Troublemaker

Lacks a more realistic "Dante Must Die" difficulty for SMA students

Make no mistake, I think that Troublemaker is worth picking up. That being said, there are some fairly massive caveats to my positive review and I feel like if you are looking for something much more polished mechanically, this is not that game. Troublemaker is absolutely janky to all get out in terms of combat but this feels like such a rich experience that I feel like it almost is worth experiencing regardless. The game is first & foremost a brawler. So, how is the combat? Well, speaking as someone who grew up with the polished action of Final Fight & Double Dragon, it doesn't feel great. Its combat system feels probably the closest to the melee combat of Sleeping Dogs but with less polish. Like someone else said, the animations are pretty stiff and it doesn't have the visceral punch that you might expect from something like Sifu or Godhand or the Yakuza games it's been compared to. That being said, I love the experience of being in this world. So much to the point that I don't really care that the combat isn't that great. With Troublemaker, you are experiencing someone's (relatively) unfiltered vision. It's punk as F. Which is good, because Budi is a rotten punk kid. The game is named after him, after all. So while I cannot recommend it based solely based on its combat which is a very hefty aspect of this game; for those who enjoy life simulation games with some combat, this is absolutely going to be your jam. Yakuza gets thrown around a lot but I really feel like we're moreso at the crossroads of Shenmue & Persona. And bearing that in mind, there's so much to enjoy here. 20 minutes in, I picked up a package of Indomie noodles and I have no idea if they even sponsored the game or if the devs just love Indomie noodles. That is the kind of game you're getting here. Because it feels like a love letter to Indonesia at its heart. For that I cannot recommend Troublemaker enough. I genuinely am so excited to see what Gamecom Team puts out next.

It's a shame that the animations are a bit stiff, and that the opponents (especially the bosses) don't have special moves, grabs, throws or anything else. Regardless, it's a good game. I haven't played it, but I've watched a lot of walkthroughs.