Snack World: The Dungeon Crawl - Gold (NSW) Overview Trailer

There's some good-looking games releasing in the month of February, and Level 5's Snack World: The Dungeon Crawl - Gold looks to be one of those games. Play locally or online in a party of up to four as you progress through randomized dungeons to battle enemies and bosses and acquire loot in the form of new equipment and items. This quick overview trailer shows off the game in full, and the actual game itself launches on February 14.

Review Round-Up - January 2020

The world of Pokemon expanded into the Galar region with
SPC's Games of the Month, Pokemon Sword and Shield.

SuperPhillip Central rolled into a new year of new reviews with seven unique games covered. We kicked things off with the charming 3D platformer A Hat in Time, which I tipped my proverbial hat to and gave a B grade for its quality. Concrete Genie then followed, a darling, creative game that I gave a B to as well. What followed was the return (and return to form) of the Trine series with Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince, conjuring up a B+ grade. We then moved on to the macabre world of MediEvil, a PlayStation classic reborn with a graphical remake, but not much else changed unfortunately. That's why I gave it a C-.

Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield serve as SuperPhillip Central's Games of the Month, earning B+ accolades for still managing to make the Pokemon series entertaining despite not being much of an evolution to the formula. Finally, we battled it out with the Power Rangers' ensemble of heroes and villains with Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid and ventured into our first retro review of 2020 with Final Fantasy Adventure, both earning a B-.

Now, let's take a look at some excerpts from each of SPC's reviews this month, and remember to check out every review ever posted on SuperPhillip Central with the SPC Review Archive!

A Hat in Time (NSW, PS4, XB1, PC) - B

A Hat in Time is generally a good time from beginning to end. It's just that the camera can be a real nuisance when it concerns tight and narrow areas, and technical performance problems in the form of glitches and frame-rate issues result in the game having a less than polished feel to it. That notwithstanding, A Hat in Time is otherwise a resounding success in my book. It offers satisfying worlds to explore, pleasing platforming, amusing characters, and I can't help but tip my own hat to the game.

Concrete Genie (PS4) - B

Despite its budget price and retail presence, Concrete Genie is a game that flew under the radar of many PlayStation 4 owners. As you can see from my review, that's a darn shame--for those who missed out on the game. As is, Concrete Genie is another jewel in Sony's first-party crown and only further enhances the quality of the roster of exclusives the PS4 possesses. That said, Pixelopus' showing isn't a total success with some forced combat that doesn't engage as much as I would have liked, and its brevity may turn off a lot of potential players. Nevertheless, for those looking for an abundantly creative, bold, and special title for their PlayStation 4, you don't need to rub a lamp to encounter this genie. You just need to pick up Concrete Genie instead.

Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince (PS4, XB1, NSW, PC) - B+

While Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince does not really revolutionize the series in any measurable way, it does succeed in bringing the series back to a comfortable place--back to 2.5D and back to its normal, high quality. The QOL improvements brought over from Trine 3 make for a more enjoyable, less stressful and tedious experience, and overall makes for a puzzle-platforming adventure that is in many ways the best that the Trine series has ever been.

MediEvil (PS4) - C-

Overall, MediEvil is an enjoyable enough romp, but one that I wish the developers had given an equal amount of time to improving the game's design and gameplay rather than obviously merely focusing on upgrading the visuals--as impressive and delightful as they are. As is, MediEvil has the appearance of current-gen game, but underneath its HD flesh is a skeleton filled with occasionally cheap design, frustrating deaths, and lackluster combat and platforming.

Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield (NSW) - B+

Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield may not have the most engaging story nor may be the most impressive running game on the Nintendo Switch, but they still meet the same prerequisite I require to enjoy a Pokemon a game--they're darn good fun. While absent features and Pokemon from past games will disappoint, as will the series not evolving as much as say, a Charmander to a Charmeleon to a Charizard, what is here in these two games was enough to satisfy me and make me eagerly await the upcoming Expansion Pass. I look forward to continuing my journey in the Galar region and quest to catch 'em all.

Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid (NSW, PS4, XB1, PC) - B-

As a budget fighter, Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid is a product of its cost. While animations and the presentation do less than impress, it's somewhat acceptable to me due to how much the game sells for. It's also acceptable because the gameplay here is so fundamentally solid. There's plenty of depth for those who want it, while also being accessible enough so that those who aren't overly competitive with their fighters and just want a casual time of it can enjoy the game as well. nWay has done well with its initial effort in the fighting game genre, and with more continued work, I can see Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid become an even greater game. As is, the foundation is strong, but the content just isn't quite there yet for anyone beyond the most ardent Power Rangers and fighting game fan.

Final Fantasy Adventure (GB) - B-

For those who wish to seek out the humble yet impressive-for-the-time origins of the Mana series, Final Fantasy Adventure is that game, warts and all. It's obviously a product of its time in more ways than one in its design, but there's something to be said about how fun the game is to this day that shows, in some ways, how timeless it is. Then, you start running into townspeople, being forced to read through their slowly scrolling dialogue each time you do so, get caught in a dungeon without any keys or mattocks remaining, and then realize that perhaps Final Fantasy Adventure isn't completely timeless. Still, there's a good amount of enjoyment to be found with the Mana series' premiere title, and I think anyone fond of the series should seek the game out to play it, either through an original Game Boy cartridge, through Collection of Mana for the Nintendo Switch, or other [hopefully legal] means.

========================================================================

Meanwhile, creatures of a different kind popped up in the dazzling and heartfelt Concrete Genie.

Final Fantasy Adventure (GB) Retro Review

A new year means out with the old and in with the new, right? Well, that's not entirely the case with SuperPhillip Central, as together we're going to take a look at 2020's first retro review, part of the lead up to the remake of Trials of Mana, releasing in April. 

The subject of this first retro review of the year is Final Fantasy Adventure, as it's known in North America, and it's the first in the Mana series. This Game Boy classic mixes Legend of Zelda-style gameplay with RPG systems. Let's take a look at Final Fantasy Adventure with the SPC review!

Legend of a game name with a bit of an identity crisis

The Game Boy was a behemoth in sales and possessed as a strong library of terrific games and countless classics. One such game is known as Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden in Japan and Mystic Quest in Europe. Despite its name in North America, Final Fantasy Adventure is the first in the Mana series of games. Later ports and remakes would drop the Final Fantasy portion of the name and call the full title "Adventures of Mana". You can check out my thoughts on the mobile remake here.

As for Final Fantasy Adventure, it's a game that takes some patience to play, as it is firmly rooted in a bygone era of gaming. There's a lot of obtuse design present, perplexing puzzles, a devilish-at-times difficulty, and some quirks that make for a tedious experience. However, with enough patience and perseverance, you'll find a game with enough charm and entertaining qualities to make for a worthy game to spend some time with.

Final Fantasy Adventure plays like a cross between the original Legend of Zelda and an RPG. You move around single screen areas, facing off against enemies and avoiding their attacks, all the while gaining experience and levels to grow stronger and more resilient in battle. However, while The Legend of Zelda was more open in its exploration, Final Fantasy Adventure begins as a more linear romp that slowly opens more and more as you progress. Things open up considerably once you gain access to a Chocobo and are able to ride it across water.

When you're not exploring the overworld, you're inside towns, and these have an annoying quirk to them. Instead of pressing a button when next to a townsperson to talk to them, you automatically begin to read their dialogue if you so much as brush up against them. This results in a lot of mistaken moments where you're forced to sit through the same slow-scrolling dialogue again and again to a point of mild frustration. That notwithstanding, towns are an invaluable place for resources that are required for dungeons, such as keys that unlock doors, mattocks that break open certain walls, and ethers that restore your magic.

Part of the old school design of Final Fantasy Adventure is that you can easily run out of a required resource mid-dungeon, resulting in having to trek back to a town or overworld shop to buy more. There are sections of the game where you can be stuck without keys or mattocks to progress with no shops in sight or available to you. In this case, your only real recourse is to defeat enemies and hope for they drop the resource you need.

Final Fantasy Adventure's combat isn't too elegant either, as the hit detection is a bit off. However, the mechanic used in combat is clever and would be used in future installments. You have a power gauge that steadily fills up. The more filled the gauge is when you execute an attack, the stronger that attack will be. When you perform an attack, the gauge empties. This encourages you to play smartly and not just flail your weapon around with reckless abandon, as you won't do much damage this way.

Weapons comes in a variety of forms with more uses than just for offensive capabilities. They also are used for traversal and progression. Axes can cut down trees with ease, morningstars break through rocks as if they were nothing, and whips allow you to attach them to poles to pull yourself across chasms and rivers. Much like different weapons have different uses in the environment, different weapons have different effectiveness against enemies. Some enemies will practically laugh at you for trying to damage them with a sword, but will be no match for a sharpened ax.

While there is plenty of old school sensibilities and design within Final Fantasy Adventure--and that's to be expected considering the game is almost 30 years old now--the game does have a helpful feature that is great for portable play. That is the ability to save anywhere in the game. Though with the lack of identifiable, tangible save points in the game, I found myself forgetting to save quite often, resulting in dying and having to replay significant sections of the dungeons and areas over again. Even then, when I did remember to save often, I sometimes found myself in a sticky situation where I was on death's door without much in the way of healing items. Thus, I would need to tread extremely careful to get back to a safe spot, essentially save-scumming with each ounce of slow progress back I'd make.

For those who wish to seek out the humble yet impressive-for-the-time origins of the Mana series, Final Fantasy Adventure is that game, warts and all. It's obviously a product of its time in more ways than one in its design, but there's something to be said about how fun the game is to this day that shows, in some ways, how timeless it is. Then, you start running into townspeople, being forced to read through their slowly scrolling dialogue each time you do so, get caught in a dungeon without any keys or mattocks remaining, and then realize that perhaps Final Fantasy Adventure isn't completely timeless. Still, there's a good amount of enjoyment to be found with the Mana series' premiere title, and I think anyone fond of the series should seek the game out to play it, either through an original Game Boy cartridge, through Collection of Mana for the Nintendo Switch, or other [hopefully legal] means.

[SPC Says: B-]

Final Fantasy VII Remake (PS4) Theme Song Trailer

What better way to end the work week and the month of January than with a brand new trailer for Final Fantasy VII Remake? Revealing new story elements, gameplay, and the all-new theme song, this trailer is packed with goodness for your eyes and ears to enjoy. Final Fantasy VII Remake launches on the PlayStation 4 on April 10, 2020.

Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid (NSW, PS4, XB1, PC) Review

We approach the end of the month with a new review. It's for a fighting game that's evolved greatly since its launch last year. It's Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid, and here is the SuperPhillip Central review.

Surprisingly awesome. Dare I say... "Morphinominal?"

The Power Rangers utterly consumed my childhood up until the fifth grade. I immersed myself in the show, intently watching every episode aired (and having a crying fit when I missed an episode), standing in line for opening night of the Power Rangers movie, getting the myriad action figures and associated toys bought for me, playing the video games, wearing the Red Ranger costume for Halloween in second grade and the White Ranger costume in fourth grade, and just ate up anything I could regarding the Rangers.

Since then, I've grown detached from the Rangers, as new teams and faces turned me off of the show, but I couldn't help but be pulled back in by a Power Rangers fighting game that plays like a combination of Marvel vs. Capcom with its tag-based fighting system and Dragon Ball FighterZ with its huge depth buried underneath its inviting and accessible controls. That fighting game is Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid, and this budget priced fighter is one solid surprise as a fan of both fighting games and Saban's Super Sentai-based property.

Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid is a three-versus-three tag-based brawler that pits various Power Rangers characters from a variety of series in fast-paced, hectic battles. The game features a four button fighting system, used for light attacks, medium-strength attacks, heavy attacks, and special attacks. The latter is particularly nice because instead of complex, convoluted button combinations to pull off special attacks, you press the special attack button and then a direction on the D-Pad or analog stick to perform that attack. This gives some nice accessibility to the game, perfect for more casual players to enjoy Battle for the Grid while still offering enough depth for more experienced and competitive fighting game fans to partake in as well.

When Rangers take one another on, you can bet that the sparks will fly!

This mentioned "depth" comes from the systems involved in Battle for the Grid, consisting of things like smart blocking and subsequent push blocks (where you literally push an opponent who's heavily on the offensive back while you're in mid-block to give yourself from breathing room), the game's premier tag mechanics, and a perfectly themed mechanic in the context of the Power Rangers which serves as a means to come back from a deficit in battle.

This comeback mechanic involves calling for some overhead assistance, whether it's the Megazord, Dragonzord, Mega Goldar, or the recently released S.P.D. Zord. When you're on the losing end of battle, you can summon a Zord to unleash attacks from above in intervals temporarily to try to turn the tides of battle to your team's favor. While summoning a Zord or Mega Goldar may seem cheap, it's quite easy to dodge and wait out, simply by blocking and running out the clock on the opponent's summoning time. This results in a comeback mechanic that's fair and balanced rather than a mechanic that players will want to be on the losing end of a match just so they can use it to get a cheap win. There are no cheap wins with this mechanic, thankfully.

In all honesty, the sparks will fly in every battle, regardless of who's fighting!

As stated, Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid features a 3-on-3 tag system, and this is where the game really shines gameplay-wise. You can call in an assist or two to bring one or both of your teammates into battle to unleash an attack, not only to mess up your opponent, but also to make it so you can continue combos to great effect. You can create some killer combos by chaining together moves, throws, and assists, and learning your team's strengths and weaknesses can contribute to that. Just be careful, though, because teammates called into assist can easily be attacked, making it so you need to show caution and call in some help at the right moments in battle. Assist characters called in can also be switched between as the active fighter while the characters in reserve have a portion of the health bars restored as they wait in reserve.

Udonna from Power Rangers: Mystic Force puts the freeze on Mastodon Sentry's zoning game.

The initial roster of Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid was a bit on the small size, totaling less than ten characters at launch. However, in a manner that Rita Repulsa would be proud of, nWay managed to "make that roster grow" by almost double the original amount since the game's release. It needs to be said, though, that if you want the full roster of 18 characters, six must be purchased either individually or via the two separately-sold season passes.

A Season Pass One addition, Lord Zedd makes a monkey out of Goldar.

The roster runs the gamut of Power Rangers heroes and villains that have a selection of each of the genre's traditional roles. You have Jason and Tommy serving as the Ryu and Ken of Battle for the Grid, the Ranger Slayer and Mastodon Sentry as characters that are great at keeping opponents away with long-ranged attacks, and you have big brutes in the form of Goldar and Dragon Armor Trini who are slow, yes, but can unleash devastating attacks to make up for it. There is a great deal of variety in play styles in Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid, and despite the small roster, I feel it's the definition of quality over quantity on display.

The roster wasn't the only thing bare-bones at launch with there being a paltry amount of modes to play through, as well as a basic and bland presentation. Since the game's release, a Story Mode has been added, allowing players to go through an interactive retelling of the Shattered Grid event that occurred in Boom Studios' Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers comic. It's a short affair, with about two or three hours of fights interspersed with text-based dialogue and the occasional fully voiced still-frame cutscene, but it's a welcome addition to the game. Alongside the Story Mode's voice acting, characters in the game are now voiced as well, and additional stages are now included from the original release's handful.

Story Mode has wonderfully drawn visuals from comic book artist Dan Mora.

Online play has also improved since launch, offering cross-play between the Nintendo Switch and Xbox One, offering a larger community where even at odd times of night, I didn't have to wait too terribly long to find a match in ranked play. Casual play offered more of a wait, however. It makes sense considering Battle for the Grid features various online seasons--exclusive to ranked play--where those who rank up and reach the top of the leaderboard earn exclusive banners for their profiles, on top of other banners earned offline through beating arcade and story mode, as well as playing and winning online as specific characters for a number of matches. The netcode overall was rather good with my time playing online, and I seldom had a disconnection between myself and the other player due to a faulty connection.

Jen Scotts of Power Rangers: Time Force delivers her special move in a dazzling display.

As a budget fighter, Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid is a product of its cost. While animations and the presentation do less than impress, it's somewhat acceptable to me due to how much the game sells for. It's also acceptable because the gameplay here is so fundamentally solid. There's plenty of depth for those who want it, while also being accessible enough so that those who aren't overly competitive with their fighters and just want a casual time of it can enjoy the game as well. nWay has done well with its initial effort in the fighting game genre, and with more continued work, I can see Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid become an even greater game. As is, the foundation is strong, but the content just isn't quite there yet for anyone beyond the most ardent Power Rangers and fighting game fan.

[SPC Says: B-]

How Was I Supposed to Know THAT!? ~ Obtuse Things in Games - Volume Four

Today is National Puzzle Day, and it's a day for celebration of all things that twist, melt, bust, or otherwise perplex your brain puzzle-wise. It seems like a fantastic day to bring back an old favorite article series that hasn't seen much action recently. It's "How Was I Supposed to Know THAT!?", where we take a look at those frustratingly obtuse parts of games, whether for progression purposes or just plain ol' devious puzzles that one would have to be an absolute genius of a specialized field to solve. These following five games each have a particularly perplexing part or puzzle in them that possess some kind of masterful amount of outside information or knowledge to get past or solve them.

Before you delve into these newest five dubious entries, feel free to take a look at SuperPhillip Central's past volumes with these convenient links:

Volume One
Volume Two
Volume Three

My Kingdom (and Sanity) for a Sword - Final Fantasy IX (PS1)

We begin this volume of obtuse game secrets and hidden knowledge with Final Fantasy IX. Some secrets are such because they're hidden well. Sometimes they're secrets because they're hidden in such a ridiculously silly way that it's any wonder anyone came across them. Final Fantasy IX's ultimate sword, the Excalibur II, is one of the latter secrets.

In order to wield this omnipotent blade, players must reach a particular room in the final dungeon of the game within 12 hours. If you make it to the room and 12 hours have passed, the weapon will not be made available ever again in that save data. Considering we're talking about a three-disc game, that's no small feat. In fact, discs one and two are no short romps whatsoever. There's a lot of ground to cover within a dozen of hours.

Now, Excalibur II isn't mentioned or hinted at in the entirety of Final Fantasy IX's enormous adventure, and even with the knowledge of this legendary sword existing, actually completing the prerequisites necessary of the player is challenging enough. The original PlayStation version at least allowed skipping cutscenes through a clever trick, but no such trick exists in the recent re-releases of Final Fantasy IX, making this obtuse challenge even more, well, challenging.

"A" for A LOT of Effort - Valkyrie Profile (PS1, PSP)

We move from one Square Enix RPG from the PS1 era to another with Valkyrie Profile from Tri-Ace. While Final Fantasy IX's obtuse challenge required some outside knowledge and a mix of luck and skill to acquire an ultimate weapon, Valkyrie Profile ups the ante with an absurd level of knowledge and luck needed to reach the best ending in the game.

"Ending A" in Valkyrie Profile, also know as "the Golden Ending", has a heap of tasks required to achieve it. This ending requires specific information in order to get it, such as watching specific cutscenes in a specific order at specific times during the story, and the removal of a character of utmost importance to Valkyrie Profile's overall plot. The latter seems counter-intuitive in order to get a "golden" ending, but yes, it must be done.

How someone would know ahead of time that 1) there's a "better" ending to Valkyrie Profile than the one generally provided in the game, and 2) much less how to reach that ending considering the ridiculous set of rules and variables involved, makes this task of obtaining the best ending to Valkyrie Profile one that I'm amazed some players managed to figure out on their own.

An Obtuse Secret? Ah, Cork It! - Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom (Multi)

Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom was one of my favorite games of 2018, and it was a classic take on the Metroid-style formula with some modern sensibilities thrown in to make for a less aggravating game without diluting the experience too much.

Though, if you want aggravating, then I have it for you. There's a well that's plugged up by a giant cork within the central hub village of the game, and there's no hints whatsoever within the world how to unplug the well. The solution is to find five switches located within the village, some completely invisible to the player, and then solving a bit of a puzzle that can only be completed with some outside knowledge of Morse code. There's also a section that results in a fabricated error message that seems unsightly at first, but it's actually part of the sequence as well. So, what you have is a cork and subsequent puzzle that require outside knowledge from somewhere and are the definition of obtuse puzzles.

The saving grace of this "How Was I Supposed to Know THAT!?" moment is that it's purely optional and doesn't need to be completed for 100%. It's an added bonus to the game, but one that's so mired and mucked up in mysterious moves in order to solve it that it's no wonder that most turned to the Internet and written or video guides to solve it.

The Chocolate Code - Professor Layton and the Curious Village (DS)

Moving on from an optional puzzle to a necessary one, we have The Chocolate Code, Puzzle 067 from Professor Layton and the Curious Village. The Professor Layton series features a general mystery for Professor Layton and his supporting cast to solve as they explore areas and talk with various NPCs. Usually, NPCs have puzzles for Professor Layton to solve through the player in order to get much needed information and a means to continue the story.

The Chocolate Code is one of the more infamous puzzles in Professor Layton series history, and it requires a little outside knowledge to ascertain its solution. It also certainly puts those Hint Coins that players were hoarding to good use as well. The puzzle clue is as follows:

On Valentine's Day, your gadget-loving, technophile girlfriend gave you a most unusual slab of chocolate. While the jumble of letters looks like nonsense, if you manage to decode the letters written on the chocolate, a message from your sweetheart will appear.
What is she trying to tell you?

Starting out, looking at the letters on the bar of chocolate does indeed look like nonsense, but if you pay attention to the bite marks by each letter... well, the answer may still elude you. That's because without a token of outside knowledge (and perhaps a computer keyboard in front of you), you might remain clueless on what the puzzle wants from you.

What is needed is to look at the letters and their adjacent bite marks and designate each letter to a key on a computer keyboard. The direction of the bite mark in relation to a given letter designates the key on a traditional "QWERTY" keyboard that is next to that letter in that specific direction. Thus, this is the solution "TEXT ME".

Personally, I can't stand chocolate to begin with, so this puzzle not only made me feel stupid in not possessing enough smarts to solve it without outside help, but it also continued my distaste for the cocoa bean-based confectionery.

Dumb Lum Location - Rayman 2: The Great Escape (PS1, N64)

We conclude volume four of "How Was I Supposed to Know THAT!?" with a quick but dirty secret for players trying to aim for 100% completion in Rayman 2's PlayStation 1 and Nintendo 64 versions. The main collectible in Rayman 2 is that of Lums. Lots of these Lums are located in difficult areas to access, requiring some hardcore exploration of levels and adequate platforming ability. There's one in particular, however, that is just downright unfair to find.

The Lum in question is found within the level called "Tomb of the Ancients." Every other Lum in the game can be discovered through ample checking of the environment, some clever movement of the camera to gauge your surroundings, and a keen eye. This Lum from the "Tomb of the Ancients" level throws all of that out of the proverbial window. In order to get this particular Lum in the PS1 and N64 versions, one must jump through an otherwise unassuming wall to discover and collect it. This is the only Lum in the game that requires such a trick.

Perhaps understanding how silly it was to place this Lum in its initial location, future versions of Rayman 2 completely altered the area where you find this Lum, placing it in a treasure chest at the end of the level instead. From everyone who has ever played a Rayman 2 port since, I say "Thank you!"

Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield (NSW) Review

I was recently once again bitten by the Pokemon bug after over a decade of being tired of the mainline games. Now, I return to a brand-new Pokemon pair of games with Pokemon Sword and Shield. Here's the SuperPhillip Central review.

Your adventures in the Galar region await.

I should very much preface this review with the mention that with regards to the Pokemon series, I have long since fallen out from the franchise. Somewhere between Pokemon Diamond/Pearl and Pokemon Black/White I lost interest in the mainline games completely. It wasn't until Pokemon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Pokemon: Let's Go, Eevee! of all games that I jumped back into "Poke Fever", which the only cure for was more Pokemon games.

So, in essence, Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield are my first completely new installments in the franchise since Pokemon Black and White back on the Nintendo DS. Quite a lengthy hiatus. While for some players, the removal of features and Pokemon from previous games are some things that sting, I selfishly couldn't have cared less because I don't know most of the Pokemon or features lost nowadays anyway. Thus, I entered the Galar region with an open mind and ready for a fresh new Pokemon experience. And, for the most part, I wound up getting just that.

Route 1 is sort of a "blink and you miss it" kind of route. No worries, though--it's not
representative of the length of the other routes in Pokemon Sword and Shield.

Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield take place in the England-inspired Galar region, and have you starting your Pokemon journey being greeted by your mom and then your soon-to-be rival, Hop. A rival that if you're like me, you'll get incredibly sick of battling by the twelfth or so time the game forces you to do. Hop is the younger brother of the undefeated Galar League champion, Leon, and your quest is to collect the eight gym badges around the Galar region while contending with a healthy heaping of unique characters and personalities. Frankly, while a lot of the story is on the light side, but that said, the dialogue is a bit on the heavy side, having way too many interruptions to the otherwise enjoyable exploration and Pokemon searching, catching, and battling within the Galar region. That said, I personally didn't mind the overly done exposition, though the story is quite weak overall.

Select your starter, and begin your journey through the Galar region.

As for the aforementioned enjoyable Pokemon searching, catching, and battling, this is just as fun as ever in Pokemon Sword and Shield. There is a total of 400 Pokemon to catch within the Galar region, and just under 100 new Pokemon introduced in this pair of games. They're introduced steadily and rather quickly throughout the adventure, and discovering a new Pokemon you haven't yet encountered or even better yet, caught, is still a satisfying and exciting occurrence to have happen. Pokemon hide in tall grass, but taking a cue from Pokemon Let's Go, you can see most Pokemon in the grass and in dungeon areas before initiating a battle. This way you aren't always stuck with luck-of-the-draw random encounters, hoping to take on that Pokemon in your Pokedex that you've yet to catch. Though, there are Pokemon that only appear shrouded in tall grass and caught out of water via fishing that do require happenstance to encounter.

As a Pokemon game is wont to say, "It's super effective!"

If there's one thing I really like about Pokemon Sword and Shield it's how there's an abundance of quality of life features added to make for a more palatable experience. I've already talked about being able to see Pokemon on the field before deciding to battle them, but there's also things inside of battles themselves. One of these involves seeing if a given battle Pokemon's move will be effective against your opponent's. Another includes the use of sharing earned experience between all Pokemon in your party. While I'm sure some will miss being able to individually level up Pokemon to keep the game more challenging--and I would very much agree to having an option to turn the experience-sharing off--it makes for a leaner and more streamlined approach to training Pokemon. I personally have always found the slow method of having Pokemon games give experience only to Pokemon active in battle to be quite cumbersome, and perhaps that's a reason I dropped out of the games in the first place almost a decade ago.

That said, one can easily be over-leveled in Pokemon Sword and Shield, effortlessly steamrolling over Pokemon trainers met along the various routes and indoor areas in the game. It's a double-edged sword (or should I say a double-edged Honedge in this case?) in that by having an experience share, it's way too easy to have all of your Pokemon leveled too quickly. On the other hand, by having this experience share accessible, it allows less of a hassle to level up your Pokemon. It didn't have to be an either/or proposition here, and I think with a better balance by Game Freak, this wouldn't have been an issue at all.

Who's a good doggy? Why, yes, you are a good doggy, Boltund!

Regardless, Pokemon Sword and Shield brings more than new quality of life improvements to the series, it also brings new features as well. One such feature, and one highly advertised throughout the game's marketing, is the Wild Area. This is introduced early in your adventure, offering a wide expanse to travel, containing a multitude of Pokemon species to catch. Starting off in the Wild Area, you'll encounter Pokemon of such a high level that they're impossible to catch until you earn more gym badges, but being able to eventually catch an expansive variety of Pokemon all in one place is a fantastic inclusion to Pokemon Sword and Shield. The Wild Area is always changing weather-wise, with different parts essentially being different bio-mes, having vastly different weather. One step you could be in a bright, sunny expanse, while the next step it turns into a winter hailstorm where ice Pokemon reign supreme.

Welcome to the extraordinarily expansive Wild Area, introduced relatively early in Pokemon Sword and Shield.

Also new is that of Max Raid Battles, which also take place in the Wild Area. These have you team up with either three other Pokemon trainers via online or partner up with three AI trainers against a gigantic "Dynamax" Pokemon. These are terrifyingly large in size and unleash more devastating and powerful attacks than normal Pokemon. Among the four trainers, one of their Pokemon can fortunately also Dynamax, also growing to gargantuan Poke-proportions, using stronger versions of moves that they otherwise would be unable to use. The team of four trainers challenge and take on the "Dynamaxed" Pokemon, and if they're successful in taking it down within ten turns and without having four K.O.s between the four of them, they'll gain the opportunity to catch that Pokemon. Even if this catching attempt isn't successful, they're still rewarded with goodies like rare items like treasures and Technical Machines, used to teach their Pokemon new moves.

A gigantic Munchlax means a Pokemon with a gigantic case of the munchies.

Dynamaxing isn't exclusive to Max Raid Battles either, as they're a grand component of Gym Leader Battles this time around, where the final Pokemon each Gym Leader brings out is Dynamaxed to gigantic size as one last ditch effort to bring the match to their favor. One of your Pokemon can do the same at any time in the battle, and just like the Gym Leader's Pokemon, a Pokemon can only Dynamax for three turns before reverting back to normal, so there's some semblance of strategy to this otherwise superfluous spectacle.

Introducing your Galar League Pokemon Gym Leaders...

Collecting eight gym badges is as traditional as ever for the Pokemon series, but if it isn't broken, why fix it? That said, there is a change to how gyms work, as they all have Gym Challenges to take on and complete first in order to even gain the right to battle the Gym Leader. These have a wide range of tasks to accomplish, such as herding a group of Wooloo into a fenced area, hitting a series of buttons to switch on and off water from multicolored pipes, and riding in a Disney World teacup-like vehicle as you bounce around a Pachinko-like board. These are enjoyable excursions that don't just feel like filler or something extraneous to pad the game.

Gym Challenges will test all sorts of skills, but they won't all exactly
put the "challenge" in Gym Challenge.

Outside of going to gyms, taking on Gym Challenges, and moving on to battling their Gym Leaders, you'll be following along with a light story that doesn't really pick up until near the end of the game and then into the post-game afterwards. The culminating battles against the--for lack of a better term--"big bad(s)" don't really feel earned and don't feel natural to the overall game. The stakes just don't come across as very high, despite the scenario designers' best intentions.

Then, there's the return of camping with your Pokemon, but this is in a much more interactive form that what I witnessed in past games. You can play with your Pokemon, "talk" to them, and otherwise enjoy each other's company to build your friendship and trust with them. You can also create all sorts of curry-themed concoctions. While building up one's Currydex might be engaging for some, this entire feature just didn't strike any chord with me whatsoever, and I found myself using it sparingly at most.

Battling all day must be bad for a Pokemon. Why not spend some quality playtime
with them at a campsite occasionally so they can unwind?

Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield may be two games, but they're hardly two different experiences. You tackle the same story, with the same routes and gyms, and these gyms have the same Gym Challenges as well. The only real difference between the two games are which Pokemon are available to be caught, and which of two trainers you take on in the game. Thus, there's really no compelling reason to pick up both games unless you're a serious Poke-maniac.

Both games have a pleasant visual style to them on the Nintendo Switch, but I wouldn't exactly call them highly impressive. They're quaint, colorful, and nice enough to look at, but graphical powerhouses or showcases that put other first-party games to shame, they are not. The Pokemon, of course, are the stars of the show, offering plenty of unique personality in their animations, movements, and designs, and the environments sport adequate detail and have their own personalities as well. The online features can cause the frame-rate to chug and stutter a small amount when connecting with other players, but overall, Pokemon Sword and Shield aren't poorly optimized games. With regards to sound, the same 8-bit growls and buzzes from the Game Boy era are mostly used for Pokemon voices, save for a select few species, and this is a bit disappointing to me. Then again, it's practically tradition now, so I guess there's something quaint to be had with them. The music, however, is really splendid, offering plenty of jams and bops to enjoy.

Galar has an impressive variety of unique locales within its boundaries.

Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield may not have the most engaging story nor may be the most impressive running game on the Nintendo Switch, but they still meet the same prerequisite I require to enjoy a Pokemon a game--they're darn good fun. While absent features and Pokemon from past games will disappoint, as will the series not evolving as much as say, a Charmander to a Charmeleon to a Charizard, what is here in these two games was enough to satisfy me and make me eagerly await the upcoming Expansion Pass. I look forward to continuing my journey in the Galar region and quest to catch 'em all.

[SPC Says: B+]

Patapon 2 Remastered (PS4) Announce Trailer

Pata, pata, pata, pon! Take on enemies of all shapes and sizes in rhythmic battles in Patapon 2 Remastered, a return to the often overlooked game from the PlayStation Portable's library. Now, Patapon 2 sees new life put in to it when Patapon 2 Remastered releases on the PlayStation 4 on January 30.

 

MediEvil (PS4) Review

To start the week of content on SuperPhillip Central early, a new review is here. It's for a remake of a game from PS1 era: MediEvil. No worries--the skeleton puns and other associated humor in this review is no charge.

Make no bones about it--this remake's beauty is only skin deep.

Legends tell of the tale of Sir Daniel Fortesque, a hero who bravely led the charge of an army against the evil sorcerer Zarok and his minions. What the legends leave out, however, is that said hero quickly exited the battle from a stray arrow to the eye. A select number of people are aware of this, though, and many happen to be part of the prestigious Hall of Heroes, who shun Sir Daniel. Now, Zarok is back and causing all sorts of trouble in the kingdom of Gallowmere, and a hero shall rise from the grave to take on Zarok and his forces once more. Hopefully, this time around, he won't be defeated by a stray arrow, and will instead more than prove himself to all those who doubt him.

MediEvil is the latest relic from the original PlayStation that receives a full fledged remake, and while the game sees a gorgeous graphical improvement, the gameplay sticks a little too close to the original for my liking.

Let's begin with the tremendous graphical upgrade in this PlayStation 4 revival of MediEvil. Areas are now brimming with color and amazing detail, giving each level and area a more unique personality and character. The lighting on display in MediEvil shows off these levels in... and forgive the play-on words here... such a new light that many seem indistinguishable from the originals, aside from their basic designs. Sir Dan and the rest of the cast look sensational and animate well, too. The orchestrated score, centered on a whimsical Gothic, Medieval fantasy sound, never failed to amuse my ears.

The moon shines bright for the start of Sir Dan's adventure.

So, yes, the most obvious thing here is that the graphics when compared to the original MediEvil have been vastly improved in this remake. But, what of the gameplay? Well, unfortunately, not many tweaks at all were made here, and it's somewhat mystifying as to why considering all of the faults that the original MediEvil had.

In Sir Dan's journey, he starts out relatively weak, armed only with a sword and shield (and a literal arm as well, which can be used as a weapon). Along his multiple level journey, he picks up several new weapons to take down Zarok's plentiful amount of pesky enemies, such as zombies, imps, shadow demons, and more. Weapons like clubs, serve more than just for offensive purposes--they can be used to break boulders and walls to reveal new paths, and can be set on fire to light torches to solve puzzles. Apart from melee weapons like swords, clubs, and hammers, Sir Dan acquires plenty of long-range weaponry in the form of throwing knives, bows, spears, and even magic.

Exquisite graphics? Yes. Highly capable combat? No.

Levels in MediEvil have Sir Dan moving through them, collecting rune stones to unlock doors and gates to new areas, and sometimes performing the necessary occasionally-awkward platforming challenge. That said, most of the time MediEvil is all about light combat, exploration, and puzzle-solving. The former isn't too spectacular. In fact, I'd call it rather clumsy and ungraceful overall. More times than not when it concerned melee combat, I'd find myself running around like a chicken with its head cut off, flailing Sir Dan's sword around while hoping I wouldn't take too much collision damage from enemies in the process. Sadly, that seemed to be the best strategy starting out with the game.

Even the simple act of pushing blocks can be more difficult than it needs to be in MediEvil.

Defeating enemies is a major part of unlocking even better weapons for Sir Dan to use, as when an enemy is slain, a percentage of a level's chalice fills up. When the percentage reaches a full 100%, Sir Dan can scour the level to pick up the chalice. The chalice is usually hidden in an out-of-the-way location, but observant players can see that slain enemies have their spirits fly away in the direction of where the chalice is, which helps in discovering each chalice's location. What is a bit obnoxious is when the chalice location is back near the beginning of the level, so that means a relatively tedious trip back to collect it, just to have to make another trip back to where you turned around at originally in order to make the original trip to the chalice.

Without a long-range weapon, this battle would be a pain in the glass.
Thankfully, Sir Dan isn't unarmed!

Upon clearing the level with said chalice filled and collected, he gains access to the Hall of Heroes where he can earn a reward from one of the heroes waiting inside. These are pretty much required to obtain to have a fighting chance in later levels, as enemies can otherwise take a pretty good licking before they stop ticking. Rewards include upgraded and improved weapons like longbows, bows with flaming arrows, bows with magical arrows, hammers that serve as stronger clubs without the ability to break after repeated use, axes that can also be thrown, and Life Potions that give Sir Dan extra health to work with. Life Potions can also be found hidden in some levels themselves.

Sir Dan will need all the help he can get because MediEvil is old school challenging in its difficulty. While nowhere near so-called "NES hard", MediEvil will put you through your paces quite easily, and part of that is because of its design which is deeply rooted in older gaming. For one, losing all of your health in a level results in a game over, which means you must restart a level from the beginning again. Some levels are quite involved and can be a particular pain in Sir Dan's bony butt. One mid-game level that takes place in a garden maze is rather long due to its puzzles placed in the form of riddles, and dying so close to the end of the level--one that can easily go on for a half-hour--can be a serious gut punch and motivation-killer to continue the game. A checkpoint here and there would have been a terrific addition to MediEvil. As is, the game skews too closely towards cheap and unfair.

Further, the camera isn't always generous in giving you the best angles to work with, and the platforming leaves some things to be desired as it's hardly a game with the tightest jumping controls available. Seeing as missed jumps into bottomless pits, pools of water, or lava, results in an instant loss of a full bar of health, you can quickly breeze through what seemed like a safe amount of health to work with and end up with a frustrating "game over."

A level surrounded by pools of water makes this particular player a wee bit uneasy!

MediEvil does add a new feature to the game, which is that of lost souls. When you open a particular chest in a late-game level, lost souls appear in each of the game's main levels, and each give you a riddle to be solved in another level. These generally task you with opening up your inventory at a specific spot in a level, and then summoning the soul you collected based on the given riddle's clue. Upon finding all of the lost souls and solving their riddles, you unlock a rather cool bonus that rewards you with MediEvil in its original PS1 form.

Overall, MediEvil is an enjoyable enough romp, but one that I wish the developers had given an equal amount of time to improving the game's design and gameplay rather than obviously merely focusing on upgrading the visuals--as impressive and delightful as they are. As is, MediEvil has the appearance of current-gen game, but underneath its HD flesh is a skeleton filled with occasionally cheap design, frustrating deaths, and lackluster combat and platforming.

[SPC Says: C-]