Rogue Legacy Review

Rogue Legacy Review.

Earlier this year, a game called Rogue Legacy by developer Cellar Door Games (who you may or may not know as the developers of the game Don’t Shit Your Pants. No, really.), was generating a fair amount of buzz among the gaming community. What Cellar Door was offering was a 2D side-scrolling rogue-like with randomized castle layouts, challenging gameplay and a purely old school feel to it. Unsurprisingly, it was a hit and Let’s Plays of it sprang up on YouTube almost as soon as it was released. While Rogue Legacy has been available on Windows since June, the Mac release was only in October, hence the somewhat late review on it.

The story is simple; defeat four bosses in unique environments and gain access to the final boss, all the while collecting gold to improve your armour/magic/strength or purchase new pieces of equipment to further enhance your character. There are some features that make Rogue Legacy very different from other games; randomization is a major part of the gameplay, as mentioned earlier the castle will change every time you enter it. It’s not only the castle that changes though, every time you die (and you will die a lot) you play as the heir to the character who just perished. However you won’t carry over the abilities of the previous adventurer, these will change with each character. For example, one character may have A.D.H.D, which allows them to move faster, whereas their heir may be colour-blind, in which case the entire world will be displayed in black and white.

These abilities are really one of the key points of the game, as they can change your play-style dramatically. Classes also play an important part in the game and combined with certain abilities can make a formidable hero. A good example of this is a Barbarian with Gigantism and Hypergonadism (which knocks enemies back further when hit). Another good example is a Ninja with A.D.H.D. and P.A.D. (which prevents your character from having a foot pulse, and therefore spike traps won’t trigger). Classes have to be unlocked with gold you get from the castle, so the ninja won’t be available straight away and you’ll have to upgrade your manor in order to unlock the class.

The way equipment works is you have to find blueprints in the castle which are then available to purchase from the blacksmith when you start a new character. Equipment can have various bonuses attached to them, like vampirism or increased critical hit chance. The same applies to another set of items called runes. Runes also grant abilities, but not like increased critical hit chance, rather these abilities give you powers like HP and MP gain for every kill, or the power to double jump. Runes can be equipped in every piece of armour and multiple runes of the same effect stack, so it is entirely possible that your character will be able to jump 4 times in the air. The only way to acquire runes is by unlocked fairy chests; these are found in challenge rooms that require you to complete a certain objective like defeating all the enemies or not taking any damage in a room filled with spikes.

The last major game component is gold and how it is used; its primary use is to upgrade your manor and unlock new classes and increase stats, or buy new equipment/runes to further enhance your hero. It is always good to spend as much gold as possible, even if you don’t plan on using the thing you’ve bought right away, since the only way to enter the castle is to pay the gatekeeper all of your gold, so it just makes sense to spend as much as possible.

The games graphical style is slightly reminiscent of old 16-bit consoles, which suits the sense of humour and self-awareness that the game is going for. The soundtrack has some memorable tunes; especially the theme for Castle Hamson, since you’ll die so often it’ll be stuck in your head for the rest of the day. Once you beat the game a new game plus mode will be unlocked, this keeps all of your stat increases and unlocks intact, but makes all the enemies considerably tougher. For example, on your first playthrough enemies in the first area will range from levels 1-30; in new game plus the lowest level I encountered in the starting area was level 83.

To summarise, Rogue Legacy is a challenging game that rewards determination and graft. Sure you’ll die a lot but you’ll just come back again, stronger and better than before.

Rogue Legacy is available on Steam for Windows, Mac and Linux for £11.99/$14.99. Also available on the developer website roguelegacy.com for $14.99

Also, I’d recommend playing Don’t Shit Your Pants. It’s a game unlike anything else.

http://www.kongregate.com/games/rete/dont-shit-your-pants

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds Review

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds Review.

As the first new Zelda game on the 3DS platform, fans had their hopes pinned on it being the next great game in the long-running series. After playing the game through to the end, I can say that this is not only one of the best Zelda games on handheld systems, but one of the best games in the series.

Storywise, the series has almost always been about 3 characters; Link, Zelda and Ganon. This holds true here, but the way they are used in the story may not be exactly what you expect from a Zelda game. Link is a blacksmith’s apprentice who is constantly late for work, one day the captain of Hyrule Castle’s guards is at the workshop getting a shield from the blacksmith, but leaves his sword behind. It’s then up to Link to find the captain and return his sword to him, after some light exploration Link discovers that Seres, the girl who look after the nearby Sanctuary, has been turned into a painting. And it is now that we meet our villain Yuga, who comes from an alternate version of Hyrule called Lorule. Yuga has the ability to transform himself and other people into paintings, whether in frames or on walls. Yuga is only after 7 people however, who happen to be descendants of the Seven Sages, who sealed away the Triforce in the Sacred Realm and it seems that Yuga is after the relic. I’ll leave the story explanation there, as I don’t want to spoil it too much.

As far as gameplay goes, A Link Between Worlds plays virtually identically to the SNES classic A Link to the Past, which isn’t a co-incidence since this game was described as a sequel to A Link to the Past and it certainly shows. The game is an open world played from a top-down perspective. I think this is one of the few games I can recall where the phrase ‘open world’ can be justifiably used, since after you beat the first couple of dungeons you can take on the other 7 in any order you choose. Other games may be ‘open-world’ but still have some sense of linearity otherwise the story wouldn’t be able to progress as intended. Here however, the story progresses no matter what order you tackle the dungeon, which doesn’t happen very often in games and hasn’t happened in a Zelda game since the original Legend of Zelda on the NES.

The weapons are standard fare as far as Zelda goes; you have your sword, boomerang, bombs, hookshot etc. The way the items work however is a big change to the series, as they aren’t found in the games dungeons. Early on in the game you’ll meet a character called Ravio, who is a travelling merchant. After a quick conversation, he is now staying at your house and decides to set up his shop there. In his shop are all the items in the game, but they aren’t for sale, at least not in the early game. Instead of selling you the items, Ravio will rent out the items to you for a very cheap price, and the only time you have to give them back is when you die, which might not happen for the whole game. In every Zelda game to date, items like bombs and arrows have worked with an ammo system, when you run out of ammo you can’t use the item until you replenish it. Here however, all items you rent/buy use a magic meter, which regenerates over time. So technically you’ll have infinite bombs/arrows for the entirety of the game, and not having to worry about finding ammo is a plus point.

The one big gameplay change that was consistently advertised was Link’s ability to transform into a painting on a wall and move around on a 2-dimensional plain. This ability can be used in various ways, whether it’s simply progressing through the story or finding secrets, to evading enemy attacks. This seems like a gimmick that could have easily been overused and therefore become boring quickly, but this ability doesn’t feel as though it’s being pushed on the player so when it is needed, it’s fun to use and the way it is used is interesting.

In terms of presentation, A Link Between Worlds is a great looking game with a sort-of exaggerated cartoon style, and the 3D really enunciates the vibrant colours of Hyrule and the more muted colours and environments of Lorule. The use of 3D in this game is up there with the best in the entire 3DS library, one dungeon in particular stands out for me with it’s use of 3D and light pouring in through windows into darkness, it sounds like something simple but it is executed really well.

Overall, A Link Between Worlds is definitely up there with the best Zelda games ever made, and is a must purchase for anyone who owns a 3DS, whether you’re a fan of the series or not, this is a game you simply can’t miss.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds is available now on Nintendo eShop for £39.99 or various online retailers from £32.99-£39.99

Metro: Last Light Review

Metro: Last Light Review.

Before I start this review of Last Light, I just want to say that I didn’t particularly like the prequel to this game, Metro 2033. I think this puts me in the minority since looking at reviews of the original, it seems to have garnered pretty decent scores, averaging around 7.5 to 8. I understand why people like the game; the scenario of a post-apocalyptic world certainly isn’t a new concept, the idea to base the game in Russia, namely the underground Metro system was a refreshing change of pace. It was dark, cramped and had you second-guessing shadows in the distance. One of 2033’s unique features was how it managed its ammo and currency, as they were one and the same. It created an interesting situation for the player; should you not visit any shops and just hope that you find better guns/items, or do you spend some of your already scarce munitions on better guns and ammo types.

These few ideas could have been turned into a game that stood the test of time really well, but I found the actual gameplay of 2033 was just a bit tedious. The horror aspects of the game I didn’t find especially frightening, and at times it just seemed like an endless supply of enemies would appear and you’d have to last on whatever ammo you have. So in summary my thoughts on the first game are that it had a few neat ideas, but boring gameplay sometimes made it a chore to play.

Onto Metro: Last Light, and it seems as though somebody may have been listening, as this is a vastly superior game to its predecessor. There are minor spoilers about the story in this review so if you want to experience the story first hand, you’ll probably want to hold off on reading this. Last Light picks up roughly a year from where 2033 left off, when Artyom chooses to launch a missile strike to wipe out the Dark Ones. Due to his role is destroying the Dark Ones, Artyom has been officially accepted as a Ranger, whose role is to basically try and keep people safe from mutants and keep a sense of order in the Metro. One day, he receives word of a Dark One who survived the missile strike (because there’s always one isn’t there?) Accompanied by the Rangers best sniper, Artyom ventures out onto the surface to look for this elusive being…

The gameplay in Last Light is similar in design to 2033; you have access to a selection of the traditional weaponry in FPS games, pistol, rifle, shotgun etc. The ammo/currency system is still implemented which I think is a smart system, you can save bullets for potentially dangerous areas ahead or you can spend bullets on better weapons, but with less ammo to do damage with. Ammo can be spent on other sorts of ammo, grenades, throwing knives and upgrades to your weapons. The upgrade system is simple enough to understand, as most guns can be equipped with a stock, suppressor or even an extra barrel. (Never let it be said that quad-barrel shotguns aren’t fun). An interesting weapon type in Last Light are pneumatic weapons, which require you to pump up the pressure in your gun in order to fire; while it’s certainly a novel idea, I never found any real advantage in using them and stuck to the more conventional weapons.

Stealth is a key feature in Last Light, and it pulls it off with aplomb. As you might expect, you have to utilize the light and dark to get around your enemies and reach your objective. To help you, you can shoot out lights or turn off gas lamps to increase the amount of darkness you can move around in. These sections can be genuinely tense as you hide behind a boiler as a guard patrols about 5 feet away from you. The best way to dispatch of enemies in these stealth sections is actually with throwing knives, as they are completely silent, one hit kill weapons which are retrievable from the dead body.

The world of Last Light is certainly a nice looking place in terms of graphics, especially the small settlements that brim with colour and activity from the survivors. There are all kinds of things happening in these little havens; like children playing, people drinking at the local bar and even a gentlemen’s club. The mutant designs are creepy enough, especially when you can see nothing but their eyes charging at you in the dark. The character models look believable and the voice acting is appropriately Russian. One thing I have noticed while playing is that the texture pop-in can be pretty bad, although I am playing the Xbox 360 version so the PC will most likely fare better.

Overall then, Metro: Last Light is a much more polished and therefore better game than its predecessor and is certainly worth putting your time into. Just watch out for creepy eyes in the darkness of the Metro...

Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F Review

Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F Review.

Project Diva F is the first game of any sort featuring virtual pop star Hatsune Miku to be released in the West; and while her debut isn’t perfect, she presents an enjoyable rhythm game that is equal parts fun and challenging.

Project Diva F plays like your typical music rhythm game, hit the buttons in time to the onscreen prompts to get the highest score possible with more notes appearing the higher the difficulty gets. If you’re playing this game straight after playing a game like Guitar Hero/Rock Band, then you’ll notice that the prompts aren’t at the bottom of the screen as is the norm in rhythm games, they instead appear all over the screen with the notes flying in from outside.

There are nine different commands in total; the face buttons, the D-pad combined with the face buttons and the analog stick for star notes. Star notes are activated by a flick of the analog stick in any direction, as this note is made on the Vita version by swiping the touchscreen on the back of the console. Switching between these notes quickly can be a bit tricky on fast songs, especially on the harder difficulties, unless you manage to procure yourself an official controller but these are rare and can be very expensive.

There are two distinctive components in each song that give you a chance to rack up serious points; the Technical Zone and Chance Time. When the Technical Zone starts, you’ll have to try and hit all of the notes for a score increase at the end of the zone, if you miss even one then the score bonus won’t be added on. Chance Time is similar, except that a star appears in the bottom left corner of the screen and you have to fill it up by hitting notes. At the end of Chance Time a big star note shows up, if you hit it and the star in the corner is full then you’ll receive a score bonus.

While graphics aren’t everything in a rhythm game, the videos that back the music are dynamic and look great, although sometimes so much will be going on in the video that the notes and prompts will sometimes blend in, so if you’re not paying attention then you’ll miss out on points which could cost you a Perfect rank. The music as you’d expect from a rhythm game is excellent, the soundtrack has 38 tracks, which to be honest isn’t a lot compared to other rhythm games, but it includes better-known songs such as Tell Your World and Black Rock★Shooter, other good songs include Time Machine and Weekender Girl and you may even find yourself involuntarily humming them as you go about your day. When you clear some songs, you may unlock a clean music video for it so you can enjoy the song without having to play it, which is nice.

Diva Points are earned for playing songs, which can be spent on costumes and accessories for all of the Vocaloids. These points can also be spent on customizing each of the characters Diva Rooms. The Diva Room puts either Hatsune Miku or any of the other singers into their own space, where they just sort of hang out. You can buy them gifts using Diva Points; these vary from a tambourine to a box of doughnuts. Some of the items even have short cutscenes of the character interacting with them. The primary reason of buying gifts is to increase your companionship level with your chosen singer, once you get to certain levels they may even want to play games with you.

Other modes include a photo mode, which as the name suggests, lets you take pictures of the various singers in their costumes and also strike poses, but if you try to get an upskirt shot the character disappears and a message appears saying that the character needs to be reset. (Not that I’ve tried of course) Another mode is the edit mode where you are able to make your own videos, I’m no good at using editing tools in general, but after briefly surfing YouTube there are some very good original videos out there.

Overall then, while Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F doesn’t bring anything revolutionary to the genre, it’s definitely a fun time. The almost Tamagotchi-esque Diva Room won’t be for everyone, but if your waifu just happens to be Luka then you might get a lot out of it. The edit room is great for creating custom PVs in the right hands. Despite a few small issues, this is still a game worth checking out if you have any interest in music or music games.

Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F is now available on PS3 in the US for $50 or on the European PSN store for £36.99