Metroid Samus Returns 3DS

 

Last year my kind little Starfish (known by other people as Nollaig) purchased me Metroid Samus Returns on the 3DS for Christmas. I was looking forward to playing it for a long time and while I started it last year it ended up falling to one side, until recently. 

I like Pringles, so many different flavour options, in the last few years they have added even more. Some of the flavours are good, some not so much. I recently tried their Katsu Curry flavour, the first few were okay but was not sure I wasn't fully sold on it but quickly I ended up consuming the entire can. Playing Metroid Samus Returns on the 3DS I found myself asking was it this actually tasty or was the flavour just not for me?

Story

One of my favourite games in the Metroid series is Zero Mission, which is a remake of the original Metroid. Samus Returns on the 3DS is a remake of Metroid 2 on the Gameboy. The story sees the bounty Samus Aran sent to the planet SR388 to investigate the disappearance of a reconnaissance unit.  It is time for Samus to suit up and take on the Space Pirates and the Metroids again. 

Overall the story is fun and simple. I have always been drawn to the Metroid series due to the setting and gameplay, the story is just the icing on the cake and I don't need much icing.

Visuals 

The visuals look really good, and unlike many 3DS games where the 3D can be so-so in the case of Samus Returns it looks awesome. The different areas you visit are mostly under the surface of the planet and features a lot of caves and caverns, along with lava pits of death and the familiar Chozo statues that hold your next coveted power up. 

Overall the visuals look good, and while some areas can look a little samey Nintendo has done a lot to set it apart from the original release on the Gameboy.

Music

There is something very classic Nintendo when it comes to the Metroid music, it could never be mistaken for another series, and Samus Returns is no different. The music always has a retro sound even the newer games in the series and remakes. The soundtrack is created by Japanese composer Daisuke Matsuoka, who works include; Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Super Smash Brothers on Wii and 3DS.

The score is just over an hour, or two depending on which version you find online (I went for the longer version). There are some great tracks, my favourites being; 'Title', 'Samus Appearance Jingle', 'Item Obtained', 'Alpha Metroid', 'Area 1 Caverns', 'Diggernaut Chase', 'Verses Diggernaut' and 'Verses Proteus Ridley (Phase 1-3)'. Overall a fun soundtrack steeped in nostalgia.

Gameplay

Metroid Samus Returns is a 2D/3D side-scrolling game. Any fan of the series will be used to the format of the game. At a Metroid games core; explore an area, if come across something you need a power-up for, move onto another area, later on, once you get the power-up return to the area. This type of gameplay not only pushes the player to explore but gives a reason to go back to areas already visited to try and get 100% completion.

As Samus traverses the planet there will be the opportunity to upgrade your health, power-ups and missiles. New (for me anyway) is the ability to activate abilities for a time such as; rapid-fire, increased protection and one that allows you to reveal the map around you including hidden areas. 

Samus has a ton of great weapons, my favourites being the morph ball and the full upgrades three-way laser beam. The accuracy of weapons is great and taking a moment to aim helps you use a lot less ammo. 

The areas are littered with enemies, while most of them are fine there are some poor ones most notably the bosses themselves. The bosses repeat themselves, a lot, and while I can only imagine it must be difficult to come up with so many different devices in my opinion less is more. There are some cool bosses later but not enough to make up for the repetition of the earlier ones.

Overall the gameplay is classic fun Metroid, and while the repetition of bosses could be annoying it wasn't a deal-breaker either.

Final Thoughts 

So, after thirty hours how did I feel? The story is nothing exciting (apart from near the end), visuals and music are great. The gameplay is awesome with very little to complain about overall. This one gets a solid 4 out 5

Shadow Tactics: Blades Of The Shogun - Review

 

A couple of years ago a friend loaned me a copy of Shadow Tactics: Blades Of The Shogun by Mimimi Games, sadly it kept having issues running on my computer. Unfortunately, I ended up forgetting about it until I recently saw it on sale in the PlayStation Store. The thing that drew me to the game is that it reminded me of years ago when I used to play Commandos. Wanting to feel a little nostalgia from my childhood I decided to purchase it.

Growing up something I really loved eating was toasted peanut butter sandwichs, the combination of toasted bread, crunchy peanut butter, and some additional butter to go with the peanut butter. It was simple, tasty, and went well with a glass of milk. I have had them since and I am still taken back to my childhood. Playing Shadow Tactics: Blades Of The Shogun I found myself asking was nostalgia a good enough reason to try something and would it feel as good as when I was a child. 

Story

The game is set during the Edo period, after years of turmoil and war, Japan is finally united due to Shogun. There seems to be a growing conspiracy to destroy this peace and the only name whispered is Kage-sama. The Shogun assigns Oshiro Mugen, a trusted samurai, to investigate and stop this new threat to Japan. He gathers four allies in his mission, ninjas Hayato and Aiko, a thief named Yuki, a crack shot and gunsmith Takuma and his fluffy tanuki companion. Things grow ever darker as the story unfolds, and you start wondering will five allies be enough to halt the unstoppable force. 

Overall the story is fantastic and had me hooked from start to finish. Watching the characters develop was really interesting and added a lot of depth to the game, some points in the story are really gut-wrenching. 

Visuals 

There are many great backdrops in the game, there are beautiful lush forests, flowing lakes and busy towns. There are no two levels that look the same, and each provides a lot of diversity from both a visual perspective and a gameplay one. The character models are good but could certainly use a little polish as the game looks a lot older than four years old. The only other trouble I had is sometimes it was difficult to see my character and had to pan the camera around and zoom in to get the perfect angle.

Overall the visuals are good and while they could use some polish and a little bit of camera work it definitely wasn't a deal-breaker for me.

Music

The music for the game has a beautiful oriental feel to it and one I enjoyed listening to multiple times. The music is created by German composer Flippo Beck Peccoz, who worked on; Desperados 3, Growrilla, Light On Earth and Fox N Forest to name but a few.

The soundtrack runs at almost ninety minutes, and not a moment of it is wasted. The soundtrack is perfect for the game and for me was one of the highlights of the game as a whole.

Gameplay

The gameplay is a top-down strategy and anyone familiar with playing Commandos will easily see the comparison. Mimimi games have created a modern-day Commandos with an Edo Period backdrop. The game has you command five units, with unique skills across a campaign of thirteen missions. Some missions you will only have two or three of the units other times the whole squad. What makes a game like Shadow Tactics: Blades Of The Shogun so great is that there multiple ways to complete each level. Most levels took me one hour to, well, quite a few hours, others online seemed to finish some missions in as little as twenty minutes!

Each level has a main mission and submissions that will generally help make the final objective easier. While the game is very much a strategic one the strategy employed is entirely up to you. For me, Yuki was one of my favourite characters has her trap skill was great for thinning out enemies and was handy with a knife. That being said all of them are very good in their own way. The game allows you to see how far the enemies vision goes with a press of a button, this is invaluable throughout the game. The next most important thing is the Shadow Mode which allows you to coordinate your entire squad and execute a plan at the same time, it can really change a mission.

One of the most things in the game is that if you are going to kill someone make sure to hide the body afterwards as the last thing you want is an alarm going off. If you do set off alarms it will cause more soldiers to appear on the map, stealth is optional, but also advisable.

Overall the gameplay is fantastic, my only regret is that I played in on PlayStation 4 rather than PC as it would have likely improved the fluidness of the game.

Final Thoughts

So, after almost forty hours how did I feel? Pretty damn good! The story was solid, had a lot of heart and certainly hooked me. The visuals were one of the weaker elements of the game, but that isn't to say they were bad overall. Whatever shortcoming the visuals may have had were certainly made up by the solid soundtrack and gameplay.  Overall this one gets a 4 out of 5

Tearaway - Review

 

Back in 2013 Tearaway was released on the PlayStation Vita, I remember playing the demo and while it piqued my curiosity it never completely sucked me in. Recently, my brah Ivan was getting rid of a few games and one of them was Tearaway. I really like the PS Vita and had not played it in a while and thought why not give it a proper go.

Growing up I loved jelly, it was brightly coloured, when you shake it it jiggles, has a simple yet satisfying taste what's not to like?  As I grew up I stopped liking it, the simple colours and jiggles just didn't do it for me. I think I just grew out of jelly. Playing Tearaway I wondered did it taste like when I was a kid or how it does now as an adult?

Story

The game has you take on the role of Iota a messenger from a world where everything is made from paper. Iota's head is made from an envelope that carries a message that needs to be carried to the sun. The sun is made of paper but in the middle of it is you. When I say you I really mean it, the game uses the PS Vita camera to make you then sun which is quite fun. There are little pieces of paper called scraps trying to stop you from reaching you.  Along the way there will many creatures looking for your help, a number of them are optional but does make things more interesting.

Overall the story is simple but sometimes feels like it trying to be bigger than it really is, which seemed kind of strange. It felt like animated movies that are aimed at kids but try to throw in an adult theme that never quite hits the mark.

Visuals 

The visuals in the game are really interesting, everything is made from paper, like South Park but not as much fun. That's harsh, I mean it is fun to look at but in a different way. It's very cutesy, small squirrels, and crazy looking creatures, the downside is that due to the world being created it can all feel very flat even in a three-dimensional world. Some of the visuals elements that I really liked was when you could push your finger into the world (use the back panel of the PS Vita), sometimes used to move something or to bounce Iota up into other areas of the world.  The end sections of the game get very otherworldly and definitely a positive change from the sometimes overly cutesy world, I only wish there had been more sections like it.

Overall the visuals while interesting lost there appeal fairly quickly, in my opinion in a game where there isn't a lot of story, it is important the other elements help balance it out.

Music

The music reminded of a cross between Bagpuss and a kids TV show, sometimes creepy and dark, other time light and fun. The soundtrack was composed by Scottish composer Kenneth Young, Canadian Composer Brian D'Oliveria and British composer Ed Hargrave. Between them they have worked on the music for; Little Big Planet, Heavenly Sword, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and Resident Evil VII Biohazard.

The soundtrack runs at over an hour and while there are many tracks within it there was nothing that really wowed or excited me which is a shame as I really enjoy video game music. Overall the soundtrack was a little underwhelming.

Gameplay

While there are certainly a lot of weaknesses in the game the gameplay is not one of them. Iota is fairly simple to control, he can jump, pick up and throw, which at least in the beginning is all you need. As the game unfolds it utilises many features of the PS Vita such as the camera and touch panel to manipulate objects to help Iota navigate the world. Die is not an issue as you have an infinite number of lives and the checkpoints are fairly frequent.

A big thing you can do in the game is craft items using pen and paper and cut them out. Sometimes creatures in the game will ask you to make them a hat, a face, eyes or even some gloves. It is fun but as a fairly non-crafty person it didn't excite me a huge amount but for people more crafty than myself or younger people it would likely be tons of fun.

The world sometimes has shiny surfaces with fingerprints on them, these can be used to open gifts or help unlock new areas or platforms. This was particularly fun in faster-paced areas as it required you to be quick on the mark.

Overall the gameplay and while the crafty parts were not for me personally for many others it would no doubt be very appealing.

Final Thoughts

So, after nearly seven hours how did I feel?  A little underwhelmed, the game got a lot of positive write-ups at the time but when you look at Zelda The Phantom Hour Glass which utilized all the elements of the 3DS it did it a lot better than Tearaway. The story was simple but sometimes felt the story was trying to be more than it was, like a child wearing trying to get away wearing their parent's clothes. The visuals while interesting at first glance quickly became mundane until the latter areas of the game. The music was far from exciting, so it was bad is unfair, to say it was good might be pushing it. The gameplay was the most exciting element of the game but was not enough on its own to make up for its shortcoming.  Perhaps this game was simply designed for a younger generation than me and if that's the case fair enough, but if it was designed to attract all ages it failed. This one slips in with a 3 out of 5