Tag Archives: Review

Review: Aragami (PS4/PC)

November 8, 2016 Andrew A. (Frost) 2 Comments

Lince Works, a small indie team located in Barcelona, Spain has released a 3 year project titled Aragami, a third – person stealth game in which you control the shadows, and plan moves using your wits and powers to outsmart enemies, without brut force.

When I first saw game play footage of Aragami, all I thought was, “OMG! A new Tenchu/ Metal Gear Solid style game is coming soon!” For players that don’t know what Aragami, or Tenchu is, these games are stealth action title where you sneak around in the shadows to kill your foes. Exciting right?

Visuals

The cel shaded/toon shaded art style of Aragami is a different approach for the stealth action genre. Lince Works used this to utilize the lighting effects and shadows to help give the vibe that makes the game flow.

This also can be negative, though. For instance, the cartoon look may have other players not take the game seriously and can draw them away.

Overall, the approach of Aragami is art style looks nice, and flows well with the game.

Audio

Aragami does really well in the audio aspect of the game. Whether you’re attacking a foe, sneaking around maps, or even reading the dialog with the gibberish voice overs, the game feels real. Not much can be said other than the developers have hit all of the audio points on the mark to give players the experience they deserve in a stealth action title.

Gameplay

Aragami had my attention from the beginning. Sneaking around using stealth and killing enemies that do not know what’s coming was the main part that sucked me in this title, but after jumping the excitement wore away fast.

When first jumping in the world of Aragami, the feel of the game has everything any players would want in a stealth action game. The AI detection, using the shadows to sneak around, stealth kills, and drawing enemies towards you with distracting sounds; yes, it’s all here. But after a few chapters, players will feel like they need more, mainly because the game play becomes tedious and the enemies, when alarmed, will demolish players in one strike. This make the game difficult and frustrating. For example, once you alarm an enemy, they know exactly where you are and kill you with one strike with a projectile attack. Aragami had a lot going for it at first, but as you progress the game losses that potential fast.

Verdict

Aragami has some great visuals and audio, but once I jumped into it, I lost interest pretty fast. The developers could have spent more time working on this title to perfect the potential it had, but the game feels like an unfinished product. It is sad to say this is a hard game to recommend because I wanted so much out of this title. Aragami is a game to pick up on a store sale; not for a brand new, Day One Edition release.

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Review: Yomawari Night Alone (PSVita, PC)

October 25, 2016 stellar.ice 1 Comment

Available for the PlayStation Vita and Steam October 25, 2016, NIS America brings Yomawari: Night Alone to North America and Europe just in time for the Halloween season.

Story
Poro and Sis are missing. It is up to you, the protagonist, to go out into the night to find them. There are scary things in the night, but not knowing where Sis is feels even scarier. You must explore your neighborhood and escape the scary things that go bump in the night.

The story is emotionally driven and becomes more than surviving the night to find your sister. Through the story the protagonist must come to understand mortality. [SPOILER] The protagonists initial denial of her dog, Poro, dying at the beginning of the game and her inability to admit to her sister that the dog has died starts her journey. Most objects you encounter are related to death or the dead somehow -you are not just trying to survive the night, you are trying to come to terms with the reality of death that surrounds you.

Game play
Yomawari: Night Alone is a 2D, top down survival horror. Armed with only a flashlight, you cannot fight any of the monsters you encounter but must try to outrun them or sneak by without them coming into contact with you. You have the option to “Hide” or “Run”, but your running meter is limited especially if the character is scared. Most times you’ll need to analyze how the monsters move in order to figure out how to avoid them. Game play is exploring, collecting objects, and puzzle solving.

Most events are fairly short, but worthwhile when you encounter them. The simplicity of the game play translates the vulnerability of you character so the player feels the terror of what surrounds your character.

Visuals
The overall atmosphere of the game is eerie. The visible play area is a circumference of light around your character and whatever your flashlight illuminates. You cannot rotate the camera, and quite often your vision will be obscured with the background; a tactic certain to make your heart pound a little bit because who knows what is lurking in the places you can’t see. What makes the game stand out is the simple hand drawn 2D animation. Each monster is not elaborately drawn out but they still manage to feel very creepy.

Audio
The audio, or lack there of, sets the tone of the game. Most background noise you hear is ambient noise (crickets/cicadas, electrical humming, etc), the character’s footsteps, and the heart rate system where the heart rate increases when ghosts/danger lurks nearby. This makes the game one of those games that will have you jumping out of your seat if you’re in the dark with your headphones.

Verdict
Pros: Each element (story, game play, audio, visual) work hand in hand with one another to create a chilling environment and one aspect of the game doesn’t over power the other. Even though it is simple, it gets is message across and still manages to pull out a few jump scares. This is one game I feel better playing with the lights on without my headphones, but the experience is that much more enhanced with them on.

I feel an emotional connection with the main character; a little girl who loses her dog and then her older sister. Her pure determination to find them drives the story forward, even when you (the player) don’t even want to go the end of the block because of what is waiting for you. I also enjoy that the mentality of a young girl remains in tact through story, especially with the collectible objects. As you read through each description, you discover the character has attached an emotional meaning with each object, much like a child would do.

There’s a slight replay value for those who like collecting trophies and achievements. There are variety of collectibles to pick up; some in some pretty hard to get to places. But, the completionist will find their way back into the neighborhood.

Cons: The game can be simple, or complicated. The game doesn’t necessarily tell you where to go, but seasoned gamers can easily pick up which direction to go. The challenge is eliminated when the game allows you to keep important objects even after you have been caught by a ghost. You don’t really have to go back and analyze the patterns of how the ghosts move since you can basically just run in, grab the object, die, and start at a nice cozy save point.

If you happen to miss the event spawn point, there will be a lot of back tracking and at times this can feel pretty tedious.

Yomawari: Night Alone is the perfect game for October or when you want a good scare. It’s not gory, but it doesn’t need to be gory in order for you to feel the terror of the night. With its quiet atmosphere, creepy creatures, and story Yomawari: Night Alone easily made it to the top of my Favorite Horror Game list. To get the most out of this title, play in the dark with your headphones; you’ll be jumping out of your seat a few times.

Will you be picking up this title? What if your favorite “scary” game? Let me know in the comments.

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Review: Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity(PS4)

October 10, 2016 Andrew A. (Frost) Leave a comment

Touhou titles have been making a big appearance in 2016 with Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity is being the latest to be localized. Published by XSeed Games, and released on the Playstation 4, Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity takes a blend of an action swordplay JRPG’s of the Ys series, platformers, and combines them with the bullet hell shoot’em up genre that Touhou is known for. Players will take on the role of the titular vampire Remilia Scarlet or her devoted maid, Sakuya Izayoi, as they explore a wide variety of environments and battle aggressive creatures.

Story

Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity begins with the “Scarlet Devil” Remilia Scarlet, who, at 500 years old, is desperately searching for something new to end the monotony of immortality. After stumbling upon a newspaper article about a powerful and mysterious monster terrorizing the countryside, she rushes out to see if this could finally be the excitement for which she yearns. Unfortunately, not only is she unsuccessful in her search for the monster, but she returns to find her manor in ruins. It would seem the monster has come to her! With a renewed sense of determination (and a much-needed respite from her boredom), she vows to take revenge on this fiend and make it pay!

Visuals

Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity has the normal anime look with hand drawn characters for the dialog sequences and looks wonderful with its 3D models for game play. When playing the, players will notice how magical girls look somewhat dated but the environments look beautiful with fantastic lighting effects from battle and background. Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity is a light show of different magical colors and and will have players watching with awe.

Audio

Touhou games always have a superb soundtracks, and Scarlet Curiosity is no different. The music from Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity will have players drawn to the environments with its matching tone and mystical feel, but there will be a few times the music can sometimes be ill-fitting for the scene. Aside from that, I feel like the music selection stands strong for itself and will help attract players to the game. I would even recommend players listen to the soundtrack before playing the game.

Gameplay

Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity has a Falcom-inspired action hack and slash feel to it, but with its own touch. Mixing the top down action JRPG’s elements with platforming, players will be going though each level attacking foes to grind their level up, solving puzzles to proceed the well crafted stages, and equipping items found along the way to build up your characters stats.

When first entering the game players will notice is there is no difficult setting to the game. This leaves the players not knowing what to expect. All players have to go off of is that you have projectile attacks and slashing attacks for each character, but these skills can be changed to even more powerful attacks as you level up. I found this to be one the well done aspects of the game and had me wanting to kill everything in sight. But, as I mentioned, there is no difficulty setting. Players will notice right off the bat, this game is not that hard and as you make your way further in the game it starts to get repetitive with the same enemies on every map. This is where the game lacks, it just needed more diverse enemies to fit each maps theme. But not all of the combat was it makes up for it in its boss battle.

Boss Battles felt like the game went up in difficulty, adding plenty of deaths just to have you try over again. This is where the game shines by having the boss attack’s bringing in the bullet hell genre to the game. You will find yourself dodging tons of projectiles, figuring out each bosses shoot patterns, and different ways to counter attacks. This is where players will find the more intense aspect of the game.

Verdict

Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity is a beautiful looking game with a fantastic soundtrack and a decent story, but the gameplay lacks in some areas. The boss battle were very enjoyable, and the puzzles were entertaining, but I would recommend this game to fans of the Touhou Projects, and maybe fans of the Ys style games, otherwise this game is developed purely by the fans, for the fans.

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Review: MeiQ: Labyrinth of Death (PSVITA)

October 5, 2016 Andrew A. (Frost) Leave a comment

MeiQ: Labyrinth of Death for the Playstation Vita is one of the latest titles from Idea Factory and, I have to say, I really had an adventure playing this JRPG. MeiQ is a JRPG with Mech Customization, a story of Machina Mages, and many dungeons full of creatures that randomly attack you.