I'm planning to buy this on PC once it get a discount just to have better control over the framerate because that cause some issues on the console. At its core the game plays like a beat 'em up, a very arcadish one. The controls are simple like it used to be. Fast weak attacks, slow strong attacks, option to chain them together, a ranged attack that is good only for knocking enemies down to give yourself a few seconds, and a dodge that has no invincibility but cancels anything. There is also a block but after the first stage no enemy will have blockable attacks. The most useful stuff is the execution that grants invincibility for the animation's entire duration what will save your life more than too many times. Believe it or not the game actually plays nicely and fun enough to replay it. All these quirky gameplay elements are aged good enough to call it retro. Where are the problems? At the technical side. The first thing to notice is the audio not working properly. The real issue however is the quick time events the game like to throw way too often in the gameplay. While QTE by itself is also a quirky retro thing, but it doesn't work as intended. Especially on higher difficulty and with high framerate the QTE is so fast that sometimes it is near instant (and random) other times it is extremely slow to a point it allow inputs even seconds after the event ended and still winning. Because QTE is in use a lot of times during the gameplay this makes the game rather unfair with the said technical issue. I really hope the PC version works better. If for nothing else I intend to get it for the modding but I would rather see some official patches fixing these problems. The game is playable but can cause headache if you decide to play on the higher difficulties.
Let me start with that, much like in the case of previous titles there are contents that is console exclusive. While none of those are gameplay changing people may like to see the extra clothes on PC too. Ys X can be considered as the middle ground between VIII and IX. The story while being that of a classic Ys it flow more like in Ys VIII with a lot more connection between the pieces and with a lot of cutscenes rather than the fast paced story telling of the old games or Ys IX. However it also throws you in a few large hubs with a lot to interact with rather than separating it to locations like it did in Ys IX. Honestly the game got a really nice story that I already played through two times and I'm planning to do it more. As I said it's classic: there is the enemy, yes sure there are also mystery here and there but it is a mystery because of the said enemy. Very straight forward and much comparable to the first set of Ys titles. The gameplay is much more simple than it was in the previous few games. A lot of new mechanics from Ys Seven, VIII and IX got completely removed and actually I'm glad for this. I felt that Ys IX forced a lot of pointless things in the gameplay just because Ys VIII had it. Ys X got two things for its general gameplay loop. Now you can continuously block and perform powerful counterattacks, and switch between the fast but weaker solo mode and slower but powerful duo mode. Counter attacks are way less abusable than flash guard and the duo mode is here when you have to break through enemies with force. As simple as this get and I like it. I hate to use this word but the game also feature a 'barebone' naval combat. Your ship autotarget the enemies so everything left is to position yourself. It is kind of fun for the likes of me who's not into the manual aiming at all. Ys IX left a bit of grief in me but this game fixed all of those. Simplicity done right. I dare to say it's my second favorite game after Ys 8, on par with Ys I & II.
To be honest and jokes aside this game is rather controversial. It is simple and practically everything on the screen can be reacted to instead of puzzling out patterns. Not fast, not slow, not too tactical but isn't mindless either. There are no gimmicks but anything the player can do is a gimmick on its own. In the other hand not even the game takes itself seriously that led to the absurd amount of meme videos presented everywhere on the net. As you play you will soon notice how much the gameplay tend to pull you towards these feats, especially as the difficulty increase. This can be a negative point for the more hardcore players but doesn't hurt the casual plays. Despite the games excelent reputation don't expect much. The general gameplay loop isn't deep but there is challenge and also can't be messed up by doing something wrong. The fights are fun and the exploration (while there isn't much) never bored me. There are weapon choices, a few moves, and no forced environmental disadvantage, you get enough space to freely use anything the game offer. As a casual gamer I find this game perfect but I see its shortcommings that mostly hurt the gameplay depths. But even if that's your main aspect of a game I still recommend to play this title. Its cost is that of any random game while definitely having quality gameplay.
I'm playing this game since ages on PS4 and I'm consider buying it for PC now too. Valfaris is a technically simple run and gun game where you keep the weapons you found, never lose them on death, and can select between them anytime at any checkpoints. It plays similarily to Contra though you have healt bar and three weapons at the same time. A weaker handgun with infinite ammo, a stronger heavy weapon that use energy, and a fairly strong but limited range melee weapon that charge energy when used. Instead of slide or dodge there is a shield that absorbs damage when held up or perform a parry when timed correctly, working against both melee or ranged attacks. This is the gameplay loop, as simple as satisfying. Its difficulty is more forgiving than Slain's however there is also more enemies to attack you at once. Bosses are either pattern heavies or some of them are outright total random but their attacks are always well telegraphed making it no problem if you don't want to learn their methods. There is also an NG+ where you keep everything you've collected, facing enemies that are as strong as your maxed out weapons. They're faster, care less about spacing, and if there is a spawn point they come faster. It is an absolute blast to play this game. Brutal, metal, and thankfully the player character isn't fragile either. The atmosphere is amazing and I dare to say some of its music became iconic in my eyes. Arguably this isn't a deep game as there is no synergy between weapons neither preferable builds and this is actually a plus point in my opinion. You're free to use whichever weapon you want without suffering from any consequences. Because of this I found Valfaris a fresh title in its genre.
As a huge fan of the first Valfaris I bought this game instantly on release on Steam. I wasn't disappointed because it delivers both what you expect from a shmup and from a thing with Valfaris in its name. Its graphical design fully follows of its predecessor's aesthetic, a very nice retro style gothic and metalic world and enemies. Of course with cool metal soundtrack. Gameplay-wise it's actually good. There is a melee weapon to build up energy from killing enemies, a ranged weapon to use that energy for even more destruction and a new type of weapon group that acts as a special ability (which is quite useful even if it isn't looks like that for first). There are modules that is like equipment in RPGs, gives you passive skills though they don't matter that much as I would love to see them. Another new thing is the boost that replace Valfaris' shield. While boosting you're invincible, avoiding any damage, and when connects with an enemy a very powerful strike occur (while still being invincible for the entire duration of its animation). That's the game pretty much. While it is really, and I mean REALLY fun there is a few annoying elements. I remember reading reviews about how the first Valfaris start being like a rhythm game after a point. I never experienced this however it really start to be like that in Mecha Therion. In the last few areas there will be swarms of fast and fairly tough enemies that also like to fire a lot. Without taking them out fast enough the screen will be filled with hard to avoid random-trajectory projectiles that either drains your boost as you use it leaving you defensless for the remaining enemies or because you have to keep evade normally even more enemies will be allowed to join the party. Another grudge of mine is the NG+. In the first Valfaris you eventually got more HP for True Metal mode to help surviving the stronger enemies, but in Mecha Therion NG+ reduce the HP for a single one. This takes a bit of fun away alone.
This is a strange game though it do the few things it want to do right. Rebel Galaxy isn't Freelancer and isn't Starpoint Gemini, it is its own. You're piloting a ship that is always larger than a gunship and there is a certain feel that ensure the controls feel like it is really a capital spaceship. While you're forced to play on a 2D plane but honestly I never really used the 3D environment in any space-battle game where I'm controlling a capital ship. While there is a selection of different activities the game is generally about fighting. Maybe it is exaggerating to say the combat is special but it has its unique charms. The broadsides feel good to fire, the turrets give the ship some kind of oh-yeah feeling especially in numbers. All the weapons can be controlled manually at will or you can give them order to automatize them, the broadsides however work only manually. Broadsides can be fired rapidly with minimal to zero accuracy or with slow precision. Turrets usually good for anything and during the first hours those going to carry you to the point you can buy good enough main weapons. Getting better stuff can be monotonous. Doing missions that are generaly far away so it takes time to reach the area, and the story alone never award enough credits to upgrade your ship. The story is kind of naive yet complex in a sense. This is what looks like Firefly's to me. It is a bit random and honestly its complexity was forced in rather than having a natural flow of lore. The weakpoint of the game is the very simple AI. A fighting AI can do two things: either going full offense or full defense. Earily they can effectively swarm you and destroy the ship within seconds, later you can repel the swarm more easily but it makes you exposed to the heavy enemies. Full defense means you have to chase the enemy for minutes to get within range. Then, what makes it a 5 stars game? It really do its job perfectly. More like a non-sense space opera with a lot of "oh yeah" moments.
I got this game so much time after its initial release mostly because I heard it had tons of optimization problems which slowly got fixed. On PS4 the game now runs perfectly without problems. Ys 8 breaks nearily all the standards the series had. To start with this is the first Ys to have a story of equal worth with the more famous RPGs in terms of telling. There is story no matter where you go and everything is interconnected even if not immediately. The characters have place in the plot, their actions means new elements to the story with the sole exceptions of Nia who's a bit out of place. The gameplay is just awesome. Large maps with a lot of freedom in movement, well placed enemies and object without feeling any place empty or stuffed. The fighting is similar to that of in Memories of Celceta but with less abusable flash guard and evade. Skills are pretty generic and maybe some are less generally usable as other but overall you're free to pick the one you like the most without worrying too much about effectiveness. Exploring is fun, there is so much diversity even on the same map. There is however minimal indication how can you reach certain places sometimes feeling like just a bug (especially jump puzzles where you miss only a pixel or two, not knowing you actually need double jump later). This is like this in the new Ys games though so I don't complain. For closing let me return to the story for a bit. I really enjoyed it. I found the emotional and moral handing exceptional. There is no forced sad moments nor questions about good and evil relations. The game let you experience the passing in such an art-like environment it feel natural. Not crying after the deaths but instead feel like having an era completed filled with precious memories, having an important legacy. The character of Dana had a large impact on me. I dare to say she is the best character the series ever had, one of the best a game ever featured. Bested Ys Seven's ending if you ask me.
This game was an instant purchase for me when it came out on console. Much like in the case of the previous games this is an upgrade of the engine used by the game came out before. This being said the general gameplay is more balanced and somehow more responsive. The graphics are equal to the patched Ys 8 however suffers from the optimization problems where too much shadows and lights have to be handled even on the console. I found this detail interesting because Ys 8 had the exact same problem at start too. Unfortunately it fails to continue the climbing Ys 8 started. Ys 9 is more like the earily games where the story was told through plot scenes (sometimes way too long ones) and not really have those integrated in the whole. Don't get me wrong, this is the standard for Ys games but a step back compared to Ys 8 where it had the right balance. Its story also more similar to the older games rather than the newer ones (Ys Seven and above) lacking the "wow" moment. The plot is awesome and interesting, I have to say. The gameplay is perfect. It is the exact same as in Ys 8 with some balance changes in the response. Fighting feels epic and the transition between combat and the exploring is fluid. Skills are easy to use, nothing new. The most significant change is the remove of common equipments and instead the characters have separate traversal abilities. These however are more well used as you have more places to have fun with the traversal abilities, more freedom to use it. The only thing I dislike and made it lose a star is it feels like a lackluster version of Ys 8. The general gameplay feels a bit empty, often about traversing between the carefree town and the arena like fights with minimal diversion. Since I'm comparising already I would say this is kind of like in Ys 1. Most of the features from Ys 8 is here however all of them feels a bit forced maybe even out of place. I thought it is just here because the previous game featured it thus can not leave it out.
