm based combat style of the Batman Arkham series. Insomniac has done such a good job of adding Spider-Man’s maneuverability into the rhythm. Because Miles has his own unique power set, some changes have been made to the combat. Miles has bio-electric abilities that give him access to an array of moves Peter Parker doesn’t have. He can do things like a powered up, electrified punch or using a jump that sends surrounding enemies flying with you. These moves keep the gameplay feeling fresh and give you some flexibility in combat.

Another improvement is the viability of stealth. In the original game, stealth was okay but by no means could you rely on it. For Miles, even combat encounters can become stealth encounters. If he can break the line of sight between him and his opponents, he can begin taking his enemies out silently. The fact that he can turn invisible just adds more stealth options. Where as before you couldn’t take out a whole hideout silently, now you can. There’s even a trophy for it. Miles definitely has less gadgets than Peter but that doesn’t slow him down at all.

An Expansion Not a Sequel

It’s pretty apparent as you play through the campaign that this is not a full blown sequel. The city is largely the same and a lot of the things you do is largely the same. There are far fewer side activities to do as well. Collectibles make a return but now they are more tailored to Miles’ story. They tell stories that pull on your heart string and help to flesh out Miles’ past and the people around him. Side missions also return but there are far fewer of them than before. Once again, they tell set up story arcs that have solid beginnings, middles, and ends. I enjoyed them for the most part but was a little disappointed that they didn’t involve new characters.

One of my biggest criticisms with Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is we aren’t really introduced to a lot of new enemies in the game. You’ll fight tons of Roxxon and Underground goons but for the most part, it’s just them. You’ll run into a few escaped convicts in some of the crimes you stop but no new supervillains. I understand the reason why there are no new villains but I still kind of wish there were more.

Verdict

Insomniac has done it once again. They were somehow able to weave a Spider-Man story that feels both traditional and unique with a hero with far less history than Peter Parker. In this new entry to the mythos, Miles Morales gets his chance to strut his stuff and show what makes him a different Spider-Man. Even if you can’t get your hands on the Playstation 5, you still need to pick this adventure up.

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is available on both Playstation 4 and Playstation 5.

Godfall: Just a Video Game and That’s Alright With Me

Much has been said about Godfall already. Many content creators have gone on and on about how it’s generic and not special. I don’t disagree with any of that, however I still have a positive view of the game. I want to make it clear that I don’t think the people who don’t like Godfall are wrong. In fact, I feel a lot of the critisms levied against it are warranted. I just don’t think that its faults stop it from being a good time.

Godfall is touted as a third person action rpg. You play as Orin who is on a mission to stop his brother from becoming a god. And here is where we get into my first issue with the game: the narrative. We begin with a cutscene with a lot of fantasy jargon being thrown around. Godfall commits the storytelling sin of trying to build up a fantasy world with all kinds of lore but with no characters to connect with. All of the characters either lack faces or have them covered making it hard to connect with them. I have no idea why Macros is trying to become a god or what race he and Orin are.

Solid Combat

Where Godfall shines for me is in the ability to beat the hell out of stuff. The gameplay reminds me a lot of the recent God of War game. Sort of like a faster Dark Souls. The camera is placed over the shoulder, God of War style. The game offers an assortment of different weapon types to play with. Each weapon has its own feel and special moves. You can have two weapons equipped at any given time with the ability to switch in the pause menu whenever you want. My favorite weapons to use are the polearms and swords. Also, no matter which weapon you choose to use, you will always have a shield on you.

Combat feels smooth and slick, being able to unleash combos and dodge and parry without missing a beat. Regularly, you’re surrounded by multiple enemy types, forcing you to switch up your playstyle on the fly. I wouldn’t say the combat is as good as a God of War or Devil May Cry but it’s still pretty good. Battles really shine when you’re battling sub bosses and bosses. These fights are epic and require a deeper understanding of the combat.

Other Things I Liked

The designs of Godfall just vibe with me. Ever since the first reveal trailer, I was always thinking about Godfall because I loved the armor designs. To me, the game seems it was designed by a thirteen year old who just got done playing World of Warcraft and wanted to design their own game. Again, I can get down with that. None of the designs are practical or make sense and honestly, they don’t have to. The designers were probably just sitting sitting around saying, “Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if we made like that gaudiest looking sword possible?” Since this is a looter slasher, that means tons of weapons. While there are plenty of repeat designs, the weapons look really cool to me.

The designs aren’t the only good looking thing in this game, it’s just gorgeous all around. With visuals alone, you know that this is a next generation title. This is a game that takes advantage of HDR and the 4K resolution. Godfall is filled to the brim with particle effects and impressive character modeling.

What I Didn’t Like

Now, we get to the bad parts of Godfall. Keep in my mind as you read this section that I actually liked the game. There are just some things that I feel hinder it a bit. The most egregious thing to me is that this game is marketed as an action rpg but there isn’t much role playing. There are no towns to explore or npcs to interact with. The only characters you get to know are Orin, two others, and the bosses. It hurts the game that you’re fighting to save existence but you don’t ever see anyone else. Most times, you’re wandering around biomes fighting enemies, never coming across living things you don’t kill. It would’ve been cool to have more characters to interact with in the world. There’s all this lore, which is cool, but there is no plot to progress.

Another thing that I didn’t quite vibe with is the looter aspect. I wasn’t a fan of getting into epic battles and then slowing down to a halt to go through my gear. Most times, you’re picking up useless junk that doesn’t compare to the gear you already have equipped. It makes the looter aspect a bit useless when you’re picking the same set of items over and over again. I understand that some of that gear is useful for creating a certain build but most players won’t dig that deep enough for it to matter.

And as much as I like killing things, we need more to do. Exploring the three available biomes gets boring after awhile. Plus, the only reward for doing so is more loot, i.e. junk.

Verdict

I like Godfall, I really do but it has some issues keeping it from being great. I hopeful that a sequel could possibly address some of the issues people have with the game. To me, it feels like Counterplay Games has the bones of something amazing here. They just need to develop the body around the bones now. Mark my words, Godfall can become on of the greats if the developers can extrapolate the right feedback from the commmunity. As of now, would I recommend it? Sure, but only if it’s on sale and you don’t mind playing a video game that’s not shy about being a video game.

If you decide to pick it up, here’s an Amazon link. It helps support the blog! 🙂

MindSeize Review: Fast and Fun

MindSeize wasn’t on my radar at all. But after a very impressive trailer, I had to hit up the publisher, First Press Games, to review it. Growing up, I missed out on the Metroid games. Nowadays, you can’t toss a proverbial rock into digital store fronts without hitting a Metroid style game from smaller creators. All of the ones I’ve played have been of pretty high quality and so I had high hopes for this game. Does it live up to those hopes? Yea…but with some caveats.

In MindSeize, you are Mordecai Chad Fox, a former soldier turned paraplegic. His daughter is kidnapped by a group of machine people called the Ascended. With the help of his old military buddy, M.C. is given a chance to save his daughter. His mind is put into a mechanical shell called a mag and sets forth to defeat the Ascended and save his daughter. I want to make it clear that MindSeize is not a story heavy game. That’s not to say the story isn’t good, just not at the forefront of the game. I will say it’s quite enjoyable with some surprising beats I didn’t expect it to hit.

A Difficult But Fun Time

Like I was saying before, this is a Metroid style game. Meaning, we have side scrolling, collecting upgrades, and exploring different planets. All of that works well for what it is. The way this game differentiates itself from the pack is through it’s brutal difficulty. If you are an old school gamer, you know the difficulty I’m talking about. Platforming around hazards, a group of enemies with different patterns attacking you at the same time, and bosses that hit really hard. Also, when you die you start back at the last place you saved. While structured like a Metroid game, the gameplay feels straight out of Mega Man.

Difficulty is not a deal breaker for me, but some players may see it as one. Especially the way this game does difficulty. There are times when you get hit with multiple projectiles and enemies coming at you. MindSeize is a game where you have to think fast in a short amount of time. There’s an easy mode for players who find the game too hard but all that does is lessen the damage you take. If you have trouble reading multiple patterns, you will still have a hard time.

Bugs

I wasn’t expecting for the game to have some of the annoying bugs that I had to deal with. The most frustrating bug of them all was one where if I tried to jump into another area of the map, I would end up falling back into the previous one. Sometimes, I would even find my way onto the floor of the upper area and the game would still force me back into the lower floor. Some of the other minor bugs would see enemies not attacking and the inability to pick up items for a short amount of time. The only other annoying bug was at a support point in the final boss fight, they were stuck in an infinite walk loop.

Verdict

MindSeize is a good time if you have can handle a little difficulty. The action is frantic and fast paced. The controls handle well and boss fights are a ton of fun to figure out. As long as you can remember that you will die a lot, there is a ton of fun to be had.