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NCG Review – Mushroom Wars 2 (PC)

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Mushroom Wars 2 is one of the cutest, yet most intense RTS I have played in a long time; actually, since the first title. The first Mushroom Wars title was released on the Playstation 3 back in 2009 and later was on other platforms such as Mobile and PC years later. The newest entry in series still holds up to original with its new mechanics.

Story

When jumping into MW2’s story mode, you are thrown into a story with no words, narrator, or any sense of guidance which is great because instead the story presents itself with images that the player has to interpret themselves. The story is not meant to be central to the game, but it is their to give players an idea of the reason your little mushroom people are at war.moustache_of_doom_by_nicheltoten-dangv63.png

Visuals

Taking a lot of  influence from the cutesy look from the first title, Mushroom Wars 2 adds a little more depth by revamping the visuals to looks as though the mushroom people grew up to battle. The new art style is all digitally drawn adding a stylized aspect to character portraits, maps, building and attacking units; this title will have players loving all aspects of the style, as well as feeling more attached to the team they build.pu58a2fc6ed39fd083f55d4182bf88826d-1504641192-363942-screenshot-original.png

Gameplay

If you have not played the first Mushroom Wars title, I highly recommend checking it out, as it will prepare you for the addicting game play that Mushroom Wars 2 builds off of. That being said, Mushroom Wars 2 is a straight forward RTS (real-time strategy), which is simple to control but yet technical with strategy.pu58a2fc6ed39fd083f55d4182bf88826d-1504641210-6666592-screenshot-original.png

The premise of the game is to conquer the map. Players are given a starter building to generate units.  Once you have generated enough units, you can conquer other buildings to create more units.  When you have enough units in a building you can upgrade that building so you can generate units faster, and eventually take over the map.

When in game play, players will have two main hubs. One hub to choose how many units to send out by percentage of the total units in the building, and a hub to upgrade/switch your building. This is where all the strategic planning begins to take play. Players will be able to decide to upgrade the building to build units faster, or to build a cannon tower which will defend an area but sacrifices building units. And then there is the defense building, which will make your units and building have more resistance to attacks and do more damage.

You have to plan your buildings wisely because your enemy will be attacking and planning at the same time.

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One of the newest addition to Mushroom Wars is the abilities. Depending on the characters or team the player decides to select, a few curtain skills will be attached to them. This will give players different advantages to take over the map.  This is an excellent new feature because of how balanced it is.

The game play is fun, addicting, and players will find themselves losing hours of time in the main story mode, which feels like a tutorial and doesn’t ever get annoying while making your way through. On top of that, the online mode runs smooth and will have players trying to rank up in the online community.

Verdict

Mushroom Wars 2 feels like an upgrade to the previous title with it’s great style, addicting RTS game play, and new game play elements.  I can say this title is a must buy for the price ($9.99) for anyone and everyone. The simple but yet well thought out game play will have any gamer enjoying the battles. Be sure to be on the look out for a release on PS4, Xbox One some time i the future. My verdict of this title is a 9/10.

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NCG Review – Touhou Kobuto V: Burst Battle (PS4, Switch)

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As Touhou Kobuto V: Burst Battle V was first announced, I was really excited for the 3rd person arena fighter/shooter. Especially since Touhou Genso Rondo: Bullet Ballet was a really fun in-depth title. When I jumped into Burst Battle on for the first time, I found out I was getting into something from a different nature.kobuto_jp_ss6.png

Audio

Like any Touhou titles, the music is terrific! Compiled of remixes of character theme songs, the music is something that all players can enjoy in this title. The sound effects sort of work, but can get repetitive, and other than that, there is nothing more, or new. A lot of the sound effects were just reused sounds from Touhou Genso Rondo: Bullet Ballet.kobuto_jp_ss5.png

Gameplay

This is usually where Touhou titles really shine, but in Burst Battle, the development just wasn’t executed right. First off, there is no video or game play tutorial, which this title really needs to have in order for players to understand what they are doing. There is only a manual that is on the main menu, which many players will probably miss since it’s in such a weird spot.kobuto_jp_ss2.png

Once players finally start to figure out the game, they will notice it has the core mechanics of an arena battle game. The down side is that it is slow, clunky and there is no character balance. Players will spend most of their time waiting on each stamina meter to refill to try to use the most powerful attack through a match. As for game modes, players will have a choice of the single player story mode, arcade mode, score attack, VS, and online. touhou-kobuto-v-burst-battle-3

When jumping into the single player story mode, one of the first and upsetting part was that I didn’t get to pick a character. Automatically, I was thrown into the story of Reimu Hakurei. After completing her story, you are forced to do the next character story and so on. Wasn’t too big of a deal, but I would have liked to choose which character to play. As for the other modes, it’s just the story mode without the story.2

Verdict

It really disappointed me as a fan of arena battle style titles that Touhou Kobuto V: Burst Battle missed out on being a great title. It has the mechanics, the music… the pointless story, but I felt like it had no signs of a fast pace, bullet hell, Touhou feel that the other titles have. This is not a game to pick up for the price, but rather a borrow from a friend that is a hardcore Touhou fan. It sucks to say but I have to give this title a 1 out of 10.

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NCG Review – Senran Kagura Peach Beach Splash (PS4)

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It’s time for the Shinobi to battle it out again, but this time they are doing it with water guns and bikinis! Published by Marvelous Games, Senran Kagura Peach Beach Splash breaks away the girls from the Senran Kagura series from the hack n slash genre and puts them into a somewhat of a shooter title, but not with guns, rather squirt guns instead.SENRAN KAGURA Peach Beach Splash - Screenshot05.png

Story

The Senran Kagura girls join a Beach Peach Splash (BPS) tournament to win a wish of anything they want if their team becomes the winning group. It a totally different take on the normal story, and it works, but most of the dialog is pretty pointless.Senran Kagura PEACH BEACH SPLASH_20170924145524.png

The story is made mostly of the girls trying to find out why they are in this tournament, and with SEXY innuendos. This is a perfect title for anyone who is looking for pure fan service, but it doesn’t get in the way of the story. Not much else is there for the story, but you’re not playing this game for that. I recommend skipping most of it as it is just repeats throughout the game.SENRAN KAGURA Peach Beach Splash - Screenshot07.png

Audio

The sound track works well for this title as if has the bouncy fun, but yet competitive feel to each song, and the voice overs are well done as always in the series. Ask for game sound effects, players will feel like they are squirting their way to victory.SENRAN KAGURA Peach Beach Splash - Screenshot03.png

All in all the audio is great and gives the game a true feel for splashing your opponent, and will help you dive into this title. Voice over will have you looking at the bikini girls asking why am I playing this title with my friend next to me, because of the moans and squeals they make.

Gameplay

The gameplay aspect is where the title hits perfectly! Players will find themselves in death matches in which you need to take the other team out and do a humiliation mechanic where the girls get wet till their clothing comes off (just like other games of the series). There are some more play-styles, like domination such as Call of Duty where you capture points until the match is over, which keeps the game from just being a death match arena shooter, and will give tons of replay value.SENRAN KAGURA Peach Beach Splash - Screenshot04.png

As I mentioned before, the title has a story mode, but throughout the story it’s mostly fighting bots that die almost instantly and feels more like training. Paradise mode is also a side story take on the game, which is somewhat of the same, and then there is V-Road challenges where you take on smarter AI and try to win the matches.Online mode though is where you will get the most out of the title, whether its 3v3 or 5v5 matches, you will be in a competitive mode, ranking up.Senran Kagura PEACH BEACH SPLASH_20170923203204.png

Through out all of these modes you unlock cards which represent your weapons and abilities, and the more you obtain the more you can upgrade the power of each card. Players will find this aspect the main reason to come back, and will give a feeling of accomplishment.Senran Kagura PEACH BEACH SPLASH_20170923204139.png

Verdict

Senran Kagura Beach Peach Splash is a lot of fun, and has a lot to it besides the fan service. The replay value is huge, and the amount of unlockables is great. The story mode lack for being a different style game, but you can tell the developers just whipped it up to give the game a background. I recommend Senran Kagura Beach Peach Splash as a pick up if you’re looking for something that is different and yet a game to replay over and over again. This title gets a 8/10 on my part, as I will be playing this title for days to come.Score

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NCG Review- Drive Girls (PSVita)

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Have you ever wondered what a game would be like if you mixed Transformers with an anime magical girl theme? Well  Drive Girls is what you have been waiting for! In a world where people have the ability to transform into cars, and yet have to fight to save their home land, Drive Girls is an experience that will take you for a ride!drive-girls-review-3.png

Story

The story starts with the player following Lancia, as she makes her way to take the ERT or emergency response team entrance exam, but then finds herself joining a group of vigilantes called the drive Girls, who are out to destroy the Bugs that come to vanquish the land. drivetrailer-1493131516493

The story was presented very well, and isn’t silly like most other titles of this genre, and I did find myself wanting to know what was going to happen next in each chapter, but after a while the story become the same old fight and in the same areas.

Audio

When jumping into Drive Girls, one of my favorite aspects that stood out to me was the soundtrack. Mainly consisting of electronic and rock background music, it really played a role in making the title have its own identity, as well as gave me that nostalgic feeling I use to have when watching an anime during my early days.

As always with most Tamsoft titles, I would have liked to have heard some English dubbing for the voice acting, but Drive Girls only featured the native Japanese dubbing. Which fans of oversea titles will love. It was also performed decently, as the voice actors actually caught the emotion of each character.

Gameplay

Developed by Tamsoft, a company known for Senran Kagura titles and many other titles of the same play style, Drive Girls is along the same sort of game play. Fast paced hacking and slashing, girls losing their clothes, and for this title a mix of car transformations as well. With these 3 aspects blended together you get a unique hack and slash title with some racing or car themed challenges. This was quite enjoyable for me, as I am a huge hack and slash fan, but what I can state right now before going into to details is that this title is not for everyone.vi_drivegirlsf

The game is fun to an extent, players will find the combo system smooth and satisfying, but the lack of enemy models just take from the game. As they are the same bugs thought out the whole game, and nothing more. It is very sad as the game feels like it wants to deliver but doesn’t.drive-girls31

The driving section of the game also lack in variety. Players will find themselves in empty roads with minimal obstacles, and long plank roads most of time. I wish the developers could have added more to each race, but that is just hopeful thinking, The only aspect the game has going for it is the equipment/ sticker system, as players will equip stickers to build up the character stats.drive-girls-6

That being said, the game is enjoyable, but falls flat during game play. There is no replay value and yet the story is fairly short. I would only recommend this title to anyone wanting a quick fix in the hack and slash genre. I give Drive Girls a 5 out of 10 for my final score.Score

 

 

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NCG Review – Nidhogg 2 (Playstation 4, PC)

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The wurm is back, and ready to feed! Messhof is back again with the sequel to the 2014 highly addictive multiplayer title Nidhogg. Nidhogg 2 builds off its predecessor by adding some new weapons, new levels, new grotesque art style, online ranked matches, and a brand new character customization feature letting players choose which character they will want to use to paint the walls with their enemies’ blood.Nidhogg2_Summer17 (10).png

Visuals

Nidhogg 2’s art style has been upgraded from the retro “Atari” art style, to a 16-bit pixel upgrade. The best way to describe it is that it looks something along the lines of Earthworm Jim’s art style from the SNES and Sega Genesis era. This fits perfect for Nidhogg 2, as the game doesn’t take itself serious with its hilarious gameplay.NIdhogg2_Summer17 (1).png

Characters animations look hysterical with the frantic facial expressions when being stabbed or squashed into the ground, and the level art looks amazing with its acid influenced art style. The whole presentation of Nidhogg 2 will have you feeling like your back in the 90’s gaming era. Did I mention, the developers added an overworld that resembles Yoshi’s Island!difaa8yc7isqzlihl6t1

One downside though is that even though the graphics are brushed up, sometimes they game be distracting. Their were times on curtain levels where the background would be the same color as me or my opponent (DAMN those flames with the same color palate as the orange character) and I would either lose myself , then fall off a ledge or run right into my foes weapon.NIdhogg2_Summer17 (4)

 

Gameplay

Nidhogg 2 has brought back that fast paced, kill and run game style back, but this time with a few new feature! Nidhogg 2 introduces new weapons which will change the strategies of how to kill your opponent.Nidhogg2_Summer17 (12)

Each weapon has its own strength and weakness so despite which weapon used, one player will not have the upper hand. The knives as a fast throw but short reach, the bow has projectiles, but you can do damage if you toss it, the two-handed sword can know weapons out of you opponents hands but is slow, and the classic jousting rapier is neutral all around.I found this dynamic and rather fun, as I would find weapons from fallen characters all over the place, making me have to think quick on what I was going to do with the weapon.

As for game modes, they added an arcade mode where players will fight their way through every level and have a chance to try out every weapon. Which is a great option if you don’t have some couch play going on. There is also an online mode with ranked and non-ranked matches, and I can see this keep this title alive for days to come. Last of all, the main place where players will be on is the original VS. mode and tournament mode, in which players can play against their friends and have a colorful bloodshed of a time.

The NCG crew had a blast playing Nidhogg 2, but the game animation felt like it wasn’t as fast as the original Nidhogg. On top of that, some matches last forever, as players will find out that they added sliding physics to the characters. This can be great, but can also fall flat when your matches end up being way longer than you would expect. Other than the speed of the animation all aspects of the gameplay aspects were great.
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Verdict

Nidhogg 2 is a title to pick up whether you tried the original or not. A highly recommended title to add to your multiplayer collection, especially because it’s a game that is just hilarious, with an experience you will not get from any other title on the market.

Pros: Nidhogg 2 offers a variety of weapons and levels that we did not see in the first title.  There are more maps with obstacles and the weapon variation forces players to strategize their next move versus bashing buttons and hoping for the best.

Cons: Even though I got what I wanted more levels!- I still prefer the style of the original game.  The pure simplicity in levels and character design made the game “goofy” without being outwardly goofy.  Nidhogg 2 takes the once subtle concept and makes a more “in you face” style and I think it detracts from the game.  It becomes mentally exhausting focusing on your character and the more in-depth backgrounds.

You can pick up Nidhogg 2 for Playstation 4 (via PSN) and PC (Steam) on August 15.Score