I got this game for free during the gog anniversary and i feel bad about it (still bought the missing DLCs btw), because this game deserves every cent of it's full price. I never played the original Shadow Warrior so i can't talk for those who did, but i personally found Shadow Warrior 2 amazing ! The game has already a lot of different mechanics in itself, and combined with the hudge variety of weapons, upgrades, and skills, it allows for an almost endless variety in playstyle customization. The story feels like the half-parody of a japanese action movie, and i mean it in a good way, with it's characters and enemies seemingly drawn from japanese folklore, sci-fi cyberpunk, and modern Japan, all at the same time... and a main character who is a complete d&%! that keeps making sex jokes whenever he talks to somebody. My only gripe with this game is that the stages and the enemies are kinda repetitive. Except for certain story segments, the stages are different sections from the same 4 large open maps everytime, and the enemies are often variants of the same models), but considering everything else, you don't even think about it anyway. Also, i don't play on multiplayer but people mention that it only works with gog galaxy, so keep that in mind in case you want to get into this with a friend.
Let me start by saying the game has a really cool concept and an awesome presentation. The idea of running and gunning with different characters, vehicles, weapons, and abilities, in a big and detailed map full of destructible elements, is great on paper... but sadly this game fails on delivering it. Even I, as a big fan of shooter games, have found myself really bored playing this one game. The biggest problem is that, while the game looks awesome and detailed in the environments, units, and effects, the maps are too big and empty. This wears on the action, making it frustratingly slow while dragging the "empty" moments for too long, all while the same 2 seconds loop "music" keeps playing over and over. The enemies are always the same, too few and far in between, and either so weak to die in a couple shots, or so stupid that all you have to do is run circles holding the fire button until they die. Also, a personal nitpick: The characters are REALLY unlikeable. I get it, are supposed to be mercs, but that doesen't mean they should all be "Random dufus with superiority complex" or "Random douchebag wants to be rich". In conclusion, the only thing i really enjoyed about this game is the cinematic trailer, everything else was just too slow and samey-same for me.
I personally found this game amazing, there is a good choice of customizations for the player, the game is long and difficult with it's many stages, but is also fair and forgiving enough to let you save and continue or restart from the last checkpoint if you want to stop playing and continue later, or just do better in a certain segment. The soundtrack is amazing as it always been in the Raiden games, and while the story isn't well delivered (at all), it still gives an insight of what is going on in the game universe. The only issues i personally have with this game are more annoyances than anything, like the fact that the game seems tugging at your sleeve to use a cloud service everytime you start, or how Eshiria (the mission control) treats you like a moron whenever your destruction ratio/speed aren't perfect. Raiden V is an amazing game to me, it has some annoyances but what it does right is top notch. The original pricetag is way too high, but if you find it on sale is a must buy for SHMUP fans.
Despite I got all the achievements and beat all the challenges I did not enjoy this game too much myself. I wanted and tried really hard to love or at least appreciate this game, but whenever i was having some fun it ended up being ruined by it's few but glaring issues. It might take too long to make a detailed review so i'll do a small list of pros and cons instead: Pros: -Amazing visuals and designs. Among the best i ever seen -Controls fine. If you play with a controller it works pretty well -Good and well fitting music. There is a bit of everything and everything has the right tone -Deep (and dark) story. A father chasing revenge and the last remnants of a civilization against an empire -Interesting mechanics. Your biggest enemy is the time, which you can also manipulate. Cons: -Unclear hitboxes. Blandly shown in the plane selection screen -Bad implementation of the 3-D environments and visual effects. Is often unclear what's in the background and what's in the foreground. Sometimes the visual effects and foreground objects also obstruct your view of units and projectiles -Bad projectiles display. Some enemy attacks blend with the environment or even theyr own visual effects -Inconsistent damage. some things just hit you, some other destroy you istantly with no indication -Terrible telegraphing. at first you will die a lot just for not knowing what's coming -Unclear scoring system. score multiplier and stage score are calculated differently -Bad visual and control customization. No windowed mode and arcade sticks work the same as the gamepad. -Terrible multiplayer. Why can't both players have a plane ? So, should you buy this game ? If you are not big time into shmups and just want one to pickup and play, you'll enjoy this one for sure. If you are a lot into this kind of game just forget about it, the way is designed goes against any logic for both shmup and danmaku. I admit there is a true gem hidden under all the issues, i just can't find it.
If you have played "Stories: the path of destinies", this game is an improved "spiritual successor" of it. Like Stories, Omensight is a heavily narrative driven game with hack n'slash/RPG style combat and elements of dialogue, with choices aimed to unfold the course of the events that brought the world around you to the current situation and will bring you to the final battle later on. However, while being very similar there are still some differences between Stories and Omensight: On a gameplay level Omensight is an improved game as the combat is more polished and has more variety, with also the addition of allied characters. On a narrative level, Omensight has a more complex writing, as every character has their own course of events to unfold that will always ends up crossing another ones path creating a "big picture" for you to find out piece by piece. The only true flaw of this game is that it has no replayability: once you finish the game, it just ends, you can't go back and there is no "New game +" or anything like that. So should you get this game ? if you like narrative driven games - yes, go for it, especially if you liked Stories. Otherwise you would be better off playing an actual hack and slash button masher. Personally, the moment i installed it i couldn't stop playing it as it kept me hooked wanting to know and see more of the story everytime @.@ Also, despite the effort and work the developers have put into this game, the lack of replaiability make me say that you would be better getting this game on discount, the base price is a bit too much for a game that just ends the moment you beat it.
Lemme say i finished this game and i really wanted to love it, but beyond the amazing artstyle and animation the game suffers of one of the worst and most sluggish controls i ever experienced (and i played many retro games and remakes in my life) and that's what ruined it to me. Your character moves incredibly slow compared to everything else in the game and jumps barely enough to get across gaps, let alone when those include some kind of hazard; your attack range is almost unexistent and i think there are hitbox issues too (i clearly remember to have seen in many occasion the character sword going thorough but not registering the hit, especially when using the magic sword on star squares); and whenever you get hit you're knocked a mile away and you cannot move or do anything during the "invincibility frame", many times leading you to bounce around like a ragdoll between the hazards and the enemies on the screen. The list of problems i encountered can go on for a while but i don't wanna make a wall of text and i know there's a lot of people that love this game despite such "problems", but i'm gonna say this: It's an old game which challenge relies on handickapping the player and exploiting/abusing it's own terrible controls, and the only things that have been truly updated are the graphics and the sound. If you don't mind bad controls this game is awesome, otherwise you better spend your money on something else.
Let me start by saying that this game isn't bad and it does a good job at putting you at the command and management of a starship since while it's true that most of the time you'll be flying around playing quests and doing other stuff, but if you wanna get far you also have to manage other stuff like the ship tuning, from raw firepower and hull/shields to other things like the resistance from system hackings and enemy soldiers boardings, the best buy/sell prices and legality of tradeable goods,... However, the tutorials explaining the game are outright terrible (powerpoint style bland text only descriptions of the functions with pointers to a static image) and you should play at least the first part of the storymode to understand this game. The space environments are gorgeous and the graphics are stunning as well giving a good feel of an Aasimov style space opera. Sayd this, sadly the game does make a terrible job on keeping the player invested. The most glaring issue (and what killed it IMO) is the fact that is extremely grindy and unrewarding because everything is just Way too much expensive and doesen't matter how many quests you play, for as long as your income is as much inconsistent as your expenses, even just buying a consumable like a set of scavenger drones can severely hamper your expenses and savings for better stuff. This also doesen't help if you consider the game seems to belive that a player with higher level has better equipments when it's not the case at all because of the problem just mentioned. Also keep in mind that this is a "space" game so expect it to be repetitive (the missions you can actually play are always the same 3: go pick up thing X and bring to another place, Kill Y target/s, Scan/repair Z thing). In conclusion, Starpoint Gemini is not a bad, i can't say that is worth the stock price (which for what it really offers is not at all), and this isn't a game anyone can just pickup and play, but check it out if you find it on sale.
To begin with i have to say that despite it's repetitive gameplay this game kept me hooked up for hours since i installed it. While being a pretty simple hack and slash exploration game, what "Stories: the path of destinies" really shines for is the narrative. Every single choice you make in the game has a different outcome, and despite it's repetitive nature it's always fun to keep playing and see what your next choice will bring to. Indeed this game not only has multiple paths but also encourages to always try something different, and I admit: i'm never been the kind of person going back on RPGs i've cleared to "experiment" with the narrative, but with this game i just can't stop playing and eagerly wait to see what my next choice will bring to. Stories: the path of destinies is not really a game about combat or exploration (indeed as i sayd those two are very simplistic) but rather focuses on the narrative and makes it the true core game mechanic. If watching the story is like watching a TV show, exploring and slashing the enemies is kinda like keeping yourself entertained while waiting for the next episode, and it's a fun part on it's own as you can't wait to see what's going to happen next while the game keeps you busy with exploration and combat. If you like intricate narratives with multiple paths and choices or narrative driven games, this is a game you shouldn't miss. Otherwise, if you're lookig just for some action and exploration, you'd better look somewhere else Personally, i can't stop playing it @.@
It's unbeliveable how such a simple game can be so fun and addicting. The concept is pretty simple: you fly an airplane callen "Rauser" and blow up stuff trying to complete certain objectives or beat the high score, nothing more and nothing less yet this is not an easy game and you need to get used especially to it's "Asteroids" style of game controls as you don't move in the direction you point the control stick but left and right will always make you turn and up will always propels you to the direction you're pointing the airplane. Might look and be simple but this game is full of nice surprises and is always fun to play. Honestly is not worth the stock price eighter because there isn't too much content and because even if so simple the game has still some "problems" that might not be gamebreaking but are quite annoying (Like the fact that YOU CANNOT COMPLETE IT because of some bug that doesen't let you unlock a certain objective and only the Steam version FOR BETA TESTERS does) but is certainly a "must have" if you like old school shmups and you can find it on sale.
If you know the old arcade classic "Defender" then you know this game too, because that's what it is: a "renewed" submarine version of the old space shooter with cats as protagonists. My only complaint is that this game is quite short (you can finish it in a couple of days) but beside that it's simple and enjoyable, even playing with a friend (and trying to beat the high scores adds some more longevity too).
