Recent reviews by MarioFanaticXV

This review will be updated as I review more games from the collection.

Phantasy Star IV: https://youtu.be/1KxqMTrJRno

Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles: https://youtu.be/oPYA0jj_TUQ

https://youtu.be/_DAazfgey5E

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https://youtu.be/3i_DA5r1dns

Full review: https://youtu.be/cTBD1APQmr4

A title that clearly takes inspiration from tabletop games- and in many ways both good and bad feels almost more like a tabletop game than a video game.

Team and deck building gives players a lot of options with how they want to approach victory, with some interesting mechanics that keep this game from feeling like a clone of other titles. This is not another Slay the Spire knockoff by any means.

On the downside, presentation is currently lacking- while I like the sprite art of characters and enemies, they are static. And while attacks are animated, they aren't much to look at. I'm hoping these will change as development of the game continues, but as it stands, it is certainly a weakness of the game.

That being said, if you can overlook graphics you'll find a very intriguing card game underneath with plenty of fun to be had. If you're a fan of digital card games and are tired of seeing a bunch of Hearthstone and Slay the Spire knockoffs, this is definitely one you should check out.

A key has been provided for review purposes. This does not influence my opinion of the game in any way.

Overview
Some people play videos games to calm themselves and relax--to take a breath of fresh air and slow things down. With the release of a new Animal Crossing title, many people are doing just that at this very moment. But other times, people play video games for the exact opposite purpose: To feel a sense of challenge, the thrill of excitement, the rush of adrenaline, all without ever having to leave home. For those of you looking for the latter, might I present: Skul: The Hero Slayer?

Gameplay
Skul is a rogue-lite side-scroller wherein you'll take control of the titular skeleton; A warrior that can drastically change his weapons and fighting style by switching out his skull for others that he finds along his journey. In addition to being able to equip two skulls at once, you'll also be able to hold up to six items and a single quintessence sphere to further alter your stats and abilities.

Although your abilities are modified by your equipped skull, you'll always have a basic attack, the ability to quickly dash to either side, and one or two special skills, plus an additional one if you have a quintessence. There's no limit to how many times you can use these, though skills--including quintessence skills--each have their own cooldown timer. Additionally, when you have two skulls, you'll be able to activate a special effect--sometimes an attack, other times a short status buff--when you switch between them.

Combat is the core of Skul's gameplay. You'll find yourself fighting through hordes of enemies, most of which aren't that threatening on their own, but deadly in large groups. Along the way, you'll fight against not only hundreds of weaker enemies, but also mini-bosses which represent your typical RPG professions: Things like an archer, a healer, a knight, and so forth. During the first chapter, these miniboss battles will be one on one encounters, but as you progress in the game, they'll begin to team up against you, forcing you to take on an adventuring party with only your skills and wits about you. At the end of each chapter, you'll fight a boss unique to that portion of the game, and this game really knows how to do boss fights.

Although the game is primarily focused on fighting, there are small distractions from such; Sometimes you'll come across a hidden pile of treasure, other times you'll find yourself attempting a brief platforming challenge, or you'll even happen across a shop to spend the gold you've collected along your journey.

As is the nature of rogue-lites, Skul tends to be a gruelingly difficult game. You'll constantly find yourself losing your head--literally. However, during each run you'll also be collecting dark quartz from the enemies you defeat, and this can be used to purchase permanent upgrades which will make future runs slightly easier, with the hope that you'll make it further into enemy territory next time. There's also a "rookie mode" option that gives you an additional 100 HP. It won't make the game easy by any means, but it will allow you to take a handful more hits before being defeated.

Presentation
Skul shines through with its gorgeously detailed sprite work; Skul's various forms, the numerous enemies you fight, and the backgrounds that serve as the setting for your adventure are all wonderfully designed. Action is smooth and fluid, and as you battle you'll find that various objects will shatter around you. This doesn't have any real effect on the fighting, but does make the world seem a little more alive.

Story-wise, there's really not much to talk about: Monsters good, humans evil, go stop the humans that have captured monsters and are using dark quartz to control them. This is not a narrative driven game, but such tends to be the nature of rogue-lites. You have a bit of backstory and basic motivation, just enough to encourage you to die a thousand times in the pursuit of victory.

Conclusion
Skul: The Hero Slayer looks to be on track to become an amazing game. Fluid combat, stunningly beautiful artwork, solid mechanics, and brutally difficult but never unfair challenge level that keeps me coming back for more. True, you should always be a little wary of buying games that are in early access, but Skul is making great progress--there are already two dozen skulls and three of four chapters playable. Beyond that, despite being out only a little over a month, the dev team has been very active thus far, with no less than five patches being released in that time to make balance tweaks, bug fixes, and even a bit of new content in the form of a few extra skulls they've added in. If Skul stays the course, I can see it becoming one of the best known indie titles of 2020.

A key has been provided for review purposes. This does not influence my opinion of the game in any way.

Overview
Giant monsters have been a subject of many movies and media since Godzilla first hit theaters in the 50s... and what better way to fight massive monsters than with gargantuan robots? Mechs v Kaijus is a tower defense title that has you seeing how well you can hold off swarms of behemoths.

Gameplay
Mechs v Kaijus is a tower defense title that at first glance appears similar to Plants Vs Zombies. Instead of a road for enemies to follow, they crawl across the screen from right to left, marching toward your base. To stop them you have a number of towers which can be purchased, upgraded, and sold as needed. Additionally, you pilot the Odin, a powerful, variable mech that can be upgraded and reequipped to suit your needs for a specific level. Additionally, you'll have two other computer-controlled mechs to fight alongside you, automatically firing at enemies once they're in range.

After each level--win or lose--you'll gain two resources: Gold and Research. Gold is used to upgrade and repair your mechs, while Research is used for a much wider variety of upgrades--unlocking new towers, upgrading existing towers, boosting your economy, or unlocking new mechs, among other things.

On the downside, unlocks are very slow early on, making grinding almost a necessity. The game is pretty tough as is, and the grueling pace of getting gold and research before you unlock the survival levels really doesn't help. Though on the bright side, some levels do have alternative modes you can attempt after beating them, which gives a bit more incentive to go back and play them over again.

Presentation
Vibrant, colorful, well-detailed sprites are used to respresent the mechs and kaiju alike. The backgrounds aren't up to the same standards of quality as these, but do their job well enough of setting the scene, at least. It's fun to watch as trees and buildings topple as the kaiju march forth.

The story presented is quite simplistic--the title tells you practically everything you need to know about the game. A bunch of monsters are attacking Pokyo City--defend it at all costs. Briefings add a little flavor to each level, but that's about it.

Conclusion
Mechs v Kaijus shows a lot of promise, but also makes a handful of missteps. With the impending full release, I hope to see its various issues fixed, and am excited to see the additional content that's incoming. For the time being, I recommend this game to fans of the theme that want an action-based game with a bit of strategy thrown in... but if you're looking for a heavy, "thinky" strategy game, you'll want to keep searching.

A key has been provided for review purposes. This does not influence my opinion of the game in any way.

Overview
Retro games are a hot commodity these days. Many a developer is either trying to recreate classic titles or make new ones inspired by games of old. Whether it's something like Mega Man 9 and 10 that directly modeled the first six games in the series, or something like Shovel Knight or Khimera: Destroy All Monster Girls that's an original creation in an old school vein, there's no shortage for those who yearn for games that harken back to the golden age of platformers in the 80s and 90s. Taimumari is one such game, inspired most heavily by Mega Man, but also taking cues from other titles of that era.

Gameplay
Taimumari is, at its heart, a platformer first and foremost. Playing as Himari, you'll have a sword for basic attacks and a number of magic spells you can use to attack from afar in various ways. Charging spells changes their effects, and consumes different levels of magic power--but magic power regenerates fairly fast, so you can use them often. You also have a double-jump and a dash that gives you a few frames of invincibility. A few short sections of the game takes a detour into SHMUP territory, and there's another portion that seems heavily inspired by Battletoads' rope segments.

After the intro stage, you'll be able to tackle the four main stages in any order you like, each with its own hazards, enemies, and eventually, a boss fight. Throughout each of these stages there are 8 items which, if collected before fighting the boss, allow you to spare the boss rather than killing them. Regardless of what you choose, you'll gain a new ability in a Mega Man-like style, such as the option to briefly slow or even reverse time. After defeating all four bosses, you'll be able to travel to the final five stages which must be played in order, testing what you've learned in the game thus far in a typical final gauntlet--yes, boss rush included. At any point between stages, you'll be able to use stars collected within these stages to buy upgrades, increase max health, magic, and damage, or simply stock up on extra lives should you wish to.

All in all, gameplay is swift and controls pretty smoothly. Himari is quite nimble, and being able to chain mid-air dashes to her jumps makes platforming segments a little too easy at times, but boss fights can certainly be challenging. It's not super difficult, but playing on normal, you're likely to die a fair bit your first time around. Even hard mode, though far from the most difficult game I've ever played, is still tough enough that veterans of the genre should find satisfaction.

Hard mode is a numerical hard; enemies have more health and deal more damage. In addition, I found that flying walls of spikes move slightly faster than before, forcing me to stop at places they wouldn't reach, as opposed to Normal, where I was able to easily dodge them.

Visuals
Visuals are colorful and mildly detailed, though not in a way that detracts from the game. Rather, the sprites do a good job of capturing the 8-bit aesthetic, and convey what they need to well enough. Stages are a little lackluster, but do manage to set the mood for their themes, at least.

Story
I honestly can't make heads or tails of the story. The game was written in Russian with translations into Ukranian and English; I only understand English, and the English translation is... absolutely atrocious. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the work of a machine translation: I can't tell what's going on at all.

Apparently the Switch version did get a proper re-translation, however this review was played on the Steam version, and I found it borderline unreadable.

UPDATE: Taimumari has since updated to the Definitive Edition, which uses graphics and the retranslation from the console version. I've not replayed through it yet, but I do want those who read my review to be aware of the changes made to the game since writing it.

Audio
The music here does a great job of capturing chiptune quality classics. If you ever played the NES Mega Man titles, you'll find that it fits the mood perfectly. It's very upbeat, more about setting a mood than a theme, and captures the style quite well.

Conclusion
Taimumari is a short platformer game. If you don't care about getting all the extras and just want to rush through it, you could probably manage completion in under an hour, maybe half an hour. What's here is competent, but never blew me away--it reminds me a lot of older Flash games that were exciting and fun, but not quite good enough to stand out as an independently published title. Taimumari very much fits into that mold; A decent game, but never a great one.

I cautiously recommend this to fans of classic platformers--don't go expecting a masterpiece, this is not the next Shovel Knight. But if you want a solid platformer, you'll find it here.

Final Verdict: 7.2/10
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Some quick notes on the DLC (the key provided was complete edition):

Sweet Treat: A free DLC series of levels that has you start with a moderate selection of upgrades from the main game, along with a few spots within the levels where you can buy further items. Has some brand new enemies, including a few bossfights, and is an enjoyable diversion if you liked the main game. Plus it's free, so no reason not to try it out if you had fun.

Kanashimi Mode: You play through the game as Kanashimi. She lacks a double jump (some stage elements have been modified to accommodate this), but has a shot as her basic attack, and some of her spells have new effects. Other than that, it's the same game with zero story scenes. I think some secret items are impossible to reach as her, but that aside, it's exactly what it claims to be. If you like the idea of playing as a second character, you'll enjoy it, just don't expect anything particularly new.

Soundtrack: Just what it says on the tin. It's the soundtrack from the game, including the Sweet Treat levels.

A key has been provided for review purposes. This does not influence my opinion of the game in any way.

Overview
All art is derivative to some degree. Every story you read, every movie you watch, every piece of art you see is inspired not only by those that came before it, but also by works from other media as well. And video games are no different; in 1986, The Legend of Zelda had a profound effect on the landscape of gaming which is still inspiring new works over three decades later- Stories of Bethem: Full Moon takes clear and heavy inspiration from the Zelda series. Does it learn from the lessons of old and build upon them, or does it construct an imitation that only serves to make one yearn for the real thing?

Gameplay
Bethem is a Zelda-like action-adventure title in the truest sense; in it, you'll play as Khoma, traversing the world to find dungeons which act as your main points of progression, finding orbs which grant you abilities within said dungeons to allow you to fight in new ways, solve puzzles that were impossible before, and find new secrets. Besides the necessary items, there are plenty of optional orbs to increase your health, magic capacity, and other odds and ends.

There are two main components to gameplay: Combat and puzzle solving. Combat is definitely a weakpoint for Bethem; standard enemies move quickly and erratically, with little predictability in their patterns. Enemies that shoot do so far too quickly to react to such, and enemies that chase you often move faster than you. This makes combat less about quick reflexes and more about either trying to out-range them (your basic attack has barely more range than your enemy's) or simply tanking the hits. This feels largely unsatisfying, as combat becomes more like a test of patience and tedium rather than skill and cunning. Boss fights are the primary exception here, as they do tend to have more reliably set patterns.

In addition to the problems with enemy patterns, there's also the way the game uses elemental weaknesses. It's a common trope in RPGs, and not at all something I'm opposed to on principle, but the way it's used here is just awkward. There's really only two main orbs you'll be using to fight most of the time, and trying to figure out which to use against enemies can be tedious. Since you don't actually see any indication as to how much damage you're doing to a foe, the only real way to tell is to fight two identical enemies and count the number of hits each takes to defeat—and against bosses, you have no generally idea if you're using their weakness or doing normal damage.

Bethem most certainly fares better when we get to its puzzle solving. As is required of an action-RPG, there's a number of block puzzles as well as various mazes. Most of them feel clever enough, with none of them being particularly difficult. However, every time you push a block, Khoma pauses for about half a second. This breaks the pace of the game, and makes these segments last longer than they should.

Besides these flaws, there's a few other problems that must be mentioned. First is the fact that every orb—even your basic attack—uses magic. This may not seem like a problem since your magic recharges on its own, but it does so at such a glacial pace that it breaks the flow of the game. The map system is not the worst, but still pretty bad; There is no clear indication of where you are on the overworld or how nearby rooms connect within dungeons. The game even admits that it's lazy design in a fourth-wall shattering dialogue, so why couldn't it address this? And then there's the numerous switches that unlock barriers within the dungeons...you'll be told something unlocked, but you have no indication where, often leading to tedious backtracking. And on this point, just before the final dungeon, you're given an item which will open cracks in walls you've seen throughout the game. Yes, you now must backtrack to locate them all (it's not optional) without any help as to their locations. Imagine Wind Waker's Triforce hunt without being told where the Triforce charts are. It's really that bad.

Visuals
Bright and colorful sprite work makes up most of the game, giving it a pseudo-retro feel. It feels similar to something you'd expect to see on handhelds, and while I feel that the sprites could have been better detailed, there's really nothing wrong with the look. It's charming, cartoonish, and clearly meant to invoke a 16-bit feel.

Story
The plot is pretty simplistic; you take the role of Khoma, a boy whose father has been cursed with a sleeping spell by the Blue Witch. He goes to the witch's sister, the Red Witch, and asks her to break the spell; in order to do such, she needs him to find the 8 Oneiric Objects.

There's not much plot beyond this, though there are a lot of really creepy scenes where the Red Witch is blatantly flirting with Khoma; judging from the art on the title screen, it's clear she's getting up there in years, and while Khoma's age is never explicitly stated, he looks to be a teenager, maybe a young adult, and this felt completely unnecessary.

To add to the awkwardness, the translation is fairly rough; The developer is Spanish, and while it's perfectly understandable, it becomes apparent that it could have used another native speaker proofreading of the final product before putting it on the market.

Audio
The sound effects are suitably cartoonish. Following in the footsteps of the Zelda titles, Bethem also has an annoying beeping noise that plays incessantly once you're low on health, and there's no way to turn this off; I can understand taking inspiration, but this is one of the most heavily criticized parts of the Zelda series that doesn't need to be imitated. The music is mostly forgettable, with the exception of one or two tunes. The backing tracks are all chiptunes that don't invoke any particular themes for the locations they play.

Conclusion
Stories of Bethem is a game that I sorely want to enjoy. I'm a huge fan of the Zelda series, and adore Zelda-likes when they're done right. However, Bethem simply makes too many missteps for me to heartily recommend it. It's trying far too hard to be The Legend of Zelda and yet lacks the charm, clever levels, and enemy designs that made those games so memorable. Because it's too focused on imitating the classics, it never manages to carve its own mark. All-in-all, this makes Stories of Bethem a title that's challenging to recommend.

Final Verdict: 5.1/10

A key has been provided for review purposes. This does not influence my opinion of the game in any way.

Overview
Gensokyo Night Festival is a Metroidvania game unofficially set in the world of Touhou. At this point in time, it's more a tech demo than a true game, with the current content easily beatable in under an hour. But the point of a tech demo is to show what's under the hood and give us promise of what's to come--so is there a solid engine driving this machine? Let's jump into Suika's shoes and find out...

Gameplay
It should be noted that in the current state of the game, you start with a great many upgrades already in your possession, making the game far easier than the finished product is supposed to be. The game is intended to be a Metroidvania, but while there is a bit of exploration, there is currently no upgrade system; Thus, I will only be looking at combat for the time being. And what's there is quite solid--the action is fast, frantic, and varied, with a number of different moves at your disposal. You have rapid hitting weak attacks, slower more powerful attacks, melee attacks, ranged attacks, even a semi-screen nuke at your disposal. True to the game's Touhou roots, enemies--especially the game's two current bosses--will often flood the screen with bullets. The graze system from the official Touhou games is represented in this game by letting you phase through enemy attacks if you dash through them. Beyond that, dashing can be used mid-air to effectively fly short distances, giving you a full 360 degrees of control while doing so, albeit only for a brief time. Additionally, Suika has the ability to manipulate density- this changes things in both combat and exploration alike, opening further moves to grant more versatility. Overall, combat is smooth, fast, and exciting--Suika is a little floaty which takes a bit of getting used to, but she's also quite nimble, allowing you to maneuver through just about anything.

Visuals
This game is absolutely gorgeous. While it does use pixel art that's vaguely reminiscent of the 16-bit era, this is not pixel art that could have been done by any machine of that time period. The sprites have much higher color variation and pixel density. Character sprites are expressive as they move, and everything flows wonderfully. Beyond that, you have particle effects which simply would not be possible in a pure sprite-based game. This is how you do a game with retro flair that still takes full advantage of what modern games are capable of.

Story
Unfortunately, not everything is good thus far; While I would like to remind you that this is based off an Early Access release which has less than an hour of content, I cannot say I'm at all excited for the story. The plot is as barebones as this: There's a party, and you need to go get the wine. There's a bit of dialogue between characters before each boss fight, but their reasons or fighting each other are pretty nonsensical, and not even in a funny or humorous way. Now maybe this may all be placeholder text, but if this is what we have to look forward to, I can't say I care for it at all.

Audio
Music has a distinct chiptune sound to it- its fast, it's upbeat, it's the sort of thing you'd expect from a Touhou title, or if you're not familiar with such, then imagine something similar to Mega Man or Sonic the Hedgehog. Likewise, sound effects are suitably cartoony, from the noise you make when jumping to the sound of attacks charging up. All in all, it works well for what it's going for.

Conclusion
As stated at the onset, Gensokyo Night Festival is a tech demo. It's a work in progress that's hard to properly evaluate because it is so early in its development; as such, I will not be giving it a formal score as I do in most of my reviews. I will, however, say that what's there shows a great deal of promise of the future; if game development stays its course, I can see this blossoming into a wonderful game. As it is, it's an enjoyable little journey, but keep in mind you're currently getting less than an hour of playtime with many of the game's features still unimplemented.

EDIT: This game has since been abandoned by the developers, who didn't even have the courtesy to make an announcement about it in the game's news feed. Instead they mentioned it in an announcement on a completely separate game, and even a month later have yet to say anything to this game's community. Do not give one cent of your money to this game!


I want to enjoy this game. But it seems like the RWBY franchise is cursed when it comes to game adaptations- there's so much great source material, but it always falls flat; Grimm Eclipse, Combat Ready, that phone game I can't be bothered to remember, they're all poor to mediocre.

This one is no different- it's the closest it comes to being good, but it falls short. The Cerberus Engine is a great base, and on a gameplay level, it's well thought out- but the game itself is so buggy I can't in good conscience recommend anyone spend money on this, even hardcore fans of the series. The basic deck is free to play with, try it out for yourself, but pay close attention when you finish a relic game- you might notice you don't always get as many rewards as you should have.