Silly's Reviews

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Hades Review

27 levels of hell!

If you haven't heard of Hades you probably are not alone. Announced at the game awards this year, this little indie darling stole the show for me. Developed by Supergiant games (Known for such gems as Bastion and Transistor) Hades is a rouge-like that feels familiar yet fresh. Easily compared to another masterpiece released this year, dead cells. The basic premise is you are the son of Hades named Zagreus, you are sick and tired of living in hell with your father and want to venture out of hell and join the gods, your family members on Olympus and find your real mother.

The game oozes story and writing prowess the likes of which rouge-likes simply do not see. The voice acting and super varied cast of gods and demons are all super charming and you cannot wait to hear the next line of dialogue they spew whether it be a zippy one liner or a key piece of story. In order to further dialogue options with the gods you find a collectible that acts as a gift for everyone.

Lets talk about the real star of the game though, the combat! Might i mention also this game is in super early access with updates planned to come out across the span of a year. That being said you have four options of attack to chart your way thru hell. A sword, shield, bow, or my favorite the spear. Each are perfectly viable options i just enjoy the reach of the spear above all else. All weapons have a main attack and a secondary attack and the only other tool in your arsenal is a dash and a cast. At the start of the game you can only dash once and cast once but these can be upgraded along with many other aspects of your arsenal thru the mirror found in your bedroom with the collectible darkness. Darkness and keys are the only items that carry over once you die and they are how you unlock weapons and skills in order to delve further into hells grasp.

Whereas the combat is simple and straightforward what really sets Hades apart is when the gods come into play in the form of boons. Whether you stumble across Zeus, Poseidon, Athena, Ares, Etc they will offer you one of three boons to enhance your load out for the run you are currently on. These boons range in rarity from common to legendary. I've only acquired one legendary boon so far and it was amazing. The standard fare for the boons though enhance your primary attack, dramatically change your casting ability to shoot chain lightning, a giant rift of blades, one massive shot, and much more. AS well as give you added power to your dashing or just straight up give you money or healing. 

There is one other collectible in the game in the form of coins. You use these coins to buy from Charron the boatmen of the river Styx. He sells you health upgrades, skills upgrades, small buffs that last for three rooms and more. You can also use the coins to purchase lavish collectibles for your bedroom so when you die and re spawn you have something pretty to look at!

As of right now there are two bosses in the game. Meghara one of the fury sisters, whom dashes around a large room with a whip and massive aoe projectile attack. She also summons hordes of demons to assist her and goes invulnerable from time to time. Then the accursed damned bloody Bone Hydra whom as of writing this i finally and with great pride have slain! He has three stages that i do not want to spoil for you just prepare yourself for a fight and do not think you can beat him your first go around!

Verdict

I have never played a game so deep in early access that feels so fleshed out, bug free, and smooth to play. If you are a lover of indie games, rouge-likes, difficult but rewarding games, or just having the time of your life this game is for you! Please do yourself a favor and spend the $20 asking price for this game for i surely would pay double for this! Now please excuse me as i sharpen my blade and take down the Hydra once more!

Final score 10/10

Pros

Beautiful artwork

Amazing combat

Replayabilty

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Yoku’s island express review

An adorable ball of fun

Going into Yoku’s island i was unsure of what to expect, but as soon as you take control of the titular hero i was hooked. The premise is simple, you land on an island and take over the islands mail route from the previous postmaster, Posterdactyl (a pterodactyl mailman! This game had a lot of great puns!) The game is a metroid-vania title with an amazing and unique twist on the genre, the main way to navigate the island is thru pinball mechanics! You are a dung beetle rolling a ball around and encounter many bumpers and puzzles. The controls feel amazing 90% of the time. The only time i ever had issue was when you get two power ups in the form of the slug vacuum and the slingshot.

Graphically speaking this game OOZES beauty at every turn. The art is absolutely beautiful and the inhabitants of the island are adorable. Ranging from bunnies to bees to little balls of soot. I could not wait to explore the next hidden area of the map to see what secrets were hidden waiting to be found. The vistas you will visit vary from sand covered beaches to snow covered mountains. The game only took me 8 hours to beat but in that time i will definitely remember this game always. I forgot to mention the developer Villa Gorilla this is their first game ever made! What a successful launch into the video game world i cannot wait to see what they do next!

So my main issue with the game is the fast travel system called the Bee-line. There are four beelines to unlock to help you navigate the enormous map more quickly but you could only get on at set points on the map which felt weird and unnecessary. There was a lot of replaying certain sections just to find the collectibles when i feel a teleport system or better fast travel system would have been much more appreciated. 

Verdict

There is so much to love about Yoku’s island and so little to hate that i cannot recommend this game enough. Be forewarned you do need to be pretty damn good at pinball to beat this game though. If you are up to the challenge and have a spare 10 dollars lying around do yourself a favor and go to gamestop and buy this game!

Final score 8.5/10

Pros                  Cons

Graphics           Fast travel

Writing              Certain abilities

Game play

Inhabitants

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Marvel’s Spider-man Ps4

You swing me right round baby

This will be my longest review yet broken up into three sections. Spider-man sections, MJ, miles, and peter sections. and the open world exploration sections. Sorry in advance for how long this review will be!

Jumping into Marvel’s Spider-man my expectations could not have been higher. I wanted this game with every fiber of my being. Let me tell you boy oh boy did it live up to and far exceed my expectations. Taking control of a seasoned 24 year old spider man is a pure joy. No rehashing of a backstory, no uncle Ben death scene, no learning your powers. You start this game having fought and beaten most of all your iconic enemies and having formed many alliances already. Most all of your enemies are in the Raft prison and a few haven't even been realized yet such as Doc Oc and Green Goblin. You are still a poor man trying to scrape by and eek out a living, all the while saving New York from constant threats. Aunt may is in charge of the F.E.A.S.T organization which feeds and shelters the homeless around New York. You volunteer your spare time with her there and work for Dr Otto Octavius trying to find a way to help people with crippling disabilities.

Open world sections

This game has a bevy of side quests and objectives to tackle. Ranging from the repetitive to the ultra unique. At first you will only have access to finding backpacks hidden around the city, filled with objects from your past with brief little snippets of amazing dialogue attached to them. Finding radio towers to open up the map is the other activity you have from the get go. As the story progresses you will tend to research stations for Harry Osborn that will see you collection smog samples out of the air, curing fish in the ocean, busting open pipes with to much pressure. There are various bases to take on much in vain of Batman Arkham challenge rooms. Waves and waves of enemies will come at you and there is countless ways to dispatch of them. Random car chases, and criminal beat em ups are littered around the city. Unique side quests such as capturing pigeons, or bringing down the notorious gang leader Tombstone are a rare treat. The hardest challenges by a mile are the Taskmaster challenges and they made me insanely mad at times. You are expected to chase a drone in the air and hit his air waves, disarm three bombs in time, stealthily take down a number of guards. All these are on a heavy time constraint and seemed unfair each and every time. I did them but man was i raging when i was.

New York city itself is absolutely stunning. This could be called the best character in the game. From the top of real locations such as the empire state building, to the peak of fictional sections such as the avengers tower. Literally around every single corner there was something to marvel (ha get it) at. Swinging thru the concrete jungle was my favorite part of the game bar none. I could get lost hopping from roof top to roof top and taking in the sights for hours. The landmarks scattered around the city were numerous and wonderful.

Spider-man sections (story)

The game starts off very light hearted as you fill spider-mans tights for the first time. Wilson Fisk is your first target and you bring him down spectacularly. As you lock him up and send him off to the raft he warns that with him behind bars the city will turn to chaos and disorder. Does it ever. A brief fight with shocker follows inside a bank and the city seems at peace for a small while. Then the demons invade led by a mysterious leader you come to find out is Mr. Negative A.K.A Martin Li. The game becomes so dark and morbid so fast. I was blown away at a section of the game where a hero cop is awarded the medal of honor in a beautiful ceremony and Mr. Negative orders suicide bombers to blow up the affair, ruble and screams permeate the environment and my jaw was on the ground. Even at this games darkest the writing is unbelievable. I do not think this is a game for kids but as a fan of comics since i was little i could not help but love the more mature direction. The game eventually sees you at the Raft prison which is in total chaos and sees the Sinister Six escape. On full display is Scorpion, the Vulture, Electro, Rhino, Mr Negative, and Doc Oc. Each of their fights is astonishingly well done and i wish they lasted longer.

Scorpion’s section reminds me of Scarecrow sections from Batman. Rhino was a horrifying mass of super human barreling towards you with devastation in his eyes. Mr. Negative had one of the best boss batles ever, only toppled by the final fight with Doc Oc. The most interesting thing about all of these fights is the past that is shared between Spider-man and the villains. 

The game tugged on my heart strings way more than any other game since The Last of Us. You deeply care about Peter Parker and his friends and family. The game has two end credit scenes that i will not spoil for anyone as this is a must play game and you must see them for yourself! Insomniac did and amazing job of setting up the sequel though!

Human character sections

Playing as Peter, Mj, and Miles were for me the low point of the game. I say low point but a low point in a mountain of gold is still very much so gold. It was a lot of sneaking around as Mj and Miles waiting for the right time to make a move. The story aspect of the sections added a lot to the game itself but the game play sections of them were bland. At the end Mj gets a taser and that offers some fun tasering the crap out of silver sables guards (by the way silver sable is in the game she alright). Miles has the best story elements in his sections really adding depth to his character. There is one section with Mj also where you direct spider-man to attack enemies and that was pretty amazing. Playing as peter was the most fun of the three because of the side objectives in Doc Oc’s lab. Piecing together DNA fragments to find a chemical was so much fun as was the re-circuting mini-game. Also Peter’s relationship with Mj was full and enriching to see play out, As was his heartbreak at watching his mentor and idol Doctor Octavius become evil.

Verdict

Marvel’s Spider-man is as of this writing my Game of the year (Which i believe Smash bros ultimate will beat but only time will tell). It is everything i wanted in a video game and so much more. I cannot say anything else about it other than go and play this yourself!

Platinumed

I did platinum this game and it only took me 30 hours to do so. Decent amount of time i think and i cannot wait for the DLC.

Final Score 10/10

Positives

Graphics

New York

Story

Combat

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Guacamelee 2 Review

Juan hell of a good time!

Going in to guacamelee 2 i had insanely high hopes because of my intense love for the first game. Man oh man were my hopes not only met but blown right past with this superb beautiful indie title.

The story in guacamelee 2 is simple yet hilarious at every single turn. You are Juan the luchadore who saved the world from Calaca in the last game. Now old and washed up with a family to take care of. Your old mentor comes to you for aid in the darkest of times once more. You must don your mask and save what the game calls “The Mexiverse” from an evil luchadore named Salvador. Hell bent on obtaining the recipe for the sacred guacamole!

This games strongest suit is its heavy reliance on puns and they never stop coming at you. From the names of the places you visit, to the names of the trophies you unlock. Every sentence ripe with comedy gold. I have never laughed so hard at a video game in my life. Aside from the perfect writing the game play is extraordinarily stellar. The game is a metroid-vania which means there is one massive map to explore and revisit as you find new upgrades and skills to help you unlock areas previously inaccessible. There are i believe ten skills to find hidden thru out the map that help you in many ways both in combat and out. One of the most unique skills is being able to switch from the land of the living to the land of the dead. Which not only opens up more areas to explore but more dialogue options to explore as you visit towns. One of the best uses of this is talking to a brother in the living world and his recently diseased brother in the dead world.

The combat in the game is fast paced and super fun. Starts off simple enough with just a few combos but as the game reaches its end you are doing 500 hit combos so seamlessly. Enemy variety is great and new strategies are needed at all times to come out as the king of the ring. Flying enemies, ground enemies, underground, projectile, invisible, this game has them all. Combat never felt like a choir and was always a pleasure.

The game took me around 11 hours to complete 100%, ive seen some speed runners do it in 7 or 8. So it is by no means a very long game but at the asking price of twenty dollars man is it worth it, because every single hour playing this game is pure enjoyment. Plus once beat there is a hard mode that unlocks for you to tackle which i will without a doubt have a blast with.

The only challenge this came threw at me was in the form of five special key pieces you must find to unlock the “happy” ending. Each piece was frustratingly hard to obtain but i welcomed the challenge with giant raging arms. The last piece in particular ohhhh boy did my blood pressure sky rocket.

Verdict

I highly recommend playing Guacamelee 1 before you tackle this game if for no other reason then its just as amazing and fun to play and you would have a better idea of Juan’s back story. Guacamelee 2 is a must play for any indie game lover and anyone with even an ounce of humor in their bones!

Final score 10/10

Pros

Visually gorgeous

Amazing combat

Overflowing with humour

[sillytails-blog]

Botlike - A Robot’s Rampage Review

One well oiled machine

Botlike is a little game you may not of heard of. For two reasons, one it is still in early access and two it is an rouge-lite developed by a new studio called Binji. Even though you may not have heard of this game it is a game that is deserved to be known by all in the indie community and the rouge-lite community.

The aspect of the game that should catch your eye the most is the gorgeous steampunk era art. You play as an adorable bot named S.I.R and travel thru a rundown slightly lush jungle area which leads into a caverns system which then finally takes you to a massive junkyard complete with robot crushing pillars and incinerators. Many times iv’e died in this game just looking at my surroundings and not realizing an enemy was creeping up on me.

The game play is a splendid mix of the rouge legacy upgrade tree and 2d side scrolling platforming and enter the gungeons weapons and chest system. Though unlike enter the gungeon which boasts a whopping 100+ guns Botlike only has 9 weapons to discover, though they can all be upgraded 5 times either by finding them again or purchasing the gun from the shops that appear randomly throughout the level with scrap you collect from dead enemies. The weapons range from a rifle that shoots thru multiple enemies to a gatling gun that mows down heards of robots. At level 1 the weapons are rather modest but as they grow in level their strength reaches tremendous heights and the aesthetic of the gun changes as well.

Alongside the weapons in the game there is a healthy amount of items to find as well. Items such as the Gentlemen’s Mustache or the Four leaf clover which give you massive damage modifiers and buffs. The most intriguing part about the items though is that if you find two specific ones in a certain run they combine together to make an ultra version of the items. The items have 5 levels to them as well.

The game has 6 difficulties 3 of which are locked from the get go and can only be unlocked by beating the hardest difficulty you currently have available to you. Like any rouge-lite the game starts off brutally hard on any difficulty and gets made easier and easier as you push thru enemies and get a little further each time and re spawn in your tiny starting area where you can spend your hard earned currency called Circuits on upgrades. Upgrades such as permanent health buffs, armor buffs, dmg output, shot speed, dash distance, etc.

Verdict

This is a MUST play for any rouge-lite fan and at only $10 on steam is a must buy. It took me 8 hours to get to the end (Which when you do so and the credits roll lets you know that there is more to come in the full release of the game!) Its simple hook of kill, obtain money, purchase upgrades, get a little further each time is so addicting i cannot wait to jump right back in on the next hardest difficulty.

Score 9/10

Positive                                       Negative

Gorgeous art                               Platforming feels awkward at times

Super fun weapons and items

Replayability

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Mario Tennis Aces Review

Swing and a miss

Mario tennis aces is the newest in the long running Mario tennis series. As with all Mario spin-off sports titles every character and stage is gorgeously rendered. Nintendo really gets full use out of the Nintendo Switch here and i was wowed every time i took a step on the court by all the details in every aspect of the game. The cast consists of 16 playable characters ranging from the super famous Mario to the not so widely heard of Spike.

There is a story mode here and it is somewhat rpg like in the sense that there is a level system in place and as you level Mario up you will increase his speed, power, and zone speed time. Each level is so beautiful and unique compared to when you play online or with a friend. One stage you may be in a dry dry desert then the next you would be in a Petey Piranha forest fleshed out with on court obstacles to overcome. Let me be honest with you though, i played a whopping 20 minutes of the story mode and got bored to tears. The A.I is so ungodly awful it makes the game so incredibly boring for me. 10 of those 20 minutes was a super unnecessary tutorial also since i started online and not offline. I am told the story lasts 6 hours or so, so there is a little bit of meat there but not much.

The real meat of this game comes in local couch-coop or online tournaments. The later being the mode i played the most (about 200 matches of or so). A match consists of a few different shots to switch between including your standard lob shot, power shot, slice, and spin. Unique to Mario Tennis Aces is the Zone shot which you need super meter for and it allows you to send the ball flying to any point on the court in a slowed down bullet time mode, and the Special Shot unique to each character which requires a full super meter but only uses about half of it to absolutely crush that ball and break a few rackets. These Special shots are the best part of the game. From Bowser breathing fire on his racket to Donkey Kong jumping into directional barrels i was always so stoked to see a characters special shot.

The game can be very unforgiving though and always sits between bored to tears fighting underwhelming bad opponents or on the total opposite end of the spectrum fighting tennis gods that you can do nothing about. I’ve never felt like a game was so unfair when i lost a match as i did in Mario Tennis Aces. No matter how i hit the ball or where i hit it the opponents that beat me seemed to never miss a shot and hit the ball with as much power as is possible. Even when i perfectly would block one of their special shots it would careen me to the back of the court where i could do absolutely nothing once they inevitably returned my blocked shot. My record at the end was 182-18 so i did not lose often but when i did i couldn't help but feel flabbergasted at not knowing how i could play better than these people.

Final thoughts

Mario Tennis Aces is a superb entry in the Mario sports franchise but does not offer much in the terms of replay-ability as it gets stale very fast. Its a beautiful Mario game and a switch exclusive and that’s all it really has going for it. I will gladly hang up my racket and wait to don my cleets  for whenever they make a new Super Mario Strikers game (Please Nintendo!)

Positives                                    Negatives

Gorgeous Mario theme             Boring single player

Amazing Special Shots             Horribly unbalanced online play

Couch-Coop                              Gets repetitive fast

Final Score 6/10

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Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Hold on to your butts!

To say this movie had me on the edge of my seat thru out is an understatement. I was one centimeter away from falling to the ground every second of this summertime blockbuster.

Chris Pratt returns as the charming and engaging animal control expert Owen alongside Bryce Dallas Howard’s uptight and controlling Claire followed by two new cast members Zia( Daniella Pindea) the bad ass paleovet and Franklin (Justice Smith) the annoying tech guy. The real show stealer here though are as always the dinosaurs. The newest of which is the Indo-Raptor, a horrifying Frankenstein’s monster creation created once again by actor B.D Wong’s on screen persona Dr. Henry Wu.

Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom starts off with a bang and never loses steam. The plot is rather simple at first but throws in enough twists to make this movie really stand out from the first Jurassic World. The premise this time around is that Isla Nublar’s volcano is about to erupt and the once extinct now very much alive dinosaurs are about to enter extinction for a second time. Claire leads a group of animal rights activist that are fighting to save the dinosaurs even though the government believes that the natural course of history is trying to correct itself.

Owen begrudgingly gets dragged back to the island as Claire tugs on his heartstrings to save Blue the raptor he raised from birth. Zia and Franklin tag along on this crusade to save the dinos and once they step foot on the island everything goes wrong very quickly. Under the guise of relocating the dinosaurs to an island sanctuary where mankind can no longer interfere Claire and Owen join a group of skilled animal wranglers commissioned by the master mind of the plan Mills (Rafe Spall). The group quickly realize that they were lied to and Mills and company only want to make a profit on the dinosaurs by weaponizing them and selling them to very rich unsavory people from around the world.

From the volcano exploding and ash, sulfur, and lava pouring all over the island to the dinosaurs themselves the cgi and camera work made this movie feel so real and engaging. In particular the Lockwood estate was such a beautiful set piece and so hauntingly dark and eerie. Every dinosaur to the smallest to the largest were on full display and every. single. time. They entered the scene the movie was made all the better for it. Owen’s relationship with Blue was very fleshed out and endearing and his new companion in the third act of the film Stiggy (A bone-dome headed ramming dinosaur) were the highlights of the movie. Also as they should the T-Rex stole the show every time she showed up. Every villain gloriously got their comeuppance and every decision made by the main actors was satisfying. 

MASSIVE SPOILERS REGARDING THE END!

At the end of the film the choice is up to Claire and Mr. Lockwood’s young granddaughter to decide if the dinosaurs should live or die as they are about to suffocate to death on toxic gas. The only way to save them is to release them into the wilds of the world. Claire decides not to but young miss Maisie believes they should have another chance at life. As she hits the button to release them and they enter the world my mind was racing as to what the next movie could possibly be about. I am so excited to hop back into Jurassic World for a third time and see where the journey takes us!

Closing statement

This movie delivered everything i wanted and more. Giant set pieces, amazing dinosaurs, Chris Pratt, and of course Jeff Goldblum. I cannot recommend this movie enough to everyone who has been in love with this series since the original Jurassic Park as i have been. Do yourself a favor and go see it.

Final Score 10/10 

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Moonlighter Review

One amazing indie game.

I stepped into Moonlighter unsure of how I would feel about playing a game where the main focus was shop upkeep. Man was I surprised when I couldn't wait to get back to my shop after a long and arduous dip into one of moonlighters four unique and wonderful dungeons. 

Moonlighter is a beautiful pixelart-esque style game. The main focus behind it is simple. You inherit your family’s shop (Moonlighter) and you must run and manage it into a successful little shop in a small town. The goods you mark for sale in the shop come from the second part of the game, dungeon crawling. You must run your shop by day and venture into a dungeon at night slaying monsters and opening chests to secure loot which you then bring back to your shop and sell to the townspeople. It is such a simple yet engaging loop of kill monsters, gain loot, sell loot, upgrade shop and buy new weapons, repeat.

The shop keeping part of Moonlighter is insanely addicting. You start off with only four items being displayed at a time and by the end of the game you can display 30+. You must place an item for sale and judging by the townsfolks reactions you must adjust price to be either lower or higher. They will display a sad face if it is too high, a coin filled eye face if it is too low, and a contented smile face if it is just right. This constant battle to find the right price was so engaging and engrossing in the maybe 3-4 minutes your shop stayed open at a time. 

The second aspect of this game is the dungeon crawling. You start off with a simple sword and shield and nothing else. The first few trips into the dungeon I found to be pretty hard with this weapon, but once I found my first new weapon which happened to be the fist weapons in the game I found combat to be an enjoyable breeze. There are about 7 or 8 different weapon types to experiment with ranging from fist weapons, to broad swords, to bows. You use items found in the dungeon to craft upgrades for your weapons and armor as well as make potions to survive the dungeons.

The game is a rouge-lite which means once you step foot in a dungeon if you die you start from the beginning. Though the lite part of it is you get a portal later in the game you can use to escape the dungeon and return to where you were without losing any progress. The game never felt unfair or overly difficult, I died maybe 10 times in my 8 hours of play.

My one and only gripe with the game is that it was only 8 hours of play, I could squeeze more time out of it if I wanted to gain trophies on playstation but they were just long boring grindy trophies. I upgraded my shop and town 100% as well as my gear. This amazing journey was over far to soon (I actually without trying acquired the speed run trophy which is earned by beating the game in under 10 hours)

Summary

Moonlighter is a beautiful and unique shop keeping sim / dungeon crawler. Well worth the low asking price and a game you must try for yourself to fully understand how wonderful it is.

Review score 9/10.

Positives                                             Negatives

Beautiful art                                       Clunky at first

Amazing sense of progression          Way to short

Price tag