nomoneytoplay - Tumblr blog

[nomoneytoplay]

The Callisto Protocol

Bought for: $19.99

Played on: PS4

Release date: December 1, 2022

Developer: Striking Distance Studios

Publisher: KRAFTON, Inc.

Game Type: Survival Horror

Platforms: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft WindowsESRB Rating:  M for Mature - Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language

ESRB Rating:  M for Mature - Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language

Pros & Cons

A horror sci-fi game set in a prison on Jupiter’s dead moon, what a location!

Third person camera shooter.

Decent voice acting.

Some areas have unique traits like spikes on the wall to help you eliminate enemies.

Difficult enemies. Like weird alien zombies (that aren’t scary) and GIANT ROBOT!

Unique combat system.

GORE. 

Powering up inventory is done by a high tech 3d printer, that’s new! 

Graphics, while good, some take awhile to load especially in cutscenes.

While it has unique death scenes, they get old very fast.

The story starts off well, then it just becomes a generic escape story.

Cheap jumpscares.

If you are playing this on PS4 (like I did) loading screens..Take..FOREVER!

The amount of DLCs I bought? ZERO.

My Experience:

Hmm…this game reminds me of something...I can't put my foam finger on it. Anyway it is not important (for  now) but man the games you can find in the cheap pile at Walmart am I right? I remember when this game was being developed, I was reading an article on how a developer got PTSD because they spent time researching real life gore pictures in order to fully animate the death scenes in this game. Reading that made me worry about that developer and curious to see how his game would play out. Now owning it, I can safely say…boy what a letdown. 

Not by the gore, but the rest of the game.

Is not easy to overlook the obvious similarities with Dead Space, take all the good features of that game and just make it so uninteresting that it will give you the urge to play Dead Space instead. I wanted to write this review without comparing them, but it is difficult to not do that. 

Here’s something that Callisto Protocol has unique, the combat system, to defeat the enemies you can fight them one on one with a melee weapon (no point talking about this weapon). Is like a street fight, depending on which direction you make your command, you will attack that enemy’s area or block the upcoming attack. While inflicting more damage a little target will appear and you can pull off a Clint Eastwood style quick draw to finish that punk off. 

That punk wasn’t feeling lucky. What? I have to make this entertaining somehow.

Is a really nice feature, but here’s the problem and the comparison. While you are going one on one with this ONE enemy. Your character is auto-locked on this particular one, so when you are facing 3 or 4 at the same time, the other enemies have a clear advantage to attack you. You really need to force your character to break away from that autolock. In Dead Space you have more freedom for targeting and much better breathing room for combat. 

Both games have your typical power ups, but the one that I don’t understand why is in Calisto Protocol is telekinesis or a glove that does just that. I know it is to give you some help in defeating enemies, but when I saw that, it just made it more obvious that I would rather play Dead Space instead.   

Callisto Protocol is okay but is not what I was expecting, I wished there's more things that I can say that Iiked. But sadly the story wasn’t interesting, the characters were okay, the environment was bland, nothing from this game was scary and performance issues that are clearly not meant for old consoles. The only thing I liked was the melee combat in this game and slowly it gets old but still enjoyable. I do hope if they ever consider making a new game, they can give it a new life with more appeal. Instead of just coming up with another Dead Space rip-off because not even more gory death scenes will get me to buy any dlc’s for this game. The $20 I spent is more than enough.

A Dead Protocol score of 2 out 4 quarters

[nomoneytoplay]

Prince of Persia (2008)

Bought for: $1.99

Played on: PC

Release date: December 2, 2008

Developer: Ubisoft Montreal

Publisher: Ubisoft

Game Type: Platform game, Action-adventure game, Adventure

Platforms: Android, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, macOS, Classic Mac OS, Java Platform, Micro Edition

ESRB Rating: T for Teen - Alcohol Reference, Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence

Pros & Cons

A brand new Prince! 

Graphics are stunning.

Superb voice acting.

PARKOUR! 

The classic hack and slash the series is known for.

A huge map to explore with different paths to unlock. 

While the map may be impressive, yourself parkouring around in circles. Which at one point the world will start to feel empty.

Enemy designs are cool, however same enemy, same area.

Four unique bosses and encounters. However…..

Combat is very repetitive. 

Glowing seeds to collect all over the map.

My Experience:

Before the acclaimed Assassin’s Creed franchise was born, Ubisoft's greatest parkour master game was the Prince of Persia. An epic tale of a warrior prince and unique rewinding time ability that was always fun to do. But to create something new, Ubisoft made a total 180 on this game, no longer would the Prince be ... .uhm a Prince. But he would be a (I guess) traveling thief who has lost his donkey………one word: AWESOME! 

This new Prince is now my favorite, THAT”S NOTHING MORE TO SAY!! 

A Score of~~~

Okay Okay I’m kidding! 

Prince of Persia is a game where you are immediately sucked into its plot. Helping a young woman named Elika to stop the curse that has left her kingdom ruined and her people dead. While you are playing as the “hero” of this game, The Prince behaves more like an anti-hero than anything else, cocky, a bit arrogant and flirtatious when given the chance. This is what makes this game worth it. The interaction between Prince and Elika is so much fun, there’s a button where you can have them speak to one another at any given time. Elika will fight alongside Prince, so if you parry or activate any special move, Elika will provide a hand. But here’s the issue of this game, Elika will always prevent Prince’s death. From falling off the platforms or enemies about to deliver the final blow. 

Safely put this game has no game over!  

As amazing as this sounds, it kinda takes away from the difficulty of this game, if there really is one. You see, while playing Prince of Persia, the game does feature four interesting bosses. These bosses have some unique story backgrounds, they all were in charge of different parts of the map which gives them a cool intake of who they were. But while the part of the world is challenging and enemies themselves are unique. It will be the same boss battle hack and slash encounter over and over again. 

The maps themselves also feature some challenging paths that are unlocked through story progression. It adds more to the parkour challenge and they are a challenge. One mistake and you would have to start all over again.   

As much as I can nitpick a person’s upper strength to climb and jump all the obstacles in this game. This is (like I said) not the most typical Prince of Persia game, but I enjoyed it so much. Simple to play on keyboard, beautiful graphics and character interactions that make up for the amount of ideas this could have had. This is an adventure that your two dollars investment will be proud to spend! 

OH! It has been 15 years and he still hasn’t found his donkey…

A Lost Donkey Score of 3 out 4 Quarters. 

[nomoneytoplay]

The Forest

Bought for: $4.59

Played on: PC

Release date: May 30, 2014

Developer: Endnight Games

Publisher: Endnight Games

Game Type: Survival horror, Open world, Adventure game, Indie game

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows

ESRB Rating: M for Mature - Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity

Pros & Cons

Crash land in a beautiful Forest.

Environment looks and feels stunning. 

Sources to find throughout the land.

Very easy crafting system, all thanks to a conveniently found survival guidebook. 

Sound effects are so well made.

Hunting animals is tricky and requires a lot of patience. Although eating crocodiles is easy! 

Characters will see temperature effects, it happens frequently so stay dry and warm.

Building a shelter is the key to saving your progress. Forget to save your own progress when playing with a friend you can lose everything you made and gathered.

This is a great island, there's just one problem……CANNIBALS! 

Day or night be aware of dangerous enemies

Lagging issues and screen tear problems.

If you die, you can retrieve lost gear but depending where you died it can be a little difficult to retrieve. 

My Experience 

I normally don’t really like these survival/crafting games, but it was thanks to a special friend of mine that convinced me to get this game. Mainly because she loves horror games and loves to probably torment me. But we wanted to play more games together and this one was one she wanted to try out. I was a bit unsure but I went with it, I have heard so many good things about The Forest, like it is super scary and super fun. I have to admit, it is true! 

As soon as you begin playing, you are welcomed to such a beautiful area: the trees, the grass, the ground, that’s probably The Rock messing around!

Is incredible how we began playing the game, it made it feel like we were always being watched. Sure enough we were right, there they were, half naked men just stalking us and ready to kill us. As soon as we began learning to build shelter and create better weapons, we started to feel more confident. My friend was so into it, she looked for guides on youtube and imagined my surprise at how well she became! 

The cool thing about The Forest, you can also play it in a much chill environment with no cannibals or weird looking monsters. I know it takes away the horror element, but just having the freedom and peace of the forest makes it all perfect. 

I don’t really have anything bad to say about this game, except how little visibility it can have and the frustration of losing all your gear deep in a cave. But either way, I don’t have much else! 

The Forest is a great survival game that deserves all its great positive feedback and for a person who isn’t really into these kinds of games, I have to admit it is a great game! 

A FULL DOLLAR SCORE

………….who’s Timmy? 

[nomoneytoplay]

Valkyria Chronicles

Bought for: $7.99

Played on: PS3 & PS4

Release date: April 24, 2008

Developer: Media.Vision, Sega, Sega AM1

Publisher: Sega

Game Type: Tactical role-playing game, Adventure game, Third-person shooter, Real-time tactics, Tactical wargame

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3

ESRB Rating: T for Teen - Animated Blood, Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Use of Tobacco, Violence

Pros & Cons

A war based tactical rpg that lets you control a military squad.

Beautiful graphics that look like pencil drawings.

Incredible characters with both english and japanese voice acting.

Great music and sound effects. 

An awesome war story with some side stories to enjoy. 

You can drive a tank, use rifles, lance looking rocket launchers, grenades and sniper rifles.

Command Points, these are used to control one character at a time. You can either save them up or use them all in one turn.

Characters have a meter that lets them move to a certain distance. 

Duck and cover system that helps reduce damage.

Careful your health can reduce fast if you take enough damage, also your health pack only heals you to a certain amount.

Some chapters are quite difficult, it will require you to play the side missions over and over again to gain exp. 

Some characters will randomly duck upcoming attacks.

While targeting, the game will tell you how many shots it will take to defeat your enemy.

My Experience 

I like to play chess every once in a while. Nothing than having your best pieces going up against a good opponent. You need to come up with a strategy to outsmart and defeat your enemy. The exact same scenario you get when you play Valkyria Chronicles, you have your troops as your  pieces and your king is a tank. I found out about this game thanks to youtube related videos, watched the first part of the walkthrough, mainly the tutorial part. I was so intrigued of this game that I had it in mind to get it one day. 

….well that one day turned out to be the following morning I watched that video. *nervous laugh*   

I usually don’t care for tactical strategy games, but since Valkyria Chronicles had this great looking anime graphics to it, I had to play it. The cast of characters is great, from the main characters that the main story is about to the side characters you get to be on your squad. The coolest thing for me about this game is the characters, they are all with their unique personalities, special attributes and voices. You read that right, every character has a different unique voice. All these characters have different ranks from scouts to snipers; they also have special abilities that can help or completely mess up your chance of victory. 

You can recruit a soldier, this soldier may have a pollen allergies attribute, so if they are close to anything floral their stats will drop. With those stats dropped, an enemy that can easily be defeated, your recruit might not succeed. Now if the recruit is a nature lover, the stats will grow and be an easy win. The soldiers have others that they rely on, put them together and they will all fight together. But just like they have those they rely on, they also have those they despise. 

The worst part is that this game shares the most difficult/frustrating quality of Fire Emblem, if your characters are taking down and the enemy reaches them or certain time passes. Your soldier will be permanently dead, all except the characters that are important to the main story, if they fall you won’t be able to use them until the next mission. Even if those important characters die, you are penalized with losing one CP point. But if you kill an enemy soldier that has a CP point, they also lose it too.  

I can go on and on about these characters but I’ll eventually start to repeat myself. In short this game is absolutely amazing, I would recommend this game to anyone who is looking to find something different in the war game genre. Valkyria Chronicles is a game that will make you laugh, cry and enjoy from start to finish. It has some beautiful graphics, a solid gameplay, great story, great characters and hours to play. If you have a chance, try it out!

                                    SQUAD 7 MOVE OUT! 

A FULL DOLLAR Score! 

[nomoneytoplay]

Pokemon Sleep

Bought for: Free

Played on: Pixel

Release date: July 17, 2023

Developer: Niantic, Inc., SELECT BUTTON

Publisher: The Pokémon Company

Game Type: Simulation

Platforms: Android, iOS

ESRB Rating: E for Everyone

Pros & Cons:

Gotta Sleep All!

Lovely cartoon look. 

Snorlax’s time in the spotlight. 

Create your own Pokemon Slumber Party.

Your team will gather berries to feed Snorlax while you also make meals for it.

Raise Snorlax’s sleeping power to attract new pokemon.

A different take on Pokemon Snap, instead of taking pictures of Pokemon interaction, take pictures of their sleeping poses.

Keeps track of your sleeping pattern by listening to your sleep noises ... .I know this sounds weird but that’s what it does!

Set a bedtime and also set an alarm.

The sleep music that it features isn't really smoothing at all.

Put your phone in “Do Not Disturb” otherwise the App will send you a few notifications before going to sleep. 

Wake up with groggy eyes, check your sleep records and then get blinded by a bright white screen. 

Like Pokemon Go, gather candy for specific Pokemon to raise level or evolve. 

I HAVEN”T FOUND A VOLTORB!!! 

My Experience 

……zzzzZZzzzzZZZzzzzZZZzzzzzzzz…..Hmm? OH YEAH THE REVIEW!

Sorry about that, I swear the most bizarre of ideas can actually help your life feel better huh? Is good to admit that one can still be a gamer even while you sleep! 

That’s just a thing, I don’t think I can call this a game, this is a sleeping tracker application with Pokemon on it. With some raising element and leveling up functions in it. Is a basic app that does require a lot of grinding when collecting candy, food ingredients and berries. You can go back to the app to either feed Snorlax breakfast, lunch and dinner or collect all the berries the other Pokemon have gathered. Other than that, unless you are going to take a nap or a goodnight sleep, there’s no point in using it. Wny you ask, because it’s main focus is for you to sleep. 

Trust me, you need it. I can hear you yawning from here. From a lack of sleep I hope and not because you are getting bored of reading this…….ANYWAY!

My biggest disappointment in this sleeping app, besides not having a Voltorb yet, is that there’s no additional music or effects to help you sleep. When I had problems sleeping, I would go on Youtube and search for calming music or rain sounds to help me relax. The Pokemon Company have released some ASMR videos that are the cutest thing ever and the games have some great soundtracks. Why aren’t they featured on this app yet, I don’t know but I hope it is something they can add to make sleeping more relaxing. 

I was debating whether or not I should give this a score because again this is not technically a game. But I did want to write about it and with this I can say that I won’t give it a score. However, I do recommend it if you are a Pokemon fan or you have problems sleeping. Nothing is better than knowing you have Ghost-Type Pokemons watching you as you sleep. 

I should know, I have a Ghastly!

GOOD NIGHT…..zzzzzzzzzz

[nomoneytoplay]

Choo-Choo Charles

Bought for: $19.99

Played on: PC

Release date: December 9, 2022

Developer: 2 Star Games

Publisher: 2 Star Games, Choo Choo Gaming

Game Type: Adventure game, Indie game, Survival horror, Shooter game

Platforms: Android, Microsoft Windows

ESRB Rating: M for Mature - 

The developers describe the content like this:

Blood, gore, and people being eaten alive by a spider train. Source: Steam https://store.steampowered.com/app/1766740/ChooChoo_Charles/

Pros & Cons

A nice quiet night time island to explore.

An unexpected big map. 

Scrap

Some bizarre looking side characters, their mouths don’t seem to move while they talk.

A gripping mystery to unravel.

Decent looking graphics.

….oh yeah! A HUGE Train with Spider Legs!

SCRAP!

Some lagging issues

Stealth missions are very easy to do when you learn the walking pattern of the npcs or you can just keep running until they stop chasing you. 

The side missions are great but there's one that is a Slenderman rip-off that is not very inspiring, is just frustrating. 

PICKLES, PICKLES, PICKLES

SCRAP!

This game features my favorite collectible ever: Paint Cans!!  Why? Keep on reading! 

SCRAP!!

My Experience

     Never, I mean never, has a game made me say Scrap so much in my life.

I…uhh…mmm..I don’t know where to begin with this game. This is as bizarre as you can get right? You are a former monster hunter and you are invited to this land by a former friend to take down a monster. Very simple stuff, just whoever thought about this monster design….has to be the greatest genius out there. Think about it, as a gamer I have defeated bosses that look like a turtle with a spiky shell, gods that tower over earth, slime and a giant Elvis looking zombie. But a spider train monster named Charles that blows its whistle signaling that it is close and is going to kill you? That is creative!  

                                                             SCRAP

Choo-Choo Charles is a very unique game, but my favorite part about it is the weapon you have to defeat this creature.  You have your own little train, riding this train is the most relaxing thing ever. With the combination of the night, the rain sound and the engine is so nice. This train is your shield and your main weapon, you can have up to four different weapons to install. While collecting SCRAP you can upgrade speed, damage and armor. The more you upgrade the train, it will change appearance, from a worn out train to a fully armored war train. The Paint Cans; you can find these things in certain areas or missions and they will be located inside your train where you can change its color. There are eleven in total so keep an eye out, because your train needs a new coat. 

                                                          SCRAP

Even though it is a great game, the biggest downside is that this game is 4 or 5 hours long. This is the type of game where you can get so involved that the experience can easily be over. Not necessarily a bad thing, but is a bit of a disappointment. The concept of this game is straight to the point, it doesn’t need any side stories or any pointless concept. This is a game where the people on this island need this Spider Train dead and you are the right person for the job. Depending how involved you get or just how difficult it is for you to defeat Charles, your gameplay hours may vary. But if I am honest with you, it is worth it! Perhaps get the game at a much lower price but is still a good reasonable price for $20.

                              Charles the Spider Tank Engine said:

                                     “I am terror, hear my whistle!”

    A Choo Choo Score of 3 out 4 SCRAP!   

[nomoneytoplay]

Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020

Bought for: $0.99 

Played on: Pixel

Release date: May 7, 2020

Developer: Sega

Publisher: Sega, SEGA of America

Game Type: Sports video game, Simulation Game

Platforms: Android, iOS

ESRB Rating: E for Everyone - Cartoon Violence

Pros & Cons

The Sonic Olympics arrive on your phone, let the torch be lit! 

Iconic characters from the Sonic universe to play with.

15 Olympic events to choose from with different difficulty levels. 

Characters have different traits making it easy to complete a level.

Beautiful graphics.

Extra mini games

Cutscenes are presented like a graphic novel.  

Classic Sonic game music and original soundtrack. 

Tough challenges, I mean very unfair. 

Boss…..uhh fights?

Gameplay can get a bit repetitive. 

Online Functions are no longer available.   

My Experience

                                   On your marks, get set, GO! 

One of the biggest gaming rivals/friendships ever, Mario and Sonic, two iconic video game characters go one on one with all their friends to compete in…..the Olympics?? This is probably gaming's most bizarre idea ever created. However, the games are really fun! So here I am reviewing an Olympic game but the difference is…Mario and the gang are not a part of it. 

Sorry Mario, maybe next time.

For this review, I am taking a look at the mobile port with only Sonic and pals at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. This was truly a surprise for me, I didn’t know this game existed at all at first. Playing the first installment on the Wii was truly one fun and exhausting experience. Of course there's no way I can compare a console version to a mobile one, but I can tell all the same elements of the console versions are in this game. Hold a command to charge for a perfect start, button smashing and gain stamina when doing a perfect command. It is basically what makes them great and challenging. 

Aside from not having Mario, the game will start to feel very repetitive real quick. You’ll start to feel that you are doing the same events over and over again. I swear, I really am starting to get sick of Badminton, no offense to professional players, but in Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 drives me insane. The button layout is mostly tap, hold and swipe. Basically a typical mobile gameplay  which is fine. Also the boss AI is so unfair that it makes it frustrating to complete a level. Sometimes the opponents score can be so high, the only way to score a near perfect score. Challenging yes but I feel the console versions are balanced better. Also the story, save the world from the evil Dr. Eggman, the only way…to..stop…him..is to compete in the Olympics?????  Uhhhhhhhhh ... .oh look a Chao! 

Look, it seems like I am hating this game, I am not let me assure you. This game looks absolutely fantastic compared to the console version. The arenas, the sound of the crowd, sound effects and also in game voice acting. The characters will react if they get hurt, if they win (depending if it’s gold medal, silver or bronze) or if they lose. This Sonic Olympic game is one that I strongly recommend you try first before you decide to get it. Luckily the first ten courses are free to play, while the rest of the game can be purchased for a very low price. If you love Sonic you obviously will like this game, however if you are into wacky party sport games, get this game. Also any Sonic game that lets me play as Knuckles is always a winner in my book! 

Get ready to take on the challenges, your rivals and…for whatever reason defeat Dr. Eggman, all as you reach for that gold medal!

A Silver (The Hedgehog) Medal score of 2 out 4 Quarters

[nomoneytoplay]

Mighty Doom

Bought for: Free

Played on: Pixel

Release date: April 12, 2021

Developer: Alpha Dog Games, Bethesda Softworks

Publisher: Bethesda Softworks

Game Type: Shooter

Platforms: Android, iOS

ESRB Rating: M for Mature - Violence and Blood

Pros & Cons

An exclusive Doom game on mobile.

Classic enemies from the franchise to fight.

Different power ups every time you finish a level. 

Armor to upgrade Chibi Slayer.

Very colorful for a Doom game.

Every enemy has a different attack pattern. 

Defeat a boss, get rewarded with a glory kill cutscene.

THIS IS MY BOOMSTICK! 

Repetitive gameplay. 

Ads to watch.

GAME HAS HEAVY METAL MUSIC!!

My Experience

Boy this is sure a doozy to write about it. I guess this is my first Doom Game that I am reviewing. Yeah I can hear you already arguing that this is not a Doom game, it's just a mobile game. But I will argue that this kind of takes me back from the old classic games. You play as a mercenary getting sworn by enemies trying to survive and that's it. The original Doom games didn't really feature a story, I mean there were manuscripts hidden in the games, but did people even care? 

Simple Answer: No! And I can still argue that people don’t care about the story. 

So Mighty Doom has the classic formula: You aren’t locked in a room filled with monsters, monsters are locked in a room with YOU! 

Now, is the gameplay different? Yes, is this game innovative? No! You can find other mobile games with similar style and gameplay. If there’s a mobile game that features a certain gameplay aspect, you can have a safe bet there are hundreds more like it. Mighty Doom falls flat in that department. I did enjoy the game for what it is, but sadly it is plagued with everything that people hate about mobile games. Like run out of energy, wait for it to be recharged or watch ads for this upgrade or whatever. 

I truly love the design of Chibi Slayer, I like how there’s also other costumes to unlock. But I wish they could have kept it as a first person game like its predecessors. Maybe if they could have done it that way, we could be talking about a whole different game.  

Mighty Doom does feature an arcade challenge that can help kill your boredom on your phone. It is a fun game to download and just play it without thinking too much of it. It is a wacky little experience that gives a new take on Doom. I do hope they don’t forget the design of Chibi Slayer, it would be funny if they can transfer it to Doom Eternal as a costume. Nothing is more adorable than this demon slashing/bloodspilling/gut remover/bulletstorm/senseless killing/Chibi Slayer.

A mighty score: 2 out of 4 Quarters!

[nomoneytoplay]

F.E.A.R

Bought for: $8.24

Played on: PC

Release date: Oct 17, 2005

Developer:  Monolith Productions

Publisher: Vivendi Universal Games

Game Type: First-person shooter, psychological horror

Platforms: Windows, Xbox 360 & Playstation 3

ESRB Rating: M for Mature - Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language

Pros & Cons 

A gripping first person horror/action game.

Many different weapons to use.

A special slow motion function that makes it easy to aim. 

Great graphics for a 2005 video game.

Smooth controllers. 

Only the single player is available, all servers for multiplayer are shut down. 

Some lagging issues, during an npc giving you more exposition about the story, would make my game lag for a bit. However, it is easily fixed in the options menu. 

Quick save function is definitely a plus! 

TAKE COVER! Life drains fast! 

…..this place is haunted by ghosts? That can’t be true right?........RIGHT!? 

My Experience: 

When it comes to great classic first person shooters, you can have a handful of names be easily mentioned, in such conversation FEAR is known by one thing that makes it stand out from all the rest. This game lives by its name for delivering players with some unique jump scares from Alma. Alma will be the reason that you won’t be able to sleep at night. But as much as Alma is important to this franchise, I will argue she is not the only thing this game has that makes it amazing.  

If you already played this game then you know exactly what I am writing about it. FEAR has the greatest enemy A.I. that I have ever experienced in any video game. These enemies, even if they are humans, are probably one the smartest I have ever encountered. These groups of soldiers can talk to each other, give each other orders, take cover in great places and they can be easily alarmed by anything you do. Hearing these interactions is absolutely amazing, I had moments that I had to come up with a plan of attack. Because these guys are ruthless and they want you dead. 

When I mean ruthless, I mean these guys pack a punch, they don’t miss and you'll see yourself losing a lot of your ammo. These enemies are big bullet sponge, a lot more than a Resident Evil zombie. This is my only complain about these enemies, is like the developers made them to torture us gamers. Your character is facing five at the same time, they can easily kill you, while I am literally losing all the precious ammo I just got five seconds ago.  

Oh yeah! Almost forgot, your character is part of a military group and for some REASON! In every mission, your “crew” don’t…Help…AT ALL! You are stuck facing a group of soldiers, poltergeist and Alma all by yourself. A mission started with “what are you waiting for? Get to it.” said by an npc who is apparently part of the group I am in. I was left dumbfounded and I screamed: “Wait, aren't you coming with me?? You're holding a freaking machine gun!.”

Okay now that I feel better, FEAR is an absolute gem of a game! For a 2005 game, it was way ahead of its time. It is truly a shame that this franchise hasn’t returned, this is a true game that every first person gamer should try out. Even if you aren’t a fan of horror, the action is more than enough to give it a try. I got the FEAR Bundle on Steam and I am planning on reviewing every single game in it, including the DLC’s, this is truly an amazing game that will test your skills. So good luck and prepare to face your FEAR! (get it?) 

An Alma Haunting Score of 4 out of 4 Quarters = A FULL DOLLAR! 

[nomoneytoplay]

Alan Wake

Bought for: $19.99

Played on: PS4

Release date: May 14, 2010

Developer: Remedy Entertainment 

Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios, Remedy Entertainment, Epic Games Publishing. 

Game Type: Survival Horror, Third Person Shooter, Adventure.

Platforms: Xbox 360. Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC & Nintendo Switch

ESRB Rating: T for Teen - Blood, Language, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence.

Pros & Cons

A great narrative horror story told by the main character.

A horror ideal landscape, a country side quiet town that adds more to the horror scene.

A very interesting cast of characters.

Unique enemy designs.

Learn to save up ammo for your weapons, the main key that makes a survival horror game fun!

While the enemies are unique, you will hate one particular enemy….BIRDS!

You can drive vehicles in this game, however you can only use them for a short while. 

No upgrades or special skills. 

Collectibles: one of the main items to find are manuscripts, they tell the part of the story that you have played or is about to happen. They are scattered across the game, they can be a bit difficult to find and also requires a certain gaming difficulty to complete the collection. 

Sound delays or characters speak a bit low. 

Remastered editions, dlc is already installed, once you beat the main story you have more to play.

My Experience

When Alan Wake was first released, it was an Xbox 360 exclusive title. When I saw the gameplay of it, I was so intrigued. Being a fan of survival horror games myself, this game was just up my alley to play. I was more interested in the fact that this game features a writer as the protagonist, a nice change of pace from the typical officer, spy or soldier. Alan Wake was a very underrated game and especially when it was released alongside a classic western game. So I was very happy that it was remastered for all consoles. My time to play it, finally arrived! 

My experience did have its share of frustrations, mainly because Alan Wake is a bit of a challenge. To kill this unique enemy, you have to point the flashlight so its darkness shield vanishes. Once that’s gone unleash a barrage of bullets on the poor bastard to end them. But while you are focused on one enemy, it will give the chance to other enemies to attack you and your life can quickly run out. 

Speaking of your flashlight, you can find many different types that can help you with enemies. However your flashlight doesn’t last for long, when the flashlight turns off, just wait until the power comes back up. I really didn't see any difference (besides on how they look) in flashlights. They all worked the same way and the battery life drains that same way. But any source of light like car headlights and flashbangs can also help with fighting monsters.

This game that feels straight out of a Stephen King novel is definitely a gem to play. If you enjoy horror and want to experience something way different. This game is not only a survival horror game but also a well put together visual novel. Enjoy literature as you have never seen it before through the eyes of its writer while fighting his own creation. Enter the night and experience the terrors that are bumping back.  

A Score of 3 out of 4 Quarters (brand new scoring system) 

[nomoneytoplay]

XIII

Bought for: $1.97

Played on: PC

Release Date: November 18, 2003

Developers: Ubisoft, Ubisoft Paris, Southend Interactive, Zonic

Publisher: Ubisoft, Akella, Feral Interactive, Marvelous Entertainment Inc.

Game Type: First Person Shooter, Stealth.

Platforms: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox , GameCube, OS X

ESRB Rating: M for Mature - Blonde & Intense Violence

Pros & Cons

It is a story of lost identity or mistaken identity. Whichever way you look at it, it makes for an interesting story.

Shotgun, crossbow, rifle, minigun, rocket launcher and pistols all have a unique perk that helps take out your enemy. However, for a rifle’ auto or burst mode, I really didn’t notice any difference. 

All characters' unique design fits the look of the game and they are a pleasure to witness.

Voice acting is what you describe: “so terrible is good!”

Enemies will drop some ammo and vest if you are lucky!

Graphics look like a cartoon graphic novel come to life.

La-La-La

NPC will have interesting conversations with one another.

When you headshot an enemy, you are rewarded with a special instant replay graphics showing the exact place you shot them.

Levels feel a bit short.

You can use a one hit KO melee weapon to knock out your enemies in stealth. However, I really didn’t like the stealth missions in this game. One wrong move and the enemy will be alerted. Also these melee weapons break easily, miss the target and it is gone.

Enemies can take a lot of damage, you will find yourself in need of ammo.

I HATE SWING FROM THE GRAPPLING HOOK!!

Boss battles are super easy, you can stand in one area of the map and just shoot at them easily. The easiest boss fight in my opinion? Was against a Helicopter.  

My Experience:

I have a feeling you are wondering why this version and not the remake? I would be lying to you if I say I was never considering buying the remake, because at one point…I almost did. Is true, I was keeping an eye out for it on Amazon. Why? Because I am a sucker for terrible games with cheap prices. So imagine my surprise, when I realized XIII Classic Version was at a much cheaper price and the best thing, it still plays like is 2003. 

Straight to the point, I loved the comic book feel of this game, I mean every single moment in this game in terms of in-game storytelling. The presentation was so much fun! You have the little rectangles in the corner showing you where some certain enemies are, where is the next location you have to move to and character dialogs. The other thing that I really enjoyed, if you are trying to sneak past enemies or take them out, you will know where exactly they are moving by the sounds of their feet. But not just any sound, the game will show you their movements by showing you “Tap-Tap-Tap” in bold white letters. That detail was just great! 

While the function works well for sneak attacks, the stealth missions are a bit broken. I didn’t enjoy them whatsoever, including this feature where the main character can take a hostage so npcs don’t shoot at him. But on one occasion during my gameplay, the main character has a hostage and all the npcs freeze for a moment. As I made my way to the door, the npcs started shooting at both characters. So they start to shoot, they kill the hostage, I start to run, I finish the level and all the sudden in the next cutscene…..the hostage is alive. HOW IN THE~~???? 

XIII was a fun game, not a perfect game but one I truly enjoyed. It is a perfect blend of old-school first person shooter experience. Not a lot of fancy gadgets or skills but complete this mission and move on to the next one. I just wished some of the levels didn’t feel too short and rushed. I personally don’t know how to really explain the story because to tell you the truth. I lost interest when I was quietly headshotting npcs with a crossbow. Seriously, that is the most fun moment this game has!

A Score of 75 out of a 100 Pennies

[nomoneytoplay]

Shining Resonance Refrain

Bought for: $11.99

Played on: Nintendo Switch

Release date: December 11, 2014

Developers: Media.Vision, O-TWO inc. , SEGA

Publisher: SEGA

Game Type: Fighting Game, Japanese Role-Playing Game, Shooter, Adventure. 

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, PlayStation 3 & 4

ESRB Rating: T for Teen - Fantasy Violence, Language, Partial Nudity, Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol. 

Pros & Cons

Beautiful graphics and colorful landmarks. 

The music is absolutely well composed. 

Every character has a special weapon that resembles an instrument. 

Whenever you beat an enemy, you will hear the instrument be played as a victory sound and when you find the remaining party members their instrument will be added to the victory theme.

Not only do you play as the main character but you can also take control of the other party members.

A special song can be performed when a special meter is full, it will give you a leg up in battle and every character has a different trait to it.

Some great skits are available in this game, letting you experience more story background. All of them are serious, neutral and very funny. However some can take way too long and some of the most important ones are for your party members.

Events can help unlock Traits, which will help to create a certain type of bond with all party members, some can create a great bond that can give some extra help in battle and while others can create none at all. Keep an eye out on this bond feature! 

Voice acting in English, Japanese voice acting is available as a free dlc.

The game has a very big map, places to explore like a desert, a beach and a forest. In parts of the map you will find campsites where you can rest and save your game. 

Repetitive gameplay.

Power ups available in the shop are almost impossible to purchase for how little money you get to earn.

Your weapons get ranked up, but I really didn’t understand this feature too much. So I just let the character leveling up process guide me to making them strong.

Same enemies every time but their levels increase over time. 

Same side quests over and over. 

When you begin the game, you will choose between Original mode or Refrain mode. Original mode will let you play the game as it was intended with additional dlc. Refrain mode will let you play the game with two story characters already available as your party members with their own events. Both modes play out the same way with no change in the main story. However if you are a new player to the game, Refrain mode will be a bit confusing for you. 

THE MAIN CHARACTER CAN TRANSFORM INTO A DRAGONS!

My Experience:

                          Agnum is the best character of this whole game! 

Now with that out of the way let me tell you about Shining Resonance Refrain. I played the demo for a brief moment and didn’t pay too much attention at first. I brushed it off as another action JRPG and didn’t really bat an eye towards it. But I took the time to learn something about this game and that it’s main plot was about dragons. I absolutely love dragons and thought maybe I’ll give the demo another try while the game had a discount price. And well...cue the first game to purchase while the end of the demo screen read “Buy Now at eShop”! 

Let me be clear on this, Shining Resonance Refrain is a good game, but it is not a great game. I enjoyed the gameplay, the music, the story and the script. It delivers on what JRPGs are, however the game has something that really bothers me and that is the constant backtracking. 

The coolest feature that the game has, is that you can choose a character from your party to hangout with you at a night event. This night event will lead to this party member inviting the main character to hangout with them around town. These events shared with your invited party member are both funny and adorable. Some include staring at a river, going to eat at a restaurant or doing some shopping. You can only do three of these from a few choices and they will help in raising the bond of a character.  

This will be happen constantly in the game!

You go towards a character, invent them for a night event, go to the inn, they will (may or may not) invite you to take a walk around town, go to talk to them and then the date starts. Hence and Repeat! 

The worst part of this, if you are trying to romance one particular character and you are in a campsite where you can also activate the night events. You will have to travel back to the main area to do the date. Some of these dates will trigger a cutscene with both characters. But the majority of times, the end result will be mostly none. Aside from these events, it does not help that there are parts in the story where you will be, in one part of the map defeating a boss and the next returning back to the main city. 

This whole issue was the one thing that kind of made me get tired of this game. But overlooking this, it was a very challenging game with great characters. It does deliver on the gameplay and the story telling. The game is worth checking out, is a decent game for a very good decent price, If you are a JRPG fan you sure to enjoy it. 

Harness the power of the Shining Dragon and play the songs to defeat your enemies!

A score of 75 out of 100 pennies 

[nomoneytoplay]

No More Heroes

Bought for: $17.99

Played on: Switch

(Original) Release date: December 6, 2007

Developers: Grasshopper Manufacture, feelplus, GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE INC.

Publisher: Amazon Luna, Marvelous, Windows, Xseed Games

Game Type: Action-adventure, Hack and Slash.

Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Amazon Luna, PS3, Wii, Switch

ESRB Rating: M for Mature - Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language. 

Pros & Cons

Amazingly bizarre comic book style graphics.

Funny mature humor. 

Many references from popular Japanese anime. 

A small sandbox map filled with side missions, upgrade locations and a clothing store to customize your main character. You can also find shirts inside dumpsters, so I guess that makes the main character a dumpster diver...ISN’T THAT GREAT? 

Every location on the map and button command is highlighted by Pixel art.

The game is centered on boss battles, all the boss arenas have a theme for example baseball, school and military. Also each boss have a different fighting style that makes them standout. 

While the game is a hack and slash game, there are grappling moves that are based on Mexican Lucha Libre. They can be performed as a finishing move to small enemies and give you an advantage against main bosses.

THE BEST SAVE POINT IN GAMING, GO TO THE BATHROOM AND TAKE A DUMP.

It’s a hack and slash game, so expect repetitive gameplay.

While the smaller enemies might have different weapons and looks, you will feel like you have already fought this character. 

Graphics seem to lag a bit.

Non playable characters and some areas in the map tend to disappear. 

Special powers are amazing, but the game will sometimes award them when there’s no one to use it against. 

Search for seven (not dragon) balls to unlock abilities. Good abilities? yes. A hassle? Definitely!  

The music in this game is great. However “Heavenly Star” by Genki Rockets is not in the port...is not the same without that song!

Licensed to YouTube by Avex Inc. (on behalf of avex trax); CMRRA, LatinAutorPerf, BMI - Broadcast Music Inc., NexTone Inc. (Publishing), LatinAutor - UMPG, UNIAO BRASILEIRA DE EDITORAS DE MUSICA - UBEM, LatinAutor - SonyATV, UMPG Publishing, Sony ATV Publishing, SOLAR Music Rights Management, and 6 Music Rights Societies

My Experience:

I am a fan of all things bizarre, what got me interested in No More Heroes is the style of graphics and story. So of course I wanted to try this game and it is a great Wii game if you ever had the chance to play it. If not, look no further because it is on Switch and PC! I will not be comparing the Wii and Switch versions, but I will be telling you what to expect. 

When your main character is a loser, trust me the game will remind you, you are in for a treat to play as a fun anti-hero. Meet Travis Touchdown an otaku who, get this, has no money! Yeah go figure….is the ideal person for No Money To Play. He is a member of this organization of assassins looking to become number one among the ranks, earn some money….and get laid. 

What? That’s the premise, I don’t make this stuff up.

The story will follow the ranking systems, which will work as chapters, so you will know just how close you are to completing the game. But the source of income for Travis won’t stop there, you see in order to move up to the next fight. You will have to earn money, some of the entry fee might not be completely covered by the last fight you did. But not to worry, you can do small part time jobs like mowing grass, picking up trash, cleaning graffiti art and picking up scorpions. You can also go to the organization's office and ask for side contracts of people who need to be killed off.  

So a lot of your time will be spent getting money and using that money to buy upgrades to your beam sword, (oh yeah Travis main weapon is beam sword forgot to mention) go to the gym to train and purchase new outfits. So you will be doing some of these side activities a lot, in order to proceed. At some point it gets tiring but at least the game makes up for it with good story progression. 

No More Heroes is a game you really should not avoid playing, it is funny, fun and different. For a hack and slash game with a retro/modern look is a must play. Just remember you will be earning and spending your way to become the number one assassin...and possibly get laid. 

A score of 85 out 100 pennies

[nomoneytoplay]

Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition

Bought for: $14.99

Played on: PlayStation 4

Release Date: February 28, 2017

Developer: Guerrilla Games

Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment 

Game Type: Action Role Playing, Open World

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows

ESRB Rating: T for Teen - Blood, Drug Reference, Language, Mild Sexual Themes, Violence.

Pros & Cons

An epic adventure in an open beautiful apocalyptic land. 

Robot enemies resemble animals. Every single enemy has weak points, diverse move sets, unique designs and sound effects. 

A great level up system to make your character a great huntress and warrior.

You can scavenge your foes, wild animals or plants to collect materials to upgrade your equipment, craft potions and create traps.

Collectibles can be used to purchase new things to help with your gameplay experience. 

“Focus” can help you analyze a machine’s parts, weakness and body parts that can be ripped apart. When fighting human enemies, they can be tagged to mark their location. The best feature that “Focus” has is that it can mark an enemy’s pathway, making it easier to know where they are going to be to set up an ambush or stealth kill.

Bows, slingshots, ropecasters, sticky bombs, different types of arrows and a spear that can override a machine to fight alongside you! 

Some machines have weapons that the player can use for a short while.

A variety of costumes for Aloy and different looks for the weapons each with effects and/or amounts of power up slots. 

Regaining health is provided by eating a herb you can find across the land including plants, rocks and wood. You will gather them over, over, over and over until it becomes a bother.

Your inventory will be completely full when you least expect it, you can dismantle or sell your items. But you’ll probably make the mistake of getting rid of something important. 

Arrows and bombs run out fast! Why? You’ll be shooting them like a mad person trying to survive. 

Some power ups feel pointless because they either don’t seem to help or you won’t use them.

This is a personal opinion but…….I ABSOLUTELY DESPISE ALOY’S JUMPING ANIMATION!

My Experience

I am aware that this game was free to keep by Play at Home on the PSN Store, but a very long time ago this game was always a key item in online deals. So during a Black Friday digital sale, I got to purchase it with all it’s downloadable content and with the recent gameplay footage for it’s sequel. 

It’s about time I reviewed this open world adventure! 

Horizon Zero Dawn is a new take for the open world genre, instead of the normal tropes like clear enemy camps, hunting for animals and fast travel. What definitely stands out is the machines, these animal-like creatures are wonderful. They are the main focus of the game, especially progressing with the main story. But taking them down is not easy, as you will need to have a strategy to take them out, especially with stealth. Horizon truly makes you feel like an actual hunter of wild robotic beasts. 

In the Complete Edition of this game, you will have the expansion side story called The Frozen Wilds, you will face new enemies, collect new weapons, a new story and more side quests. You need to be at a high level to beat all these new challenges otherwise you will be dying a lot. 

I hate to admit it, but the Frozen Wilds delivers the true image of this game!

You see, one thing that I noticed while playing Zero Dawn, all the characters (in-game not cutscenes) interactions were really bland and unenthusiastic. Every character, including Aloy, had the same dull expressions on their faces. Their eyes looked like they were either spaced out or just had a very very dumb face. 

But in Frozen Wilds it was corrected that all the interactions felt genuine, giving Aloy and every npc much better personalities, funny dialogues and reactions. I bet my money this character interaction will be added to the sequel! 

The most pointless feature that Horizon has with Aloy is at some point in the story, you will have to make a choice on how Aloy will react to a particular moment. You can make her be sympathetic, neutral or heartless. But this feature only works on only ONE moment of the story, the rest are just completely worthless and they are so separate from one another that you forget about its existence. Why is it a thing? I don’t have a clue.   

The story in Horizon Zero Dawn tells an epic story of a child born as an outcast, grew up to prove herself worthy and became a true leader. Aloy has earned her place as a major video game hero and her story is far from over. While you wait to see her next adventure, I suggest experiencing her origin story and if you haven’t. Then what are you waiting for?

A Score of 95/100 Metal Shards (Pennies) 

[nomoneytoplay]

Legrand Legacy: Tales of the Fatebounds

Bought for: $1.99

Played on: Nintendo Switch 

Release date: January 24, 2018

Developer: SEMISOFT

Publishers: Another Indie, Mayflower Entertainment 

Game Type: JRPG, Action-Adventure, Turn-based tactic, indie game

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC

ESRB Rating: T for Teen - Blood, Language, Use of Alcohol, Violence

Pros & Cons

A great throwback to classic J-RPGs

A beloved group of characters, all of them filled with an impressive character arc and development. 

You can use their special attacks at any time without worry.

All attacks, when performed, have a small roulette. Hitting the goal line for a “Perfect” the attack deals more damage, hitting close to the goal bar for “Good” the attack deals a moderate amount of damage. But if you miss it, a “Poor” attack will deal low damage. It is both a great and frustrating feature, the same applies when you are guarding.

A special bar will fill up during battle so you can deliver a powerful attack to your opponents!

Main enemies also have special attacks and they will perform them at random times in battle. 

Characters are well animated in conversation scenes, but in-game character models aren’t very impressive. 

A turn-based tactical mini game that is so much fun! 

A variety of side-quests, some aren’t really exciting but rewards make them worth doing and EXP points gain. 

Graphics aren’t very impressive, especially the in game graphics and cinematic cutscenes that resemble a PS2 game.

Collect too many items and your character will move slowly because of too much weight. However you can turn that feature off in the option menu, SO WHY HAVE IT?

Game crashes only a few times for me. 

No voice acting, even though there’s a moment where the plot is narrated by one of the characters. The entire game is one long script, so get ready for a lot of reading. 

Character got stuck in an area of the map and I couldn’t get out! 

Your party members are really weak, sooo much healing!

Items are weirdly named! 

Keep an eye on your gold, you don’t earn gold by winning battles but by selling some expensive items.

My Experience:

I once mentioned that I am a big fan of Tales of Xillia, one thing that makes that game incredible and every single game of it’s genre like it. Is the long journey of a group of characters, together to fight monsters, form friendships, explore lands and reach the end whether it be together or only one. So does Legrand Legacy have all those components? Yes, it does! 

True Legrand Legacy is not like Tales, however is a great throwback of games in the genre just like it. I kept seeing it in the top twenty chart of the Nintendo eShop, sure you can argue that a cheap game will be in that rank. But curiosity, a quick YouTube search and two dollars to spend got me to play this truly bizarre treasure. 

One thing that Legrand Legacy does amazing is it’s leveling up system. You’ll get power up points to raise your character’s attributes. The power up menu gives out the amount required for your character to gain a new skill. However in my playthrough I did just the opposite, I raised all their attributes evenly, so I failed to gain a lot of those special skills, that was an error on my part. With that in my game, I still pretty much managed to continue my pleasant experience with little care, even though I still had plenty of skills to unlock. 

The one thing that caught my attention in Legrand Legacy was the character conversations, they display the main and important character’s faces. They appear on the bottom of the screen next to their text boxes. This animation is so nice, it helps appreciate these character’s faces a little more because the game’s graphics are a bit…..well awful. I would be remiss if I wasn’t truthful, some parts of the game just look really bland. All the npcs look the same, some places look terrible and animations make the game lag. On occasion I was crossing my fingers in hope that the game didn’t freeze on me or in some areas the main character wouldn’t get stuck in areas of the map. 

When I bought Legrand Legacy, I thought I was going to just play for a few hours, forget about it and delete it shortly after. But surprisingly I have hours and hours of gameplay. I absolutely enjoyed the game for what it is, even though I am not giving this game a big score for the main issues that are very noticeable. As of the time I am writing this review, the game is at the current price that I bought it. If you are a fan of JRPG, this is a nice throwback to that genre. The low price is an adventure worth trying out but if you aren’t sure of it, search for gameplay video. 

So take a moment to appreciate those diamonds in the rough. Perhaps if you give this game a try you will be drawn to it like I did!

A score of 65 out of 100 pennies.

[nomoneytoplay]

KukkoroDays

Bought for: $7.99

Played on: Nintendo Switch 

Release date: August 6, 2020

Developers: qureate

Publisher: qureate

Game Type: Adventure, Visual Novel

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC

ESRB Rating: Rated T for Teen - Sexual Themes

Pros & Cons

A loving funny story.

This is a Visual Novel if you are a fan of reading then this is for you!

The heroine in this visual novel is so adorable and she is voiced in Japanese. 

Great music and sound effect.

Character animation is well done.

Nice art and background screenshots. 

A very long visual novel, five hours in total! 

You can make decisions, but they don’t really make a difference. 

Story has some unexplained moments.

This is a Visual Novel if you aren’t a fan reading then this is NOT for you!

My Experience:

I’m going to summarize this story (try not to spoil anything) so I can give you a sense of my thinking process as I write this okay? Ready? Here we go! 

You’re the main character (yay!), you have a mundane life (yay..?) and you live in Akihabara (oh!). Then one night (oh no!) a portal appears in your apartment (Wait what?) an injured woman holding a sword and wearing armor materializes from it! (......huh.) 

Her name is Cattleya. She's from another world and somehow made it to your world. She is a very honorable knight and takes her duties very seriously. Her best catchphrase is “K-kill me!” every time she feels she is not respecting or deserving of her title. 

This is my first time doing a review on a visual novel. I know most role playing games have a certain concept like this in their main or side storytelling but this is a true visual novel. So this will be a little change of pace with my points of view, so with that in mind how was my experience with this novel?

Well….I uhh….I got sucked into this story and the character, THERE I ADMIT IT! 

Yes, of all the jokes I’ve seen of gamers raging on these visual novels when getting rejected by their love interest in dating simulations... I got bitten by that bug and was wondering if this was REAL life. However KukkoroDays (not a typo) is not a dating simulator, it is a story of two characters, a male protagonist and a female knight. Two people from different worlds, one is from modern day Japan while the other comes from a different timeline where dragons live. Their interaction with one another is absolutely superb. Especially Cattleya trying to fit in a world that is not her own. So is a great story I will admit. 

That being said, there are some things that bothered me. While the story is very lengthy, there were parts in the story that felt that was missing something. Perhaps some more plot points and more events with the couple. I also think if there were more characters in this visual novel, which you kind of do get but they only appear for just a bit, then there could have been more to the story. 

One thing I know that is very common with visual novels, is doing multiple saves so you can load back to the story in case the reader misses anything special. That is not the case in KukkoroDays (not a typo) you have the option to do multiple saves. But there is really no point to it until very much to the end of the visual novel or if you enjoyed a chapter you just want to revisit. The “decisions” you make, don’t really change much of the story as you progress.     

Regardless of those missed opportunities, the story is absolutely great. You start to sense both of their chemistry even if they are from different worlds with different norms. He might be a mundane living guy and she is a knight but they are both humans. They are sharing the predicament that (somehow) fate has put them in. Speaking of such fate, they also share the same awkward moments like…..I don’t know the guy walking in on Cattleya as she is getting dressed! Why? 

Because Anime!! *jazz hands*   

Yeah there are a few ecchi jokes in this visual novel but that was to be expected when you read the story’s description. Even if I try to make an excuse that I got this visual novel to review it. I KNOW you won’t believe me!

I’ll admit, there’s one ecchi joke that I enjoyed in the beginning of the visual novel when you first meet Cattleya. What happens? Why is it funny you ask? Get the Visual Novel and find out! I promised no spoilers and I am keeping my word. 

Exploring a genre that I don’t normally “play” was totally worth the amount this visual novel goes for. The developers have (I believe) two more on Nintendo Switch, perhaps one day I would explore those as well……...again for research! (who am I kidding…) But this novel was charming and a very pleasant read. It is very good for the price, so if you want to explore the world of visual novels. Perhaps give this one a try.

A Mundane Life score of 75/100 pennies!

[nomoneytoplay]

GOT MONEY TO PLAY (Yay!)

Bought for: $59.99  

Played on: Nintendo Switch 

Release date: November 20, 2020

Developer: Omega Force

Publisher: Nintendo, KoeiTecmo

Genre: Role-Playing, Fighting, Adventure, Hack and Slash.

Platform: Nintendo Switch

ESRB Rating: T for Teen - Fantasy Violence

Pros & Cons

A prequel based game to Breath of the Wild.

Voice acting in a Zelda game!

You can play as Link, Zelda, Impa and the Champions with their own fighting style. 

Giant machines to control! 

Horde of enemies to take on.

Beautiful matched graphics just like the ones in BofW.

Order a character, that you aren't using, to another location in the map. Is a great feature, however they just stand there and help a little. 

The map of Hyrule works as the main menu of the game. Here you can choose challenges, buy items, train your characters to level up and continue with the story.

Great cutscenes to watch! 

Special Story Surprise. 

Button mashing that can make your gameplay a bit repetitive. 

Map areas are a bit closed in and linear. 

Camera angle issues.

You will play the same mission over and over again to get the much needed items to complete a side challenge. The rewards you receive is great, it can help you gain more health or a power up, but it gets a bit tiring at times. 

While the game features a variety of skills in weapons, most of the time they don’t seem to make an effect on gameplay. 

Finding Korok seeds can easily be missed in this game making them a but pointless to find. 

My Experience 

Like many fans, I have been patiently waiting for more information on the upcoming sequel to Breath of the Wild. But during that waiting time we got a special announcement from Nintendo:

It was time to see the story of what happened one hundred years ago in Hyrule! 

Set in the gameplay style of Hyrule Warriors, I was all in to play this game and who knew I had money to buy it! The best thing about it, it is a big improvement from it’s counterpart back on Wii U. There were two things that I disliked from the original Hyrule Warrior game. 

The first thing was how terrible the guide map was, it was so small that I barely could see my exact location. In Age of Calamity, you can zoom in and have a better view on your location. Truly a plus in the experience for me! 

The second thing, I wasn’t a fan of the Adventure Map challenges. I loved the 8-bit style look for each of them based on a different Zelda game. But while I was doing the challenges and finishing them. The game would show me that I really didn’t unlock the main prize. In Age of Calamity, while still you need to work hard, it’s better explain on what to do to complete a challenge. 

The same features from the original Hyrule Warriors are present in Age of Calamity. Special attacks when an enemy is dizzy and when the special gauge is full. Every character has a different fighting move set and are voice acted…except Link of course. 

One negative experience that I had, was after completing a mission (the one where you meet Daruk). The rewards I got were great, however my inventory was maxed out and I couldn’t do anything in the menu to discard items or weapons to make space. I had to do reset my game and do the entire mission over again. While first I selling and getting rid of a few things. A few? I mean a lot!! 

There’s a special place in my gaming collection for games such as this. The hack and slash story driven with fast pace gameplay. When this style was combined with the Legend of Zelda, it piqued my interest. Hyrule Warriors is a spinoff done right, it absolutely works well together. The first game brought a fresh and unique story. As for Age of Calamity, it gives fans a glimpse of a story we were told and gives it a true epic standalone tale. 

Age of Calamity was described as a love letter to Breath of the Wild and I would say that it truly is! While it may have its flaws, I would recommend this game to any Legend of Zelda fan. While you wait for the sequel of Nintendo’s epic adventure, gather the forces of Hyrule and face the Calamity! 

A score of 85/100 Rupees!