Recent reviews by Jyazen

This review is pretty sus.

i'm lovin' it~

This might as well be RNG: The Game. Fun, though, if rather stressful.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words... well, this picture only speaks 14 words, but it pretty much sums up the whole game, plot and everything.

http://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=651870408

Ahhh, just where do I start? Never had any game grated me this much... and I tried my very best to like this game. I mean, with so many positive reviews, it oughta be good, right? Right? Unfortunately, this was not the case for me.

Disclaimer: This is my personal opinions, you are free to agree or disagree with it. We all have different tastes. And oh, SPOILERS AHEAD.

I repeat, SPOILERS AHEAD.

Before anything, let's start with the good. It's always best to start with the good.

The Good:
Awesome soundtrack (JAM Project and Masaaki Endoh never ever disappoints)
Excellent animation (even better than some anime!)
Mirror T_T ;_;
Jack~<3


Now for the bad... let's just say... RANT MODE ON.

I've played tons of Visual Novels and Kinetic Novels. I'm used to having my choices having little to no matter at all and just be in it for the ride, so to speak. I've cried playing Narcissu, I've laughed playing Nekopara, I've facepalmed playing one of the Sakura games, I've shuddered in fear playing Higurashi, but this game... this game... Cho Dengeki Stryker is definitely unique and not in a good way.

Playing this game is watching a trainwreck in slow motion. Veeeeeeeeery slow motion. It's worse then watching an episode of the three stooges. Both the protagonist and the villains are actively in a competition to see who's the most incompetent of them all, and that's an understatement. It's like watching Home Alone and everybody's the Wet Bandits (e.g. the robbers), even our protagonist... and Jack is Kevin McCallister. >.<

Let's start with our protagonist, "Yuuki Yamato". The hero of this "super hero epic" that... well, never legitly won a single encounter the whole game. At the very best, he fought the enemies to a standstill (that's his debut, ladies and gentleman) and then proceeded to get his ass whomped every single battle after that, the last battle notwithstanding, but that's with some sacrificial last-minute-power-up, which is why I put "legitly won".

And oh, guess what? When our hero was sufficiently beaten up, the sidekick character of the story shows up and... defeated the current villain opponent in a single move. Yes, the villain that was giving our hero so much trouble? Defeated in a SINGLE MOVE, by the sidekick: Texas Ninja Jack. Yes, he/she (don't ask) is a ninja... from TEXAS. And surprisingly, Jack happens to be the most competent character in the whole game.

As for the villains... meh, I'll just cut my rant short and say the whole group of villains are as incompetent as (or worse than) our hero.

MASSIVE SPOILERS STARTS!!!



Fortunately, however, we do have a diamond in the rough, and that is in the character Mirror. Mirror, to me, is the most interesting (and most tragic) character in the game. Who's Mirror? Why, he's the real Yuuki Yamato. The child who made the wish that started this whole tale. Because of his wish, "Yuuki Yamato" became Dengeki Stryker, but that's not the real Yuuki Yamato, the real Yuuki Yamato and his memories, all became trapped in a "monster" that's the character of a book (the same book Dengeki Stryker and the villains originated from) not really knowing what's going on and just want his mom and dad. It's all very very tragic. and the only part I like about the whole game, but at that point I'm already grated to hell and back and thus the thumbs down.



MASSIVE SPOILERS ENDS!!!


The other thing I disliked, albeit minor, is despite the animation being excellent and we get great quality cutscenes, there's just too much reused clips. Especially the Stryker equip Clips. I guess it's something of a homage to good ol' anime and tokus where they keep reusing the transformation and attack clips. Unfortunately, it works in animes/tokus because it's once per week, whereas as this is a game, and I'm playing it in one sitting... let's just say the reused clips gets annoying after the nth time it's reused within the very same hour and I every much want to (and do) skip it.

This is a "super hero epic" with nothing heroic at all. The hero doesn't win (at all :P), there's little to no heroic or gripping scenes and... is our hero even actually a hero? What this is is a tragic tale of a wish made by a child who, as a child, does not know better. In other words, it's like Madoka Magica being advertised as a magical girl show. It's true, but it's just not what one's expecting.

Well, I'm done for now. Did I say the most competent character in this whole game is Jack? I did? Well, I'll say it again. The most competent character in this whole game is Jack.

(And randomly: How does a Cyborg grow up anyway? I always figured the Stryker stuff are just armanents, but they keep saying he's a cyborg.)

No... just no... I can see why this "game" was released on 1st April, I get it, I get the joke and am laughing. Well, it was either that or to break down in tears.

But still... NO!

Wow... just wow...

Truth be told, I wasn't expecting much. I mean, I had free time, this game had a small file size so I can download it quickly despite my net, so I figured, why not? And why not indeed! I was blown away, figuratively AND literally at the later part of the game.

It's just quick, fun, mindless thrill. The action is frantic, bullets can fill up the screen if you don't get rid of the enemies quick. Shoot them down before they shoot you! Outrun the enemy bullets, weave through them. Much akin to a bullet hell game, your hit spot is tiny, and you can maneuver through the enemy bullets... if you're careful! Precision is the key here. I would categorize this game as bullet hell meets Zelda. Old Zelda... think Link to the Past, etc.

The upgrade system is rather unique too... instead of upgrades being available and purchasable the moment you have the cash to afford it (in other words, jut grind money), there's 3 different types of upgrades.

First one is monster-based. Each monster offers their own unique upgrade badge that you can buy once you get a card off them (low chance drop) AND killed enough of them to fill your "Knowledge meter" of them. Once both conditions are fulfilled, you can see what badge they offer and whether you wanna buy it... this is where cash comes in. It's a bit of a grind, especially because of how many you need to kill and the low chance of card drop, but hey, it makes each monster unique, even the lowly slime.

The second system is via unique coins called Sweezy Coins (what else?) and once again, cold hard cash. They're scattered throughout the world, some needing later upgrades before you can reach them. Getting a certain amount of them unlock upgrades you can purchase from the many shops you pass throughout the world.

Last but not least, there's heart containers (hello, Zelda fans). Getting 4 will increase your heart total by 1, and just like Sweezy Coins, they're scattered throughout the world and yes, just like the above, you'll need later upgrades before you can reach some of them.

Brace for action, get ready to dodge bullets, be prepared to kill enemies quick, and most importantly, have a hella good time. And oh, die a lot of times too while at it.