Category: Reviews

  • Review: Song of Horror (PS4)

    Review: Song of Horror (PS4)

    Travel with me, if you will, back to the 1990’s when survival horror titles were all the rage. When pre-rendered backdrops presented an immense amount of world depth and tank controls were just another challenge to be overcome. To the days when Resident Evil and all its sundry impersonators were the juggernauts of our nightmares and thrilled us late into the night.

    Time has moved on since then, with the likes of Resident Evil reinventing itself into a brand new Juggernaut, yet the thrill of those games remains ever vigilant in our nostalgic memories, providing moments and scenarios that we still talk about enthusiastically today. Even if replaying them in the light of modern amenities removes some of their sheen and lets us realise that some things were best left in the afterglow of our memories. Not that we would ever really admit that.

    If this longing for the gloried past of survival horror games still has a hold on you, then look no further than Song of Horror for this retro-inspired title has all the goods. Developer Protocol Games brings back the heyday of 90’s survival horror games, warts and all.

    Set during 1998, Song of Horror begins with the disappearance of author Sebastian Husher. Sent by his publisher to find him, Daniel Noyer soon disappears as well and it’s up to a varied group of individuals to find both him and what happened to Husher and how it all seems to tie into a missing music box. Before long our protagonists find themselves haunted by a malignant supernatural presence. Spanning five episodes, it’s up to you to find the origin of the curse and hopefully, some way to nullify it, before you’re dragged screaming into the darkness.

    If you’ve played any survival horror game in the last two decades, then you’ll know exactly how Song of Horror plays. You’ll investigate each location for clues and items to use to solve the puzzles around you while reading the notes left behind to further the story and explain why each location is devoid of human life. Because Song of Horror focuses on a cursed music box, sound plays a vital role in the game. If you choose to run, the noise you make can attract the entity, known as The Presence, to your location. This adds a wrinkle to how fast you can get through each location to the game’s overall mechanics. Paying attention to the noises around you are vital to your survival. One of the mechanics of listening at a door to what’s behind it before you open a room, will save you from many instant death moments.

    And these moments are frequent, depending on the difficulty you choose. Song of Horror is littered with instant death moments and trap locations. If you hear crying behind a door, then it’s not a good idea to enter the room, as is pulling the tarp off a strangely covered mirror in a storage room or sticking your hand into a bathtub full of grotty water. Song of Horror is designed with permadeath in mind, meaning you can lose the character you’re playing with permanently if you’re not careful. Lose all the characters or the main one for the game and you’ll have to restart the episode. When a new character enters the fray, you can pick up the previous characters items where they perished.

    With four difficulty settings to choose from, each named after a horror writer such as M. R. James and Edgar Allen Poe, determine the games severity. Higher difficulties have more shock encounters and permadeath is a feature of all, with one caveat. The easiest difficulty lets you load up a checkpoint save when a character dies to just before that fatal moment if you’re not in the mood to lose anyone. With Trophies for completing each episode without losing a character and for completing each episode with every character available for that scenario, gives completionists a reason to replay.

    The game has no combat as you can’t fight The Presence. The most you can do is hide from it or interact in mini-games that have you trying to slam a door closed in time while it’s trying to break through or to control your breathing while hiding from one of its manifestations. Knowing your surroundings is important so that you can get to a cupboard or beneath a table in time. Hiding spots do get scarcer as the game progresses.

    Song of Horror places you in familiar haunted locales; an abandoned manor, a mental hospital, an empty apartment block, etc. The scares are also of the traditional haunted house variety, though there’s definitely an Asian horror vibe to many of the manifestations and blink and you miss it moments.

    Though the game uses static camera angles for its environment, the environment itself is fully 3d modelled and is one of the games strongest assets. The set dressing is absolutely superb with Husher Mansion and an antique shop looking absolutely gorgeous in the amount of detail and clutter present. Character models look good, but don’t quite measure up to the environment around them.

    Sadly, for a horror title, Song of Horror isn’t actually scary. Dealing with The Presences attacks becomes rote unfortunately. However, where the game does succeed wonderfully, along with its sumptuous environment details, is in atmosphere. With the use of sound as a warning trigger, the developers have managed to craft a sense of tension and expectancy that permeates each area as you’re always waiting for the shoe to drop, as it were. The palpable sense of dread and suspense is wonderfully realised, something even movies often struggle to get right.

    Song of Horror does have some issues though. First is the character’s movement and speed. Close to “Tank Controls” are the order of the day, making characters a bit of a chore to get used to. Controlling them is tricky with a turn radius that can get you stuck on objects in tight locations or go the wrong way at times, especially when a camera change occurs. Then there’s the character speed which can be frustrating. When you’re being chased by a nigh unstoppable force that can disembowel you with ease, you should be taking off like the Road Runner and not like a geriatric on a Sunday walk down by the lake. This is a peeve I have even with modern horror titles that feel like a slow walk through a museum when you should hot-footing it for your life.

    Finally there’s the game’s bugs. While not game breaking at all, there were plenty of instances of enemies spawning in the floor, characters walking through doors and in one instance Daniel’s torch not syncing with the character as you walk.

    With an atmosphere seeped in tension and dread that can have you holding your breath, Song of Horror more than makes up for its lacklustre scares with gorgeous set dressing and an intriguing, Lovecraftian story.

    Pros:

    • Gorgeous set dressing and environment design
    • Intriguing story

    Cons:

    • Bugs
    • Tank controls
    • Slow movement speed

    Score: 9/10

    A review code for Song of Horror was provided to Gameblur by the publisher.

  • Review: Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World (Nintendo Switch)

    Review: Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World (Nintendo Switch)

    You know the story. A once peaceful land suddenly assailed by dark forces. Ancient prophecies of a great evils return. Adults doing the one thing they’re clearly good at: sending a kid to slay an adult’s problem.

    Enter Asha, a young warrior looking to earn her badge amongst her people as a great warrior, ready to stand tall and defend her homeland. Before you know it, a simple trial to prove your worth as a fighter turns into a fight to save the world before you can even say; “Isn’t that your job?”. Asha handles it all like a champ though, with a smile and aplomb and tonnes of personality.

    Welcome to Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World, a remake of the 1994 Mega Drive, Sega published and Westone developed Monster World 4. Developed by Artdink, this new version of the game updates Asha for modern console owners while preserving its gameplay design and story.

    Now sporting full 3D graphics and a cel-shaded aesthetic, Asha in Monster World completely redesigns the game’s visual elements into a gorgeous new skin full of personality. Asha in Monster World is a bright, primary coloured explosion of a game, with a cheery exterior that fully matches our protagonist’s personality. Asha doesn’t say much, but her personality shines through in her every action. Whether she’s sliding across ice, opening a chest or seeing something amazing for the first time, her personality exudes charm and fun.

    While that same level of design doesn’t extend to all of the games characters, Artdink have done a great job of making every NPC that needs to stand out, do so.

    Now having never played the original Monster World 4 game, I can’t tell you just how much of a liberty Artdink have taken with redesigning the environment for 3D. Judging by screenshots of the original game, most of the levels look exactly as they did in the original 2D version but with that cartoony 3D makeover. While they look good, if somewhat basic, they don’t exude the same level of personality as our plucky protagonist and are rather bare when compared to the level of detail and bric-a-brac that litter modern games.

    As a RPG platformer, Asha more than delivers on the platforming front while having just enough RPG elements to break up all the dungeon crawling that you’re going to be doing. Once you’ve made your way to the city of Rapadagna, you’ll be able to walk around the multi-layered environment, talking to people, completing easy sidequests and purchasing new swords, shields and bracelets for Asha. Swords and shields are pretty explanatory while the bracelets increase the amount of hearts our protagonist has.

    Across her adventure, Asha will be collecting coins and money dropped from enemies to buy new upgrades, while collecting the Life Drops scattered across the environment will award a permanent extra heart for every ten drops. Asha’s pet, the Pepelogoo, is an indispensable tool in the game. Pepe can be used to collect items just out of Asha’s reach, block certain environmental hazards, act as a platform and help Asha to float short distances and act as a double jump when she is holding onto him. The double jump system is, initially, an awkward mechanic of having to press a button to summon Pepe before you can use him as such. It quickly becomes second nature though. If killed in action, Pepe can also use one of Asha’s elixirs to revive her exactly where she pegged it.

    Both the city and dungeons employ a depth level approach to level design with various elements of the city and dungeons placed on different layers for you to walk into and out of. This is employed to good effect in the dungeons to create a maze-like environment that lightly hints at Metroidvania elements. Dungeons are self-contained though so there’s no reason to go back and forth between locations if you’ve thoroughly explored it the first time round.

    Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World does make some concession to modern design though. Firstly you can now save anywhere via the system menu. The Sage that acted as a save point in the original game is still there but his job is now yours for whenever you feel the need. Secondly, in the original game you could miss items if you killed the level boss before completely exploring the area. This was due to the fact that defeating a boss would lock for the level for the rest of the game. Now you can jump back in, with a handy little display next to the entry point of the four main dungeons showing you how many Life Drops you’ve missed in the area. One concession that I do wish the developers had made was the inclusion of a map for each of the dungeons. Only the Ice Pyramid section comes with a map to help you navigate its corridors.

    Since Asha on Monster Land is a slavish remake of the original game, the actual gameplay may either make it or break it for you. While the platforming can get fairly involved especially with Pepe making up a good portion of manouverability, the combat is rather rote. Asha has four attacks. She can attack in front of her, above her and below her during a jump. She has a magical sword attack that deals extra damage when activated, though you do this by holding down a button and then just slashing away with one of her three attacks.

    By not changing the game at all in this manner, Artdink have made certain that the game stays absolutely true to its roots, but it also creates a game that is extremely light on challenge. Yes it has that 90’s flavour that games of the time had, but by today’s 2D platforming standards it’s nearly devoid of challenge, at least for me. Certain platforming sections cost me some hearts but ultimately the game, including the bosses who are based on pattern recognition, were a cakewalk. And I’d honestly be lying if I said this bothered me. Gamer’s who order the physical edition of the game will be blessed with the original Monster World 4 so that they can check out the differences for themselves.

    Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World may not provide you with a challenging experience but what it will give you is a bright, cheery adventure filled with personality and charm. This is the sort of game that I feel we need more of; whimsical, entertaining and all about having fun.

    Pros:

    • Platforming can be a little challenging
    • Easy and whimsical in nature
    • Asha has loads of personality
    • Visually pretty

    Cons:

    • Only physical copies come with the original Monster World IV
    • Some may find the game too easy

    Score: 8/10

    Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World was reviewed using a code provided to gameblur by the publisher.

  • Review: Capcom Arcade Stadium (PS4)

    Review: Capcom Arcade Stadium (PS4)

    Capcom has a long, storied career in the gaming industry, pushing out some of gaming’s greatest titles that are still known today. But, as with many publishers, they have just as many titles that have been forgotten outside of the retro gaming community, and sometimes even there too. Retro compilations, such as Capcom Arcade Stadium, help to fill in those gaps while providing you with a way to play some of your favourite titles without hassle.

    Whether you have fond memories of playing some of these games in the arcades, or perhaps at home, if you were lucky enough to have a console as a kid, there’s no denying both the artistry and business acumen that went into making these games. Yes, they were meant to entertain and enjoy, but they were also meant to separate a child from his parent’s money. And they were very, very successful at it too.

    Now, with Capcom Arcade Stadium you can relive those fond moments again from the comfort of your home and without the need to spend, spend and spend some more on tokens just to finish one game. Instead, you’ll just have to spend on buying the games themselves as Arcade Stadium itself is a free download, the ROMs themselves, not so much.

    Running on Capcom’s RE Engine, Arcade Stadium has thirty-two of Capcom’s Arcade classics for you to enjoy. The gamut of titles runs roughly from 1984 to 2001 and Capcom have packaged them into three packs with ten games to a pack. Capcom’s classic Ghosts ‘n Goblins is a standalone paid-for download, though it was originally free on release for a limited time.

    The titles you’re looking at right now are: Ghosts ‘n Goblins, Section Z, Tatakai no Banka, Legendary Wings, Bionic Commando, 1943, Forgotten Worlds, Ghouls ‘n Ghosts, Strider, Dynasty Wars, Final Fight, 1941 – Counter Attack, Senjo no Okami II, Mega Twins, Carrier Air Wing, Street Fighter II, Captain Commando, Varth, Warriors of Fate, Street Fighter II – Hyper Fighting, Street Fighter Turbo, Powered Gear, Cyber Bots, 19XX, Battle Circuit, Giga Wing, 1944, Progear, Vulgus, Pirate Ship Higemaru, 1942 and Commando.

    There’s definitely a larger selection of beat-‘em ups and shmups in the line-up, though the releases more than likely will give you an insight into what was popular back in the arcades during each of those generations.

    What’s important to note though is just how well these games run, and how playable many of them still are. Whether you’re looking for some quick action to pass the time or to hone your fighting skills to perfection, there’s something here for you. Ghosts ‘n Goblins will still test your platforming patience while Street Fighter II (which I now seem to suck at) will remind you just how fantastic 2D sprite animation is, along with how much harder 2D fighters are. Strider is still a hard, action-platformer while the 1940’s series is still addictive twitch shooting action. And now you can finish them thanks to infinite credits too.

    As with any compilation of games, your mileage will vary on what’s in the collection. So with all the retro compilations that have come out, what is it that makes Capcom Arcade Stadium stand out from the rest?

    The answer to that comes down to two things. One, that Arcade Stadium is a dedicated platform to host Capcom’s arcade titles with substantial possibility for future growth, and two, the wealth of options built into the platform for you to tailor the gaming experience to suit you.

    With the RE Engine powering it and games treated as DLC, Capcom can bring even more of their titles to the platform in the future if it’s worth their while. So here’s hoping for some more of their classic titles, such as Knights of The Round, and more “recent” fair such as Powerstone, Cannon Spike, and my favourite Spawn game, Spawn: In The Demons Hand.

    Arcade Stadiums presentation is top-notch and Capcom have gone out of their way to ensure that you can have a modern, respect-your-time playing experience, or to make it as hardcore as you could want. Beyond changing the game’s difficulty, amount of lives you begin with, etc. you can also save your game at any time and reload whenever you choose to. Game speed can also be sped up or slowed down to suit you to the point where it feels like a Zack Snyder slow-mo shot. If you happen to mess up a section there’s also a handy rewind feature to take you back to just before your bungle and put it right. Of course, you can also play the games as they were meant to be played at their default setting and hope your controller can withstand the manhandling sure to follow. A nice feature is that most of the games, bar those that either didn’t get English translations or releases, have both their original Japanese roms and English versions included, switchable on the main menu screen.

    Before you load up a ROM, which is instantaneous, you can change a whole bunch of options along with viewing a digital manual for the game. Viewing options run the gamut from different backgrounds and wallpapers to a whole bunch of filters you can apply. My favourite backgrounds are the 3D tilted arcade cabinets which emulate the viewing experience you would have had in an actual arcade. It does make the game screen smaller but it’s absolutely classy. When you combine this with the various visual filters such as pixel smoothing, a CRT filter for that authentic look along with different screen types, such as oval, to further emulate screen shapes back in the day, you have yourself just about the perfect visual customisation service.

    Speaking of that menu screen, it really is gorgeous. Showcasing a digital line of arcade cabinets, each one home to a game as you scroll through the list. On the menu, games are broken up into various filters, such as action, fighting, etc. The only option missing is a list by alphabet tab which hopefully Capcom can include at a later date.

    While Capcom Arcade Stadium doesn’t include all the games you may want, when thinking of the gaming giant’s roster, it is a fantastic platform that can be further built upon. With a great presentation system, perfect emulation of the games on display, Capcom Arcade Stadium is the best retro platforming system I’ve seen and used from any of the collections released thus far.

    Pros:

    • Fantastic presentation
    • Wealth of options
    • CRT filters are the way
    • Ghosts ‘n Goblins and Street Fighter II, need I say more?

    Cons:

    • Can only purchase games in packs and not singularly at the moment

    Score: 8/10

  • Review: Glyph (Switch)

    Review: Glyph (Switch)

    Amidst the desert ruins of an ancient civilization, you take on the role of Glyph, a mechanical scarab tasked with exploring the sand-drowned ruins of a once-mighty civilization. Buried beneath shifting sands and rolling dunes, this once mighty empire has taken their secrets with them and it’s up to you to find out what those were. Be warned though, for the further in you go, the harder it becomes to extract what those secrets may have been.

    Will you take on the challenge of navigating the lost remnants of this world or will the truth be forever buried beneath the sands of time?

    That is the background to Bolverk Games’ light physics-based platform puzzler, Glyph.

    As the construct Glyph, you’ll be spending nearly all of your time in ball mode, rolling across the landscape while prey to the whims of physics that such a form entails. But fear not, as you’re not entirely helpless. Glyph has a few abilities that the game’s tutorials will take you through in an extensive fashion. What you learn here will be the basis for how you navigate the game’s navigation puzzle levels.

    Glyph can jump, or more correctly bounce, when in contact with surfaces while specific tiles will allow it to double jump. Glyph can also use a ground slam ability to launch itself higher into the air. The final ability unfurls Glyph into avatar mode for a short flight duration to cover the larger distances between platforms and ledges. Combining all these moves together, while paying attention to the way physics affects the way Glyph moves, is the key to success.

    Bolverk Games have designed levels that, while small, will both entertain and challenge you in equal measure. Sporting a vaguely Egyptian motif, the ruins that you will need to traverse are usually the final remnants of toppled pillars, shattered buildings, and tilted ledges and tiles. Navigating your way across the levels can be an arduous and tricky affair that usually requires all of Glyph’s move set to complete.

    As a ball, Glyph rolls around as physics would dictate to a degree, meaning that you’ll constantly be nudging him back and forth across the environment lest momentum lets you roll off a ledge to the deadly sands – or clouds as some levels are set in them – below. But Glyph isn’t slavishly locked to the laws of physics. A jump can carry you quite far on its own and Glyph has just enough floatiness and control in the air to make even the minutest of course corrections.

    Scattered across each level are coins to collect, gems to find, keys to pickup to open the level exit, artifacts to procure, and different avatar forms to unlock. The avatar forms are for cosmetics only but the other items are needed to progress. Once you’ve exited the tutorial into the game’s hub, coins will unlock new levels while the gems will open up new pathways to new levels in the hub. The artifacts will open up the game’s incredibly challenging Time Trial levels.

    If you die during a level – it only takes touching the corrupted sands once to send Glyph back to the beginning of the stage – keys and artifacts are reset but thankfully the coins you’ve picked up stay with you. And you will die a lot because Glyph is an incredibly challenging game that walks that tight line between been fun enough to pick up for some relaxing platforming, but hard enough to ensure a tense playing experience that, when you finally complete a level, you’re rewarded with a sense of satisfaction.

    Very early on the challenge picks up significantly, even in the levels that have a lower skull rating. Levels are rated from one to five skulls for difficulty. Often I’d find that I’d been holding my breath and my shoulders and wrists were tense when I’d completed a level, having to put my Switch down for a well-deserved break from what was an ultimately rewarding experience.

    Your completion times are recorded and you can go back to replay the levels for better times if you prefer. Like a parkour game, finding that perfect line takes time but is worth the effort.

    The Time Trial levels are where Glyph throws its hardest challenges at you. They’re small but require serious mastery of the game’s mechanics to reach even its gold, silver, and bronze levels. The gold time can be as low as ten seconds. Each tier per Trial will net you a gem making the effort worth it.

    Visually Glyph is a beautifully stylised game that ran perfectly on the Switch Lite and is drenched in a wonderful fable-like aesthetic and atmosphere. Controls for Glyph are pitch-perfect as well, making your failures your own.

    Packing in a ton of levels, Glyph is the sort of puzzle platforming experience that doesn’t come around often. With stunning visuals, solid controls, and gameplay that appeals to those looking for a laid-back exploration experience as well as a nerve-wracking one, Glyph soars above the competition and should be in your collection.

    Pros:

    • Visually stunning
    • Wonderfully challenging
    • Great level design

    Cons:

    • Recollecting artifacts and keys can get frustrating with repeated deaths

    Score: 8/10

  • Review: Ghosts ‘n Goblins Resurrection (PS4)

    Review: Ghosts ‘n Goblins Resurrection (PS4)

    After a hard day of knighting, you just want to get out of that stiff armour and lounge around in your boxers, hopefully while in the company of your dearest princess. But wouldn’t you know it, evil doesn’t care about your day off, or that princesses have better things to do than get abducted every second week. So off you go, grabbing that armour while, in the distance, your kingdom burns beneath a devilish assault.

    So with armour clenched tight, lance in hand and a permanent scowl on his face, our hero Arthur prepares to face another manic Monday. . .

    Well okay, it’s not really Monday. I’m pretty sure what day it is doesn’t matter when your kingdom is burning. But what it is, is the day we welcome the Ghosts ‘n Goblins series back with Ghosts ‘n Goblins Resurrection. That’s right, the original rock hard, make you cry Dark Souls of its day has a new game and it’s here to show you what hard really is all about.

    Ghosts ‘n Goblins Resurrection originally launched earlier this year, February to be exact, on Nintendo Switch and now Capcom has finally brought it to PS4 with PS5 backwards compatibility, Xbox One and PC, letting the rest of the gaming community experience one of gaming’s toughest hard love franchises.

    As both a reboot and a remake of the original Ghosts ‘n Goblins, Resurrection yet again places you in the armour of put upon knight Arthur as his princess is kidnapped while a demonic invasion turns the kingdom into an overrun, twisted hellscape. You’re going to have to side-scroll and platform your way through one tough level after another in an attempt to beat the ever-loving snot out of the dastardly evil behind this plot while, hopefully, not breaking your controller in the process.

    Once you get past the stunning visual style that Capcom has employed for this reboot which makes the game look like a fable drawn from a storybook, you’ll find that Capcom has employed the old adage of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Arthur moves exactly as he did in the older games, just with better animation. He possesses the same level of speed, making timing a critical choice and can only jump over and onto objects if you jump while moving. Jumping while standing still will merely propel Arthur straight up, meaning you have to unlearn many of the moves that modern platformers have brought to the table since then. Arthur can also attack in three directions: in front of him, above him by aiming up and below him if you attack while jumping and pressing down on the D-pad or directional buttons.

    The key to success in a level, beyond mastering the way Arthur controls and having twitch reflexes, is in memorising the level design and enemy attack patterns. Levels usually have moving parts to them, which adds a nice sense of dynamics to the environment. What weapon you wield is just as important as all of the above. Arthur’s arsenal has expanded since the first game though his trusty default lance is usually the best all-rounder. Picking the right tool for the job, as the saying goes, is tantamount to success. The hammer that unleashes a small arc of energy across distances requires you to get too close to enemies while the dual-shot crossbow requires a lot of jumping to hit an enemy because of the arrows diagonal shots. The holy water is still useless. Weapons can drop from chests or jar carrying enemies.

    Two big additions to this game are Umbra bees and a local two-player co-op mode. Collecting the bees scattered across the levels will unlock magic abilities for Arthur. Magic does need to be charged up for use so you with a brief cool down so you can’t just spam it, making its use more tactical than a Hail Mary when you suddenly find yourself surrounded. The two player co-op lets a second player use a ghostly ancestor of Arthur’s to help him through the levels. Controlling one of three spirits with their own abilities, player two can help Arthur through a level by carrying him around, for instance.

    The games visuals are gorgeous, employing a multi-layered approach to screen elements that make the characters seem like a combination of paper art and puppets with elements placed on top of one another. The animation is also wonderful and each enemy has their own distinct visual style and movement. The visuals, which look straight out of a storybook, can’t hide the games difficulty though.

    Because Resurrection, as befitting a GnG title, is hard. But not unbeatably so. Capcom has chosen to incorporate four difficulty settings, aiming at embracing modern gaming conventions while still attracting the hard-core crowd.

    Page lets you respawn at the exact spot you died at with no level time limit and a max of four hits you can take before crumbling to a skeleton. Squire gives you the same four hit limit, level checkpoint and mid-level rebirth checkpoints but throws back in the time limit. Knight takes you down to three hits, checkpoints, a time limit and an increase in enemy speed. Legend takes you back to the original GNG settings by dropping you down to a two hit maximum with no rebirth checkpoints and more enemies.

    Ghosts ‘n Goblins Resurrection is the perfect platform to showcase Arthur’s return to his own series. It’s both difficult enough to appeal to stalwart series veterans while making enough concessions that casual gamers too will be able to finish it. It’s also a wonderful showcase for the versatility of the RE Engine with its gorgeous visuals and animation. Whether you’re a GNG neophyte or accomplished devil slayer, this game should not be missed.

    Pros:

    • Not as difficult as the original Ghosts ‘n Goblins
    • Gorgeous storybook aesthetic
    • Full of character
    • Different difficulty levels

    Cons:

    • Magic takes a bit too long to activate

    Score: 9/10

    Ghosts ‘n Goblins Resurrection was reviewed using a code provided to gameblur by the publisher.

  • Review: Kingdom of Arcadia (Nintendo Switch)

    Review: Kingdom of Arcadia (Nintendo Switch)

    Sam is just an everyday, terribly average ordinary kid who loves videogames and whose dad just happens to possess a vintage arcade machine. Sam impatiently jumps the gun and powers up the machine without dads approval and wouldn’t you know it, the arcade machine is special and Sam is no longer in Kansas.

    Welcome to the Kingdom of Arcadia, whose inhabitants know that they are made of pixels and that Sam isn’t from their world at all. And as such, he’s clearly the only one that can save them. Evil forces have corrupted the land and Sam has to travel to four castles to retrieve magical sceptres. It’s the only way to get home so what’s a terribly average kid in videogame land to do? Grab some armour and a sword of course because he’s clearly trained for this.

    Set across four worlds broken up into five levels each – six if you count the boss rooms – Kingdom of Arcadia is a 2D action platformer built as they made them in yesteryear. Though it markets itself as a metroidvania, Kingdom of Arcadia is a far more linear affair with some light exploration and light upgrading elements. Developer Spoonbox Studio has built Kingdom of Arcadia on a very basic core set of systems that, outside of the light upgrade system, doesn’t change.

    Sam has three skills: a double jump, a slashing sword attack and a secondary throwing weapon attack. There’s no learning new combos, picking up anti-gravity boots or homing missiles or a hookshot. The levels are designed around these three skills, keeping the game simple, stark and all the better for it. The platforming is absolutely on point and getting hit or missing a jump is usually on you rather than the game. Don’t let the simplicity fool you however, because Kingdom of Arcadia gets quite challenging from the second world onwards.

    Levels begin small but grow larger with each world, but not to the extent that one could label it a metroidvania. Usually you’re traversing to one end of the level to hit a switch, or switches, that open the path to the levels exit. Once again, there’s no backtracking between massive areas waiting to find a new sword to open up a new path twenty screens away. Instead the levels play out like mini-dungeons as you traverse dastardly environment hazards and enemies looking to swiss-cheese you.

    Kingdom of Arcadia also doesn’t do too much different in what you’re facing in these levels. There are spiked areas, rotating platforms, crumbling platforms, cannons etc. Enemies also follow a familiar archetype, wizards throwing spells, bouncing eyeballs and undead skeletons, most of which are merely reskins unfortunately. Where Kingdom of Arcadia does get it right though, is in the construction of its levels.

    The enemies in each level don’t pose a threat on their lonesome but most of the levels are designed around incorporating the combat around the platforming and precision timing. So you’ll have a snowball throwing yeti at the far end of a room but getting to him may require navigating a spike pit along with moving spiked platforms that block your projectile attacks. Making it to him without getting hit becomes an exercise in patience and precision. Rushing it will usually cost you a heart, which you have few enough of already. It’s these moments that are Kingdom of Arcadia’s strong points even if they’re based around patience and pattern recognition.

    Death may start you back at the beginning of a level but chests you’ve collected and switches you’ve thrown don’t reset unless you leave the level and come back in so it’s in your best interest to stick it through to the end.

    Some levels have mini-bosses in them as well and they’re usually a cakewalk, involving learning their pattern and figuring out when to strike. The main bosses fall into the same category of pattern recognition and patience as well. They’re more challenging than the mini-bosses but aren’t as memorable as they should have been.

    Each level has enough secret areas to find. Hidden behind cracked walls they usually contain loot chests which grant money, extra secondary ammo or another valuable heart, all of which are invaluable. Money is extremely important as you need to pay for the upgrades to Sam’s health and damage output. Nicely when upgrading Sam’s armour which grants you more health, it also changes his visual look. The sword grows larger and has a wider hit radius as well, while you’re secondary projectile weapon will change from a knife to an axe to a hammer as you upgrade. The upgrades don’t come cheap though and you will most likely have to farm levels later on so it’s a good thing each enemy drops money when killed.

    Visually Kingdom of Arcadia is pleasant enough to look at. The presentation is nice and clean and there’s just enough detail in the sprites to make them charming.

    Where Kingdom of Arcadia doesn’t fare as well though is in the writing and sound design. The writing clearly feels like translation issues were at play or it was thrown together at the last minute. It’s not terrible, but it certainly does have shades of old games within it. Less effective are the sound effects which sound as though they were pulled from a free repository. The musical tracks are effective but lack the punch that usually makes 2D platformer soundtracks resonant. They do the job but fade into the background while playing.

    Kingdom of Arcadia may not challenge platform and metroidvania experts and while it lacks replayability, what it does provide for the time it will take you to finish it, is a charming and challenging fun action platformer that feels as though it were ripped straight from the golden past of 2D gaming simplicity.

    Pros:

    • Increase in environmental challenge
    • Upgrading has a visual effect
    • Death is usually your fault

    Cons:

    • No real replayability
    • Reskinned enemies
    • You will have to grind levels to upgrade
    • Sound effects could have been better

    Score: 6/10

  • Review: Demon’s Souls (PS5)

    Review: Demon’s Souls (PS5)

    Bluepoint Games have proven two things thus far. One, they know how to use the PlayStation hardware, and two, they know how to remaster/remake a game for a new generation of hardware while retaining its soul and rekindling those special memories you may have of that title.

    Following hot on the heels of their stunning Shadow of The Colossus remake, Bluepoint have tackled the much-requested update of From Software’s original ‘Souls title, Demon’s Souls.

    At this point in time, even if you don’t play these games, you’ll know what a Souls or Souls-like game is. Which also means you’ll know whether or not this is up your alley. If it isn’t, well we won’t hold that against you, but if it is, then:

    Welcome to the land of Boletaria. Darkness has befallen the kingdom and you’re its last hope. Good luck. You’re going to need it. Cue sadistic laughter.

    In many ways, that simply sums up Demon’s Souls quite well. You’re going to need that luck, along with a boatload of skill, to make it through any of the Souls titles as you spelunk into its deep action-RPG world. Despite being the first game in the Souls series and almost twelve years old, Demon’s Souls is still as challenging as ever. At a time when games had been moving towards a more player-friendly focus, From Software decided to bring back ye good old age of gaming when they had been designed to munch your quarters with a difficulty – and oftentimes cheapness – that required true control mastery and memory recall.

    Demon’s Souls gleefully crushed our souls (no pun intended). And we loved it. So much so that we have three sequels and an entirely new genre filled to the brim with titles inspired by From Software’s masterful handling of the world and lore, to the sadistic, but not truly unfair gameplay. Now while many old school and retro gamers could pick out much harder games that could be called the original Souls-like – cough Ghosts ‘n Goblins cough – Demon’s Souls brought the art of getting wrecked to the modern gaming world.

    There’s a method to fighting each of the game’s enemies, which means learning their attack patterns and speeds and mastering the timing for that all-important parry. Downed enemies award you with souls, the game’s currency, and experience points, along with the occasional healing item. While dying doesn’t end the game, it transports you to the beginning of a level with all your collected souls dropped in the area where you died. This brought a thoughtful risk/reward scenario to the game in which you had to decide whether or not to risk another run to collect your dropped souls to add to your new tally or forego them by returning to the Nexus, the game’s hub.

    Initially, levelling up your various attributes, repairing and buying items doesn’t cost too much, but the costs quickly begin to skyrocket after the first couple of character levels; this creates the need for multiple runs through an area without returning to the Nexus and just using the various Archstones scattered across the level. Archstones act as waypoints for fast travel once unlocked and are the only way to get back into the Nexus, outside of an item that also sacrifices souls you’ve obtained for a quick dimensional escape.

    Throw in some truly epic and challenging boss fights and Demon’s Souls became an unexpected worldwide hit and is still my favourite game in the Souls series.

    For this remake/remaster, Bluepoint built the new game on the bones of the old, creating a slavish, lavish remake that leverages the PS5 hardware to great use with some jaw-dropping visuals and superb technical performance.

    And truly the visuals need to be commended. Boletaria looks absolutely, breathtakingly gorgeous from the ivy crowding splintered columns to the magnificent vistas evoking the games crushing scale, to the particle effects flowing across the screen to the character animations. Bluepoint have recreated the original game’s cutscenes shot-for-shot too.

    The character creator has also been enhanced, bringing the original game’s barebones character creator and somewhat ugly models more in line with what you would find in other games in 2020. So you can choose your gender while tweaking all the smaller details such as hair, scars, etc.

    Combat is still the same, though since this is the first game, it doesn’t quite have some of the refinements brought to the play systems in the sequels. You’ve got light and heavy attacks, magic attacks, ranged attacks, in addition to being able to block and parry while managing a stamina bar. Blocking, attacking and dodging all use up stamina, so careful play is required in order to make certain the bar doesn’t run dry during a fight, or you will be on the receiving end of hurt you can’t afford.

    One of the other amazing achievements that Demon’s Souls has in the combat department is that when I died, which was quite often, it usually felt like my own fault. Is there cheapness? Sure, but more often than not, death came through my own actions rather than through unfair game design. Design that subsequent Souls and Souls-like games have clearly forgotten about. . .

    Pro-tip: pay attention to the items you pick up in the field. A very useful fire-resistant shield that I didn’t know I had, simply because I didn’t read the descriptions while gleefully collecting loot, made all the difference in the Flamelurker boss fight once I found out I’d had it sitting in my inventory for ages.

    On the technical side, the game has performance and cinematic modes. Cinematic Mode runs in native 4k at 30fps while Performance Mode runs at 1440p and 60fps and I noticed no frame dips at all during my time with the game. Finally, there are the super-fast load times of perhaps 2-4 seconds when loading into the world from the main menu which is really game-changing.

    There are also some really cool quality-of-life extras that Bluepoint have added that are just neat touches, such as the animated postcards for each area at the Archstone selection screen. For those looking for a little something extra content-wise, there’s also a brand-new-to-this-version-of-the-game secret door for completionists to unlock.

    It may be twelve years old now, but Bluepoints work has breathed life back into a game that I didn’t see myself revisiting for quite some time. In many ways, this is a brand new look at Boletaria, at times feeling like a brand new game hiding new secrets whilst been familiar. As a showcase for the power of the PS5, this remake of a much loved classic stuns with its gorgeous visuals while enrapturing you with its deep, obsessive combat, more than proving its worth in your gaming library. Just try not to break your controller while you’re at it, okay.

    Pros:

    • Hard-as-nails combat
    • Amazing world design
    • Gorgeous visuals
    • Stupendously fast load times

    Cons:

    • There are cheap moments
    • AI bugs from the original game still exist

    Score: 9/10

    Demon Soul’s was reviewed by Gameblur using a PS5 retail copy.

  • Review: Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS5)

    Review: Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS5)

    If you thought that Miles Morales was just a glorified expansion for Insomniacs phenomenal Marvels’ Spider-Man, then you would be right. But you would also be wrong because unlike the DLC for Spider-Man that eventually made up The City That Never Sleeps expansion, Miles Morales is so much more.

    Set after the events of both the main Spider-Man title and the City That Never Sleeps DLC, Miles Morales throws you into the shoes of, well, Miles as he has now officially taken on the mantle of Spider-Man. Some months have clearly passed with Miles joining his mentor, Peter, on various wall crawling shenanigans but it’s still early in Miles career and he’s greener than evergreen lawn. Thanks to some convenient plotting, Miles is left to look after the Big Apple on his own and so begins a trial by fire that encompasses all the things that have made Spider-Man stories so great and endearing coupled with more of the same amazing gameplay from the main title.

    After a bombastic opening that, in many ways, mirrors Spider-Man’s takedown of Wilson Fisk in the main game and which serves as a primer, Miles slows down to pop you into “a day in the life of” for Miles himself. As with Spider-Man, the story takes centre stage in this tale with some fantastic characterisations and a narrative that, while having twists that are easily seen, is just as emotionally wrenching as Peters was.

    Family, friendship, revenge, vengeance, all these themes are explored and demonstrate that the curse of being Spider-Man isn’t only borne by one person and is, in many ways, a chosen mantle. By the end of the tale we have betrayal and heartbreak, validation and redemption. If the road to being Spider-Man is traveled through tragedy, then by the end Miles has certainly earned his running shoes.

    From a gameplay perspective, Miles is definitely more of the same. While Harlem is a primary focus for Miles story, you still have all of New York to run around. There are the usual items to collect, in the form of time capsules that flesh out Miles and his friend Phin’s past, and challenge points that unlock new skill buffs for Miles. Insomniac opted to flesh out some of Peter’s backstory as well by tying this to completing the challenges. Villain hideouts return for the two new bads, The Underground and the corporate nightmare, Roxxon, each with their own mini-objectives to complete to earn Tokens. As with the main campaign, Insomniac slowly doles new additions out over the course of the campaign to break up the pacing between the story and upgrading.

    Mechanically Miles plays and handles the same as Peter. Web-slinging, dodging, combat combos are all the same, meaning that you don’t have to learn a whole new movement system.

    What sets Miles apart though are the different combat animations, his new Venom and camouflage power set and his pure speed. Miles ricochets between enemies like a rogue pinball making the combat a lot faster than Peter. Miles’s new Venom power sets, which include a Venom Punch, Venom Dash for quick Flash level speed strikes and Venom Blasts not only add some needed variety to combat, but can also help Miles in traversal. The new camouflage system works wonders for stealth runs but has a quickly depleting ability bar, keeping it from been an OP move for stealth aficionados.

    Production design across the board is stellar. Miles is animated wonderfully, especially his awkward web-swinging that looks like a disaster waiting to happen, to the unlockable Into The Spider-Verse movie suit which is animated at a lower frame rate to match the movies animation speed. Visually Miles is absolutely gorgeous. New York looks wonderful during the snowy winter and the games visuals look amazing thanks to the PS5’s power and loads just as quickly too.

    The game sports three visual modes, one of which was added in a patch after release. You’re looking at Fidelity mode, Performance Mode and Performance RT.

    Fidelity presents the best visual experience for Miles Morales with a rock steady 30fps, new lighting systems and, of course, ray-tracing. The level of detail overall is just mindboggling, from the crowded streets to the individual fibres on the main characters outfits and the particle systems flashing around. Most noticeable is the ray traced lighting that adds a wonderful sense of vibrancy to the game, which is saying a lot when you consider that the original game on PS4 is still a total stunner. Ray-traced reflections are fantastic as well. New York is full of reflective surfaces, from passing cars to glass windows, to the metal and glass lenses on Miles’s suits and even on the ice packed surfaces. And all of it running super smoothly too.

    Performance Mode is more in line with what you would have on the PS4. So while the game still looks stunning, ray-tracing has been disabled meaning you’re losing out on reflections and the new stunning lighting models. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that the game doesn’t still look good though. What you do gain is 60fps gameplay.

    Finally there’s Performance RT which strikes a balance between the two modes. Limited ray-tracing is enabled in this mode to keep it running at 60fps. There’s also a notable differences in crowd amounts and there are fewer pedestrians and cars in total.

    Overall, I opted for the fidelity mode for my entire eight hour play through and didn’t regret it one bit.

    Miles isn’t entirely perfect though. There are some bugs that I noticed. Most notable was that occasionally, especially in the game’s final fight, the game didn’t recognise my inputs. Second, there are plenty of moments when you head to street level and the crowds just stand still and stare at Miles like extras from Invasion of The Body Snatchers. It looks super weird. And lastly, the wall crawling just feels off. It’s fine when you’re running straight up a building but try to crawl in any other direction and the controls kind of spaz out since the camera doesn’t lock behind Miles but chooses to focus on him head on. These are small issues in what is otherwise a polished package.

    With Marvel’s Spider-Man, Insomniac proved that they understood Spider-Man and what it was that made him such an endearing and popular character. They proved, too, that they understood what gamers want from a Spider-Man game. With Miles Morales, Insomniac prove this yet again by creating an expansion that hits all the right notes that you will want to play again while providing a wonderful homage to a heart-warming scene from Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2. I’m excited for further games in this series, especially for a full length one starring Miles himself.

    Pros:

    • Gorgeous visuals
    • Super-fast load times
    • Fantastic story
    • Great combat
    • Into The Spider-Verse suit

    Cons:

    • Creepy pedestrian bug
    • Wall crawling is awkward
    • I wanted more. . .

    Score: 9/10

    Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales was reviewed by Gameblur using a PS5 retail copy.