Review The Last Game You Beat

[Henry Spencer]

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX - watta gem. Hard to find a fault with it past the inventory system...

That was my first Zelda, on the original GameBoy (so, not the DX version, just the b&w original), which was also my first handheld and first Nintendo system. I got stuck on it and never beat it since I never had a guide for it. I vaguely recall really liking it though.

[Vyse Hazuky]

^Oh yes. It's really wonderful. One can't say that it is a huge leap from ALTTP, because it isn't, but it still introduces a number of Zelda staples like the trading game, fishing, the ocarina, jumping, using cuccos to "fly"... and the fact that it is not placed in Hyrule gives it a unique vibe.
It also makes up for the fact of there not being a Zelda or a Ganon with a lot of hommages (mainly to Mario games, but not only...)
It's overall very light-hearted but very fun and one can see the influence its story had on more recent games which is something that can probably not be said about many other Zelda games.

The colour version does seem definite and at €6 it has to be one of the best deals in the eStore.

[Jokatech19]

THE CON


Wow. This game is a throwback for me at this point. I just finished it. Believe it or not, I actually logged over 200 hours into this game before I beat it. I must say that I not only enjoyed the game, but I grossly disagree with the reviews that I've seen out there on the internet.

The Con was a launch title for the PSP back in 2005. At the time, I was working at Modell's and going to X-ray school. I was graduating that year, but determined to get either the PSP or the Nintendo DS at launch. For long months, I looked at every game magazine I could, comparing both of the upcoming handheld consoles. I really was a Nintendo fanboy at that point, and wanted a reason to get the DS at launch, but I saw such a weak launch line-up and no real guarantee of system quality. I had the Gameboy Advance SP before that, and I was actually angry at how fast the game industry started to move at that time. That marked the end of the era where consoles were long-term investments by design. I also remember how at that time, video game magazines actually had information worth reading that you wouldn't see on the web. The internet, during the early 2000's, up until past 2005, was still somewhat limited. Social media wasn't fully in control yet. In fact, it's still amazing to think back to the fact that while I was in high school, none of that existed at all. We went online during those days, to take care of business, chill on chat rooms for a minute, play a few PC games, and then we were off. In those days, our lives weren't tied yet to computers or smart phones which didn't really exist yet. As a student in school, I remember selling a huge amount of my games to get the money ready to get one of the handheld consoles. I was mad that the SP was dead, and for about 2 years, Nintendo had been announcing the upcoming DS, and we all speculated as to what it would be like. I liked the library for the Gameboy Advance, especially towards the end, and I remember Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories being the last game I beat for it. I sat in awe, watching the ending, and hearing the entire them song being played during it. What an experience.



I looked at the footage for the PSP launch games, and it seemed more honest. They were also honest with their only weakness, which was the battery life. I soon found that it wasn't that big of an issue. That was the first time in history that Sony, a company I had hated, was actually the well wishing company. Nintendo was so used to dominating the handheld market, that they put little effort into the process of the release. They showed very little footage. None of it looked impressive to me, except for what looked like a cutscene from a slated Sonic game, which wouldn't actually be released until years after the system launched. It looked cool, but I knew it was a farce due to the scant images. Ultimately, I decided to get the PSP. I was super excited when I finally had the money together. Among the titles I got when it launched was Metal Gear, Wipeout, and I got "The Con" a bit later. When I got it, I was drawn in by the graphics and the very detailed combat I saw. Like other PSP titles, I didn't get into it until later. When I did, I didn't understand the mechanics or the betting system.

The game teaches you about the odds system, and how to bet against and for yourself in matches, and take dives, or pull out upsets. It follows a surprisingly deep story of a combatant who comes to the aid of gang leader who is nearly killed by an underground lord who runs a fight organization. The entire game is based around getting enough money together to climb the ranks and compete in his tournament. The ultimate plan is to then take him down. The way the cutscenes and story unfold are very good, and that will surprise you for the kind of game that it is. Also, the customizing options are very elaborate and involved.



I created my fighter, assembled and named my team, and began putting together my arsenal of moves. The game has very deep mechanics that will seem simple at first glance. That's the same thing that is the case with Smash Brothers Melee. I hear a lot of simple people state how simple Super Smash Brothers is, and also say that The Con isn't a full fighting game, due to your feet being planted during combat, and being unable to jump. If that's the case, then the deepest fighting game that I've ever played is shallow- UFC 3. There is no jump option in that game, but I can guarantee you that a button masher will not play that game long. The Con is exactly the same. you have the 4 face buttons that correspond to each limb, like UFC. pressing two buttons along with a direction, does one of a number of super specials. Tapping the face buttons during attack and specials, adds damage. The face buttons are pressed in various set sequences to perform combinations. You have to know your moves. That system reminds me of an early Xbox game by the name of "Tao Feng: Fist of the Lotus." In both games, you cannot freely press random sequences and expect combos to flow out. I like that. It can take getting used to, but it requires you to develop skill. You can perform custom combos to a degree, but there is no getting around learning your character's style and moves. You have a reversal system where tapping the shoulder button at the right time can perform a parry which gives you a window attack, or if done right, a perfect parry, with performs a counter combo that you can add damage to by tapping the face buttons with the hits. You also have a grab move. The other shoulder button performs a "Con", which either makes you take extra damage to throw a fight when timed, or do very little damage with your attacks to fake a fight. Each style also has a specialized short combo move that is good for quick damage. Those have set button patterns. All of your other combos are made by you. You have to remember the sequences. In the game you have several styles represented- Street Boxing, Jeet Kun Do, Kickboxing, Wrestling, Tae Kwon Do, and 1 more I believe, that I can't remember. Each style is drastically unique as it should be.


As you work through each league, you have to build up $100,000. At first, that seemed impossible, but as you advance to higher leagues, you can wager bigger bets and place bigger cons. This game taught me about odds. I never understood how that math worked. I always hear gamblers talk about it like it's nothing, but I'd just sit there confused. Now, I understand better about underdogs stuff like that. Not that it's super useful knowledge. At the end of each league, you face the boss. That fight is not open to bets, and is for superiority over the league, so it's last man standing rules. The game was very hard at first, and remained very hard until the end. It was only after I was very powerful as a team, that I was able to handle the tough CPU fighters that were thrown at me. In fact, the last boss was no problem. Getting to him was something else though. As you go through the game, you unlock clothing and custom items to use in other modes. This is one game that I feel it is too hard to unlock things in. The requirement you have to meet are ridiculous. You have to win fights as a huge underdog at one point, or beat a tough boss without using your left leg or left hand. Or you may have to beat a certain character while using a certain technique a given amount of times. It was beyond impossible to me. I definitely has me wanting to come back though. The ending was pretty poetic and the game allows you to continue your new game where you left off, so you assemble another team and try to get items again. The only gripe I can think up is that it would have been nice to do other activities in the game, like minigames to break up the fighting action. The bottom line is that the game is very solid. It reminds me of Samurai Warriors for the PSP. That was another game that got very few ratings, and of the ones it got, they were all ignorant and biased. These games deserve better that that. The Con is definitely a must own for Vita or PSP owners. Don't listen to the idiots who played 20 seconds of the game when it came out, and wrote their reviews off of that. Check it out.

8.9/10

[OL]

Azure Striker Gunvolt.
Played it to death, got the "true" ending, etc.
Absolutely wonderful little throwback to the Mega Man X series. If anyone is ever aching for a new foray into MMX-style territory, this really is the place to go. The attitude is the same, the control is practically the same, the story is extremely similar (just replace the word "reploid" with "adept," really), the music has a similar vibe, and the bosses are similarly pattern-based and challenging. Actually, the boss battles took me a bit by surprise, if if only for the fact that these are some of the best MM-style boss fights I've ever played. Really excellently-designed stuff. The fact that the gameplay is more about tagging and shocking rather than just straightforward blasting really adds to it as well, since there's a lot more strategy involved.
I really hope this gets a sequel somewhere down the line. It's a very cool IP, and I feel like there's a lot more that could be done with it. I just fear that, being a download-only title for the 3DS, its release may have been a bit too low-key for it to have been all that successful. I'm just guessing, but I don't think it's been all that widely-played, unfortunately.
Here's hoping I'm wrong though, because this really deserves to be a series.

[OL]

Just finished a long stretch of playing through the entire FEAR series from start to finish. Only thing I was missing was the DLC campaign for the second game, but while it sounded kind of interesting, it wasn't exactly "main storyline" stuff. So in all, that's:
FEAR
FEAR: Extraction Point (expansion)
FEAR: Perseus Mandate (expansion)
FEAR 2
FEAR 3
Pretty fun ride overall. I'd played the first game years ago and watched a friend play through Extraction Point, but it was so long ago that I'd forgotten most of it.
The original game was a great introduction to the whole shebang, and does a really great job of building up the backstory in a compelling way. It has a creepy atmosphere, but the scares are a little weak in general. The shooting is pretty great, but unfortunately at this point it mainly becomes a process of activating slo-mo, picking off a few enemies, ducking into cover while slo-mo recharges, then repeating. Trying to have a gunfight without slo-mo is almost impossible, as you get cut to ribbons almost as soon as you step out from cover. It kind of prevents you from using the game's melee moves to their fullest, which is a bit of a bummer, and turns what ought to be some truly frantic gunfights into a camper's playground. Still fun either way. And the game's last stretch, when Alma is finally released (no spoiler; it had to happen) and things go to shit will always be pretty memorable for me. Escaping the facility, then waiting helplessly as the nuclear blast approaches from afar is a really great moment.
Extraction Point is a truly excellent expansion. It takes place directly after the original, and has you playing as the same voiceless "Point Man." Gone are the grey corridors of an office building that permeated the main game so much; you're finally let out into the city, abandoned and partially wrecked, which makes for a much more interesting set of environments to fight in, which are also set up in a way that makes the gunfights more fun. The game also handles the scares and overall atmosphere in a much better way. Near the end of the whole thing, it almost begins to approach Silent Hill-esque levels of dread, as you start having hallucinations which drop you into creepier, scarier environments. My favorite scare happens when walking down a corridor of asylum cells, looking in each one and seeing characters that died in the original game, being trapped and tortured. Look into one cell in particular, and you see someone sitting far away from the door; the developers obviously knew you'd linger a bit here, trying to figure out what the guy is doing... so then a faceless creature pops up and screams while it slides the cell window shut. Great stuff like that is all over this expansion.
Perseus Mandate is a bit of an oddity. It plays the same as the main game and Extraction Point, but it places a greater focus on the gunfights themselves, rather than the scares. In doing this it's actually pretty successful. The more extended, drawn-out fight scenes work really well and feel quite a bit more "slam bang" than the others did, making good use of all the new additions to the player's arsenal, as well as new enemy types. It also has you playing as a different character for the first time, though he's still just as voiceless as Point Man. Unlike Extraction Point, this one isn't essential to the story, but it's still really fun.
It felt a little odd stepping into FEAR 2 after so many hours of the original game's mechanics. I played the original on PC, and FEAR 2 on PS3, so adjusting to using a controller was a strain. Also, while the graphics are technically better, they used some weird, blurry filters on the graphics, which make enemies really hard to see against the backgrounds. All the same, the gunfights are still pretty fun, allowing you a little extra leeway in popping out from cover and moving around, so that was a welcome change. They also included the ability to occasionally make use of the enemy's powered armor suits, giving the game a teensy bit of giant robot action to play around with, which is always a plus. You play as a character named Sergent Beckett, beginning a mission just as the nuclear blast from the original game is about to go off, and you get to explore right around the epicenter. Because of that, you get to fight in a lot of orange and red-hued city ruins, which gives the game a slightly different visual spark from the original. Still, the majority of the game's environments are mainly a bunch of relatively drab secret labs and whatnot, which aren't very interesting in general. Regardless, the game has a very fucked up ending stretch, which kind of makes up for a lot. The story developments are pretty great.
FEAR 3 was a surprise to me. At this point, the series was passed off to a different developer, and the game was turned into a co-op-focused experience. For a horror series, those might not be the greatest signs, but shockingly, it all works. Extremely well, actually. The two characters are Point Man, the slo-mo-utilizing protagonist from the original game, and Paxton Fettel, his telekinetic brother, now a ghost after having been killed in the first game. I wasn't able to play it with anyone else just yet, but it's still fully-playable as a single-player experience anyway. The mechanics now feel much, much better when playing with a controller, and finally it feels much more fun to constantly move around the battlefield, pulling off stylish kills and moving on to the next. The enemies are no longer quite the bullet sponges they always were before, so gunfights are typically a bit faster-paced. There's even a dedicated function for taking cover which felt odd at first, but works really well once you're used to it. The environments are much more varied this time as well, which feels really good; the earlier games never approached the fun of places like a Brazillian favela, a Walmart-esque shopping center, or a major airport. And I've only done it for a couple levels now, but playing as Fettel is incredibly satisfying. While Point Man can use slo-mo, Fettel can possess enemies, which makes the dynamics of battle switch around in a really cool way. I need to urge my brother to get this game sometime, because I can only imagine how fun co-op would actually be. The game pulls a fast one on you at the end and reveals why it keeps track of how well each player is playing with a points system; whoever performs better, Point Man or Fettel, determines what the ending is. Even though it's co-op, you'd still be competing against each other, which is interesting in itself.
There are a couple side-effects to the new format though. The levels now feel very distinctly like... levels. In earlier games, the levels always seemed connected, which gave the overall games a sense of cohesion. But this one uses bookend cutscenes to show the transition from one place to the next, so that cohesion within the game's world is lost just a bit. The levels are also a bit more narrow and straightforward in general, with less room for exploration, which makes it feel a bit more "arcade-y". Not that the older games were massively-explorable, but it's even less so in this one. Also, while I really like the story, it absolutely does ignore certain developments from earlier games. Nothing truly major, but stumbles like that always partly get in the way of making a series feel unified. And finally, the use of a co-op setup and a system of scoring points makes the game quite a bit less scary. I can't really remember most of the intended scares, which is a bit odd. The game is still horror, and it reaches an almost biblically-disastrous scale, but it's not quite so atmospherically-creepy as before.

Surprised that I liked the series so damn much, FEAR 3 in particular. I'd like to see it continue eventually, but I'm not really sure where else the story could go. They end things pretty concretely (or at least concretely enough) in the final game, so they'd probably have to stretch some things to make the series still work.
Anyway, recommended to horror fans who like a good deal of shooting and explosions mixed in.

[Ash]

Rune Factory 4:

(This is now out in Europe, though it is Digital only.)

Rune Factory 4, like previous Rune Factory games, combines the farming aspects of Harvest Moon, with action adventure. Where as you are given a rather vague, long-term goal that is rarely mentioned in the Harvest Moon games, in the more story driven Rune Factory you are given more defined goals.

Rune Factory 4 is quite laid-back; you're free to rush through the story, or invest most of your time farming, and progressing the plot at a slower pace. As with most of these games, there are four seasons, each with four days. There are festivals as well, although you will need to unlock some of them first. The Request system also returns, completing certain requests will allow you access to new seeds, forging and cooking recipes.

This game is considerably larger than Rune Factory 3, which had four levels, one for each season. I'm unfortunately not familiar enough with the other Rune Factory games to make a comparison to those. The story of Rune Factory 4 is split into three arcs; arc one has five levels, arc two has four levels, and arc three has one level. While you do need to finish the third arc to see the whole story, the game actually considers the end of the second arc to be the official end of the game.

The cast generally have a lot more dialogue than in recent Harvest Moon games. There are little side-stories, called Town Events, which are both a positive and negative in this game, and there are also little repeatable single day dialogue only events such as everyone talking about the temperature of the baths in the Inn the previous day, only to have the Inn Owner admit that she accidentally added some spicy herbs to the bath water.

Although the cast do have their quirks, on the whole, they are more down to earth than some recent Harvest Moon/Rune Factory characters, you won't find anyone running around yelling "RAINBOW" in Rune Factory 4. Some people appreciate this, others have found the Rune Factory 4 characters boring.

The most frustrating part of this game can easily be the Town Events. These are events that trigger about once a week. The problem with Town Events though, are that they are completely random; you have no choice over which event you'll get each week. This wouldn't be such an issue in itself if Town Events only covered little side stories, but they also cover marriage events, and worse, the final arc in the main story. I have heard of players waiting up to an in-game year to trigger the random Town Event that opens the final story arc, or spending ages soft-resetting, which can lead to game glitches.

Unfortunately, Rune Factory 4's element of randomness is not just confined to the Town Events. If you decide that you want to start dating a marriage candidate ( you can play as either a male or female character this time), you need to get that candidate to at least seven love points, and then confess your love to them - however there is only a small chance that the candidate will accept your confession at seven points. The chances that the candidate will accept your confession rises with their love points go up, but there's always a chance, even when you've raised the candidate to ten love points, that they'll still refuse you. Once you have successfully confessed to a candidate, you need to go on a date with them at least three times before you may marry them - it doesn't happen too often, but sometimes your partner will refuse to go on a date with you for absolutely no apparent reason.

Festivals are another issue. In Rune Factory 4, it will become harder and harder to win festivals each year - you won't be able to keep submitting the same level ten Turnip to win the crop festivals. This is good in a way, it keeps the festivals interesting, as you will need to work to win, but the results of the other villagers vary so widely, that it can feel like winning is more down to luck, than actual skill.

One definite improvement from Rune Factory 3 is the weather system - in Rune Factory 3, typhoons could more or less appear any day, any hour. In Rune Factory 4, you will nearly always get advance warning of typhoons, provided you speak to the three characters that will warn you of a forthcoming typhoon, and you have the ability to buy or make "Wettable Powder", which you can sprinkle onto your crops, which will increase their defence against typhoons.

The game is quite solid through the first two arcs, but unfortunately begins to decline at the end. As mentioned earlier, just unlocking the third arc is completely random, and even once you've unlocked it, the difficulty in the third arc dungeon is quite a leap from the difficulty in arc two. This isn't an issue so much in itself, but to get through arc three, you will need boss drops in order to forge weapons and armour that are strong enough to deal with the enemies encountered in the third arc. The problem with this is that you aren't always guaranteed a boss drop when defeating a boss, and bosses can only be fought once a day - this can quickly become frustrating, especially, whereas in arcs 1 and 2, you can usually use the same weapon for two or three dungeons before you're forced to upgrade, in arc 3, you have to update your weapon every couple of floors. Additionally arc three has a rather lackluster "ending".

Rune Factory 4 can be quite a time drain, especially if you prefer to take your time with the game; many players have put over 100 hours into the game, and really, if you do want to get everything out of the game, you'd probably still be looking at around 30 hours.

[Thief]

Thanks for the review, I have been interested in Rune Factory for a little while now but have yet to actually bite the bullet and play one. I've been keeping up with the recent Harvest Moon games (and I plan to play Story of Seasons) but I have yet to find them as interesting as Back to Nature or Harvest Moon 64 (or even A Wonderful Life).

My biggest issue is the villagers and their interactions with one another -- I feel as though Harvest Moon would deeply benefit from having a really deep and interesting character base, where, throughout the game you learn about the villagers, their past, and the connection they have with one another within the village. Sort of like Shenmue with it's NPC's but more story driven. Hearing you talk about the villagers being more 'down to earth' is reassuring simply because it leads me to believe that they won't be one note quirk type characters that are often found in Anime-esque. Anyway, thanks, I think I'll give it a go.

[Chaos]

haven't beaten it yet but I'm gonna complain about it anyways

the level design and gimmicks in hotline miami 2 are so much worse than the original

lets just put windows EVERYWHERE, fuck putting thought into level design

[Axm]

The Order: 1886


Graphics/Tech

This is an impressive looking game. While not the best looking game on PS4 it certainly passes being as an "only possible on PS4" type of experience. Many times a cut scene would transition into gameplay and I wouldn’t realize it was time to control my character again. Explosions and other effects are pretty nice too.
Tech wise in terms of frame rate and any bugs, it was a pretty rock solid experience. Something that’s refreshing to see coming off of every other game thats seems to be broke at launch or even months after.

However I have to say, the game has fixed letterbox black bars at all times, just like The Evil Within and I wish I had the option to switch them off or on. I understand why they do this, but it not something id like more games to continue doing. Give me the option and spare me having to sit closer to the TV.

Gameplay

Overall this game doesn't present anything new to the action/3rd person shooter genre. It does however execute on everything it attempts to do quite well. Gunplay is satisfying if not at times a bit too easy, but I liked the weapons and I had a fun time.

I can’t help myself but compare it to The Last of Us though. Seeing as thats imo. the pinnacle of what the modern 3rd person action shooter should be, it doesn't touch what The Last of Us is.

The Order’s biggest fault is that you really feel a sense of claustrophobia at times. You can probably count on one hand how many times you really have a sense of exploration in the environment. Most of the time its a very linear experience. This helps the story and immersion but it doesn’t give you the feeling that you are 100% in control of your character. You’re being lead along a very deliberate path and its again, something when you compare it to a game series like Uncharted or The Last of Us where it falls flat in comparison.

Sound

I really liked the soundtrack in this. It fits the story and environment very well. It’s probably one of the best things about the game.
Sound effects are also pretty good. It doesn't have any distinctive character to it, but it executes at being realistic and its bass heavy which I like.

Story

At first I really couldn’t grasp the story as it kinda Tarantino's in the beginning and is lore heavy with it using a modern take on The Knights of the Round Table. But as time went on you learn more about the world and the characters. The plot picks up halfway in and overall I really enjoyed what they did with it. Tasteful and something ill definitely play again to relive the experience.
If I can spoil anything, its that this story has legs to it and I do hope it turns into something that continues and gets better.
It wasn’t amazing but it is worth another play through just for the story alone.

Closing

It has to be said that this game was quite short. At 6-8 hours I finished it in a few sittings and got the platinum trophy in my first run through.
Overall the game was good though. Certainly worth the $30 I paid for it and I would like a sequel to it. Something should definitely be said about a good short game. Id rather play this 3 times over then play something like Watch Dog’s or Shadows of Mordor just once through. I couldn’t get through a couple hours worth of those games without being bored and they have huge open world exploration with probably hours more gameplay. But thats gameplay that is so recycled and repetitive.. Lifeless and boring to me especially when every game out there is trying to do the same thing these days.

Basically I have been and always will be a story centric gamer. If the game does just enough of what it needs to so that I can focus on the story then I’m all good. The Order does that and so I'm satisfied.


3/5

[Yama]

Fair judgement, I'd co-sign most of it Axm. Definitely a short but sweet offering, though leaves a bit to be desired as there literally is no post game. As far as the game itself, the reviews I've seen around the net are laughable. I'd much rather have an eight hour cinematic experience that sticks with me opposed to a lifeless open world where I preform endless meaningless fetch quests. It's as if nobody can have an artistic or creative vision with a high budget outside of the norm. The game itself wasn't a problem, it was to the point and enjoyable, just the amount of content when you're done with it. Enough to knock off a point or two, because it is a full price game, not movie. Outside of that, I respect the game and what was done with it.

While not the best looking game on PS4

Hmm? Are we talking about the same game? It's not only the best looking PS4 title to date, it's the best looking game to date. That much is inarguable and the one thing even every cynic has given it at the very least. I can see preferring a different style, disliking the letterbox or even the cinematic motion blur, but the end result is still the most impressive visuals to date. By the way just food for thought, it's not cropped letterbox like TEW but instead native 2.40:1, it shows more horizontally not less vertically. I understand though, either way it makes it smaller on your screen. I preferred the extra viewing angle myself though.

[Axm]

Oh we're absolutely talking about the same game. You're a graphic designer and im a English teacher so ill refer to your gudgement more often then not, but
like I said, it was impressive. Easily top 3 in graphics atm. But imo id have to say Killzone or Drive Club did more for me. The Order is atleast the best looking game out there in its genre thats for sure.

[Yama]

You're really making me want to see Driveclub on my new set. I just need to find that bargain bin price like you did. If only for a tech demo, I want to see the weather effects on screen in real time.

[OL]

htoL#NiQ


This game is difficult as hell. That's the first thing that should always be said about it. Around the internet it seems to have gotten points taken off for that fact, because people complain that the game is flat-out unfair, that certain areas are completely unwinnable without having died several times first.
And y'know what? That's pretty much true.
But then, couldn't the same be said of certain parts in games like Dark Souls, games which garner much of their acclaim from that very sense of difficulty?
Just thought that was a silly thing for people to harp on about.
It is a difficult game, but retries are unlimited, so I find no reason to hold difficulty against it.
The game follows a little girl named Mion who wakes up in a strange, ruined industrial area and must find her way out. Simple enough, but the really interesting thing here is how the game features no dialogue whatsoever. It tells its story entirely with visuals, and gets pretty creative about it in some cases. Strangely, most of the story is optional; to uncover it, you have to find secrets in each stage, which give you access to a fractured piece of Mion's memory. It's odd that these are optional, as I personally found them to be the main reason to keep playing; after a certain point, the revelations in the story get pretty twisted, and much more violent than you may have expected initially. It ends up being oddly gripping, which was a nice surprise.
Gameplay is mainly controlled by maneuvering a duo of fireflies around the screen. It can be done with either the touchscreen or with the analog stick (I prefer the latter). One firefly moves around the foreground, showing Mion where to move and what to interact with, while the second firefly lives in the shadows and activates its own set of obstacles from there. It's an interesting dynamic, switching between the light and shadow to figure out the environments, but it is, admittedly, a very slow-paced process.
The game is only a short few hours long, but the main joy to be had in playing through it is the story and visuals. The ending is very ambiguous, and it feels like there's a lot to be interpreted throughout the levels. For those that like to analyze an artistic game, this one would probably be an absolute joy. The gameplay itself isn't necessarily what I'd call "fun" I guess, but the story and artwork were more than enough to make me happy that I followed it through to the end.
Nice little journey, while it lasted.

EDIT: Be warned if you play it though, the "true" ending is really difficult to figure out. It requires a ridiculously non-linear sequence of events to be access through the level-select feature, and I can't imagine many people figuring it out on their own. After beating the game with the normal ending, I'd suggest looking up how to access the true one. It gives you a really unique section of gameplay and a much more interesting final story point, so it's worth it.

[BlueMue]

Just made it through Mega Man 9 without dying. Have picked this one up recently. Yeah, it's late but hey, it's a retro style game so what does it matter that it's a couple of years old.

When I first started the game I was pretty shocked how hard it is. I beat Mega Man 2 and 4 on the NES and all of Wily Wars on the Mega Drive (wich has 1, 2 (hard mode only), 3 and Wily Tower) a couple of months ago so I have experience with Mega Man but 9 gave me a hard time. It's tough even for a Mega Man game as most of the stages have nasty hazards and traps. The disappearing blocks in Plug Man's stage for example really fool you, it's cruel.

But as I played the game and learned patterns and layouts it became very manageable and enjoyable.
It's true to the old NES games in every way and perfectly goes along with Mega Man 2. It can't reach the fun factor of said game but it's unfair to assume another Mega Man game will ever be able to. But it's up there with 3 and 4.

Most of the music is really catchy and while the style doesn't always match the classics, the way they programmed the NES instruments is really impressive, more advanced then what they did in the old days. The graphics are well made in the 8-Bit style and among the best in that series and the levels have some unique and clever stage elements.

Overall it's a pretty damn good game and a worthy addition to classic Mega Man series. Maybe I'll get number 10 aswell later. But for now I still have enough grueling challenges in 9 to deal with.

[Jokatech19]

How the heck did you learn the patterns traps of Mega Man 9 without dying? I don't even see that as a usable phrase with that series.