#rccomplete

[greatlordpan]

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia (3DS) Strangely, Nintendo did something new with the series by remaking a NES game. Echoes is a remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden, the second ever game in the series, which was released only in Japan for the Famicom (the Japanese NES). Much like other first Nintendo sequels, it was the black sheep of the series, changing up the formula to add dungeon exploration, remove item management and so on. Though future games undid these changes, they come back in the remake, and are actually welcome additions. Dungeon crawling in third person (shifting back to turn-based strategy when an enemy mob is encountered) looks amazing on the 3DS, and feels like a natural progression at this point in the series' life. Lack of weapon deterioration is not an issue considering the relative scarcity of weapons, and the reluctance to uneqip one when a character gains bonuses for having mastered it. The story is entertaining, despite predictable plot twists. Though there are fewer Support conversations than previous games (where your troops undergo character development and bond with each other, thus fighting better when together), their personalities and character arcs shine through in fully voiced conversations in village hubs and flashbacks. The music perfectly captures the tone of each situation, though there are fewer memorable tracks than other recent entries in the series. Whilst a thoroughly enjoyable strategy-RPG, I found the difficulty curve quite uneven, with monstrously difficult levels and ludicrously easy ones interspersed seemingly at random. Further affecting the difficulty is the ability to rewind time a set amount of times per battle, allowing you to undo mistakes (once one of your troops dies, they are dead for good). Though on the one hand it did feel like adding training wheels to an experience which should be difficult, it has been useful to redo turns in situations of bad luck (4 enemies could attack my archer, they each had a 20% chance to hit and he could survive up to three hits - all four attacks landed), so overall I don't mind it. 9/10 #rccomplete #retrocollective #rceurope #retrocollectiveeu #igersnintendo #fireemblem

[greatlordpan]

Tales from the Borderlands: A Telltale Game Series (PS4) I was really blown away by this. Telltale consistently make great games, but this one was really superb. So far, I've always played through them with a housemate, the playthrough accompanied by entertaining banter, but this one made me laugh just as much playing on my own. The writing is really excellent - an underdog story set within the universe of the Borderlands game series (specifically between the ending of the second game and the prologue of the prequel, and the finale takes place after the events of the other games). Fantastic characters and hilarious comedy made this a pleasure to play through and hard to put down. Also, of you're familiar with Borderlands, you're familiar with the amazing intro sequences the series is known for. Each episode of this game has its own intro, episode 4 being my personal favourite. Much like other Telltale games, this is an episodic adventure game, so gameplay involves dialogue trees/moral choices, collecting items for mild puzzle solving, and quick-time events. However, this game brings something new to the table. There are two playable characters, Fiona and Rhys. Fiona is a con artist, and she can collect money, which comes in handy at certain points in the story. Rhys has a bionic eye, and can use it to scan certain items for bits of lore (and some of the game's best comedy). Also, in the climactic battle, the quick-time events are fighting game combos (it makes sense in context). These additions make the experience feel more immersive than other similar games. Visually, it looks just like other Borderlands games, right down to beams of light emanating from items you can pick up. They also make a subtle joke about how grind-y side missions in the main games can be, which I thought was a nice touch. Cannot recommend highly enough, especially to Borderlands fans. Flawless - the first game I give full marks to. 10/10 #playstation4 #ps4 #retrocollective #retrocollectiveeurope #rceu #disccollective #igersplaystation #instagamer #instagaming #gaming #videogames #playstation #4theplayers #rccomplete #review #borderlands #pandora #gearbox #telltale #telltalegames

[greatlordpan]

Giana Sisters Twisted Dreams Director's Cut (PS4) Though this series started off as a Mario clone, this entry differentiates it from its mustachioed "inspiration". From what I can gather from cutscenes, the premise of this game is that the titular sisters are sucked into a dream/nightmare world based on a book of bedtime stories they were reading, and must fight their way back to their reality. The player controls both sisters at a time, their actions mirroring each other in their respective dream worlds; by switching between the sisters, the player switches between dream worlds. This can be done for collecting certain items (colour-coded for your convenience), solving puzzles or accessing areas (for example, a broken bridge in one sister's dream may be intact in the other's). They each also have a unique special ability: the blonde sister can twirl in midair, which slows down her descent and can activate certain switches; the redhead sister can dash as a fireball, breaking blocks and ricocheting. Though basic at first, mastery of these abilities and the timing of switching between sisters is crucial as platforming becomes more challenging as the game progresses. The game is rife with secret areas accessible through difficult platforming where crystals containing concept art can be found. An excellent game for completionists and speedrunners, rife with collectibles and shortcuts, even having a time trial mode. Included on this disc is also a DLC world and four holiday-themed levels, which serve to pad out the game given that the story only spans across four worlds. The art style is interesting, with the world warping between a fairytale land and a grim landscape - I enjoy seeing what things turn into when switching between sisters. The music is great, however tracks are reused and by the end of the game the soundtrack felt too repetitive. 7/10 #retrocollective #retrocollectiveeurope #rceu #disccollective #igersplaystation #instagamer #instagaming #gaming #videogames #playstation #playstation4 #ps4 #4theplayers #sony #rccomplete #indiegame #platformer