Pros: +Astonishingly well done card art
+A plethora of cards to work with while building decks
+Offers a unique take on both board games like Monopolgy and trading card games
+Solid and fast paced online gameplay
Cons: -The story can be somewhat dull due to the constant focus on amnesia
-Characters are quite easily forgettable
-Dice rolls can be harsh and quite painful to deal with during early stages of the game
It’s my typical early Tuesday morning. I have some random Twitch stream running on my screen, my 3DS in my lap, and my Samsung XE303 Chromebook beside it. Given a few of my favorite activities are going on, I’m ignoring them, and not because they are bad options. Instead, I’m not paying attention because my eyes have become glued to my New Nintendo 3DS’ screen thanks to the new boards I’ve finally unlocked on Culdcept Revolt.
Pros:
+Well-drawn character portraits and voice acting
+Some of the soundtrack is a solid piece for fans to enjoy
+Arcade mode is quite fun and offer a lot of replayability
Cons: -Tutorials are extremely desired for newcomers
-Visuals are a bit rough
-Lackluster
If you aren’t familiar with the Touhou Project, a series of games, print works, and CDs that follow the series’ protagonist Reimu Hakurei as she adventures through a haunted region of japan, you are probably missing out, but that’s okay. It’s a series that you have to actually be familiar with. It’s one that is both odd, lively, and quite enjoyable all together. It’s also one that has a rather large crowd surprisingly enough.
Pros:
+The art style and soundtrack make the game a living graphic novel
+New mini-games are a blast to enjoy
+The Monokids are absolutely adorable (how is that possible?)
+A new cast offers in a new enjoyable approach to an already well established theme
+Would make a solid VR experience
Cons: -Cases seem dull and repetitive after the first few trials
-Lying, while interesting during cases, doesn’t change the games overall ending
When I’m usually asked about the games I’m playing, it’s because I’m playing something with an entirely weird name, and Danganronpa as a series, just happens to be one of those franchises, which I’m not ashamed to talk about. The answer I always give pertaining to its overall premise? Murder. The fact the game is about it’s Battle Royale-style and Hunger Games styled themes.
Pros:
• Great Story – Sucks you in and you want to find out what happens
• Offers a wonderful and classic approach to turn-based strategy RPG elements
• Character development – in dept allot of customization
• Graphically nice for the genre – beautiful pixel combat, cut scene, and story board dialogue
• Outstanding ST – Nothing surprising expect nothing less
• Likable/detestable characters – Players can easily relate to some of the games characters
Cons: • Subtitles are absent for the games cutscenes. Cut scenes are dubbed in Japanese
Joining in on the ever-popular genre tactical RPG’s, NIS has enlisted their newest title into the ranks of this genre, and continues to do so thanks to the Japanese studio Kadokawa Games. This all seemed to grow when Natural Doctrine attempted to help revolutionize the genre, but was quickly taken back to basics by God Wars.
Ready for some craziness? Want to try and escape from an insane and rather ego maniacal Monokuma who wants nothing more than to watch your character die? Then you are in the right place! NIS has announced today that the murder-mystery adventure titles that had previously been released will be heading to PlayStation 4 starting in March of 2017.
Both North America and Europe now have set dates for these two outstanding games as a all-in-one package! Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, or you can set up on an island in Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair for a small insanity filled getaway.
So when exactly can you expect these two titles to land in March? North America you can expect them on March 14th, 2017. Europe can expect the duo to land on March 17th, 2017.
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.
Pros:
+Combat remains strong, fun, and enjoyable as ever
+Musical compositions keep the game fresh, fun, and “cute”.
+Interesting story that follows suit much in the same fashion of the first entry
+Each Criminal Girl has a unique personality that diversifies the cast quite well
Cons:
-Grinding seems as if it was fortuitous to the games design
-Touchscreen motivating of the girls seems… Awkward.
-A bit raunchy for some due to fan service
Last February I was given the opportunity to get my hands on the original Criminal Girls title. Sadly, I didn’t get as far as I had wanted in the game. Whether it was the raunchiness, the sadomasochism or just the tone of the girls, it had been hard to get past since I found myself distracted by the constant “fan service” that seemed to be oozing out from every corner of the game. With a bit of hesitance, I cringed a bit, entered the review code, and waited for the half hour of downloads to proceed.
Much as expected, the game booted up and low-and-behold I was introduced to anime girls who once more welcomed in the games rather sexually crafted girls. However, what I didn’t expect, it doesn’t run through each characters bit of design. While some of the girls have a rather crude and dark tone to them, it didn’t take away from the few minutes of dialogue I came to enjoy before diving face deep into the game. One that influenced itself through a random combat generator that doesn’t just randomly generate the fight, but even the abilities each girl will use, and how they’ll be used in that turn of combat.
As one would expect, the combat is one of the mainstays of the game due to the JRPG elements and the fact it is a dungeon crawler first and foremost. Because of this approach, combat will be at the forefront a will dungeon design. While some may cringe at the idea that combat may appear like a RNG role.
It makes the game interesting, fresh, and quite enjoyable compared to the cookie cutter JRPG’s that we’ve been getting in recent years. This bit of context makes the combat quite enjoyable, unique, and even provides a sense of relief when a major ability would come up in battle and force the player to use them as they became available.
While this can be frustrating as your fate is in the hands of the game, it doesn’t take away the fact that the difficulty of a JRPG is always present, which means the grind is there.This is something that will be a bother to some as they will find themselves constantly fighting to level. Something that also comes in with the game is the “motivation” mechanic, which forces players to “scrub” the girls with their finger on the touch screen.
Doing this takes players in a screen where each girl is in rather provocative positions, which to some, could be a red flag if they are in public (trust me, I got caught playing this in public forgetting about this, and was embarrassed while eating my sushi). These motivations are a way to gain new abilities with each girl, while having healing abilities, and stronger attacks can be wonderful, it doesn’t make this game any more awkward than it already is until you use the motivate option.
With all that aside, Criminal Girls 2: Party Favors is just what one would expect from a dungeon crawler that takes place in Hell. The goal of your adventure is simply: get the girls to the top so they can be rehabilitated. While all this is simple, there’s a small plot twist that twists itself within the game and can make one wonder about the demon attack. The game hints that one of your own just happens to be a demon in disguise instead of a girl needing help.
Criminal Girls 2: Party Favors – PlayStation Vita (Reviewed) Developer: NIS Publisher: NIS America Cost: $39.99 Release Date: Now Available
Sadly the game doesn’t suffer from the rather enjoyable combat or story, but it suffers from something a bit more painful. It suffers from an intensive amount of grinding. enough that many could even find themselves turned off by this turn of events. While it may not bother some at first, it will grow old after a few hours while trying to reach the next save point before heading off to a boss, and beating their head in so they can reach the next check point.
Luckily, if you are accustomed to JRPG’s this won’t be a rather large issue and could lead fans to an enjoyable experience. While finding enjoyment in some of this games most awkward situations can be a bit daunting, it doesn’t take away the fact Criminal Girls 2: Party Favors is a series that is headed in the right direction, and will keep gaining fans over the years. If you can tolerate grinds, embarrassing moments, and questionable situations, Criminal Girls 2: Party Favors is a game that offers a decent challenge while pushing fans into a new PS Vita exclusive series.
Our review is based upon a copy provided to us by the games publisher. For information about our ethics policy please clickhere.
Final Score: 7 out of 10
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.
Saving money is always a good thing. It doesn’t matter whether it’s about games, movies, books, music, or what have you. Today our pals at NIS America have announced that they are having a rather large sale that’s one that could quite likely have you setting your wallets on fire in order to obtain all the games they want. So lets take a look at a small sample of what there is to obtain.
50% off Disgaea 5 (and 50% off the Season Pass too!)
What games will you be picking up from this gigantic sale?
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.
Pros: +Stories are short, deep, and incredibly well written
+Anime knowledge isn’t required, but is suggested
+Choices matter, big time, even the small ones
+Multiple endings that actually reflect your choices made
Cons: -The graphic novel approach could deter some players
-Better choice options could be priceless if better ones were put in
When looking at games, many of us are used to narrative driven shooters, action-adventure, and even RPG titles. Many of us are used to scaling across landscapes, through buildings, and focus on rather active games, but what if one of the best narrative titles didn’t have any of this? What if this game was presented as a children-esque picture book made for adults? That’s exactly how PSYCHO-PASS: Mandatory Happiness is approached.
While that seems like a negative to some, PSYCHO-PASS: Mandatory Happiness isn’t scared of bad endings, and it isn’t ashamed of them. This game is fatalist in every sense of the word. One wrong choice could result in a rather grotesque and brutal death of the main protagonist. Want to play the 20-to-30 hours I did and know that your character could very well die? That’s fine if you are up for it. This game isn’t scared to give you that formulaic approach. It’s built into this games nature.
If you play it like I did, you’ll also know you can complete this game in one swift and direct playthrough. With it lasting only roughly 3-4 hours per story (one of mine took a bit longer due to my PlayStation TV not loving this game as it should have, which was hardware based problems), I was able to see quite a few endings within 9 hours. Luckily, this game tempts you to actually play it once more, and if you think you want to ignore all the possible endings, I’d by you dinner if you didn’t have even the slightest want to obtain them all. Hell, I’m still playing due to this.
Psyco-Pass: Mandatory Happiness is Based on an Anime After All
While it’d be hard to justify a game not based on an anime, PSYCHO-PASS: Mandatory Happinessfollows suit in this world that’s already been created. Just as the anime is actually relevant to the game, Mandatory Happiness is more-so an offshoot of the already established franchise.
In Mandatory Happiness players take the role of one of two characters. Players can choose from either Nadeshiko Kugatachi or Takuma Tusurugi. Both of these characters are unique in the sense that both of them come from different backgrounds. Nadeshiko is an Inspector for the Public Safey Bureau. Takuma is an Enforcer. Both of these characters serve very different roles within the game, and each of them also give a new insight to their own underlying plots. Something that is quite important to the end of the game.
For those unfamiliar with PSYCHO-PASS lets take a bit of a look into it before we begin. The series starts in a rather futuristic Japan where technology has reached all new heights when it comes to surveillance. This new technology has reached a point to where it can keep tabs on everyone and will predict their chance of committing a crime. If they get near it, the system will warn them and alert the authorities of such a risk. Let alone does it do this, the system also creates a profile about each of the citizens it watches over. With the Big Brother-esque Sibyl Systems in place, everyone is not free of being scanned. The system scans, as stated, both mental and emotional metrics in order to keep a check on everyone’s “Psycho-Pass”.
In this system, people are monitored based on a Hue. If a person’s stress level changes, their color will grow cloudy, and if it continues to stay cloudy too long, they are flagged as a risk for society. Society’s goal is to keep their Hue clear, which means they must control their anger or their sadness. On top of the Hue, Psycho-Pass also has a Crime Coefficient that works along side with it. This number, the Crime Coefficient that is, keeps a number on the citizens. If the number reaches a certain point, the Public Safety Bureau (PSB for short) will send a detective team of Inspectors and or Enforces to determine if a person needs to be enforced. If they do, they’re knocked unconscious with a weapon known as a Dominator. If people are knocked out, they are sent to a hospital to try and rehabilitate.
If that was too long, lets just understand that Minority Report is an excellent movie to use to describe this system and how crime is predicted, but with technology instead of psychics. Regardless of which character you play, you’ll learn that one of them has lost their memories, the system has decided that one of the characters needed to rehabilitate before going back into action. Unfortunately, this does set one of the characters apart from the other, which creates a void between what characters should expect in the long run. This aspect brings the anime to life within the game and makes it so players don’t exactly have to understand the anime in order to play.
There’s No Action Outside of the Graphic Novel Reading
While many of you are quite possibly used to anime games such as Freedom Wars, Lost Dimension, and even Soul Sacrifice – Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness forgoes all of this for the graphic novel -like appeal. While Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness would work quite well as an action game, the fact it comes off as a graphic novel works out quite well for fans. Even with all the reading, it’s a game that is rather addicting once players get started.
While I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t at least slightly discouraged by the graphic novel appeal, PSYCHO-PASS: Mandatory Happiness, is one of those that has been very well done to the point that players would find themselves drawn in more than once. Decisions, as you would expect, play a major role in this game, even the smallest ones. In PSYCHO-PASS: Mandatory Happiness players will find decisions to be something of importance in completing their play throughs one by one. However, how will your decisions be made? Will you infiltrate a location that serves as a home base to a possible suspect? If not, will you stay back and research your options? All of these will play a radical point in your overall story. Each of them will manipulate your possible endings.
PSYCHO-PASS: Mandatory Happiness – PS4, PS Vita, and PC Developer: 5pb. Publisher: NIS America Price: $39.99 Released: Available Now
While these choices certainly don’t seem as exciting as they should, each one serves their purpose, and each of them remains important to the stories final outcome. If you were to look at the Steam achievement list or even the PlayStation Trophy list, the possibilities for your options are truly astonishing at what you could do. While I could argue that PSYCHO-PASS: Mandatory Happiness is an astonishingly well crafted game. For players that want a game with multiple outcomes, multiple choice paths to take, and multiple endings this is one for their shelves, this is a must have as fans of the anime will surely find this game a diamond in the rough.
To be honest? Because of this anime. I’ve found myself watching the anime in order to understand the game world a bit better.
Our review is based on a full release version that was provided to us by the games publisher. For information about our ethics policy please clickhere.
Final Score: 8 out of 10
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.
Pros: +A concept new to player versus player games +Interesting story concepts that become enjoyable with time +Grabs the true ideal of being a bullet hell title
Cons: -Gameplay balancing is a huge issue –Tutorials are awful and could use reworking –Online latency is a huge issue.
Bullet Hell games are nothing new when it comes to games. Titles such as Gradius, Darius, and a host of many more, the genre is still alive, and is receiving the content needed to keep the genre alive. This latest entry is one that decides to blend the worlds of fighting games and bullet hell games into one. Like any fighting title, the goal is to whittle your enemies health down to nothing before unleashing a “spell” to take them out.
Touhou Genso Rondo is just that. A bullet hell fighting game. As strange of a concept it is, these two genres mesh together for a very interesting title. Unfortunately, due to some choice design decisions, it doesn’t work out as well as I would have hoped.
Tohou Genso Rondo: Bullet Ballet’s Great Ideas are Poorly Executed
Fighting games and bullet hell shooters have always existed in two separate genres until now. Blending the two has been a questionable thing for some time and now we’re seeing the first attempt at it. While the fusion of the two seems as if it would fluidly transition between the two, instead of choppy, confusing, and oddly coordinated controls with lackluster tutorials.
Unfortunately, Tohou Genso Rondo: Bullet Ballet finds itself in some awkward places as it doesn’t do much to welcome newcomers like myself. Instead I found myself mindlessly mashing at buttons such as my L2 button, my L1 button, and even smashing across the face buttons on my controller in order to perform randomized attacks I am still figuring out even after having spent a good ten-to-twenty hours in the game. While the idea of a fighting game based on bullet hell mechanics would have been lovely, this game is great ideas put into a flawed situation, and proves how flawed design executions can come to life
While the game itself, once figured out, becomes enjoyable, it proves that the team didn’t take the time to fix what was needed in order to ensure a successful launch. For now the flawed mechanics are intact and will become infuriating. While I could focus on the bad for an entire review, I prefer not, and would like to take my time to focus on where it can improve.
Tohou Genso Rondo: Bullet Ballet’s Tutorial and Speed Need Reworked
Improvement is something that all developers seek to do as their games life gets underway. Over time we see menu’s get reworked, bug fixes implemented, overall enhancements get underway, and even a few additions to the game that were already in place. However, this game needs quite a few improvements before it’ll be a solid, and steady game. Before we begin, lets bullet point the games most critical flaws when it comes to learning how to play it.
Training tutorials
Fight Pacing
Bug fixes for new rule sets
While these three seem so few, it isn’t unsurprising to see where the game needs to improve after playing for the many hours I have. While music, animations, and graphic novel scenes may seem rock-solid; because they are; the game still has underlying issues. Tutorials being the weakest one of them. As any gamer knows, when it comes to a new game, it is the utmost importance for a game like this to actually have solid tutorials, to guide players through the game they are playing, and help them understand it.
The second issue comes with the fact players will find themselves consistently using the games fast paced attack mode, where they will glide through the arena. Unfortunately, another thing that needs fixed is the downloading newer versions, which will appear if they’ve released new data. When you do, it’ll be not-so-uncommon to see the data state “corrupted”. Here at B.A.T.G.R.’s home office, I found myself attempting to download the file multiple times. Once downloaded, a few things changed quite well. However, for now, the game remains plagued with minor issues.
Tohou Genso Rondo: Bullet Ballet – PlayStation 4 (Reviewed), PlayStation Vita Developer: CUBETYPE Publisher: NIS America Price: $49.99 Released: Available Now
While the combat modes appear in the game through a single set of buttons players can easily find themselves moving towards trying to figure out what each one does. For example in slow mode, players can find themselves grazing past enemy bullets in order to boost up their charge bar. In other modes players move fast, seeping up less charge bar, players can move across the screen faster in order to damage their opponent. Lastly, we have charge, which is all about dealing as much damage as possible in one swift go.
Closing Thoughts as the Ballet Ends
While Tohou Genso Rondo: Bullet Ballet is a troubled game, it is also a game that offers a chance for players to try something new despite its shortcomings that in many ways, could hurt it in the long run, but shouldn’t deter players from trying something new. For now, I’ll be sticking to the game as a pick-up and go title as the stories are actually quite easy to ignore if players are wanting to just jump straight into the action.
Our review is based on a copy provided to us by the games publisher. For information about our ethics policy please clickhere.
Final Score: 5 out of 10
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.
Ready for a new tactical RPG title? You want one in early 2017 for your PlayStation 4 and or your PlayStation Vita? If so, then good. NIS America will have you covered as they have announced that their upcoming title GOD WARS Future Past seeks to tell a story of an untold period in Japan through both folklore and even tactical combat situations. In this title, players will take on an experience unlike any other as they experience the traditional stories of Japans three warring nations.
The game will take focus on these nations dubbed: Fuji, Izumo, and Hyuga. The lands name? Mizuho. This was a land that desired to not see conflict within the lands, they honored their ancestral spirits, and they lived in harmony with the spirits around them. For Japan this time was peaceful, one that its denizens were happy with until natural disasters struck. From floods, to earthquakes, and finally volcano’s devastated their lands. In order to stop the eruptions, their queen, Tsukuyomi, sacrificed her beloved daughter Sakuya to the mountain, and it lead to her daughter Kaguya being confined to her room within a bamboo seal in case the time arose to make another sacrifice.
As this happened, her daughter would soon rise against her fate to be sacrificed with the help of her friend Kintaro, one that would help her escape Fuji and trek across the mystical lands of Mizuho. Their discoveries would lead them to find the truth behind all these occurrences as the game takes players deep into Japanese tradition. The game will feature a large pantheon as players meet the Myriad gods, customizes characters, tactics, and even set up their unique form of combat as each new trial awaits them.
The art style for players to enjoy will be inspired by traditional Japanese ink painting and wood carving arts. Along with this, fans will get to enjoy it all in GOD WARS when it launches in 2017. So stay tuned for more information as the launch of the game draws nearer.
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.
