Jotun Valhalla Edition - Review

Last year I played Sundered Eldritch Edition by Canadian based Thunder Lotus Games. It was a phenomenal game, part horror, and part Metroidvania, to me it was a perfect game. It had a great story, beautifully hand drawn visuals, an epic soundtrack along with challenging gameplay that toed the line between difficult and hair pullingly frustrating. The only downside about the whole experience is that I didn't buy the physical copy when it was released by Limited Run Games.


I love chocolate, but then again who doesn't? In the last five to ten years I have really started getting into Oreos, I tried so many varieties of them and there are few I did not like. A couple of months back I tried Cadbury's Oreo Mint Chocolate, it combined three things I love; chocolate, mint and Oreos, little to say I loved it. I didn't think it was possible to enjoy any of those parts any more than I already did but somehow combining these great things made them even greater. Playing Jotun I found myself asking was this the perfect combination of great ingredients?

Story


Jotun comes from Scandinavian Mythology and means a member of the race of giants and enemy of the Gods. The game follows Thora a Norse Warrior who is killed at sea when a storm destroys her ship. Unfortunately, dying of old age or as Thora did is considered an inglorious death and means you are unable to get into Valhalla. She is given a second chance and must defeat five Jotun and impress the Gods. Thora discusses the different areas she visits and how she came to be on that ship and her family.


Overall the story is intriguing and left me wanting to read more into Norse Mythology. A well developed story that had me care not only who Thora is but also her journey to try and reach Valhalla.

Visuals


No matter what I say about the hand-drawn visuals in Jotun it will not do them or the artists that created them justice.  The cave area feels so enclosed and treacherous, and Fe the cave boss looks amazing. Two of my favourite Jotun were Hagalaz who controls lightning and on first look seems fairly innocuous but that changes quickly. Then there is Kaunan who is a fiery smith who is the most overbearing enemy and really gave me pause.


Overall the visuals are up there as some of my most favorite and can't wait to see more games in the future from Thunder Lotus Games.


Music


The soundtrack is easily as epic as Lord of The Rings and in my opinion better, I am already listening to it for the third time today.  The music when exploring the levels differs in intensify to those of the boss fights and make each track really stand out on it's own. The score is composed by Canadian Maxime Lacoste-Lebuis, who worked on Thunder Lotus Games Sundered.


The soundtrack comes in at around an hour and there is not a single second wasted. It is by far my favorite soundtrack I have listened to this year. There is no point beating around the bush I love all the tracks and gun to my head I can't pick a favorite one. Overall the soundtrack is magnificent and even during boss fights I found the soundtrack helped keep in the zone and focused.

Gameplay


The gameplay moves between exploration and boss fights. Because of this, the boss fights feel more intense and the exploration feels more relaxing. Thora is equipped with her mighty axe which has a light and heavy attack. Then she has her roll ability, which saved my life more than a few times. Each new area you explore offers the chance to gain new abilities, improve them and increase your health bar.  Thor's Hammer was one of my favorites and can really help major damage, use it at the right time and you can really turn the tide of battle.


The boss battles are well balanced and offer a good challenge that while often tough feel achievable. Hagalaz was one of the first Jotun I took on and to me is still one of the toughest, maybe it's because he seems unassuming at first or because he can create two of himself, or maybe it was that I had to really focus on his attack patterns and my own. In case the battle was intense and defeating him was all the more satisfying.


Overall the gameplay is fantastic, well balanced and hugely enjoyable. Once you have completed the game Valhalla mode opens, give you the chance to have all abilities and upgrades and take on the Jotun again but this time much tougher.





Final Thoughts

So, after six hours how did I feel?  Pretty damn good! An intense and fun experience. The story was great, the visuals were beyond amazing, the soundtrack is one I will listen to again and again, and the gameplay was perfect.  Overall this one is a slam dunk and easily gets a 5 out of 5

Streets of Rage 4 - Review

I have been so excited for Streets Of Rage 4 to be released. I wanted a physical copy so made sure to order it from Limited Run Games. It has been over a quarter of a century since Streets of Rage 3 was released, and the series was one of my favourites growing up. I expected it would be weird playing it on the PlayStation 4 as previously I had only played it on the Mega Drive. It finally arrived last week and I could not be more eager to play a game.


In the nineties when I lived in London I went to Beanos in Croydon (long since closed) with my best friend at the time Dave. Beanos was a great music shop which managed to be small and large at the same time, it was like a mini-tower. On the top floor, there was a large TV that played movies and a couch. They sold American chocolate and made fresh milkshakes and malts. This was the first time I tried Hershey's Cookies N Creme, it was amazing. All these years on when I have one I still have fond memories and still tastes good. While playing Streets of Rage 4 I found myself asking was it just nostalgia or was it still tasty?

Story


27 years ago Mr X was finally defeated once and for all by Axel, Blaze, and the gang. The city experienced peace once more until a new syndicate took control, this time led by the children of Mr X -  Mr and Ms Y. Axel and the gang must take to the streets and take down these new powerful foes. This time sees the return of characters like Adam and Max, along with the introduction of new characters like Cherry (Adam's daughter) and Floyd - a beefcake with bionic arms.


Overall the story is pretty straight forward and simple with a few 'ooooo' moments. I really loved the story especially the fact they played homage to the previous games.

Visuals


When I first watched the trailers for Streets of Rage 4 I was unsure about the art style. I had gotten so used to the 16-bit graphics from the Mega Drive it was hard to process this new art style initially. Quickly that faded, I really like the new look, it was fresh but also had an old school feel. The levels are so vibrant and colourful, the characters look new but also so familiar. Honestly, I could not have asked for more.  Even the older bulky looking Axel looked perfect and made sense, I think the only character that did not really age was Blaze. Even the animation for attacks look fantastic, just look at the images above and below. One of my favourite looking levels was one where you are in a glass elevator which is really intense, along with being on top of a train watching the city go by.


Overall I have zip/zero to complain about, the game looks great and is a great addition to the series.



Music


I cannot overstate this but I loved the Streets of Rage soundtracks for the first three games. Kuzo Koshiro created the sound for them and it as important as the gameplay itself. He has helped create the sound for many other games including Sega's Revenge of Shinobi (another fantastic soundtrack and game).  I was excited to hear he would be returning to work on Streets of Rage 4, this time he brought some friends: Olivier Deriviere, Groundislava, XL Middleton, Keiji Yamagishi, Harumi Fujita, Mothiro Kawashima, Yoko Shimomura, Scattle, Yuro Koshira, Das Mortel and H-Pi.


The soundtrack is over an hour long and features many great tracks, in fact so many I stopped writing them down. If I had a gun to my head and could only pick five tracks they would be; The Streets, They're Back, Mr Y, Nora, Barbon, and Double Divas. Overall a great soundtrack, and while I don't like it as much as the others once I have listened to it for over a hundred hours like the others that might change.

Gameplay


The gameplay is classic side-scrolling beat em' up action, that anyone who played the previous games will be familiar with. There are however a few changes that add a new dynamic and a new level of replayability. As always there are a number of different difficulty levels from easy to mania. There is a boss challenge mode, level select mode, and a versus mode. This time you can play up to 4-players in Co-Op which is really neat. The more you play the more you can unlock, everything from the soundtrack to more characters including some of the classic look characters and for the first time you can play as Shiva, Mr X's right-hand man.


The fighting is a lot of fun, the animations and in general, the fighting is really smooth. Special moves can eat your health but if you knock out an enemy quick enough you can recoup the loss. Similar to previous games each character have their own strengths and weakness along with special moves. There a lot more weapons this time and it seems the enemies are as free to use them as you are.


There are eleven stages in the game which is the most any game in the series has featured to date. Each of them has a very different look and feel along with more than a few hazards that can be used to your advantage. Each stage has its own boss and sometimes two, this can be extremely challenging as you only have two lives per round but you can get more if you are willing to reduce your score.


Overall the gameplay is fast and tons of fun and cannot recommend it enough!




Final Thoughts


So, after just a few shorts hours how did I feel? Like I wanted to play the game over and over again. The story was fun and a nod to its predecessors. The visuals managed to be both new and retro at the same, great soundtrack (even though it not my favourite..yet). The gameplay is fun and the new modes give it a lot of replaybility. This one gets a smooth 5 out 5