It’s been awhile since I did anything relating to Reel Pixels: a show I created to look at video game movies and cartoons. Since the Final Fantasy XV anime, Brotherhood, just wrapped up I decided to revive the brand and review it and the other big media spinoff for Final Fantasy XV, Kingsglaive. My friend Shay joins me as we discuss our thoughts on the film and five episode mini series. Nothing fancy, just some straight up, honest opinions with a few random rants on Final fantasy XV’s delay and other video game side projects thrown in for good measure. Enjoy!
KiKi KaiKai is probably a game most people aren’t familiar with. It was a Japanese arcade title that released on September 18, 1986 making today its 30th Anniversary. It’s the predecessor for game that’s also niche, but some may have familiarity with: Pocky and Rocky. In Japan it was called KiKi KaiKai: Nazo no Kuro Mantle.
I first came across Pocky and Rocky while researching weird Super Nintendo games to portray on Bizarre Bits. This was, of course, one of them, but I decided to hold this footage back and look into the game a bit more wherein I found it’s predecessor and two sequels. It was a short-lived series just like this next franchise.
Today also marks Streets of Rage’s 25th Anniversary. The first game was released for the Sega Genesis on September 18, 1991 in North America. In Japan it’s known as Bare Knuckle strangely enough and there’s also only been three games in the series for just the 16-Bit era.
Like Pocky and Rocky I was never acquainted with the series back in its prime, or should I say back when it was releasing since it’s not been seen for decades. Well I guess that’s not completely true. Streets of Rage 2 was re-released for the 3DS last year as a 3D Remaster. I’ll get more into both series with the two supporting video retrospectives. That’s all I have to say for now so get watching and enjoy!
It’s been awhile since I did a Bizarre Bits so here you go. This edition will take a look at the video game based on the TV show, Pimp My Ride. It’s way different from what you imagine and glitchy as hell so of course my friends and I had a blast. Take a look for yourself and I hope you laugh yourself silly.
This month marks Crash Bandicoot’s 20th Anniversary. The first game released on September 9, 1996 for the original PlayStation a year to the day after the system’s initial launch. It was Naughty Dog’s seventh game and their first big hit, prompting the team to work with Sony in order to make three more games in the series before Crash went third-party and ultimately degraded in quality over time.
This video retrospective will go over fifteen out of the eighteen games in the series. Those three missing are mobile games and due to technicalities in footage capture, I decided not to cover them. Of those games Nitro Kart 2 released in 2010 and there hasn’t been a Crash game since.
At E3 this year Sony announced they’re going to remaster the first three games for PS4. This is to be expected in 2017 although no footage has yet to be shown. The next iteration of Skylanders, Imaginators, will also include Crash and Cortex along with levels based on the series when it launches on October 16. Info dump aside, enjoy my brief video retrospective for Crash’s 20th along with some notes below.
Crash Bandicoot Games By Naughty Dog
Crash Bandicoot (9/9/96 PS1)
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back (10/31/97 PS1)
Crash Bandicoot: Warped (11/4/98 PS1)
Crash Team Racing (9/30/99 PS1)
Crash Bandicoot Games By Eurocom (last Sony published)
Crash Bash (11/6/00 PS1)
Crash Bandicoot Games By Traveller’s Tales
Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex (10/29/01 PS2 later ported to Xbox and GC)
Crash Twinsanity (8/30/04 PS2/Xbox)
Crash Bandicoot Games By Vicarious Visions
Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure (2/25/02 GBA)
Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced (1/7/03 GBA)
Crash Nitro Kart (11/11/03 GBA/PS2/GC/Xbox later ported to N-Gage and Mobile devices)
Jotun weaves Norse mythology into a tale about a young female warrior, Thora, who finds herself in a beautiful land after drowning. Thora discovers she’s in the void of Ginnungagap, which is essentially purgatory. She must collect runes and slay giants in order to impress the Gods and make it into Valhalla. The story is told through Thora’s narrations as she explores the world along with a mysterious voice from above to explain the mythos around them. It was like an interactive documentary about Norse legends without a reason to care about Thora’s quest. As beautiful as the game was I never felt engaged in what was going on.
As simple as the story is, playing the game is equally straightforward. The easiest way I can describe Jotun would be to call it a 2D Shadow of the Colossus. Thora is armed with her trusty axe given to her by her father. She can slash, or build up power for a heavy attack. Magical abilities unlock throughout the adventure first of which, thankfully, is a healing spell. Each skill has two casts and will replenish after getting to a checkpoint in the guise of a giant fountain, or by death. The only other gatherable item in the game is apples that extend life.
The goal is to gather the aforementioned runes found throughout nine levels in order to face off against the ultimate test: Jotun. Past the starting area, there are four other realms to explore, each with two altering paths. Each level consists of some minor puzzles in some form along with very, VERY minor enemy encounters. After completing both roads per area, it’ll unlock a boss battle. Once all runes and bosses are defeated, Jotun is open for business.
Unfortunately as beautiful as the game is, and it is stunningly jaw dropping, Jotun feels hollow. It suffers from poor level design that amounts to padding to elongate the game from its main course, the bosses, of which are fantastic and frightening. Now I would argue that Shadow of the Colossus also lacked some direction from boss to boss, but the world felt more alive in it’s deep ambiance. While the ruins of greater things did have me question a greater society in Jotun, levels dragged on too long for me to care. I would have preferred a more linear, fleeting glimpse at its world.
Jotun was a tough battle for me. I think it’s one of the best-looking games I’ve ever played. As a fan of animation the fluidity in the art and how it translates to gameplay still mesmerizes me. The bosses were also enjoyable and I would have loved more, but for as high as my highs were, the lows I felt during my journey were crushing. It pains me to land on my final score, but by and by, as cool as some points were in Jotun, I just didn’t have that much fun. It’s a worthy experience for sure, but a good game it is not.
Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas originally launched on iOS November 14, 2013. It later got ported to the PC in 2015 and earlier to this year back in May on Mac. This version marks Oceanhorn’s debut on consoles. This review is based on the PS4 release, but it’s also on Xbox One. With all that out of thee way let’s get started.
The game takes place in a devastated world after three titans ruined the land, forcing the survivors to live out life on a scattered set of islands. Our hero’s father disappears one stormy night when he tries to face off against the last titan, Oceanhorn. After he disappears it’s now your task to restore peace by collecting three sacred medallions to vanquish Oceanhorn once and for all. It’s a fairly basic setup that is devoid of emotion mainly because the protagonist is not only silent, but also nameless. Plus his supporting cast lacks any sort of pizazz as well. It’s not so much bad as it is just minimal context for the gameplay.
Gameplay is like a cross between The Wind Waker and A Link Between Worlds. It has the sprawling ocean and island set pieces of TWW with the semi 3D top-down perspective of ALBW. Our hero is armed with a shield, which can block and deflect attacks, and a sword that, well, cuts stuff. There’s a stamina gauge that depletes after blocking, swimming long distances, using sword techniques, and dashing just to name a few things. Your health is determined by a set of hearts, go figure, and there’s a mana gauge, which depletes after spell casts like summoning fire. Then of course there are the sub-weapons like the bombs and bow that have a set amount one can hold until upgraded through leveling.
Experience can be gathered by defeating foes, but it’s mostly earned through an in game achievement system set up by the Adventure Guild. Each island and dungeon has a set of tasks to abide by and completing them will net a nice boon of experience. Leveling up pretty much effects one thing per increase. Some examples include increasing the aforementioned amount of items you can hold, giving you a gun for your ship, and how much mana spells consume. Without any kind of guide, it’s hard to know what you’re fighting for and makes the system feel very arbitrarily complicated as if it’s there to give Oceanhorn a differentiating edge between it and Zelda.
Visually it captures The Wind Waker’s lighter, more vibrant color scheme while the design of the levels is more bight-sized akin to A Link Between Worlds. Each island has its own set of mysteries, some of which can only be mastered after returning multiple times. While initially it feel great to explore smaller areas in a larger world, after a few quests, it all starts to feel the same especially the underground levels albeit with slightly remixed pallet choices. I never felt immersed in an environment. The music, I should say, at least emulating the feeling of being on a grand adventure.
Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas is a good Zelda-like, but it comes nowhere near Nintendo’s achievements. In saying that I feel somewhat bad as the team clearly loves the series and tried hard to pay homage. Unfortunately the ideas aren’t fully fleshed out and perhaps it’s because it started on iOS. The story, characters, dungeons, and bosses all feel lackluster. I actually really did like the game and in turn it gives me hope for the recently announced sequel. If Cornfox and Bros. manage to learn from the first game’s mistakes, I think Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm will be brilliant.
I wrote a review for DOGOS over on GameSpew. I also made a video review for DOGOS on ReActionExaminer. Check those both out if you’re looking for a new shmup!
Adult Swim is celebrating its 15th Anniversary today. The block on Cartoon Network began on September 2, 2001, which yes, is a little more than a week before 9/11. Well depressing facts aside here’s something juicy to chew on.
The company is known for their weird originals and anime, but they’ve been dabbling with video games for quite some time as well. They began with flash games on their website. Slowly they’ve released those games on iOS, then Steam, and now they’re even making console deals. One of the most recent titles to come out was Headlander in collaboration with Double Fine.
Instead of tackling these newer titles I decided to check out 15 games in honor of their 15th Anniversary. I even linked each game below so you can play them as well. Ahem, but watch my video retrospective first. Enjoy!
August was a huge month for me. In the month since Examiner’s demise I have taken on three freelance jobs and it’s been busy ever since. I write reviews, news and features for GameSpew, iOS reviews for Pookybox, and I’m a video producer for PlusMana’s YouTube. Plus I have GameJurk here and of course the ReActionExaminer channel as well. Personal stuff aside a bunch of news happened so let’s recap everything that happened in August.
News
Gwent’s closed Beta will begin on October 25
Nordic games have changed their name to THQ Nordic
Nier: Automata will also be releasing on PC when it launches on consoles next year
Divinity: Original Sin II will launch on Steam Early Access on September 15
Allison Road, the spiritual indie game created from the ashes of PT, which was canceled earlier this year is now confirmed to be back in production
Ashes of Ariandel, Dark Souls III’s first expansion, will launch on October 25
Sony will be holding a special press conference on September 7 presumably to officially announce the PS4 Neo and PS4 Slim
They also revealed their Tokyo Game Show event will be held on September 13
Gran Turismo Sport has been delayed into 2017
Release Date Announcements
Darkest Dungeon 9/27 (PS4/Vita)
Dead Rising Collection 9/13 (PS4/XONE)
Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas 9/7 (PS4/XONE)
Cartoon Network Battle Crashers 11/8 (PS4)
The Tomorrow Children 9/6 (PS4)
Jotun 9/9 (PS4/XONE/WiiU)
Neptune Flux 11/15 (PC/PS4)
Disgaea 2 1/20/17 (PC)
The Witness 9/13 (XONE)
Mystery Chronicles: One Way Heroics 9/13 (PS4/Vita)
Game Jurk 