April was not nearly as insane as March, but I still played quite a few games. Unsurprisingly I played a bunch more Monster Hunter, but this is no longer the place to talk about that. Hey, I killed a whole bunch of monsters and loved every minute of it!
Last month I played some Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, but ended up completing it this month. It wasn't as good as I wanted it to be, but I still had a good time with it. Maybe next month I'll actually be able to dive into Luigi's Mansion.
As for new April releases I played both Guacamelee and Injustice: Gods Among Us. They were both games. I played them. Let's find out what I thought. It's Game Time!
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon : Gates to Infinity
Nintendo is known for their family friendly games. Most of the time they're very upbeat and filled with sunshine and rainbows. At first glance Pokemon Mystery Dungeon seems just like that, but then when you move on in the story a bit it's true nature shines through. Turns out it's incredibly dark and depressing. Don't believe me? "Trying just makes everything hurt worse," is a literal quote about saving the Pokemon world. There's a Pokemon who refuses to make friends, because she thinks no one can be trusted. Those are the only examples that come to mind right now, but there's a whole lot of stuff like that throughout the game. It surprised me multiple times with just how dark it gets.
I'd say it's not for kids, but that's not necessarily true. While there may be some dark themes the issues are almost always overcome in a positive way. At the beginning the game has you choose from a few Pokemon to determine who you want to play as. You are a human who was turned into a Pokemon so that they could save the human world. Along with a sidekick, which you also must pick, you try to create a Pokemon Paradise while simultaneously trying to save the world. Your partner is super upbeat and wants to believe that there is still kindness in the world. No matter what the situation they will be positive, which can be kind of annoying. However, if that role was not filled this may have been the most depressing game ever. There are a variety of characters that you'll meet over the course of the game and they're all incredibly well developed.
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| The Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games are well known for their characters. |
A few years ago I played the DS entry in this series and liked it quite a bit. The story and characters were incredible, so I was hoping for the same thing from this game. What I got was something much different, but it was still pretty good. The story isn't the only thing that's not quite as good though, which is a shame. The overall gameplay has been taken down a notch in a way that makes it far less fun. Mystery Dungeon games are essentially rogue-likes. You control a group and take them through totally randomized dungeons. The goal is to get through the dungeon or complete specific objectives. You go through narrow corridors fighting enemies and looking for stairs to get to the next floor. In previous games there was a hunger element as well. In this entry hunger was removed, and the enemies were made to be much easier (As far as I could tell). There also seems to be much less to do post-game.
I did enjoy my time with Gates to Infinity, but I couldn't help but compare it to the previous DS entry in the series. This entry is easier and has far less Pokemon in it. The previous game had every single Pokemon available that existed at that time. Gates to Infinity has all of the fifth generation, which is arguably the worst selection with a few others added in for good measure. From what I saw fans of the series were not overly pleased with this, despite the fact that it was still enjoyable. It's worth playing for the story alone, but if you have the opportunity you should go back and play the previous games.
Guacamelee
The term Metroidvania has been thrown around a lot in the past few years, but I think it's safe to say that most people who play video games know what they are now. In case you don't know they're games that are remarkably similar to the early Castlevania and Metroid games. They're sidescrolling adventure games that have you freely exploring a grid based map. Guacamelee is the most recent of these types of games released on the Playstation Network.
Guacamelee takes place in a world inspired by Spanish culture. For starters you play as Juan Aguacate, a farmer who has been brought back to life by a mystical luchador mask. At the very beginning of the game Juan is killed by the evil skeleton man Carolos Calca who is trying to become all powerful. In order for him to do so he must sacrifice the president's daughter in a sacred ritual. Juan must travel the land to master his luchador powers in an attempt to stop Calca's insidious plot. Since Juan is a Luchador he beats his enemies down with savage melee attacks. Surprisingly the melee combo system is very deep, but it doesn't really reward you for doing well, so mashing the attack button can get you through everything just fine.
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| It's easy to get away with mashing in Guacamelee |
Traversing the world isn't exactly how I expected it to be. Like most Metroidvannia games there are colored barriers that you must break through. By breaking statues, which are very similar to the Chozo statues in Metroid Juan will gain new powers. Each power corresponds to a different color barrier. For example if you uppercut you can break red blocks. One way I feel that Guacamelee is different from other games of this type is that it has a very strong emphasis on platforming. The main mechanic in the game allows Juan to switch between the land of the living and the dead with a single button press. Certain platforms are only solid in one world, which can make getting places very tricky. You'll often find yourself jumping to a non-corporeal platform and then switching the world mid-jump so that you can land. At first it's not very tough, but to find all of the secret treasures it takes a ridiculous amount of precision and skill.
The controls are very responsive, which makes the difficult platforming sections seem fair instead of frustrating. The motion is all very fluid in a way that reminds me of Super Meat Boy. The games both get challenging, but I knew that any mistakes were entirely my fault.
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| The visuals in Guacamelee are very striking. |
In terms of visuals the game looks amazing, especially in motion. The colors are extremely vibrant, which fit with the Spanish theme that the game has going on. The way everything is drawn and colored makes me think about the candy skulls or calaveras, which are most often seen around the day of the dead. Furthering the atmosphere is the constant mariachi music playing in the background. It all comes together to make a very specific feel.
It took me about seven hours to finish Guacamelee, and that's with 98% completion. All of the secrets are fairly obvious, or hidden in plain sight. There isn't a whole lot of replay value unless you're shooting for every trophy, which requires the game to be beaten again on hard. It's an interesting experience to go through once, because Drink Box had a specific vision that they brought to life quite well.
Injustice: Gods Among Us
Have you ever wanted to see Batman use two tasers on Superman and then hit him with the Batmobile? Well then, Injustice is the game for you! All of your favorite heroes and villains, possibly your least favorites as well are available to duke it out in this NetherRealm Studios produced DC fighting game. When I first saw gameplay for it I was a bit disappointed by how much it looked like Mortal Kombat. After seeing it a whole lot more and playing it, I can now say that it is actually a whole lot different.
The most noticeable difference in gameplay videos is that it runs at 60 frames per second as opposed to the 30 that most modern games run at. This change makes everything look insanely fast. Youtube videos don't output at 60 fps, so if you want to see true Injustice play I recommend looking elsewhere. Upon playing fans of Mortal Kombat will notice almost immediately that you need to push back to block instead of holding a button. This change sounds minuscule, but it's actually a huge deal. Now cross-ups can actually be a thing, so it changes up the way you need to guard against jumping attacks and things of that sort. Mortal Kombat has always been a 4 button fighting game, while Injustice is technically 3. There are three attack buttons, light medium, and heavy. The 4th button isn't necessarily an attack for each character, it activates their trait. Solomon Grundy's does a chain grab, Superman's gives him an attack buff, and Aqua Man's makes him get wet so he can pop out of combos. It's fairly different for each character and adds a lot of variety to the cast outside of their basic move sets.
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| Watch as all your favorite DC characters pummel each other! |
One of the cool things new to Injustice is that all of the stages can be interacted with. When your character nears an object they can interact with the R1 button appears near their health bar. Different characters interact with things in different ways. For example in the Atlantis stage there are valves on each end. If you interact with someone like Batman, then they will turn the valve and shoot out water at the opponent. If you use someone with super strength like Superman then they will smash open the glass to flood the opponent with water. Aside from these interactions most stages have multiple areas. Performing a strong attack at the correct end of a stage will send the opponent flying to a new area for a ton of damage. These things look cool and help out a lot in battle, but there are a lot of people in the fighting game community who are against them. Some of the stage interactions are unblockable and they do a ton of damage. You can turn all the interactions off from the options menu, which I can see a lot of tournaments doing. It's a shame though, because it's a really cool feature.
Oh yeah, the fighting feels good too, which is pretty important. Everything feels very fluid, which makes it easier for me to find combos on my own. Normally that's something I have a very hard time with in fighting games. That's not to say that I'm very good at the game, but I've only lost a handful of times online. I believe that's because I use Raven and she has a bunch of moves that magically pick up the opponent from half a screen away. People tend not to block when they're not near you, or they're trying to do ranged shots that leave them open. There is a large focus on ranged attacks, because almost everyone has them. However, if you want to rush your opponent down and pummel them into a bloody pulp that's always still an option as well. It's just that in this game it happens a whole lot faster and you're a DC character.
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| I like using Nightwing, but he has trouble dealing with ranged attacks. |
Since the game revolves around comic books it would be woefully incomplete without a totally bonkers story mode. Much like Mortal Kombat 9, Injustice has a fully animated story mode. The cutscenes transition instantly into battles and then back out again, which still continues to be awesome. Hopefully other companies will start to take a cue from NetherRealm and make their fighting game story modes worth playing. Even if you're not huge into fighting games you will still be able to find enjoyment in the story of Injustice. Unless you really don't like DC comic book characters, in which case maybe you shouldn't play Injustice at all. However, I do recommend Injustice. It's fun to play and it's different enough from Mortal Kombat to stand on its own. NetherRealm has shown once again that they know what they're doing and I'm glad they were picked up by Warner Bros.
Release Dates Are Stupid
According to every possible outlet I've ever seen Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut was supposed to be in stores today, but it isn't. Hopefully it will be there tomorrow so that I can lose myself in it's complete and utter madness.
There are no new releases I'm looking forward to in May, so I'm going to get a chance to save some money for once. I am however going to go to the fighting game tournament ECT (East Coast Throwdown). My brother and my friend are entering a few games. I'm super excited to go and watch. This will be the second major tournament I've attended
Perhaps I'll crack into my backlog, or maybe I'll just get stuck playing only Deadly Premonition. Find out on the next amazing installment of Game Time.
-Manny
