Review Category: Games

The X-Wing Miniatures game has three factions. The first two are obvious: Rebellion and Empire (or Resistance and First Order in new money). The third group, Scum and Villainy, is a little less well nailed down. The movies (and the rest) focus on goodies versus baddies, only flirting with the greyer side of things when looking for flavour or pathos. As such, this means that the big space battles (the war bit of Star Wars) don’t feature many rogues. Which fits the movies fine, but is a bit tricky when you’re designing a space combat game.

The M12-L Kimogila Fighter is a small fighter used by the Hutt Empire (as in Jabba and chums). The ship can be found in the Star Wars Galaxies video game and various RPGs, and this is the first time it’s had its own ‘toy’. It’s meant to be a heavy fighter and the ship certainly looks the part; the expansion pack includes a squat looking ship which rather resembles the love child between a World War Two aeroplane and a rather fat moth.  It’s painted in the tan and brown colours of the Hutt Empire, giving it a sinister and organic look.

Rules-wise, it’s an interesting addition the Scum factions long list of specialised ships. Most of its basic moves remove stress, but the turns all cause stress. This makes it a decent dogfighter, though getting it into position is going to be tricky and dangerous.

It has two interesting features. One is the reload action and the plasma torpedo card that the set comes with, making it a merchant of exploding firepower. With a decent hull and two shields, you can have a squad of these and deal a lot of damage early on and be confident you’ll survive later on.  The saturation salvo card also adds to the missile based danger. The ship also has a ‘bullseye firing arc’, which means if it’s got you dead in its sites, it’s very hard to dodge an attack. This gives the ship a real dog-fighter feel missing from previous waves on X-Wing.

On the table, this is fun and intuitive to play. It lends itself to friendly jousts rather than slogfests and works well in almost any squadron.

M12-L KIMOGILA FIGHTER EXPANSION PACK / PUBLISHER: FANTASY FLIGHT GAMES / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Let’s be honest, toys and games are part of the secret of why Star Wars has been so successful. Allowing adults and children to play in a galaxy far far away creates a circle of fun that means that Star Wars is always present as a fun thing to do. Fantasy Flight’s X-Wing Miniature Game is a prime example of this. It’s a fun game played mostly by adults. Many of the ships in the game come from the Star Wars Rebels show, a series frequently overlooked by grown-ups. The success of the game has bolstered the show’s growing adult following and so on.

The Phantom II is a fantastic example of this relationship. The little shuttle turned up in the later episodes, replacing the original Phantom as the support ship of choice for the titular Rebels. The original Phantom was nippy little support Starfighter, but only available as part of the Ghost expansion pack. As gamers, this was a little annoying as it meant it was pretty expensive to field a squad of the tough little ship. The Phantom II presents a lovely compromise with nice treats for the fans.

For a start, it’s a neat looking ship, looking a lot like a Roman Centurion’s helmet with thrusters. It’s a well painted, lovely looking thing that is finely detailed, but not so intricate that those looking to repaint it will have much of a headache.

Rules-wise, it strikes a compromise between being a cool thing from a TV show and being a useful part of a game. The pilot cards are all named, so you can’t flood the board with lots of generic shuttles. On the other hand, all the pilots make for interesting strategy and cement the role of the ship as a support fighter. Fenn Rau’s appearance in this list will appeal to Rebel players who’ve looked longingly at the Scum faction’s Protectorate ship. Crew-wise, we get everyone’s favourite mechanical anarchist, Chopper, who provides a cheap short-term survival option, and Maul. Not Darth Maul, but simply Maul, the mechanically-legged former Sith Lord. He combos specifically with work-experience Jedi Ezra Bridger to open up a world of delaying and harassing tactics for the shuttle player. Neat stuff.

Overall, an interesting set that places X-Wing firmly in the world of Star Wars Rebels.

PHANTOM II EXPANSION PACK / DESIGNER: VARIOUS / ARTIST: GRZEGORZ BOBROWSKI / PUBLISHER: FANTASY FLIGHT GAMES / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

By all rights, Dynasty Warriors should be an impossible series to screw up. You have a few thousand mooks on each side, a variety of maps, some fun mission objectives, and a lot of colourful heroes. The formula is an effective one as it can be adapted to a variety of settings and characters, with the likes of Fire Emblem, Gundam and Legend of Zelda getting in on the action. Looking at Dynasty Warriors 9, however, you would be forgiven for thinking Koei Tecmo was attempting to torch its own franchise.

The story is the same song and dance we all know and love. It’s the three kingdoms era China and people are fighting. There’s a Yellow Turban Rebellion you need to kill off early on, and the story changes depending upon who you pick out. The real charm is seeing just how this alters with each faction and getting used to the widely diverse fighting styles of the various heroes. Unfortunately, that’s not entirely the case anymore. Oh, you still have plenty of heroes, but almost everything fun and exciting has been surgically removed.

Every unique weapon and mechanic has been turned down until it’s a pale shadow of its predecessors. The gigantic baton by Zhuge Dan has been completely removed, along with Dong Zhuo’s bombs and Zhang He’s Wolverine claws. In its place, we have repetitive copy-paste jobs from one to the next, with a sizable chunk of the cast stumbling about with a ball and chain. The unique artistic elements and colourful visual qualities of the past series are still there, but it’s bereft of any direction, focus or actual talent, resulting in battlefields which look as if they have been built out of Unity engine stock assets.

Amazingly, the game even manages to get the basic idea of taking on hordes of enemies at a time wrong. The much promoted ‘open world’ aspect is to Dynasty Warriors 9’s detriment, turning previously populated and engaging environments into vast stretches of wilderness with the occasional hero or skirmish. No longer will you be able to take on entire armies at once, because you will never get enough NPCs into one place. You spend more time travelling between fights – or fast-travelling – than actually fighting.

Assuming you even manage to get into a fight you want, you’ll soon find that the gameplay is borked beyond belief. Not only can you instantly finish missions with the big objective placed in front of you (with the odd secondary mission which does not influence the map or fight at all in the grand scheme of things) but there’s no engagement there. It’s a popular criticism to refer to Dynasty Warriors as little more than a button masher bereft of tactics but, if you were one of those few, you have no idea just how well you had it.

The anti-climactic battles with characters last seconds at the most, and can be ended with a single combo at times. Kill the right person and you can end up with the entire enemy side simply fleeing the map en mass, heroes included. It’s a literal ‘Push this button to instantly win’ simulator, with even the idea of besieging enemy fortresses proving to be little more than window dressing you can easily skip over.

Repetition and re-use of ideas have always been an element of Dynasty Warriors games, but past experiences have usually varied the combat in some way. Here? The revamped combat system limits characters to a few moves until each and every one feels and plays no different from anyone else, robbing the game of a major strength. The maps? The first several are all but utterly identical, and no unique objectives, rules or ideas present to differentiate them from anywhere else in the game. The modes? No longer do we have 1 vs 1000 or speed run mode, but simply ‘story mode’ and ‘free mode’.

Even without all of these problems, this is easily one of the worst optimized experiences of the past several years. On PC it constantly lags, stutters and suffers from graphical failings the average indie developer would have fixed in a beta release. Not only is object clipping a near feature within the game, but characters phase through walls, drop through the floor and enemies can somehow even air-juggle themselves by being caught in the wrong place. Sometimes the AI fails to even register your presence, allowing you to cut through them without opposition of any kind. Oh, and Koei’s response to this? No patches, no fixes, simply updates to lock players out of areas of the game localized versions weren’t supposed to have.

While critics are often known for their apocalyptic hyperbole, please take this as a genuine, direct and completely down to earth statement: This is easily the single worst Dynasty Warriors game ever made.

DYNASTY WARRIORS 9 / DEVELOPER & PUBLISHER: KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. / PLATFORM: PC, XBOX ONE, PLAYSTATION 4 / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Let’s be honest, toys and games are part of the secret of why Star Wars has been so successful. Allowing adults and children to play in a galaxy far, far away creates a circle of fun that means that Star Wars is always present as a fun thing to do. Fantasy Flight’s X-Wing Miniature Game is a prime example of this.

It’s a fun game played mostly by adults. Many of the ships in the game come from the Star Wars Rebels show, a series frequently overlooked by grown-ups. The success of the game has bolstered the show’s growing adult following and so on.

The Phantom II is a fantastic example of this relationship. The little shuttle turned up in the later episodes, replacing the original Phantom as the support ship of choice for the titular Rebels. The original Phantom was nippy little support Starfighter, but only available as part of the Ghost expansion pack. As gamers, this was a little annoying as it meant it was pretty expensive to field a squad of the tough little ship. The Phantom II presents a lovely compromise with nice treats for the fans.

For a start, it’s a neat looking ship, looking a lot like a Roman Centurion’s helmet with thrusters.  It’s a well painted, lovely looking thing that is finely detailed, but not so intricate that those looking to repaint the thing will have much of a headache.

Rules-wise, it strikes a compromise between being a cool thing from a TV show and being a useful part of a game. The pilot cards are all named, so you can’t flood the board with lots of generic shuttles. On the other hand, all the pilots make for interesting strategy and cement the ship’s role as a support fighter. Fenn Rau’s appearance in this list will appeal to Rebel players who’ve looked longingly at the Scum faction’s Protectorate ship. Crew-wise, we get everyone’s favourite mechanical anarchist, Chopper, who provides a cheap short-term survival option, and Maul. Not Darth Maul, but simply Maul, the mechanically legged former Sith Lord. The combo’s specifically with work-experience Jedi Ezra Bridger to open up a world of delaying and harassing tactics for the shuttle player. Neat stuff.

Overall, an interesting set that places X-Wing firmly in the world of Star Wars Rebels.

PHANTOM II EXPANSION PACK / PUBLISHER: FANTASY FLIGHT GAMES / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

While the company is best known for Final Fantasy, Square Enix has churned out no end of cult classics. From Star Ocean: The Second Story to Chrono Trigger, you can point to any number of secondary series which have helped to shape the JRPG genre as a whole. Secret of Mana is one of those, and its return has been long awaited by many fans for well over a decade now. Upon playing it, however, it’s clear it might not have been made with them in mind.

The story follows a nameless boy who, against the wishes of the village elders, explores the countryside and stumbles upon a ruined sword. Upon pulling it free from the stone, he unleashes monsters sealed away by the weapon and is tasked with setting right what once went wrong.

It’s a classic story, but that’s a big part of Secret of Mana’s charm. The game utilised direct and clear story arcs and ideas, but often did them with such brilliance that it was difficult not to be engaged by it. The remake not only retains this aspect, but enhances it, with a few new lines of dialogue to fill out more details within the story and offer a clearer depiction of the world as a whole.

The combat has also undergone a notable improvement, with vastly superior hit detection and more rapid attack animations. The game also accounts for more stats such as the percentage of your power in calculating overall damage, while spells no longer require the lengthy chain sequences they once did. This makes the engagement infinitely faster and more engaging, and benefits a much brisker pacing. This even works in the favour of the thankfully returning co-op mode, and larger scale boss battles.

However, the problems with Secret of Mana’s remake start to truly emerge when it stops simply improving on older elements, and instead tries to rebuild them from the ground up. The graphics in particular suffer from falling into that uncanny valley territory, where it is not crude enough to capture past-generation charm, but not detailed enough to justify the massive overhaul. The perspective and positioning often ends up making this classic look like a poorly textured iOS release, and compared to the intricately detailed environments of the original that’s simply a crime.

Matters are only made worse by some very uneven voice acting across the board. Some work extremely well in giving gravitas and a sense of life to the characters, while others prove to be so over-exaggerated and high pitched that they eclipse the infamous Titus/Yuna laugh. Unfortunately, yes, one of those is a party member.

More than anything else, the chief problem with Secret of Mana is that it builds upon elements to the point of over-engineering them while failing to improve upon quirks which have hardly aged well. This is most evident in how the soundtrack has undergone a complete overhaul with new screeches, layers and whistles which lessens the beauty of it simplicity; but no one took the time to add the ability to check if an item purchase is better or worse than your existing equipment.

At the end of the day this is still a Secret of Mana game, with the same excellent ideas and story which made the original a classic. The problem is that every attempt to step forward and remake the game has weakened those qualities. If you have never played Secret of Mana then it is well worth the purchase, and you will likely get a kick out of playing it. If you’re a fan of the original, you might want to skip this one.

SECRET OF MANA / PUBLISHER & DEVELOPER: SQUARE ENIX / PLATFORM: PC, NINTENDO SWITCH, PLAYSTATION 4, XBOX ONE / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Stepping away from their mini-trilogy of 8-Bit Armies games, Petroglyph have set their eyes on revitalising another retro concept. Rather than pseudo-Command and Conquer or Warcraft-lite, this time it’s one of a few lesser seen ideas: tailored units.

The big selling point behind Forged Battalion is the capacity to take individual components and a single unit type, then combine them into something wholly new. The likes of Relic Entertainment dabbled in this with Impossible Creatures, but Petroglyph are set upon following a machine-based aesthetic, albeit one which allows the player to construct oversized acid-spewing robot ferrets and eight-meter-tall bipedal sniper tanks.

The core gameplay focuses upon the same series of mechanics the genre is famous for. You harvest resources, construct buildings to churn out units, and then send them into battle. There are a few bonus super units atop of these, and even a few orbital strikes. It’s the same song and dance we’ve done a thousand times, but the addition of a tech tree which unlocks individual unit components proves to be a major game changer. It means that, while you can predict the general attacks and styles of enemy tactics, there is far less reliance upon hard counters. You cannot simply predict that an enemy will field and throw at you from a predetermined roster. The basic rock-paper-scissors format instead more generally follows unit types, but the ability to remake them entirely throws a great deal of uncertainty into the mix.

The map layout and core gameplay itself is clearly focusing upon quick and instant battles while reducing the start-up time. This means that you are rarely waiting around for battle, but the inclusion of turrets and sturdier buildings means that turtling is a viable option. That being said, many aspects are still undercooked here. The building roster itself is very limited, with only a few structures available at the moment, meaning you will often fall into the same initial building routine one game after another. Furthermore, the actual super weapons themselves are alarmingly underpowered, and lack the ability to deal serious damage to an enemy army.

This is very much a work in progress, as is the case with all Early Access releases. However, there are already signs of this shaping up to be a solid take on an old idea which has rarely been done right. Between a remarkably intuitive AI, the sheer variety of unit combinations and a focus upon rewarding tactics besides Starcraft-style early game rushes, Forged Battalion is set to be another success. With an expected release later this year, RTS fans should definitely keep an eye on this one as it develops.

(No score given, due to the under-development nature of the game.)

FORGED BATTALION / DEVELOPER: PETROGLYPH / PUBLISHER: TEAM 17 DIGITAL LTD / PLATFORM: PC / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW (EARLY ACCESS)

Unity, RPGMaker and so many other assets to indies all carry an unfortunate stigma. The ability to open doors to certain indie developers to make their life easier led to almost everyone trying to build a game, regardless of experience or talent. Steam itself is overburdened with these games, to the point where trying to find a good RPGMaker release among lesser known games is a needle-in-a-haystack experience. Rage Quest seeks to parody the more amateurish creations, while adding a creative spin on a few mechanics.

The obvious problem with Rage Quest to begin with is that it all too often falls into the trap of committing the same sins as the games it mocks. This is especially evident very early on, where the long-winded introduction is forced upon the player despite the protagonist’s protests. It’s an obvious joke, but the issue is that simply commenting upon the mistake doesn’t change the fact that the game itself is forcing the player through the same experience. It’s especially evident in moments where it subjects the player to intentional frustration. Awkward camera angles and repeated rooms are used to highlight the features of a bad game, but it accidentally commits those same sins itself.

Why is this such a problem? Because so many of these errors take place early on, and because many of them are mechanically hindering, it can take some effort to realise some of the better gags at work. Combat, for example, features some very weird and wonderful enemy types which parody basic logic. These range from a generic bee enemy which is rendered useless after one sting, to a spider parodying a reliance upon recolours and a ghost which deals damage via bad puns. Equally, the jokes substantially improve after getting the airship, when many previously established gags get a massive payoff.

Without the gags, the game is short but mechanically solid. The combat is effective for what it is and is held up thanks to some incredible creativity when it comes to enemies (including one of the best final boss fights in an RPGMaker game). It’s just a shame so many of its worst flaws arise long before its true strengths become apparent.

Rage Quest is far from a perfect game, and it can be extremely trying at times. With that being said, when it is funny it proves to be utterly hilarious and there are some genuinely good ideas on display within the game. If you have been burned by RPGMaker creations one time too many, you will likely get a good few laughs out of this one, but without that context it can be difficult to appreciate its humour.

Legrand Legacy: Tale of the Fatebounds is another attempt to build upon past successes of the JRPG genre, but it focuses on a key few inspirations. Rather than some broad and generic focus on 16-bit era games, it instead seems to use the likes of The Last Remnant and Tales of Vesperia as a basis for its ideas.

The story follows an amnesiac gladiator named Finn, bound to fight in an arena until the end of his days, until he is purchased to act as a bodyguard for an older man who seeks his assistance in freeing his kidnapped daughter. Unfortunately, Finn comes to realise that there is more at stake than a simple ransom.

While the basic skeleton of the story is a well known one, the presentation here is what counts. Much of it is structured so that the common story elements are not obvious until long after they have come into play, or it executes them well enough that it’s hard to hold it against the game.

The combat system itself is a surprisingly fast-flowing alternative to the usual turn-based mechanics. With quick-time events utilised to judge critical strikes, parties and attacks are balanced by various row formations, which allows you to swap characters in and out of combat at a moment’s notice. While the usual mix of tank, DPS and healer is in play here, the classes in question are usually tweaked so that they do more than simply fill out a single expected role.

As ever, there are a few definite moments where the developer dropped the ball. The keybindings on PC are ill-placed and there is no option to rebind them on here, while the options menu is notably bare-bones. There are minor innovations and the story has its own identity, but the storytelling devices feel archaic; it takes over an hour for things to properly pick up. Because of this, it would be easy to understand why some players might write off the characters as simple archetypes at first or tire of the constant bickering between group members.

PC limitations aside, the worst you can truly say about Legrand Legacy is that it relies too much on past lessons over experimenting with new ones. It does more than enough to make it stand out as its own entity despite this, and Semisoft clearly understood the fine line between derivative mimicry and inspiration. Even in a month which has seen the release of Subnautica, Dragon Ball FighterZ and Monster Hunter World, this is not a game to be missed.

LEGRAND LEGACY: TALE OF THE FATEBOUNDS / DEVELOPER: SEMISOFT / PUBLISHER: ANOTHER INDIE, MAYFLOWER ENTERTAINMENT [KR] / PLATFORM: PC / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Admit it, the moment you saw the title, it had your full attention.Tesla vs Lovecraft promises ye olde lightning coils vs Cthulhu and it delivers in spades. The game’s premise is simply that – Tesla’s invention is stolen by a horror author. Rather than simply relying on his penmanship to accomplish this task, however, Lovecraft seems to have a large number of demonic creatures at his beck and will.

The game itself is an updated version of 10tons’ previous game Crimsonland in most regards. With the sort of top-down shooter qualities which made the genre such a success back in the PSX era, this is hardly a bad thing though. While Halo made the mistake of toning down the combat itself, Tesla vs Lovecraft ramps it up to the Nth degree. Not only are you storming through the streets of cities in a lightning powered attack mech, but there is rarely a moment when you’re not mowing down hordes of abominations. Even when you are on foot, the sheer number of weapons and creative explosions helps it stand out. Keep in mind, one of the much promoted mechanics is teleportation, and the game actively encourages you to abuse the terrain with this.

The enemies themselves often rely upon sheer numbers of overwhelm you, and there’s rarely a moment when you’re not fighting at least thirty at a time. With a broad variety of monsters, each with their own notable abilities and damage quirks, the game manages to avoid the pitfall of overly samey combat these games often fall into.

With this said, its failings stem largely from how the game handles key mechanics. The pick-up radius for items is small, often to the point where you require pinpoint precision to even stand a chance of grabbing what you need. Furthermore, the overall use of perks is awkwardly designed. While intended to allow you unique benefits and advantages, you can only carry two at once, and these often only grand minor bonuses until a few late game discoveries. What’s more, while the thematic qualities are engaging, the story could have done far more to make use of the Cthulhu Mythos angle and Tesla’s own accomplishments. Little is commented upon past the opening cutscene, and without that the titular war between creators doesn’t live up to its full potential.

Tesla vs Lovecraft is an example of the excellent “switch your brain off and shoot some folks” gameplay the industry has all too often ignored. While imperfect and surprisingly short lived, it’s nevertheless exceptionally fun and the mechanics of its gimmick stand out where the lore fails. If you’re tired of mowing down mooks in Dynasty Warriors, this one is well worth a few hours of your time.

TESLA VS LOVECRAFT / DEVELOPER & PUBLISHER: 10TONS LTD / PLATFORM: PC / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Titles to video games don’t get much more spot on than with Monster Hunter. There are monsters, you hunt them, kill them and then hunt more monsters. At a glance, this is all that the game seems to be and both its glacial pace and seeming simplicity has rebuffed players for years now. However, Monster Hunter World looks to be the game which might change that.

The words “broader audience” are something which many fandoms have come to rightfully fear, but Monster Hunter World is one of the few which does this right. It’s still extraordinarily hard, still requires considerable time and deduction on the part of the player, and the combat is notably layered. However, the world this time has undergone a notable upgrade. Along with a stunning improvement to the series’ visuals, there is a much higher number of transitory quests and memorable NPC appearances. Figures will more readily come and go from the hub areas, with many proving to be remarkably memorable and even join in with certain quests.

The monsters themselves are a broad mix of varied designs, body types and species. From ten meter tall Dodos to Godzilla-lite, you have no shortage of creatures to hunt down and ambush. From this point on, the real challenge comes from learning their weaknesses, attack patterns and just how to slowly overwhelm them. The fact that many are extremely persistent to the point of chasing you for miles at a time, or even over dangerous terrain, creates new dangers and strategies to exploit. Even here you can find a way to bounce back though, as the addition of an SOS flare mechanic can be used to call other players into the battle.

Where the game falls short is in certain player choices. While the variety of weapons is a welcome addition, there’s no denying that a distinct few have major benefits over others here. Many of the slower and heavier types lack the same versatility as their lighter counterparts, and all too often leave you open to being abruptly squashed. Furthermore, while many essential systems have been streamlined for player use, farming the resources needed for it is frustratingly time consuming. Often to the point where you can feel as if you are performing MMO style skill grinds.

Monster Hunter World is set to be the Yakuza 0 of its franchise. Capturing much of what made the series so engaging, it remains open to new players and even throws in a few welcome twists on old formats. Fans who can enjoy the clunky but highly focused combat of Dark Souls, or even simply the idea of stalking vast behemoths for their bones, should add this to their wishlist immediately.

MONSTER HUNTER WORLD / DEVELOPER & PUBLISHER: CAPCOM / PLATFORM: PC, PLAYSTATION 4, XBOX ONE / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW