Bravely Default II Review – Switching Up The Grind

Publisher: Square Enix

Developer: ClayTechWorks

Reviewed on: Switch

Bravely Default II hearkens back to another age of fantasy role-playing games, where players would find tiles to pace back and forth on, taking on random encounters to gain experience and resources before proceeding to the dungeon boss. Managing a team of four, players change jobs to access a wide variety of skills and abilities, combine them with gear choices, and craft their own satisfying builds to take on encounters. The overall experience is a nice trip for those looking to immerse themselves in job experiments, exploration, and monster-slaying, but the ride is firmly rooted in a formula that can drift toward dull at times.

Click here to watch embedded media

Environments are all over the place in terms of quality as you tackle myriad dungeons. A few are quite picturesque and memorable with visual trappings like flying bats or scrying clouds, but the majority are drab caves, earthy sprawls, and undercityscapes. Some neat lighting effects accompany some of the surroundings, but outside of a few exceptions, the world is a forgettable backdrop for monsters to crawl around in.

Epic signature fights at the end of each dungeon are often multi-phase affairs that can force you to craft a team designed to capitalize on its strengths and weaknesses, which may mean you’re going back to the grind. It feels good to “solve” a boss puzzle, but it also means you can’t rely on a single team with stacked abilities to get you through each encounter, as using the wrong sets of skills for a particular battle can have you annihilated in moments. The experience of crushing through a dungeon, collecting all the loot, and then getting the entire team slaughtered in a single attack by the area boss can be humbling (and definitely frustrating), but working out how to combine and craft a team to handle various challenges is satisfying as well.

Grinding is a big part of the game, so if you don’t enjoy doing it, this one probably isn’t for you. Luckily, Bravely Default II is cognizant of its own nature, and provides players the tools to fly through skirmishes once your setups get going. By taking advantage of ultra-fast combat speed and monster treats that allow you to stack up a bunch of battles into one for additional rewards, you can take the sting out of hours of grinding and turn it into a much more palatable pastime.

While grinding, it’s time to start thinking about job abilities in interesting and fun ways to forge lawnmower compositions that gobble up experience and loot in ridiculous quantities. For instance, I loved making my basic attacks hit all enemies with additional basic attack chances on top with stealing effects, allowing my crew to hit every target on screen with each attack and rob them at the same time. By combining skills and abilities, there’s no problem getting the job experience and gear needed to overcome the tough fights.

The “dungeon, savepoint, boss” template is slightly broken up by refreshing side quests and world exploration activities that include massively overpowered rare monsters that can be found in out-of-the-way areas on the world map. There’s even an entertaining Triple-Triad-style card game that you can dig into to break the standard routine. Still, killing reams of opponents loses its luster and feels monotonous from time to time, even with the alternative activities. On one occasion when I unloaded in town, I had approximately 80 of one axe drop to sell – a testament to just how many challengers I’d downed on that farm session.

Click image thumbnails to view larger version

 

                                                                                                            

While these side activities are most welcome, you’re still going to have to be comfortable with hours of monster mashing. As I harbor a good deal of nostalgia for old-school RPGs, this wasn’t a problem for me, but if you’re expecting a captivating story, interesting dialogue, or villains that don’t produce massive eyerolls, you won’t find those things here. The baddies have some of the hammiest quips I’ve ever seen, combined with lame responses from our heroic cast.

Fans of previous games may notice that the ability to turn off enemy encounters has been removed in this outing of Bravely, but don’t worry about it too much. Enemies that are weaker than the party will run quickly away, meaning they only need to be battled if you opt in to that fight. This allows you to turn your monster treats on for farming, and move through areas without a single battle when focused on progression.

Bravely Default II succeeds at delivering what it’s best at: offering a taste of the past with the emphasis on creative class combinations, hordes of foes, and big boss battles. Bravely Default II deftly harnesses some of the ancient enchantment of classic grind-and-go console RPGs – but don’t expect anything beyond that.

Score: 8

Summary: A love letter to a different time in role-playing history.

Concept: Turn-based battle your way through a world in peril with a highly customizable crew of adventurers

Graphics: While some of the dungeon environments are quite beautiful, many areas are nondescript. Plus, the chibi characters are sometimes strange situated against other backdrops

Sound: The soundtrack is solid and will have you humming along in dungeons

Playability: A casual difficulty mode is offered for players who don’t want to struggle with too much of a grind, but be aware some job combos must be experimented with even on the easier setting

Entertainment: If you enjoy the RPGs of eras long past, Bravely Default II captures some satisfying whimsy and nostalgia, but its formulaic structure can feel tedious

Replay: Low

Click to Purchase

Read More

Ghosts 'N Goblins: Resurrection Review – The Beauty Of Nostalgia

Publisher: Capcom

Developer: Capcom

Reviewed on: Switch

Ghost 'n Goblins: Resurrection is a game that time forgot, designed to transport players to the heyday of the Super Nintendo where visual beauty meets gameplay brutality, dazzling and pummeling in equal parts. The stack of corpses Resurrection piled up during my playthrough made me swear like a sailor, and yet I walked away singing its praises as one of the best throwbacks I’ve ever played.

Legendary hero Arthur and his more famous pair of boxer shorts return to be lit on fire, knocked into pits, and munched by a cave made of teeth, much to the chagrin of the player and delight of Capcom’s designers (which is spearheaded by Tokuro Fujiwara, who directed the original 1985 Ghost n’ Goblins game and SNES sequel). You can almost hear the latter group saying “Gotcha!” after each death that the player didn’t’ see coming. While nostalgic in its character movement and action dynamics, the level designs are wickedly clever and always changing, keeping you in a constant state of panic in fun and terrifying ways.

Skeletons rapidly rise from their graves as Arthur inches forward, and there’s always some kind of airborne threat positioned to knock him into a pit. The action demands split-second reflexes, but even more memorization of enemy patterns and placement, which is developed by dying. An edge can be obtained through Arthur’s weapon of choice, be it the quickly thrown daggers, the spreading fire of holy water, or a handful of other useful tools that can make short work of any foe. The action is simplistic in scope; you just jump and shoot in four directions, but it feels incredibly dynamic, making everything you do feel skillful.

All levels deliver wildly different challenges that make good use of the same moveset, yet players have some agency in how they progress through it. From the outset of the adventure, a choice between two levels is given, delivering either a shorter playthrough or the option to backtrack to missed stages to take on new horrors and earn more Umbral Bees. This oddly named collectible is a form of currency used to purchase useful spells, such as being able to turn every enemy onscreen into a frog or rain down lighting on them. The wealth of skills is worth the effort, as some can be game changers in specific stages, much like getting the right weapon for a boss in Mega Man.

Click image thumbnails to view larger version

 

                                                                                                            

The entire game can also be played cooperatively, with the second player controlling a trio of ghosts called the Three Wise Guys, who can be swapped on the fly. Each of the guys aid Arthur in different ways, like being able to create a protective shield or lift him across a gap. It’s a cool idea for co-op play that helps take some of the sting out of the game’s difficulty. While the second player isn’t experiencing the core gameplay, they can still have a significant role in the outcome.

Even with the aid of a friend, the game is quick to alert you that you can lower the difficulty if situations are too challenging. If that doesn’t produce results, you can activate a magic metronome to slow the game’s speed to a crawl, giving you a hell of an advantage to fill enemies full of lances, safely bound up crumbling staircases, and grab Umbral Bees that may zip past you otherwise. If you think the game is too easy, the metronome can also be used to speed it up and make it more challenging. If you just want to see the entire game without any cares in the world, the lowest difficulty setting lets you instantly respawn where you die, although some of the late-game surprises are removed when played like this.

Click here to watch embedded media

After the final boss is slain, players can restart their adventure to experience a slightly rearranged playthrough. This again holds true to the series’ roots, with transformed stages and new challenges within them. This is an awesome reason to play an amazing game again, and also gives the player a chance at earning every skill.

As much fun as I had getting my butt handed to me by Resurrection, one of the best parts of it is the visual design. It looks like a storybook drawn with pencils and colored to make every moving element pop. Yes, some of the classic enemy designs are fairly uninspired, and the worlds are fairly plain in details, but together they jump off of the screen and frame the action perfectly.

Ghost 'n Goblins: Resurrection is a game of try and try again, and should you not have the chops to make it, has built in solutions to allow you to keep making progress. I didn’t think I needed another Ghost n’ Goblins game, but Capcom proved me wrong, and now I want more.

Score: 9

Summary: This retro revival is challenging, fun, and worth playing twice.

Concept: A long-overdue sequel to the Super Nintendo game, Ghouls n’ Ghosts, that is wonderfully nostalgic and fantastically modern in its brutal action

Graphics: Basic enemy designs and backdrops are given flair with storybook-like details. Some of the animations almost look like they are made using stop-motion. It all adds up to a beautiful picture

Sound: Iconic retro melodies flow through the entire adventure

Playability: The simple acts of jumping and shooting are heightened by excellent scenario design and do-or-die moments

Entertainment: An incredible continuation that is a showcase of clever stages and pitch-perfect twitch reflexes

Replay: High

Click to Purchase

Read More

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury Review – The Cat's Pajamas

Click here to watch embedded media

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: Nintendo

Reviewed on: Switch

When Super Mario 3D World was released in 2013, the adventure was widely praised for its outstanding level design, precise gameplay, and chaotic co-op. However, since it debuted on the poor-selling Wii U, it is often overlooked in discussions about the best games in the Mario franchise. Now, Nintendo is giving a wider audience a chance to play the superb 3D adventure (this time with online co-op) while also adding an all-new experience in a fun side game called Bowser’s Fury.

The meat of the package is the port of Super Mario 3D World. Nearly 100 linear, fixed-camera stages wait for you to run, jump, and explore by yourself or with up to three friends. Each one presents clever gimmicks; my favorites include levels based on timing your jumps with the music across disappearing platforms, using ever-increasing clones to open new areas, or playing through sections of a stage with only the shadows cast on the walls.

Every level contains secrets galore, including collectible stamps and green stars, but the power-ups offer the greatest rewards. The Super Bell, which turns Mario and company into cats, adds useful melee and climbing abilities. Old favorites like the Super Leaf, Boomerang Flower, and Fire Flower give players diverse ways to take on platforming challenges and enemy encounters.

Click here to watch embedded media

Super Mario 3D World is a blast by yourself or with others, especially now that online play is an option. Cooperative gameplay in platforming titles is often fun, but usually hinders your progression due to the sheer chaos of having multiple players trying to reach the same areas. In Super Mario 3D World, those moments still occur – I accidentally picked up my co-op partners on more than a few occasions – but your road to the final showdown with Bowser might be easier with friends this time. That’s all thanks to levels that reward taking chances, rules that allow you to treat your co-op partners like a safety net, and areas that give you enough space for four characters.

The tweaks to Super Mario 3D World are minimal, so if you’re looking for something new, this package also includes a second game called Bowser’s Fury. This additional adventure, which lasts a few hours, takes the gameplay and power-ups of Super Mario 3D World, but swings the camera behind Mario, removes the linear individual stages, and adds the looming threat of a monstrous form known as Fury Bowser. This massive, corrupted beast hibernates in the middle of the feline-themed Lake Lapcat as you run around a large open area, completing objectives.

Rather than dumping you into a hub world and letting you select the stage you want to play like in 3D World, Bowser’s Fury takes place in an open map with distinct islands for you to explore. These areas feature some of the most enjoyable playgrounds Mario has ever encountered. The most memorable sequences include a labyrinth of pipes, a lengthy ascent on invisible platforms, and a downhill course full of ramps and obstacles where you ride an ice skate and nab collectibles. You can also use Bowser Jr., who is your ally in this game, to attack enemies and uncover secrets.

The objective structure takes a page from games like Mario 64 and Odyssey, where you are given a mission name and environmental clues to try and earn a Cat Shine, the main collectible in Boswer’s Fury. I loved jumping across moving platforms en route to a boss battle or riding on the aquatic dino Plessie to complete various swimming challenges. These missions are exciting on their own, but the intensity ratchets up when Fury Bowser awakens.

Click image thumbnails to view larger version

 

                                                                                                            

Every so often, it starts raining; that’s your first sign. Soon, Fury Bowser awakens to harass you for the next couple of minutes. Once the beast emerges, all bets are off as the pleasant Mario music gives way to a roaring guitar riff and storm clouds block out the sun. Fury Bowser drops down spikes and fireballs and stalks you with his fiery breath. While this certainly provides a thrilling experience, if it happens at the wrong time, it also ups the frustration; on one occasion, I finally made it past a tricky part of a rotating obstacle course, only to have Fury Bowser wake up and cause me to fall all the way back to the bottom. Occurrences like those are rare, but that didn’t stop me from cursing his name.

Fury Bowser’s arrival isn’t all bad, as you can use his attacks to open areas containing additional Cat Shines. Also, if you have enough Cat Shines when he appears, you enter a boss battle against the behemoth. In these face-offs, Mario grows to match his longtime adversary as Giga Cat Mario. These battles require you to dodge the all-out offensive brought by Fury Bowser and pounce on any chance to hit his weakness, whether that’s waiting for him to expose his underbelly or by returning projectiles to knock him over. These battles can get repetitive, and Bowser sometimes gets caught on the environment, but they offer a white-knuckled thrill unlike most other battles in this two-game package.

Having another chance to revisit Super Mario 3D World (or experience it for the first time) is reason enough to be excited. However, with an excellent, all-new game joining the Wii U port, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury is a compelling option for anyone who wants more Mario in their life.

Score: 9.25

Summary: By bundling one of the best 3D Mario games with an all-new adventure, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury is a compelling package for all fans of the Nintendo mascot.

Concept: Relive one of Mario’s greatest 3D adventures with an additional campaign that uses the same gameplay within a distinct structure

Graphics: The colorful charm of Nintendo’s flagship franchise is in full effect, and Fury Bowser is a sight to behold

Sound: Terrific music and cute cat sounds accompany your adventures to take down Bowser

Playability: Whether you’re reliving past glories with Super Mario 3D World or taking on new challenges in Bowser’s Fury, Mario’s movement is precise and responsive. The power-ups are among the best in the series

Entertainment: This package combines tried-and-true gameplay and level design with unique concepts (plus an all-new game) to earn its place among the elite games in the franchise

Replay: Moderately high

Click to Purchase

Read More