Scrap Reborn! の最近のレビュー

"Oh no way! You get to play as a dog who rides around in a mech suit? This game's going to be awesome."

I wish, I really wish I could've carried that enthusiasm with me when I finally played this. God, do I wish.

I do want to stress that as much as I am about to unload a volume of issues the game suffers from, there is one part of the game I really, really love, and that's the inclusion of some cool character writing/portrayal.

In between stages, there are brief cutscenes featuring the main cast sitting around a campfire where you see how they react to each other and how they grow as characters. This is especially heartwarming from Episode 2 onward, where one character realizes their biases against two others were completely unfair, to the point where they break down from the event and are soon comforted by the other member whom they viewed so dispassionately previously. With a newfound sense of determination, they begin to feel remorse for their past behavior as they set out to save their lost comrade while making up for their previous behavior with the rest of the crew.

This all culminates in a genuinely great amount of build-up to the final level where the remainder of the party comes together to save their comrade, and all of this is done with barely a line of dialogue. On top of that, depending on whether or not you gain the new weapon on your run of Episode 2, you may still fail to save your comrade, and you can see how badly this impacts the party afterward, to the point where Zangetsu is the only one left initially who can still stand and make a second attempt, all because he faltered at the end, costing him even more. These scenes provide some of the best story presentation I've seen in an Inti Creates game and sincerely hope this sort of approach is the standard for their future games, as nothing else they've done compares.

To top it all off, the final episode changes things up by letting you have short chats with any teammates you recruit and get more of their perspectives as a neat bonus, which update when everyone is recruited. When you reach that point, some of the dialogue gets genuinely hilarious, most notably the exchange between Zangetsu and Robert, who go full himbo and try to figure out how to light a campfire in their final destination, which features a total lack of oxygen. The campfire is a far greater concern to them than whether or not they'll be able to breathe. I love these two with all of my heart, doubly so since the madmen actually somehow succeed in making the campfire during the ending credits. Bless this cast of characters.

Inti Creates finally managed to craft the best method for story-telling I've seen in a platforming game. They made the scenes brief enough to not get in the way of the gameplay, yet charming and enjoyable enough for you to want to engage with the plot. I would love to see this approach more in the future. I never felt a desire to skip any story beats I saw.

Tragically, that is the end of my compliments for this game, which means the best part of the game is the part where you aren't playing it.

Here we go.

The thing that blows my mind the most is that Curse of The Moon 1 took the approach of "What if we remade Castlevania 3 to be reasonable in its difficulty and pacing while also giving the player more freedom in how they play the game?" and it was pulled off with aplomb. I still feel it's one of the best games Inti Creates has ever made, and I don't just mean that comparatively, it's genuinely a fantastic game.

Then Curse of The Moon 2 just unlearns everything the first game did right and goes back to being Castlevania 3 again, but with more repetition, a comparable amount of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, most notably enemies that are placed just in the right spot to screw you, and made every playthrough more obnoxious than the last.

That's not even including the boss design of this game. If stage 5 somehow doesn't make you want to stop playing, the Mummy boss from stage 6 probably will. If you do play this game and find yourself hating the Mummy boss, just stop playing, because it is only going to get EXPONENTIALLY WORSE during your playthroughs of Episode 2 onward, where things just become completely unreasonable, especially for the Mummy boss and the boss that comes after it, which wouldn't you know it, is also the one and only boss from the first game nobody liked, now with more health. Fun.

"But Ultimate Mode fixes the game!"

No, it doesn't. Even if you go the most optimal route to unlock Ultimate Mode asap, you still have to beat the game 3 times in increasingly harder formats with a worse weapon for Zangetsu for the majority of those 3 playthroughs. You did all of that just to make an incredibly frustrating game somewhat more tolerable, which goes back to being frustrating if Zangetsu dies at any point since he's the only character Ultimate Mode improves.

Ultimate Mode is definitely a better way to experience the game, but it doesn't erase how frustrating and obnoxious my time with the game was prior to unlocking. As much as I'd like to say it makes up for it, I don't feel it does. Asking someone to play through a game 3 times just to start having a better time with it is a tall order and one I don't see many people having the patience for. Even I got burned out by the final episode. It's just too much repetition.

I could spend another few paragraphs easily on how this game also features the most shockingly awful shmup sequence I've ever played in a video game, which was chock-full of "Wait, what just killed me?" moments due to how many of the most basic and important rules of shmup gameplay were disregarded. I even recorded footage of the segment to review later so I could see what did, and it still took me multiple viewings to notice the culprits for my deaths. It was always something that blended in with my own attacks (THIS SHOULD NEVER HAPPEN IN A SHMUP) All this segment did was provide me with more reason to believe that people who don't work on shmups should not add shmup gameplay/attacks into their games. Inti falls into this category, for the record. It shows. It really, really shows.

It's examples like these that make the game so frustrating to me. There is good content buried beneath the bad, but my God, there's so much bad stuff you have to dig through, and it makes it so much harder to enjoy as a result. Play the first game, then look up the campfire scenes, dialogue, and soundtrack for this game. If you do decide to play this, I implore you to play on Casual difficulty if for no other reason than to at least have more reasonable checkpoint placement.

Streets of Rage's furrier, lewder cousin. I should stress, however, while the blood of SoR does flow within the veins of Fight'n Rage, it is by no means a cheap imitation. There are winks and nods (particularly near the end of the game) towards its relative, yet it features many modern conveniences, a sea of extra content to unlock and explore, a wealth of different paths to take for further replay value and alternatives if a certain route isn't to your liking, etc.

If you enjoyed Streets of Rage as I did, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by this game. It's everything you loved about the original series and so, so much more. I can guarantee you'll have more than enough to keep you busy with this beat-em-up! The sound design alone is worthy of praise, both in regard to the musical score and in regard to the delightful noises of your attacks. I defy you to find a sound more satisfying than the "KONG" of a metal pipe you've slammed an enemy with in Fight'n Rage.

In times where stress is at an all-time high for most people, I think we all need something to give our minds a break from the chaos every now and again. NiGHTS is a game that aids with mental health remarkably well. Even when I was still getting the hang of the gameplay, I never felt stressed out by it. The game is a feel-good experience, and the music is one of the main reasons as to why. Each stage track in this game oozes a sense of delight and adventure, while still being very relaxing to listen to.

The world of NiGHTS is based on and in dreams, and I must say, this is one of the most pleasant ones I've had in a while. You won't find many games like NiGHTS; it's just that unique. Give yourself a break and explore what it's like to be young and full of curiosity and wonder again. We all need a break sometimes, and there's no shame in taking one.

While I may still possess an unyielding hatred for Mega Man 9 (ironically, the very game that introduced me to Mega Man back on the Nintendo Wii), I absolutely adore Mega Man 7 and 8 and all of the fresh and fun ideas they brought to the table!

The Rush Adaptor in 7 is a ton of fun and you bet I love all the cool and fun upgrades to stuff like the Charge Shot from 8! That Arrow Shot is a ton of fun to use and just shreds Sniper Joes! I feel Mega Man 7's stellar attention to detail and remarkable number of secrets, some of which I'm discovering to this day, make it one of the best games in the entire Classic series, if not the whole franchise, and is worth the price of admission alone. On top of that, Mega Man 8's generally easier difficulty and chill soundtrack allow it to be one of the comfier Mega Man titles for most of the adventure. It's a great game to relax with if you need your Mega Man fix, but aren't in the mood for something super challenging!

Mega Man 10 is better than 9, though more in the sense that stale bread is better than moldy bread. Sadly, it does have similar trappings to Mega Man 9 in that it was made by boomers who think Mega Man 2 was the peak of Mega Man and that any semblance of innovation 3-8 provided the series should be ignored. The Slide and the Charge Shot being absent (outside of ProtoMan mode, who takes double damage, so have fun with that malarky) are especially egregious and you can really feel their absence since their exclusion only makes these two games feel worse. 10 is at least better to play thanks to them re-adding in weapon switching outside of menus and a few other quality-of-life features, but it still doesn't compare to the better games of the series. At best, it's an okay game with some decent ideas and at worst it's underwhelming with shameless nostalgia bait. In other words, it's like most Inti Creates games.

Nevertheless, I had a pretty solid time with this collection and the greatly improved challenge mode also means you're getting some better variety for side content as well. This collection has done away with the constant reuse of stage design the previous collection's challenges suffered from greatly. The devs went for a quality-over-quantity approach with this batch of challenges, and it's greatly appreciated! Much like the other Legacy Collections, this is worth your time, though maybe wait for a sale since only the first half of the lineup is truly worth it.

Wayforward delivers once again with Double Dragon Neon! From the top-notch humor to the delightfully 80's soundtrack by Jake Kaufman, you're guaranteed a good time. If you're looking for a beat-em-up to play, let it be this one. Trust me, this game will leave you with a continuous smile on your face the whole way through. Skullmageddon's dialogue and ending credits vocal track alone are worth the price of admission!

The addition of the Save Assist feature, which provides new and better checkpointing (especially for Zero 1, which REALLY needed it) as well as infinite lives, and the Casual Scenario make this the definitive way to experience the Zero and ZX games, in my honest opinion. I enjoyed playing the Zero series pretty routinely during my highschool years on my Nintendo DS with the original Zero Collection, which contained Zero 1-4 and the bonus cards present here. I can say the writing doesn't hit like it used to, as it's generally more grimdark than I'd like at times, but the gameplay is still darn solid and a blast even to this day. Alongside his appearance in X5, I think Zero's gameplay really peaked with the Zero series. Pulling off combos on bosses and shutting them down quickly requires a fair bit of practice to do, but man does it feel good when you nail the flow of your moveset!

The quality of these particular games is definitely all over the place, I won't lie. Zero 1 is one of the roughest first entries to a series this franchise has had since the original Mega Man back from the NES era and as for ZX, I mean, I won't mince words here. I consider ZX to be the only Mega Man series that I bear no love for.

I think Advent is the most average Mega Man game ever made, being only okay, but as for the first ZX game? God, it's ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ miserable. Oh, sure, the combat techniques can be neat to see in action, but the level design and empty- sorry, "open" world design is about as enjoyable as driving a rusty knife through my skull and twisting the blade. I'd genuinely consider the original ZX to be not just one of the worst Mega Man games ever made, I'd easily put it in the top five worst games I've played period. By the time I'd beaten it, I felt like all joy and enthusiasm had been drained from my body and I just felt numb. Advent's best feature is its character designs, vastly superior soundtrack, and the expanded concept of A-Trans, which is still a half-baked, if cool idea for an ability, so I'd still say it's better than what ZX offered, though I can't say the open world concept is any more justified than before, especially since everything after the first few levels returns to being stages you teleport to like earlier series did. Advent truly feels like a more homogenized, milquetoast rendition of Mega Man Zero, bafflingly done by the same company just a few years later. It doesn't surprise me the ZX series never took off. It's flat-out mediocre, especially compared to everything else the franchise offered. Say what you will about the shifts in quality of the back half of the X series, at least it's more interesting to talk about and play.

Nevertheless, even as someone who spent so much time with the original releases of the Zero games, that I unlocked every scrap of content within them, minigames included, it's just nice to play them without worrying about game overs bogging down a game I haven't practiced or played as often as I used to, or Zero 1's ever infamous Retry Chip system in places of a normal lives system, which was thankfully fixed in the sequels. The addition of infinite lives really goes a long way toward improving these flawed, but still mostly fun titles. Even the roughest part of the Mega Man franchise still has a lot of good to offer and I'm glad I can say that! Shame about ZX, though.

Play how you want to play. Go nuts if you find the games more enjoyable by making them easier. These are your save files, do as you please with them. Remember that most people struggle with Mega Man X even with all the upgrades and the Zero series boasts an even greater level of challenge while asking you to use little to no upgrades for optimal play. This part of the franchise is niche for a reason. As I said, use the new features as much or as little as you want. The choice is yours and yours alone. Wait for a sale, optimally.

I have to give props to the comic they made to show you how to make the pancake recipe. Definitely going to need some practice to make them properly, but hey, I'm a sucker for sweets and a decent challenge, so that's fine by me! I like the commentary the artbook features, too! There's a lot of charm and love poured into this game, and I'm really glad I got to experience this. Can't wait to make those pancakes sometime!

Initially, I got this for the pancake recipe, but it's actually a really good, really challenging puzzle game. Normally I don't pay much attention to "waifu bait" games, as they're usually all style, no substance, but Helltaker took me by surprise. I'm genuinely impressed by how well-designed the puzzles are. They ramp up in difficulty at a good pace and give your mind a fair challenge to boot. There are even some neat secrets to stumble upon as well!

Short and sweet! I'd love to play more games like this!

"Do I recommend Sonic Mania?"

Is the sky blue?

This is one of the best Classic Sonic games you will ever play! For years, Sonic CD and Sonic 3 & Knuckles have remained my favorite 2D entries, but this game is so refined, so polished, and the music is so, so magnificent, that I'd be hard-pressed to do anything but recommend it! The returning levels aren't just one-to-one rips from their debut games, they feature new level design and gimmicks that make them stand out, yet feature familiar enough setpieces to act as a great rush of "Oh! I remember that!" whenever you encounter them. Where the game truly shines, however, is with its original levels. If Mania consisted only of original levels, it'd probably be my favorite Sonic game, period. That's how good these new levels are.

Everyone and their grandmother have talked about how great Studiopolis is, but I've got to give massive props to Press Garden and Titanic Monarch. I'm a huge sucker for songs that contain sounds of machinery in them, and Press Garden Act 1 has that in spades. You're going through a newspaper factory run by Eggman and the whole place is bustling and a blast to speed through. The music is just the icing on the cake!

Titanic Monarch, however, man alive, I can't get enough of Titanic Monarch! The whole level is this giant climb to reach the inner workings of a colossal robot Eggman created in an effort to stop it from activating, and to make it even better, the music that plays here is some of the most intimidating, yet catchy music this franchise has to offer. It's phenomenal for the purpose of build-up and gets even better when you finally get inside. Navigating the interior of the robot leads to the music getting more tense and slow-paced, to set in place the feeling of how dangerous the task is. On top of that, the level is full of warps, some of which are there to act as secret shortcuts and it all culminates in a perfect climax that leads to a final clash with Eggman and the Hard-boiled Heavies, the game's new antagonists and aids to Eggman.

I could probably write 6 or 7 more paragraphs about how excellent of a game Sonic Mania is, it's just that good of an experience. If you're a Sonic fan, this should be in your library. There's simply no question to it.

The Burger Man statue is the greatest interactable object in video game history and I refuse to hear otherwise. 10/10 video game, made my childhood an endless source of joy! Still fantastic to this day!