Chezni – Page 16 – Please Insert CD

Valdis Story: Abyssal City

Heralding back to metroidvanias, have you ever asked yourself what one would look like underwater? Look onward my friend towards…

I’m just going to give this one to you straight and quick. Valdis Story is a polished metroidvania game with tons of toys for you to play with but fails to perfectly capture the goodness of the genre that it represents.

Story-wise, it has something to do with sea-dwellers being labeled as angels by those who live underneath it, two goddess sisters born unto light and dark and some sort of clash between both aforementioned pairs. You play as a top-sider who falls into a city in the sea and it’s up to you to beat the ever-living crap out of anything that gets between you and the next plot-trigger. The dialogue is acceptable (if a bit dull) and the opening drags on for what feels like an eternity.

There are 4 playable characters to choose from (2 of which need to be unlocked) each with a focus in a different fighting style, although it seems that it can be easily summed up as “Fighter, Healer, Thief and Mage.” I chose the healer (because I’ll be damned if I’m stuck playing a fighter again after Fortune Summoners) and I was happy to discover 8 distinct starting spells and several spell-casty perks to be picked up with each level gained.

The art is appealing as well, with very stylized characters and a bright and colorful world. The HUD and menu’s interfaces are also snappy, colorful and very user-friendly. It took me a matter of seconds to become acclimated to them. Monster drops are bright and apparent and upon pickup are immediately sent to their cozy little home on the inventory screen. Judging by the blank spaces, there’s even the promise of multiple pieces of equipment ranging from weapons to armors to finishers and pets.

The problem is, something about the game just doesn’t feel right. The world is almost too bright, and oftentimes I’ll lose the character in the action that’s going on. Smacking enemies in Castlevania felt satisfying and every level up felt earned–in Valdis Story, combat feels a bit button-mashy and level-ups almost feel gimmicky. You start out with so many skills that I almost feel spoiled and I feel I’ve done little to earn the power that I have yet I’m just as impatient for more power so that I feel a sense of progression. Horizontal movement within the game feels very slow and while I appreciated acquiring an early dash, it’s button input (down and quarter turn right/left?) was a little bit awkward. It was probably done so that other buttons (bumpers, I’m looking at you) could be reserved for powerups later, but the Castlevania series reserved the shoulder buttons for dashes for a reason.

In spite of all this polish and content I wish more thought had been put into the game design itself. Access to a healing spell right off the bat puts emphasis on turtling and hoarding MP just to have a bigger life bar. Some skills don’t seem very dynamic while others just seem like an alternative (and MP draining) method to mashing the attack key. Regardless, it can’t be denied that there seems like a lot to discover through multiple playthroughs and even offers a decent challenge–and I was only playing on “Normal” which was 3 levels below the ominous “God Slayer” difficulty. All this adds up to a high Tier 2 and definitely will be something I come back for once I clear out my T1 list.

Steam Link

Shadow Warrior

by Chezni

“I like sword. That’s a personal weapon.”

I was a bit worried when I loaded Shadow Warrior. Many years after its release I picked up Shadow Warrior Classic Redux after noticing its similarities to Duke Nukem. I was not disappointed (it was made by the same company after all) and discovered a fast-paced FPS with bad 90’s humor, overly done racial stereotypes and a challenging difficulty level (at least for newcomers). Some of the jokes were better than others (I generally felt uncomfortable when stumbling upon the naked adolescent) but with such a copious torrent of Lo “Wang” jokes much was forgiven. This was why I was worried though–SW Classic managed to pull something off that walked precariously along the edge of good and terrible, and in spite of crossing onto the wrong side a few times, by the end it emerged as something pretty decent. To try and create a reboot of something like this just seemed very risky (RIP Nukem). So–they didn’t. They made something new. And it is filled with awesome.

SW features the familiar character of Lo Wang in an unfamiliar way. Whereas Classic Lo Wang came off as sort of that crotchety old man who made a lot of pervy grandpa jokes, new Wang is a lot younger and more fiery. He still has that same irreverent attitude as before, but now it’s… well it’s actually funny. That might sound weird, but old Wang was usually funny because of how stupid what he was saying was. New Wang is a young aggressive punk that doesn’t take shit from anyone, but has a biting witty humor about him. He’s very cock… err… wang-strong, grossly self-confident and singularly driven to accomplish whatever his goal happens to be. I’m not saying he’s a nice guy or even a good guy, but he’s extremely likeable in the manner that he doesn’t give a fig about what anyone else thinks.

Speaking of good and bad, Lo Wang works for Zilla in this one–or at least he starts out that way (Zilla was the villain in SW Classic). This is one of many references to the original game that makes an appearance and they are all worked in very well. Maybe I find it too funny, but I cracked a smile whereupon picking up your katana in Chapter 1, Wang says, “Hmmm… Sword. For when you want to make it personal.” Add to this rebooted monsters, weapons, fortune cookies and even an arcade machine and those who enjoyed the older game will at least find something to laugh at from nostalgia.

By no means is this game all (or even in the majority) throw-back. Combat has been completely revamped in lieu of a pseudo-level up system that features many skills weapons and upgrades. I’m actually surprised that they managed to cram so many different options onto one X-Box controller, but through the double-tap of the L-Stick and some shoulder buttons, everything you need is accessible on the fly without the use of a menu. I found the combat to be a bit non-challenging and perhaps simplistic, but that also meant that it didn’t drag and let’s be real, you just play this game to hear the next thing that comes out of Wang (or Hoji’s[?]) mouth, not for the combat. That’s not to say that slicing up demons and humans alike into deli meats isn’t fun, albeit I lean towards gun-toting ranged combat as a stylistic choice. Oh right–and you make a deal with a fox-demon named Hoji. That’s a thing.

Recently I rated D&D:Daggerdale at Tier 1, explaining that even though it was unfinished and simplistic, I still really enjoyed the gameplay. D&D:D carried many stipulations that indicated its poor quality but I submitted that if you could enjoy it for what it was, then it was worth it. Shadow Warrior on the other hand is something I think would recommend to a much wider audience with much less stipulation. So far, this has just been a fun game. The pacing has been fast and fun. The skills and combat has been fun. The characters have been fun.

I’m not trying to say that this kind of game or story hasn’t been done before (after all, it feels very 90’s–early 2000’s action hero-y, but if I can use Lo Wang’s cell phone from the beginning as a reference point, I think that this game is supposed to take place in the late 80’s) but I am saying that there don’t seem to be many obstructions to the game’s entertainment. The humor and setting is in the same key as the Deadpool film and who doesn’t like that? Tier 1 for now–I’ll be very disappointed (and a little sad) if I have to lower it later.

Steam Link

Fortune Summoners: Secret of the Elemental Stone

by Chezni

Ever been thrill-baited into thinking that you’ll finally get the chance to be a magical girl, only to have it taken away from you at the last minute and have yet another dim-witted sword-wielding antagonist thrust upon you? Ah, then you too must have played…

It’s okay. I’ll admit it. I’ve always wanted to be a magical girl. Who wouldn’t? They’re basically like power rangers only pretty, fight with their heart and inevitably fall in love with their crush by the end. What’s not desirable about that? Fortune Summoners dangles this carrot in front of me as I begin to play the game but its sinister wiles whisper dark chants, bits of which I can only make out as “traditional main character uses a sword…” Yes, Arche, young girl at the prime age to be magical, just-moved-to-a-new-town, attending a school of predominantly female occupation that teaches magic… is doomed to be the elemental stoneless, sword-fisted, brainless, muscle-bound power-house that can’t use magic. I can’t be too mad though. She’s freaking adorable.

So for the hour, I lived out the life of Arche, adorable hyper-child, by doing what any 8-year old girl would do.

Doing cartwheels like mad around the house…

…And holding up Mom at sword-point demanding that supper be ready.

Yep. That seems pretty accurate.

Jokes aside, Fortune Summoners has some great sprite-work in it, especially when it comes to the three protagonists who are portrayed with the cutest animations.

The game functions as a traditional RPG in a non-traditional 2-D format, whereas you can tumble, dash, run roll and launch little Arche nearly 15 feet up into the air with her jumping skills. During my first impression run, that part just didn’t get old for me.

The combat is fun if a bit simple. While you do have several different slashes at your disposal when it comes to fighting enemies, typically the best strategy is to just murder them as fast as possible with a barrage of swings. Player accuracy is important, but if my instincts tell me anything about it, it’s much like Tales of Phantasia; very fun and light-weight at the beginning of the game, very old and repetitive by the end of the game. I did get a party member along the way in support of my school shenanigans, and to my delight I was allowed to swap over and play as her… but her not being the protagonist inevitably led to her departure and me being stuck with the avatar of a sugar-infused jittery hyper-child again.

I want to put this in Tier 1, except that I know better. The pacing compiled with the charming but simplistic plot is likely to lead to a game that is less about meaningful progression and more about grinding. In Dark Souls, I know I can beat an enemy if I’m clever enough. I’m certain that in Fortune Summoners, I would be able to overcome all enemies if I level enough. I fear that in my older age, I’ve outgrown the illusion of progression and instead prefer actual progression. This is why games like Unepic, a game that could have just as easily fallen into the same trap, will always be more impressionable to me. In it, winning comes from a combination of not just stats but also overcoming very clever boss designs. Maybe I’m reading too much into Fortune Summoners from just an hour of play, but it is so seldom that a JRPG diverges from this artificial extension/progression formula. Even the Shin Megami Tensei and Persona series which are some of the best JRPGs created to date rely on the ol’ grind eventually. Seeing nothing else that sets Fortune Summoners apart has me awarding it Tier 2.

Steam Link

Skyborn

by Chezni

Why the heck do I have so many RPG Maker games?

I… can’t even stomach this one enough to give it a proper review. I’ll just sum it up that playing this game is like walking into someone’s fanfiction. The main character is a hot-headed mechanic who’s going to be married off against her will to some rich snob. There’s political turmoil in the form of racial oppression from a race of winged beings, of whom our hot-headed mechanic is self-righteously angry at all the time. In order to escape her fate, she steals the airship she was fixing and flies off into what could only be guessed at to be a generically dynamic series of events that one might describe as an adventure. Oh right, I should have mentioned that there are airships. Why Airships? Because… steampunk I guess. Honestly the airship wasn’t that important and I’ve never been a fan of them in fantasy games anyway.

There are some unique sounds and of what little I heard, the music is original but if you’re familiar with RPG Maker games you’ll hear plenty of recycled material. The art and sprites work the same way–it’s about 50% new and 50% reused. Inherently this is not bad, say if the game was actually interesting in either the mechanic or storyline aspects, but this is not the case. The mechanics seem average and as I’ve already mentioned a bit concerning the story–I feel like I’m reading the secret diary of a teenager’s fantasies. It’s not that there’s anything wrong a diary of this sort on it’s own, it’s just I’m not sure why I would want to play a game about it, let alone buy it (which apparently I did at some point).

Here’s one that popped up a lot that I just could not ignore. Why is there a midget knight? Well, it’s because our main character is a custom sprite that’s bigger than the generic RPG maker sprites. Our poor knight on the other hand is… you guessed it–a generic RPG Maker sprite. You’ll run into this a lot with the NPCs.

No EXP in combat means that the game likely focuses on story aspects and not so much on grinding. This is actually a mechanic I can get behind… but it’s the only one. It’s not that the combat is bad, but it’s generic and let’s face it, we’ve moved away from it for a reason–it’s too simplistic. There needs to be something more–something else appealing; this isn’t the 1990’s where a working combat system justified the making of an RPG. Nowadays, and RPG must justify the working combat system. Since all this game seems to offer is material that would appeal to a Twilight Fan, I’m relegating this to a Tier 3 position. It’s not at the bottom of Tier 3, but still undoubtedly belongs there because of one simple question: Why would you want to waste your time with this?

Steam Link

Deadcore (Completed)

by Chezni

So I don’t have any fancy screenshots for this one, but I had to throw my two cents in here along with Lepcis’s, because he brought up some good points. For what it is, Deadcore is a fantastic game certainly deserving of Tier 1. It’s fast, it’s smooth, it has tons of paths to choose from and its five levels are more than enough to keep you entertained, especially if you’re going for some of those top scores (although level 4 can still go to the place of fiery burning). If you couldn’t tell from our Deadcore contest, we had a friendly competition to see if we could beat each other’s times, all the while sharing our pathing to collaborate to find a faster and faster route through the level.

While I’ve loved speedrunning as a concept for many years and have watched no small number of them (what game-lover hasn’t), Deadcore was the first one that I got into hands-on. The experience was great and it really opened my eyes to many facets of speedrunning. One that really stuck out to me was that the thrill of the run didn’t come from the prospect of beating a high score time, but instead from beating your own best time.

Ultimately though, it has awakened me to what makes a “good” speedrunning game. Take for instance Zelda OoT. One of Nintendo’s most beloved titles, this game has been speedran to death. In fact, it’s gotten so ridiculous that last I checked, the fastest time involved messing with variables so that the use of Queen Ghoma’s door instantly won you the game. While from a technical perspective and possibly from a fan’s perspective, this is very entertaining. However, from a gameplay or speedrunning standpoint, it’s not that interesting. After all, where’s the contest? Will the judge of who is a better OoT runner be who can subtly input the variables switches ever-so-slightly faster so that they have a .01 second better time? This isn’t really that interesting to the player or the viewer once the concept has been understood and ultimately fails to capture just what OoT is all about.

In line with what Lepcis was saying about the RNG within Deadcore. The cubes are an RNG that produces inconsistent results. Jump pads (while technically not RNG) are so imprecisely manipulatable that they become an unreliant method of traveling through the game–and yet, if you want to get the fastest time, you must make a run at the level hundreds (if not thousands) of times so that you can “get lucky” and nail all of the ridiculously precise “bugs” of the game to get the perfect time. Slope-dashing and Super/Mega Jumping are interesting ideas, but as they were not really intended to be part of the game (and are so difficult to pull off consistently) that they just turn the game into a set of variable manipulations instead of executing strategies related to the purpose of the game’s initial intent (just like the problem with OoT). Not to mention the fact that a slope-dash into Mega Jump on the pad after the door on Level 1 skips most of the level. If that’s the case, what’s the point in the level existing at all? This was a big reason Lepcis and I outlawed Mega Jumping.

It’s not that Deadcore developers did nothing. They removed rocket-jump-chaining (an even more notorious bug) in order to make the game more competitive. I feel though that within reason, if a game is to truly devote itself to speedrunning, then no bug or feature of the game should completely override or remove other parts of the game unless it does so within the expected and encouraged mechanics of the game. I do not blame speedrunners at all for searching for, using and abusing glitches within games in order to accomplish a faster time–I merely feel that a pure speedrun game would be constantly updated to remove these exploits until eventually what you were left with was a game that you truly had to play and the victor of “best time” would go to those that understood the game and its entirety the best, not just the person who could macro a Mega Jump script.

Steam Link

Chroma Squad

by Chezni

Come on, do I need to even say anything? Haven’t you every wanted to build your very own Power Rangers team? Do you have a heart? Do you even breathe? It’s freakin’~~

Chroma Squad seems pretty darn interesting. The game starts at a pretty normal movie studio where 5 typical-colored Power Ranger stuntmen are doing the shoot for a new episode of ~CHROMA SQUAD!~ The movie studio and footage shooting serves as a clever tutorial, with the movie director shouting things at the actors that he wants you to do for the show, which teaches you how to play the game. As the pictures here will show you, we’re working with a grid-based tactical RPG, wherein you control your 5-member Chroma Squad team in combat. Each member of the team has a stat perk indicative of the role traditionally held by the first cast of Power Rangers; the Red Ranger holds the team together with a 50% HP bonus, the Blue Ranger is the techie with bonus skill-regen, The Black Ranger is the most offensive with an attack boost, The Yellow Ranger is the fastest with a +1 movement bonus and the Pink Ranger is set up for support with a bonus to game’s Teamwork mechanic.

By the end of the shoot, the Chroma Squad stuntmen have had it up to “here” with the director, and all agree that leaving the studio to open up their own studio would be much more fun. They inadvertently steal the Chroma Squad suits, encounter a (Mother Brain?) Zordon-esque prop to use as their mentor and enthusiastically set up shop to begin filming.

So, uh… I’m not gonna lie? This is where I stopped making progression within the game. I mean, I’m sure that Chroma Squad has some great combat mechanics and everything. I’m sure eventually I would encounter some cool villains. I don’t know, It’s probably good outside the tutorial. Ultimately though… I wouldn’t know. For the next hour and a half, I could not stop myself from doing anything but building an unnecessary number of Chroma Squad teams. As far as I’m concerned, if someone came up to me right now and said that Chroma Squad wasn’t finished, and that what I played was the extent of the game, I couldn’t even be mad. If I had anyone to blame, it would be myself for being so stupidly entertained by text-boxes and pallete swaps. I guess any game where it lets me choose pixelated mockeries of 80’s actors, name them whatever I want, change what color Ranger they are and then completely script all their catch phrases is just what does it for me. I don’t even think I need the rest of the game to be happy.

I mean, it all started out so innocently. I thought, “I’ll make a team based on some of my favorite fantasy characters,” so I went with Teddie, Greg Universe, Cyborg 009, Tifa Lockheart, and Cassidy Williams…

But then I went with video game characters only. Then Philosophers. Then different kinds of candy. For the sake of trying to move past this section of the game, I forcefully convinced myself that it would be amusing if I named them all the Rangers after friends in my D&D group, led (of course) by the great Chezni-bot 9000. I thought “Ah, this will be nice, I can finally start playing the game.” Oh how wrong I was.

There was a shop, some recording equipment I could purchase but then I stumbled upon the default team name and catch phrases. Well, no, this won’t do at all. It shouldn’t take that long to change these….

Well here, why don’t we go with this.

…but why limit our creativity?

Wait, what if I did this?

…err… wasn’t I playing a game or something?

… can’t remember… what I was doing here…

*mumble mumble* Tier 1 *mumble mumble*

Steam Link

Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale (Completed)

by Chezni

First Impression Review

Last I left off (just yesterday) I shared my feelings on D&D:D’s success as a Real-Time Fantasy Adaptation hack and slash game. A mere 5 hours into the game, I find myself at the ending, not particularly surprised by the short game but not necessarily left with a feeling of having my time wasted. The plot is simple, rushed and not important, so we’ll start with that first to get it out of the way.

–Spoiler Alert–

As the introduction would let you know, you play as a member of a group of adventurers summoned by Lorin Aria (presumably a cleric) who implores the party to destroy Rezlus’s tower. Rezlus, being a crazy wizard who worships the god Bane, is planning on destroying Daggerdale. The game kicks off underground with the Dwarves, where you run around doing various odd-quests largely involving goblins in order to gain their aid to allow you access to the tower. If you don’t like being underground in dark environments, you had better get used to it since you’ll be underground and in caves for for most of the game.

Eventually, after appeasing the side-quest gods, the Dwarves manage to sneak you into Rezlus’s tower, whereupon you are immediately captured by Tieflings and forced to fight in a gladiator pit alongside some “friendly” human brigands. Eventually the brigands team up with the heroes and after repelling multiple Tiefling attacks, they establish a base in the area. The third leg of the journey involves gaining the “trust” of a group of Zents (a race apparently even less trustworthy than the Drow) and they agree to open a portal that allows access to Rezlus at the top of his tower. Atop the tower, the four groups (Dwarves, Brigands, Zents and your party) engage Rezlus and his army, eventually forcing his hand to summon a red dragon.

Weakening the dragon and finishing off Rezlus, Rezlus commands the red dragon with his dying breath to burn Daggerdale to the ground. With no other choice, the party leaps off the tower and on to the back of the dragon, where you must climb up its back and eventually plunge your weapon into the dragon’s eye, ending its flight.

Teleported back to the top of the tower by Lorin Aria (the cleric from the beginning) she begins to thank the heroes, when Nezra, the leader of the Zents puts a blade in her back. Nezra thanks the heroes for dispatching Rezlus, but informs them that if their intent is to stop the destruction of Daggerdale, they will have to kill her and every last Zent, since it is her goal to take over the tower and the surrounding area. The game ends on a cliff-hanger, with the Zent army pouring into the tower from below, and the four party members preparing for another campaign of combat.

While the plot of D&D:D succeeds in moving the game along quickly, there are some big problems with it. First off, about 60% of the game is spent with the Dwarves doing their quests. If the game was about 20 hours long, 3 hours per section of the game would be perfect–long enough to get to know the area its problems, but not too long to make the quest-givers and their setting stale. In a 5-hour game though, it just makes the last two people groups you encounter feel rushed. The time spent with the brigands and Zents is so short that it makes me think that either the developer’s time was mismanaged, or funding was cut and they had to rush the game out unfinished.

Problem #2 with the plot is the cliffhanger ending–it’s lazy and stupid. We all know there’s not going to be a sequel to this game. We all know that the cliffhanger wasn’t used to be thought-provoking. It was used as a desperate last hurrah to create some kind of excitement or interest within the game before it finally petered out. This kind of cliffhanger use isn’t appreciated at all by any intelligent player and it only robs the player of their deserved victory. Ultimately, the adventure feels pointless.

Generally though, we play a hack & slash to mash a couple buttons, slay hordes of monsters and feel good about ourselves, and on this front D&D:D is pretty strong. When I wrote in my first impression there’s enough selection to create distinction” I may have been a tad optimistic. While there is a nice handful of skills that you’ll acquire along in your adventure, it’s more that the “choice” is in the one skill that you choose not to obtain when you level up, since there aren’t enough skills to really diversify class style. The level bar is pretty low as well. I ended the game at level 8 and from what I can tell, about level 10 is where most of the skill progression cuts out, making replayability (even in the new-game + mode) not that viable. That being said, I loved rolling around, bopping creatures with several flavors of arrow skills and managing my equipment to my tastes (movement speed and rolling cooldown to the max!).

In spite of any negatives, I feel that the game is still worth Tier 1. Why? Well because what little we get is still good. Would I prefer more skills? Yes. Would I like a longer game? Sure. But did I still have fun? Yes, and ultimately that is a large point of playing a game in the first place. In some ways it made me think back to days spent playing Golden Axe, especially Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder, what with riding the back of a dragon at the end. Now that I think of it, Knights of the Round, a game similar to Golden Axe even had a shallow leveling up system that capped out somewhere in the mid-teens. If you look at D&D:D more along these lines, it’s length and shallow complexity is very reminiscent of the old adventure games–games that you would plug and play with your friends for a couple hours, beat, feel accomplished and depart from with a feeling of good times.

That’s probably where this game rests the strongest. It’s not a great game, it’s not a quality game and it’s not a long game, but if you have five hours where you want to go out, kill some monsters, grab some treasure–and you perhaps have 3 other friends with you to play local–then this could be a lot of fun. Just don’t invest yourself too strongly in it, as it’s not deep enough to warrant doing so. I still stand that I had a good time, and I definitely recommend it to anyone with time to waste on a decent hack & slash or even those wanting to break into the genre due to D&D:D’s simplicity.

Steam Link

Dungeons and Dragons: Daggerdale

by Chezni

Completed Review

Sometimes you just want to cut things. Sometimes you want to enter Faerun without strategizing your brains out. Sometimes you just want to play a game that is bold enough to use no less than one letter “D” in each word of its title. Sometimes you just want to play…

(PS: If you want to get straight to the review, just skip the next 3 paragraphs.)

So let me set something up before I get into D&D:D. Good hack & slash games are hard to find. Like, really hard to find. I’m no connoisseur of the genre, but I have played no small number of them over the last 25+ years and most them suck hard. It may not seem like it, but making a good hack & slash is a crisp art. The game needs to be refreshingly simple, yet contain enough complexity to warrant hours of progressional gameplay. It needs to look pretty and run smooth–but also needs to display its content so that the player can identify all the necessary pieces within a split-second glance. If there are RPG elements to it, it needs to allow the player complete freedom over the manner in which they build their character and fight while still maintaining a crisp distinction amongst all the classes’ skills (i.e. skills need to be more than damage, damage or damage) and also keeping the game somewhat balanced. Lastly, while the player ultimately knows that the game is a power trip, there needs to be just enough of a hint of story, a reason for conquest and world-building to mask the power-trip facade while not being so convoluted and gameplay-bogging that it slows the game down in any way. On their surface level, a hack & slash game may seem simple, but accomplishing these feats in tandem is almost akin to miracle-working.

There are generally 3 approaches to this kind of style.

Diabloesque: Initiated by the original Diablo, nowadays this genre generally means a fixed top-down view of a character chosen from a selection of preset classes. The gameplay of a Diabloesque involves hacking through hordes of monsters that spill items, gold and equipment out like piñata candy, grinding through (often randomly generated) maps to get better gear and upon appeasing the EXP gods, you can choose where to put your next skill point, among a set of tiered skills, or oftentimes a complicated skill tree. Path of Exile, Grim Dawn, and the wonderful Torchlight II are examples of this subsection.

Real-Time Fantasy Adaptation: Sorry, I don’t have a fancy title to give this one. I’m tempted to call it the “Dark Alliance” category, but I feel there must have been a title released with similar gameplay that predated Dark Alliance that I’m just not aware of. Regardless, this category encompasses games that have taken an already-existing fantasy element and tried to transpose it into a real-time hack and slash with RPG elements. You can sort of look at it as falling between the two other categories listed here. Typically it focuses less on massive skill-trees and is oftentimes (although not always) less gear-grind/level-grind intensive. More structure is put into world-building in these games, and oftentimes you will have more camera control than a Diabloesque in order to make it feel more like an adventure game. Games like a The Bard’s Tale, X-Men Legends, and Lord of the Rings: War in the North are examples of this style.

Gauntletesque: Created by the success of the first Gauntlet, these games focus much less on the leveling-up aspects of RPGs and much more on the hacking and slashing of the hack & slash genre. Typically you’ll get to choose among 4+ classes, but class choice is not as impactful as the previous 2 genres and sometimes all classes will even play out the same. Equipment is often foregone, or it only exists in the form of time/use-limited powerups. A big tell if you’re playing a Gauntletesque is if enemies spawn continuously from “spawners” that must be destroyed to stop the flow of foes. Leveling up may or may not exist within the game, but typically it does nothing more than grant more health, damage, armor and/or speed–unlockable skills in this subsection is almost unheard of. A big appeal to these kinds of games is that they are 4-player. Magicka, Hammerwatch and of course the newest Gauntlet, Gauntlet Slayer Edition fall into this category.

So why did I explain all this and what of D&D:D? Well, to answer the first question, it’s because it tempers what our expectations for the series should be. It would be unfair to expect a Gauntletesque to provide heavy skill trees, just as it would be unfair to expect a Diabloesque to provide the feeling of an fantasy-adapted adventure game. As it happens and to answer the second question, D&D:D falls into our “Real-Time Fantasy Adaptation,” which means we can expect it to have the feel of a fantasy adventure game, with some of the leveling and grinding of a Diabloesque. So after all that ado, after setting the foundation of expectation that the majority of hack & slash games that I’ve played from any of the three previous subsections are crap, I’m elated to say that my first impression of D&D:D is extremely positive.

D&D:D start off at its weakest point in the character selection screen. My first impression was worrisome–only 4 classes? I can’t choose gender or race? ONLY ONE HUMAN!?! (I’ll admit, I’m a complete racist when it comes to the fantasy universe). Regardless, clicking past this screen will bring delight, as you’ll find enough talents, skills and exciting feats to temper your chosen character to your desired mold that it’s quickly forgiven. What’s even better is that it’s all D&D themed, which gives it a believable sensation from an immersion standpoint, but also a well-balanced feel at a glance. It sort of feels like I stepped back in time to the day so of 3rd edition as well–seeing as how through enough feat manipulation, you can get most any class to equip and be proficient in any armor or weapon that you want. Ultimately, there’s enough selection to create distinction with enough simplicity that I didn’t spend more than 15 minutes choosing and creating a character. Sighing in resignation, with no desire to play the slack-jawed fighter and even less inclination to play anything shorter than 5 feet tall, I went with our rogue-elf.

The first thing that struck me when I began playing was how good player and camera movement felt. The character is quick and responsive and the camera allows viewpoints from any reasonable angle. The HUD is clean and easily understood as well (a must for these kinds of games) and even before I ran into the brief tutorial, I had already figured out all the buttons. Fighting enemies was just as rewarding as I had hoped for a kiting-rogue; no need to manage the annoyance of consumable ammunition and you even start out with a fresh animation cancel in the form of the rogue’s class ability to roll–something that made the game feel much more dynamic and skill-based, which often lacks in the more stat-heavy hack & slashes.

Don’t get me wrong–the game is still linear, you still pick up quests that act like you have a choice whether to accept them or not (why on earth would I *not* accept free exp for killing everything in the dungeon that I’m going to be going into anyway?) and the story is very simple (Wizard bad, you good, go kill) but that’s exactly what you want in this kind of game. Even the destructables and loot are held up to a manageable level–just enough to give you something to do, not so much that you feel like a vandal swimming through heaps of garbage. Funnily enough, I was just thinking about the peculiarity of only being able to break barrels when I ran into this fellow. Poor guy.

The level designs are fun as well, liberating themselves from the stale blocked-out isometric dungeon view and instead being hand-crafted and (in spite of their general linearity) feeling open due to paths wrapping around and the ability to move in 3-Dimensions, such as “jumping off cliffs” (although one cannot truly jump, something that for whatever reason was driving me nuts).

Overall, the game just feels good and exciting and moves along at a great pace without feeling cheap or strictly mechanical. I’m very much looking forward to extending my power-fantasy trip into D&D:D and should the fun continue I may even swallow my pride enough to test out the Halfling wizard. (I know your race is akin to thieving, but did you have to steal my favorite class?). For now, this game rests in Tier 1 and I have hopes that it will maintain this position in the future.

Steam Link

U.N. Squadron (SNES Legacy)

by Chezni

Sidescrolling? Infinite massive energy blasts as a main attack? Tons of powerups? It must be~~! Well, actually, that describes just about any side-scrolling ship-based shooter from the 90’s. But we’re talking about~~

Sidescrolling shooters were the *thing* throughout much of the 90’s, and the SNES was no exception. Heck, out of the 12 games already covered under SNES Legacay, two of them were already sidescrolling ship-based shooters. If that’s the case, then what sets this one apart?

Well, for starters, you get to select a character. While choosing a character is par for the course in many a side-scrolling beat’em up, we often don’t get to see it in the “shmup” counterpart. Heck, oftentimes we’re lucky if we get to see the pilot. In UNS, each character has a different skill (albeit I have no idea’s what Mickey’s actually is). I’d recommend picking up Greg if you’re a beginner since he recovers from damage quicker, and if you’re a pro you’ll probably go with Shin since he levels up his planes faster. This is useful since if you know how to beat the levels quickly you’ll get less EXP than someone who’s likely to die a few times before completing them.

Oh, right; did I mention? There’s EXP. It’s not as impactful to the gameplay as I would have liked it to be, but after picking up enough blue and red powerups you’ll notice your guns shooting larger blasts or maybe even shooting a shot in a second direction. I wish I could say that this was an appealing part of the game but… well, it sort of works like this. The first time you play the game, you’ll find yourself dying so often that you’ll be drowning in EXP and your ship will quickly become maxed out. At this point EXP might as well not even be a part of the game since you’re only a couple levels in. On the other hand, if you’re good enough at the game to make it through the first couple levels without dying, you’re probably good enough that it doesn’t really matter when you level up, since you don’t necessarily need the added firepower right away. I guess what I’m trying to say is that leveling up just kind of “happens,” and you just play the game without paying too much attention to it, or necessarily strategizing heavily around it.

Ship-purchasing is unfortunately in the same boat. There may be 6 ships to choose from (5 of them you have to buy) but they all play out fairly similarly enough to each other. I came the conclusion that instead of trying to buy some of the cheaper ships early on, I should just skip them all in lieu of the “best” ship “Efreet”, saving up $1,000,000 right from the start to buy it. That being said, the powerups are where the real strategy and (in my opinion) fun from the game comes from. Assuming you have the money to do so (and the Efreet ship) you can load out your plane any way you want (with every single weapon if you really wanted). This made approaching each level a lot of fun, since you got to truly customize your loadout and approach each level with the best strategy you could come up with. Since you have to juggle all the powerups one at a time, it really isn’t to your advantage to take a bunch of guns with you that are no good for the level. Likewise, clever use of the weapons themselves at certain points makes the difference between a difficult level and a manageable one. To boot, none of the powerups made other ones obsolete–they all felt unique and useful in their own way. (Except for the Falcon missile, because that thing is a worthless piece of crap.)

The last unique mechanic that separates UNS from other shmups is the way ship destruction is handled. In quite a few shmups, damage of any kind means instant death, or a very near equivalent (loss of powerups). I can understand the sentiment for this implementation–it keeps the game challenging in light of your usually ridiculously powerful arsenal. The problem is that it can lead to frustration or even a sense of unfairness within the player (Gradius III I feel is a pretty good example of this). On the other hand, if you gave your player a health bar with say, 5 hits, they would take advantage of the health pool and purposefully face-tank their way through some obstacles. UNS has a perfect balance of both worlds. You have a health bar that allows you to take several (6?) shots of damage over the course of the level. The catch is, that the moment you are shot, you enter into a “DANGER” state, where for about 5 seconds if you get hit again you straight-up die. This truly is a beautiful mechanic that allows forgiveness of mistakes without letting the player off scot-free.

Missions are chosen in a pseudo-linear fashion with various portions where you get to choose which level you attend within a set. Don’t get too excited by the mission select screen either–it’s sort of neat that there are moving pieces on it that approach and (eventually) attack your base, but there’s not a lot of strategic element to it. Basically if any of the 3 special units (the two planes or the submarine) enter attacking range of the base, you are forced to complete their level before you gain the freedom to choose your levels again. Other than that and the RNG of the convoys that you can target (bonus mission for extra gold) it’s just your basic “select your mission” screen.

Overall, I’ve played far worse games and far worse shmups, as UNS is pretty solid. Its enemies and bosses may not be the most creative in the franchise, but the freshness of some of its mechanics that diverge from the norm, combined with the game’s forgiving learning curve give the game some genuine appeal. It’s not too long–my final run at beating the game only lasted an hour-and-a-half, with my overall playtime somewhere in the 5 hour range. With the grades in, I’m putting this in Tier 2–it’s guaranteed to at least be the delight of shmup fans and even a few who aren’t.

Musically imprinted felt with out throwing away a touch of Time

by Chezni

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