Recent reviews by AltimaMantoid

Ninjas are awesome. Masters of stealth, able to jump high in the air, climb walls, land with effortless grace, throw projectiles, grapple objects with rope darts -- you know, the usual. Here we have what's seemingly a Ninja Gaiden homage. Yet it is so, so much more.
Starting with the story, you play a ninja who is given a Scroll to take to the top of the Glacial Peaks, becoming the titular "Messenger." The gameplay is tight and makes you feel like a complete badass on doing the most basic of things. Hit something in the air? You can jump again. Do it again? You can stay in the air forever if you do it enough. It's so slick and refined you can pull off some amazing stunts with enough practice of the game's controls. The music is jamming and bopping all the way through, every track catchy to the point you'll hum or head nod each time. Graphics are clean, crisp, bright and vivid, with superb art direction. Plenty of secrets to find. Level design is so well-planned out it's astonishing. The banter between the Messenger and Shopkeeper is some of the best dialogue I've ever seen written so casually and hilariously able to break the fourth wall with surgical precision.
The Messenger has everything. Beat the game? New Game+. 100% the game? Then take "The Deal." Possibly one of the single best games I've ever played. DO NOT SLEEP ON THIS TITLE!

Here's an example of a solid way to bring an older game series to a modern era of playstyle. The gunplay is mostly rewarding and the level design is pretty detailed and mostly well thought out. Although there is a bit of a lack of enemy variety, Nazis come in two varieties: ridiculously armored or not really armored. Past that, they're mostly the same enemy type. The shotgun is incredibly lackluster in this game because everything with a gun is rather accurate, making up-close combat tough in general. The assault rifle (or stealth kills) will see the bulk of combat. Story is good, it's not so overly convoluted that nothing makes sense and having two timelines with varying differences (but overall same story) gives some replay value. Graphics are slick and detailed and controls are incredibly responsive. The Perks system gives you flexibility in how you can play and rewards you for your own style of combat. There's things to collect and some are ridiculously difficult to find. Overall, definitely worth checking out for at least one timeline's playthrough.

How do you even top something this incredible!? It's as if they took everything right about Doom 2016 and not only made it better but turned it up to 11? The combat is frantic yet intimately strategic, the platforming is tough but not impossible, the controls handle perfectly. Demons come in overwhelming waves and only ramp up the whole way through. Meanwhile, you're upgrading numerous things, such as your Praetor suit, the Rune system, weapon mods, and your health, armor, and ammo, among a few other things. Mobility is key and adds to the frantic nature of all the combat. Even the Super Shotgun's new addition, the meat hook, adds in a whole new layer of movement and combat tactics not seen in any other Doom title. The new enemies are all welcome additions to the roster and each one brings some sort of unique thing to deal with in a fight. Weapon balance is great and they all have a place and use. Destructible body parts on demons is fun to watch and is tied into enemy weaknesses. Sure, there's more story than previous Doom games but it doesn't overwhelm you unless you get and read all the Codex. Mick Gordon kills it with the soundtrack. The difficulty is higher than 2016's but also more frenetically balanced. Praises for this game are literally eternal, just go play it already! It's quite possibly the single best new game I've played in the last 10 years, possibly the best entry into Doom's franchise as well. 10/10!

Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang, the members of Team RWBY, use their abilities and skills to take down legions of Grimm and work together (or solo) to stop the experiments of Merlot Industries, as Dr. Merlot has been doing experiments on Grimm to create even more horrifying creatures. Each character handles slightly different but generally the same idea.
DLC for the game is the inclusion of Team JNPR (Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren) which give slightly more options (Jaune plays the most different as he lacks long range and makes up for by buffing the party). The game is a series of monster arenas through varying terrain with different monster spawns, getting tough as you go through and level up your characters.
Sadly, this becomes super repetitive a good ways into the game. It's even more unfortunately a super short game and can be completed in as few as 3 - 4 hours. If you're a fan of the series this game will keep you entertained for a few hours. Everything handles smoothly, despite all of this, and is definitely worth looking into and checking out.

The Blue Bomber is back with another adventure to save the world from the clutches of Dr. Wily! Lots of familiar faces return, such as Roll, Auto, Dr. Light, and most of the rest of the crew, while a new host of 8 Robot Masters are introduced with neat, unique weapons and top-notch fights. Some stages are more problematic than fun (Torch/Bounce Man) but your mileage may vary.
The introduction of the Double Gear System gives a lot of flexibility and strategical situations where they can be useful. Button config on it though can trip up veteran players due to them being on old "weapon switch" buttons. The story is basic but cohesive and delves into the history of everything a bit. The shop is also back with a bolt system and lots of incredibly useful upgrade parts to equip. The voicing is fantastic and the controls are tight, as they should be. The numerous difficulties provide adequate challenge on for everyone.
While it isn't the best in the series, it's easily up with the best. Highly recommended.

Sometimes hype can be a huge detriment to a game's launch and success. Such is the story of Mighty No. 9, a game conceptualized as a spiritual successor to Mega Man Classic but instead plays more like a Mega Man X title. If you like fast-paced platforming action, this will be right up your alley.
Graphics aren't as great as they could be, despite the overall character and enemy design being quite neat, with each boss having their own unique personality. The controls tend to hold well but there's times when the dash mechanic can be the entire reason you die, since if you aren't careful in frantic situations you can dash straight down into a pit. The boss fights are fun but some of the stage design and gimmicks could've been baked a bit longer to be more enjoyable and less frustrating. The dash mechanic of colliding into defeated enemies to absorb Xel has no real reward for doing so and could have had a bit of health gain worked into it. The score system is entirely pointless. Voice acting is a bit flat at points.
There are a lot of neat quirks about it that do make it stand out a bit. Having two characters to unlock can definitely vary up the gameplay but you only unlock Ray after beating it with Beck. Overall, a fun experience but definitely needs a lot more polish and refinement. Here's to hoping it gets a sequel so Comcept can learn and improve on the idea.