Video Game Review #508: Rygar

Rygar

Arcade

Nostalgia Factor:

I haven't played Rygar in nearly 30 years. I remember enjoying the game when I was a kid - both the Nintendo and the arcade versions of the game. I remember them being distinctly different. The arcade game was more of a straightforward side-scroller, and the NES version was a Metroid-like title where you could backtrack and get lost. As much as I enjoyed these games, I never really got to play them. I encountered the arcade unit in the wild only once or twice. I played the NES version at a friend's house once or twice. I was never able to truly dive into either game.

Now that I finally have the means to do so, I have decided to revisit these games. I will play the NES version sometime in the future. But for now - the arcade version. 

Story:

The game starts with a screen that says:

"4.5 billion years have passed since Earth's creation. Many dominators have ruled in all their glory, but time was their greatest enemy and it defeated their reign. And now a new dominator's reign begins..."

And then you are thrown into the game - a 2D side-scroller with a fantasy setting. No explanation of who you are, what you are doing, or who you are fighting. Nothing. 

Gameplay:

This is a very simple game. You move left and right on the screen. You jump. You attack with your weapon, a circley-looking blade thing on a chain. If you get hit one time, you die. Yes, it is one of those games. The good news is that enemies are fairly easy to beat, going down with just a hit or two.

The main goal of the game is to make it through 27 levels. You can get through most of these levels pretty quickly, like within a minute or two. You see your progress on a little tiny bar on the bottom right of the screen. You can rush through things and try to muscle your way to the end of the level. But like I said - one hit kills you. But you do pick up right where you left off. There is no backtracking or having to replay areas. That is nice. If you are emulating and have unlimited quarters, you can just keep pumping them in and pushing forward. You'll get there eventually. I can only imagine in the actual arcade this would be much more difficult. I can't imagine ever beating it, as I normally had no more than a few dollars of quarters at a time. I imagine you have to play in a more strategic fashion, being careful not to get hit as you slowly make your way through the level.

Enemies come at you from all over the place. Above you, below you, in front of you, behind you. You can't let your guard down for a second or you can find yourself overwhelmed. This is a game where fast reflexes will suit you well. Otherwise you may find yourself getting frustrated quickly. But like I said - if you die, you start pretty much right where you left off. So while the game is tough, it is completely doable. Sort of.

Here is the twist. After level 21, the game doesn't let you continue anymore. It doesn't matter how many quarters you put in. So if you only have one or two lives left, you have to beat the game on those remaining lives. If you lose them, you have to start the ENTIRE game over again. What. While I won't say that beating the game under these conditions is necessarily impossible, it is certainly not something I would have the time or the patience for. I have no problem admitting that I used save states to cheese my way through the last part of the game. If the game is going to play dirty, I am going to play dirty too.

Graphics:

This game looks fine, I guess. No, let me take that back. It doesn't look great. It looks very primitive. I have a feeling they were going for kind of a Rastan vibe here, but I don't think they succeeded. I suppose I should fact check to see which game came out first, but who are we kidding? I don't do research here.

I do give the game props for the sunset stages. Just thinking of the word Rygar immediately brings those background colors to the forefront of my mind. Very iconic. It's too bad the rest of the game looks like it was done in MS paint. I'm kidding, I'm kidding. It's not that bad. But it almost is.

Sound:

Don't expect much from the game's music. All 27 stages consist of the same one or two songs the entire way. And they aren't even that good! The music that plays when you beat the game is a real eardrum-piercer, too. Seriously, WTF?

Overall:

Meh. This game was really just not my cup of tea. It's a shame, because I really remember enjoying it when I was a kid. Oh well. At least I have the NES version to look forward to. I am almost certain I'll like that version much better. But this one? I didn't particularly care for it.

I'm not going to say that this is some terrible, trash game. There's some kind of value here if you are into this kind of thing, or if you have nostalgia for it. That said, I didn't like it much. Now that I've beaten the game for the purposes of this review, I am probably done with it for life. I don't see a reason to come back.

THE GRADE:

D+

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Video Game Review #507: Jeopardy!

Jeopardy!

PC

Nostalgia Factor:

Back in the 1990s, my family had a home computer with a very limited number of games on it. One of those games was Jeopardy! I was always a big fan of the show, catching it on TV every day after I would get home from school. I never knew most of the answers, but I still enjoyed watching the show and playing along at home. Of course, I naturally gravitated towards this game as soon as we got it.

While I wouldn't say I was an expert or anything, I played the game enough to become pretty decent at it. I'd beat the computer more often than not. Sometimes I'd play against family and friends, and I would usually win there, too (unless I was playing my stepbrother Joe). One category I excelled at was anything to do with the Bible, as I was in Christian grade school at the time. Nowadays, it is one of my worst categories, but back then, I would sweep the entire category. Helpful for building a giant lead, considering my knowledge of most of the other categories was severely lacking.

Eventually I moved on from the game as I became more heavily invested in home consoles. Why play Jeopardy when I had a massive library of Saturn, N64, and PS1 games to play instead? I'd say that a good 30 years have passed since I've even given this game a second thought. How would I feel revisiting it in the year 2024? Let's dive in!

Story:

This game has no story. You control a character who is playing Jeopardy. The game does allow for returning champions, however, so I guess if you wanted to go on a Ken Jennings-like winning streak and make up a story in your head about it that way, nothing would be stopping you. Just don't expect a plot or anything from this game. This game gets right down to business: playing Jeopardy. And that's it.

Gameplay:

I started replaying Jeopardy on my RetroPie, using a regular game controller. It's a little awkward using this controller. You have to press select to bring up a virtual keyboard, and then make your selection or type in your answer that way. Yeah, yeah. Answer/question, whatever you want to call it. For simplicity's sake, I am just going to say "answer" from here on out, even though it is not technically correct. My point is: it's a little tedious, pecking away at this digital keyboard one letter at a time. Makes things go very slowly.

When I was a kid, I had played the game using a keyboard, and I thought everything worked great. Your experience will definitely suffer using a controller. Just for shits and giggles, I hooked up a USB keyboard to my RetroPie to see if it would improve the experience... and it did! I thought it would be just a minor improvement, but it made a world of difference. Moral of the story: use a keyboard for this game, if you can.

This game works exactly as a round of Jeopardy would work. You have a board of six categories, each one containing five different questions worth varying dollar amounts. You make your pick. The question comes up on the screen. You have to buzz in and type your answer in. If you are correct, you earn the dollar amount of the question. If you are wrong, you lose that much money. The game is played in two rounds, with the second round being worth more money. After the rounds are complete, you take part in Final Jeopardy, where you make a wager. Whoever finishes the game with the most money wins.

Playing against friends is truly great fun. Playing against the computer can be an up and down affair. Keep in mind that I played against the computer for review purposes. I've played with friends in the past, but not this time around.

Why is it so irritating to play against the computer? A number of reasons. The first being that the computer buzzes in ridiculously fast sometimes. You barely get to read a word or two on the screen before they buzz in. It feels completely unfair at times. The good news is that they are often incorrect, so that's cool. Another thing that makes it annoying is that when they don't buzz in quickly, they buzz in too slowly. There is nothing more frustrating than when a question comes up that you don't know the answer to, so you decide to let the timer run out. Nearly every time, the computer will buzz in with one or two ticks left on the timer. If they are incorrect, the timer resets. Oftentimes the OTHER computer controlled character will then buzz in when the timer is almost down to zero. It is very annoying. Makes some of these games drag on and on forever.

Something I have to question is the algorithm for putting in a correct response. I'll give an example. The question was "the number of sides on a rectangle." Obviously, the number is four. I type in four. Nope! Incorrect. The computer buzzes in and answers 4. They are awarded the points. Seriously, WTF? You couldn't figure out that "four" was the same thing as "4"? I wish I had written down some more examples, but I got screwed a number of times on things where I felt I had put in the correct answer, but the computer decided not to give it to me.

Those are my main complaints with the game. My last complaint is of no fault of the game itself. The trivia questions are very outdated. There was one game I played where I didn't know a single thing on an entire game board. Absolutely none of the trivia was relevant here in 2024. Like I said, this is of no fault of the game itself. This title was released in 1987. It is nearly 40 years old. Of course the questions are going to be old. 

Graphics:

This game doesn't look good by today's standards, but does it really matter? This is a trivia game. You aren't playing for pretty graphics. The game board looks fine. I always liked how you have a choice of multiple character models to pick from when creating a contestant. Does the game look special, or even particularly good? No. But it doesn't need to be.

Sound:

Take exactly what I said about the graphics and apply it to the music, too. Does the game sound great? No, but it doesn't really need to. You don't play trivia games for fancy graphics and sound effects. I appreciate how they attempted to recreate the Jeopardy theme with late 80s beeps and bloops. Doesn't really sound good, but it is still quite charming.

Overall:

I'm glad I decided to revisit this game. It is still quite fun, faults and all. I'm sure there are bigger and better Jeopardy games that have been released since this first came out, but I haven't played them. So for now, this game stands out as the definitive Jeopardy title in my mind. Emphasis on for now. I do plan to play some other versions of this game someday. But considering this came out in 1987, when I was five years old, it's quite impressive that this game is still as good as it is.

If you've never played it, it is definitely worth a look. Unless you hate Jeopardy. Then I'd avoid it. It does have some very annoying things about it. It kept me from enjoying this title in the same way I did with Wheel of Fortune for the PC, which I also grew up playing. But I still like it.

THE GRADE:

B-

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My Thoughts on Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

Of all the movies out there, why am I writing about the godawful Angelina Jolie Tomb Raider movie? To be honest, I'm not really sure.

When I was a young man in the 90s, I was a huge fan of the Tomb Raider video games. I owned the original trilogy on the Sony PlayStation, and boy did I play the ever loving heck out of these games. Most of the media's focus on Tomb Raider was lasered in on its protagonist: Lara Croft. Most notably, her giant polygonal boobs and her good looks. I didn't care about any of that. I loved Tomb Raider because of the massive levels, the thought-provoking puzzles, and the completely isolated sense of immersion I always felt when playing these games.

When the movie came out, I was very stoked to see it. Back then, Angelina Jolie was a relative unknown (to me, anyway). But I thought she was perfectly cast as Lara Croft. The trailers and the commercials for the movie made it look like it was going to be super awesome. Yeah, movies based on video games had a rocky history (Street Fighter, Super Mario Bros, Double Dragon, Mortal Kombat Annihilation, etc), but there was absolutely no way they could mess this up.

The movie came out in June of 2001. For whatever reason, I was unable to see it for the first few weeks it was in the theater. I was dating a girl named Colleen at the time, and we were early in our relationship. She was my first serious girlfriend. While I wanted to see the movie, I was probably too enamored and busy with her to make it a real priority. She did buy me a giant poster of the movie, which we hung on our wall, though. That was cool.

My birthday rolled around in July of 2001. Tomb Raider had been out for over a month, and was on its way out of the theaters. I had one more weekend to see it. Since it was my birthday weekend, I wanted to go see the movie as a special treat before it was too late. There was only one problem. My girlfriend was entertaining friends from out of state who were visiting for the weekend. These guys were film students from California, and according to Colleen - giant movie snobs. She mentioned to them about how I wanted to go see the Tomb Raider movie and their response was to laugh and say "ew, why would anyone want to see that?"

I felt immediate rejection. Not only were they basically saying no to seeing the movie, they had laughed in my face about me wanting to see it. My hopes and dreams for seeing Tomb Raider were going out the window. Colleen must have seen how disappointed I'd been, because the very next day she told me that she'd talked her friends into going out to see the movie with us. I was overjoyed. I was going to get to see Tomb Raider on the big screen!

My elation turned to immediate disappointment nearly as soon as the movie started. Techno music. A giant robot chasing after Lara Croft. Cheesy early 90s effects in a 2001 movie. Terrible acting. Angelina Jolie walking around and making little Lara Croft orgasm noises. What the fuck was I watching?

The movie didn't get any better either. An incomprehensible plot. Plodding pace. Characters that I cared nothing about. And the hyper sexualization of Lara Croft was some of the cringiest shit I'd ever seen.

Our movie snob friends were laughing and openly mocking the movie the whole time we were watching it. I just sat in my seat, fuming. But I couldn't even be mad at these guys because they were right. The movie was absolute horse shit.

I remember being SO disappointed about the movie. It may go down as truly one of the most disappointing movie experiences I've ever had. I had been so, so very excited to see this, and it had turned out to be completely awful. What were the movie makers thinking? It's like they'd never played the games and they had no idea what fans out there wanted. I wanted a female Indiana Jones movie with a globe trotting plot, tense atmosphere, and a magical sense of discovery and exploration. Instead I got something that felt like it was written by some overcaffeinated virgin with ADD.

As the years have passed, I've given the movie a few additional tries. I got it when it came out on DVD. Nope, still didn't like it. Watched it a few years later. Still didn't like it. Watched it a couple days ago: still didn't like. Every time I watch this movie I come into it with some kind of false hope that maybe this will be the time I finally get some enjoyment out of it. And that enjoyment never comes.

I think I'm writing this because I've finally come to terms with the fact that this is not a good movie. I could watch it a hundred times, and I would dislike it each and every time. Hence - there is no reason for me to watch this movie again. I have watched it for the last time. Yeah, that's why I am writing. To say fuck you, Tomb Raider. To let you all know I'm never watching this crap again.

This is my final goodbye. You had such potential. Angelina Jolie was so well-cast in the role. But you blew it. You know you blew it when someone like me takes the time to write an entire blog post about how big of a let-down this movie was, 23 years after it was initially released. You done fucked up.

Bye.

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Video Game Review #506: Dead Space

Dead Space

PlayStation 3

Nostalgia Factor:

I first played the original Dead Space back in 2009. I'm a big fan of the survival horror genre, and I had heard so many good things about the game, that I came into it with the expectation that it would completely blow me away. Instead, I walked away from the game shrugging my shoulders and saying "eh, it was okay." In the years that have passed, I've played both of its sequels. Each title seemed to get worse in quality, to the point where I actively didn't like Dead Space 3 one tiny bit.

Random trivia - Dead Space 3 was my first review for this blog 9 years ago. Read it here.

Anyway, since it has been so long since I've played the game, I decided to come back to it and give it another chance. And you know what? I liked it a lot more this around. Keep reading for my full review.

Story:

You play as Isaac, a silent protagonist. Isaac and his crew come across a station in space that is completely radio silent. They land on it, and quickly discover it's been overtaken by horrifying parasitic alien creatures. While exploring the station, you find out that a giant alien monolith had been brought aboard from the planet below, and that this artifact is what was causing the insanity. You have to get rid of the artifact, blow up the station, and get out of dodge.

That's the super quick version of the game's story. As you play, you interact with members of your crew, along with the people you meet on the station along the way. Audio logs detail what was happening right before the collapse of the station. The whole thing has a very Bioshock feel to it - minus the plot twists and shocking moments. 

Gameplay:

This is a behind-the-back shooter, at least I consider it more of a shooter than I do a survival horror game. Objectives are fairly linear. You can just follow the blue marker to where it is that you need to go next. It is worth veering off the beaten path, though, so you can find extra health items, ammo, money, power nodes, etc.

Combat is pretty fun. You have to aim for your enemies' limbs. You can fire into the body and beat them that way too, but taking out the limbs is much faster and more efficient. As you make your way through the game, you gain access to stores where you can buy new items, weapons, and suit upgrades. You also can find hidden power nodes to upgrade your equipment.

Issac has the ability to slow time, which is helpful when you need to zoom in and target the limbs. These enemies move pretty quick. He also has a gravity gun that you can use to pick up and throw things. I find that throwing things at enemies was fairly ineffective, however.

As I said before, the whole game consists of following the blue marker. You make it to an objective. You complete whatever the objective is (usually it is something easy like throwing a switch). Then you go back to the tram station and move along to your next objective. You fight a lot of enemies along the way. Oftentimes you enter rooms where you have to beat waves of them before you can move on. There are tough boss fights scattered along the way as well. Combat is pretty easy to get the hang of. The controls are responsive, and the weapons are very user friendly. But like I said, this game is definitely more of a shooter than anything else. Yeah, the environments are a little scary and the game presents itself as a horror game, but let's not kid ourselves. You do more fighting than puzzle solving. You do more fighting than you do anything else. It's a shooter.

I had a fun time with the game. I was glued to it, moving my way from chapter to chapter, of which there are 12 in total. It is fast paced, and easy to pick up and play. And it does not overstay its welcome, wrapping up around the 10 hour mark for me. Did I enjoy it more than I did the first time I played it back in 2009? Yes.

Graphics:

It's crazy to see how much graphical advancements in video games have stalled out in the past 15 years. For example, compare Super Mario Bros. which came out in 1985 to something that came out in the year 2000, like Majora's Mask or Perfect Dark. The difference is night and day. On the flip side, compare this game, which I last played in 2009 (it's actually a year older than that), to something released here in 2024, and the difference is not that vast.

This game still looks good. This game looks like it could have been released in the last few years. I'm sure if I wanted to nitpick the game, I could. But to me, it looks fantastic. Great character models, great haunting atmospheric design. It's a very engaging and cinematic game, from start to finish.

I'm a little curious to play the recent remake. Part of me is wondering if a remake was even necessary for this game, due to how well it still holds up. I didn't think the Resident Evil 4 remake was something that was necessary either. In fact, I didn't even think it was an improvement on the original game at all. I imagine I will probably feel the same way about the Dead Space remake.

Sound:

This game sounds great. I have nothing to complain about. Voice acting is good. The ambient music and sound effects fit the tone of the game perfectly. You really feel like you're wandering around this broken down space station, with computers humming and pipes hissing and distant clanking sounds as unseen aliens make a ruckus offscreen. 

Overall:

I will gladly admit I was wrong about this game. I don't know why I was so unimpressed by it when it first came out, but I appreciate it now. It's fun, fast paced, and very focused. You won't be lost for hours wandering around aimlessly in the bowels of this ship. For the most part, you know where you are and what you are supposed to do, with each objective contained within one of the game's 12 chapters.

I think maybe I was expecting Resident Evil in space the first time I played this. I may have been let down by the lack of puzzles, intriguing side characters, plot twists, and overall feel of terror and tension while playing this. It is true, the game is not very scary. You'd think it would be considering how dark it is and how terrifying the monsters are. But when you know you can just blow everything away with little to no trouble, it really makes it hard to be scared. Even when you do die, the game's automated checkpoints put you right back to before you died, and you can just try again.

I appreciate Dead Space for what it is - a fun and entertaining shooter with a science fiction setting. I played through the whole game in just a couple of days, which is rare for me because I have such a limited window of time each day to play games. But once I started, I just could not put it down.

I wouldn't say Dead Space is an all-time great, but it is a darn good game. 

THE GRADE:

B+

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2024 Movie Rankings: March

I only watched seven movies in the month of March. Time for me to give my thoughts on each of these movies. My five favorites will move onto my year end movie rankings, which means only two will not move on. Should be a quick one this month. Which movies will make the cut and which will not? Let's find out!

The 7 movies I watched in the month of March:

Dawn of the Dead

The Illusionist

The Prestige

Donnie Darko

Open Water

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbird and Snakes

The Skeleton Key

Not moving on:

Donnie Darko

I'm actually a bit surprised this is not making the cut, especially when going up against such a small pool of movies. While I like this film, I've seen it a handful of times now and the mystery, intrigue, and otherworldiness of it has lost its grip on me. When I saw this the first time, a long time ago, I was blown away by it. The second time I was, too. But now? Eh.

Dawn of the Dead (2004)

I really enjoyed this movie. I had a more fun time watching it than I did Donnie Darko. It's fun, fast paced, and a good way to pass some time. The only problem is that I've seen it a ton of times already and while it is a fun popcorn movie, I liked the other movies I watched this month just a bit more.

Moving on:

Open Water

Admittedly, I had never heard of this movie before. I started listening to a Staff Picks episode on it, and as soon as I heard the hosts say what it was about, I stopped the podcast and found a way to watch this movie online. The thought of being stranded out in the open ocean with no rescue in sight, sharks swirling around below you, and not even having something to hang onto is something I knew would make a good movie. I really enjoyed it, despite the low budget. Kudos to Staff Picks because I never would have found this movie without the podcast. Get ready to hear much more about Staff Picks because....

The Illusionist

This is another movie I never would have seen or heard of if it were not for Staff Picks. The host Mario did back to back episodes on this movie and The Prestige, two movies centered around magicians which are forever linked because they came out around the same time. I watched The Illusionist first. I have to say I really liked the movie. If you compare it to The Prestige, it's more of a "popcorn" movie that is easy to follow, and moves along a lot quicker. I have to say I liked The Prestige a bit more, but that's not to say I didn't have a fun time watching this.

The Prestige

While similar in theme, it is a different movie tonally than The Illusionist. It is more of an artsy, slow burn type movie. You really have to pay attention as you are watching this, because little hints and clues as to what happens are dropped the whole way through. I didn't like this at first, and ended up falling asleep less than 30 minutes into the movie. I came back to it the next night and found myself completely getting wrapped up in the movie, watching on the edge of my seat. I quickly found myself saying "how did I not like this???" Great movie, and a contender to finish at or near the top when my year end ranking is said and done.

The Skeleton Key

Oh look, another movie I watched because of Staff Picks. Noticing a trend here? This movie was a lot of fun. It's a horror movie, but it is more mysterious than scary. It's about a nurse who moves into a house to take care of a bed-ridden old man, and she quickly is led to believe that the man's wife is casting some kind of hoodoo spell on him. Turns out to be a big ruse, leading the nurse into a trap. I don't want to spoil too much, but the twist at the end is similar to Get Out. You should watch it. It is good.

Last but not least,

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Hey! Something I didn't learn about through Staff Picks. I've been wanting to see this movie for a while now because I like the Hunger Games, but I never got around to it till now. It is a lot different from what I expected, but in a good way. It's interesting seeing the tenth edition of the games, and how it is so primitive compared to the big production we see in the Jennifer Lawrence movies. It's a fun and exciting movie. I didn't mind the singing either. I know people like to hate the main actress, Rachel Zeigler, but she did a fine job in this movie. Too bad we aren't getting any more Hunger Games films because this one was surprisingly good.

BOOM! With these 5 movies advancing, here is a look at the top 15. 3 months down, 9 to go! At the end, we'll have 60 movies - 5 from each month that move on. And then I will determine my favorite.

Old

A Star is Born

Mystic River

Legends of the Fall

Cloverfield

Gerald's Game

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Extended Edition

Milk

Fried Green Tomatoes

The Four Falls of Buffalo

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Open Water

The Skeleton Key

The Illusionist

The Prestige

Past rankings:

January

February

2024 things (March)

January 2024

February 2024

3.1.24: Watched 1 episode of The Challenge UK (1.04). Listened to 1 episode of the Retrograde podcast (ep 155). Listened to 1 episode of Fantasy Football Happy Hour podcast (2/28/24 episode). Watched 1 episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender 2024 (1.05). Watched 1 episode of Somebody Feed Phil (The Real Orlando).

3.2.24: Watched 2 episodes of Australian Survivor (11.07 and 11.08). Watched 1 episode of The Challenge UK (1.05). Listened to 1 episode of the 7th Rule podcast (ep 225). Listened to 1 episode of Arcade Attack podcast (Secret Santa 2019). Watched 1 episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender 2024 (1.06). Watched 1 episode of The Tourist (1.01).

3.3.24: Watched 2 episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender 2024 (1.07 and 1.08). Listened to 1 episode of Staff Picks podcast (The Prestige). Listened to 1 episode Dynasty Happy Hour podcast (ep 389). 

3.4.24: Listened to 1 episode of Collateral Cinema (ep 26). Listened to 1 episode of Collateral Gaming (Game Launch Edition: Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy). Listened to 1 episode Dynasty Happy Hour podcast (ep 351). Listened to 1 episode of The Cartridge Club podcast (CC Portable #2). 

3.5.24: Listened to 1 episode of Digging Six Feet Under podcast (True Blood). Watched 1 episode of Australian Survivor (11.09). Watched 1 episode of Death Note (1.25). 

3.6.24: Watched 1 episode of Australian Survivor (11.10). Finished video game: Mike Tyson's Punch-Out! Watched 1 episode of The Tourist (1.02).

3.7.24: Listened to 1 episode of Birds of Empire podcast (ep 1). Listened to 1 episode of Arcade Attack podcast (2010 to 2020: A Decade of Retro Gaming). Watched 1 episode of Australian Survivor (11.11). Listened to 1 episode of Worth it or Worthless podcast (ep 107). Watched 1 episode of MH370: The Plane That Disappeared (1.01).

3.8.24: Watched 2 episodes of Australian Survivor (11.12 and 11.13). Finished video game: Pepsiman. Listened to 1 episode of Birds of Empire podcast (ep 2). Listened to 1 episode of Dynasty Happy Hour podcast (ep 390). 

3.9.24: Watched 1 episode of Australian Survivor (11.14). Watched 2 episodes of MH370: The Plane That Disappeared (1.02 and 1.03). Watched 1 episode of Somebody Feed Phil (Iceland).

3.10.24: Watched 1 episode of Australian Survivor (11.15). Listened to 1 episode of Collateral Cinema podcast (ep 10).

3.11.24: Listened to 1 episode of Dynasty Happy Hour podcast (ep 349). Listened to 1 episode of Birds of Empire podcast (01.03). Listened to 1 episode of Collateral Gaming podcast (Anniversary Special Part 1 Fable 2004). Listened to 1 episode of NewTubers podcast (Somecallmejohnny).

3.12.24: Watched 1 episode of Australian Survivor (11.16). Listened to 1 episode of Cartridge Club podcast (CC Weekly #55). Listened to 1 episode of Birds of Empire podcast (01.04). Watched 1 episode of The Tourist (1.03).

3.13.24: Watched 1 episode of Australian Survivor (11.17). Listened to 1 episode of Staff Picks podcast (The Illusionist). Finished video game: Ecco The Tides of Time for Sega CD.

3.14.24: Watched 1 episode of Australian Survivor (11.18). Listened to 1 episode of the Retrograde podcast (ep 157).

3.15.24: Watched movie: Dawn of the Dead 2004. Listened to 1 episode of Now Playing: The Movie Review podcast (Impostor). Listened to 1 episode of Fantasy Football Happy Hour podcast (3.8.24 episode). 

3.16.24: Watched 1 episode of The Tourist (1.04). Watched 1 episode of Till Murder Do Us Part: Soering vs Haysom (1.01).

3.17.24: Watched 1 episode of Australian Survivor (11.19). Listened to 1 episode of Collateral Gaming podcast (Game Launch Edition: Persona 3 Reload). Watched 1 movie: The Illusionist.

3.18.24: Listened to 1 episode of Collateral Cinema podcast (ep 27). Listened to 1 episode of Dynasty Happy Hour podcast (ep 391). Listened to 1 episode of Cartridge Club podcast (ep 126). Listened to 1 episode of the 7th Rule podcast (ep 226). Finished video game: Hogwarts Legacy.

3.19.24: Watched 1 episode of Australian Survivor (11.20). Watched movie: The Prestige. Listened to 1 episode of the Retrograde podcast (ep 158). Listened to 1 episode of Arcade Attack podcast (Bonus Podcast: PlayStation Classic Wrongness). 

3.20.24: Watched 1 episode of Australian Survivor (11.21). Listened to 1 episode of Fantasy Football Happy Hour podcast (3/14/24 episode). Watched 2 episodes of X-Men '97 (1.01 and 1.02). Listened to 1 episode of Cartridge Club podcast (CC Weekly #56). 

3.21.24: Watched 1 episode of Australian Survivor (11.22). Watched 1 episode of Till Murder Do Us Part: Soering vs Haysom (1.02). Listened to 1 episode of Staff Picks podcast (Copycat).

3.22.24: Watched 1 episode of Australian Survivor (11.23). Watched 1 episode of Death Note (1.26). Finished video game: Skyblazer. Listened to 1 episode of Dynasty Happy Hour podcast (ep 392).

3.23.24: Watched 1 episode of Australian Survivor (11.24). Watched 1 episode of Till Murder Do Us Part: Soering vs Haysom (1.03). Watched 1 episode of Somebody Feed Phil (Kyoto). Listened to 1 episode of Fantasy Football Happy Hour podcast (3/21/24 episode). Listened to 1 episode of Ear Biscuits podcast (ep 32). Watched 1 episode of Death Note (1.27). 

3.24.24: Listened to 1 episode of the Retrograde podcast (ep 159). Watched 1 episode of Till Murder Do Us Part: Soering vs Haysom (1.04). Listened to 1 episode of The Loser's Club podcast (Behind the Scenes of It Chapter 2 w/ Anthony Breznican). Watched 1 episode of 3 Body Problem (1.01). Watched 1 episode of Death Note (1.28). Watched movie: Donnie Darko. Watched 1 episode of Survivor (46.01).

3.25.24: Listened to 2 episodes of the Stephen King Cast (ep 63 and Bonus Episode-Rail and Road). Watched movie: Open Water. Watched 2 episodes of Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal (2.01 and 2.02). Listened to 1 episode of Ear Biscuits podcast (ep 33). Listened to 1 episode of the Retrograde podcast (ep 160).  Listened to 1 episode of the 7th Rule podcast (ep 227). Listened to 1 episode of Sega Saturn Shiro podcast (BONUS: Bulk Slash English Translation Patch Discussion). Listened to 1 episode Dynasty Happy Hour podcast (ep 348). Watched 1 episode of 3 Body Problem (1.02).

3.26.24: Listened to 1 episode of the Retrograde podcast (ep 161). Watched 2 episodes of Survivor (46.02 and 46.03). Watched 1 episode of Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal (02.03). Listened to 1 episode of Staff Picks podcast (Open Water). 

3.27.24: Watched 1 episode of Survivor (46.04). Listened to 1 episode of Worth it or Worthless podcast (ep 108). Watched 1 episode of The Amazing Race (11.01). Watched 1 episode of X-Men '97 (1.03). Listened to 1 episode of the Retrograde podcast (ep 163).

3.28.24: Listened to 1 episode of Birds of Empire podcast (ep 5). Watched 1 episode of 3 Body Problem (1.03). Watched 1 episode of Survivor (46.05). Watched 1 episode of The Amazing Race (11.02). Watched 1 episode of American Manhunt: The Boston Marathon Bombing (1.01). 

3.29.24: Watched movie: The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbird and Snakes. Watched 1 episode of The Amazing Race (11.03). Watched 1 episode of American Manhunt: The Boston Marathon Bombing (1.02). Watched 1 episode of 3 Body Problem (1.04).

3.30.24: Watched 1 episode of 3 Body Problem (1.05). Watched 1 episode of The Amazing Race (11.04). Listened to 1 episode of Fantasy Football Happy Hour podcast (3/28/24 episode). Listened to 1 episode of The Loser's Club podcast (The Dark Tower III: The Wastelands). Watched movie: The Skeleton Key. Watched 1 episode of Somebody Feed Phil (Dubai).

3.31.24: Watched 2 episodes of 3 Body Problem (1.06 and 1.07). Finished video game: Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse. 

RECAP:

Watched 18 episodes of Australian Survivor.

Listened to 7 episodes of the Dynasty Happy Hour podcast.

Listened to 7 episodes of the Retrograde Podcast.

Watched 7 movies.

Watched 7 episodes of 3 Body Problem.

Finished 6 video games.

Watched 5 episodes of US Survivor.

Listened to 5 episodes of the Fantasy Football Happy Hour podcast.

Listened to 5 episodes of Birds of Empire podcast.

Watched 4 episodes of Till Murder Do Us Part: Soering vs Haysom.

Listened to 4 episodes of Staff Picks podcast.

Listened to 4 episodes of the Cartridge Club podcast.

Watched 4 episodes of Somebody Feed Phil.

Watched 4 episodes of The Tourist.

Watched 4 episodes of Death Note.

Video Game Review #505: Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse

Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse

Sega Genesis

Nostalgia Factor:

I missed out on this game as a kid. I wasn't a big Disney fan, and this title didn't really appeal to me with so many other great games out there to play. I ended up playing it for the first time back in 2014. I liked the game, but I wasn't blown away by it. I remember being able to beat it pretty easily. I filed my memories of the game away in the back of my mind and moved along with my business. I haven't given the game more than a second of thought in the 10 years since then. I can barely even remember anything about it. I remember it being a completely average side scroller, but other than that? That was it.

Well, I decided to come back and give the game another shot so that I could review it for my blog. How would I feel about it in present time? Would it stand out a little bit better this time? Let's find out!

Story:

If you've come for a deep, engaging storyline, you have come to the wrong place. Mickey and Minnie are dancing in the woods when Minnie is snatched by the evil witch Mizrabel, who is jealous of her youth and good looks.

Mickey embarks on a quest to Minnie back. His journey takes him through Mizrabel's Castle of Illusion - where Mickey must gather a set of magical gems in order to create the rainbow bridge he needs to enter Mizrabel's tower. Mickey defeats Mizrabel, and goes back to the woods with Minnie where they proceed to begin dancing again. The end.

Gameplay:

As I mentioned in my opener, I came into this game not remembering much about it. In fact, it often felt like I was playing this for the first time as I made my way through the game. Controls are simple. Mickey can walk forward, jump, and throw items at enemies. Mastering the bounce jump will be critical to your success. You need to be able to learn how to bounce to higher areas by jumping off the heads of your enemies.

Each stage is made up of about 3 levels, each one ending in a boss battle that you must win before you can move onto the next stage. Mickey moves fairly slow. There is no run button in the game. This takes some time to get used to. Mickey also tends to stay in the center of the screen as you make your way through each level. I don't understand why they don't move him over to the left like they do with most 2D platformers. It feels like your rarely have chance to react to enemies, because you are already so close to them when they appear on the right edge of the screen.

Due to Mickey's slow speed and your proximity to the right side of the screen, it is best to be cautious and take your time as you make your way through the levels. Things like to pop up out of nowhere and cheap shot you, so you always must be vigilant. But if you take things nice and slow, the game becomes much more manageable. Some of the platform areas can be a bit challenging, especially given the floaty controls and the tiny margin for error. But it is nothing that is too overly frustrating. 

The thing I found the most frustrating about the game was its hit detection. There were times where I swear I was jumping on an enemy's head exactly as I should, and yet I would take damage. FOR NO REASON WHATSEOVER. This is especially noticeable in the "toy" stage with the wind-up soldiers and the worms that wiggle along the ground. There's almost no rhyme or reason as to why sometimes I take damage when I jump on them, and other times I bounce off of them with no problem. Very annoying.

I did enjoy the boss fights, as pattern recognition comes into play. It's always fun figuring out their patterns and determining their weaknesses. 

On the surface, this is a very basic 2D platformer. In fact, after I beat the game, I walked away from it wholly unimpressed, ready to give the game a C for being an average title. Luckily, I played through it a second time a few days later. I like to do that with a lot of retro games for some reason. I just did it with Skyblazer and I did it again here - with similar results. I appreciated Skyblazer more the second time around, and I appreciated this game more the second time around as well. It's a fun challenge, and I would have absolutely loved the game if I had played it as a kid.

Graphics:

This game looks really good, especially considering it is 34 years old at the time I'm writing this. Sheesh! The graphics are bright and colorful. They really bring the world of Mickey Mouse to life. The characters look good. The environments are magical and fun to look at. While I wouldn't say this game is beautiful and I wouldn't consider it one of the best looking 16 bit games of all time or anything, I still think the graphics serve their purpose and accomplish exactly what it is the game developers set out to do with them.

Sound:

Even though I just beat this game twice, its music has already slipped out of my memory. It must have been nothing memorable or special. Just "good" Genesis music, befitting of a 2D platformer. The music certainly was not bad, or it would have stuck out to me in a negative way.

Some of the sound effects were very familiar to me. I swear there are some Sonic and Ecco sound effects in here. I can't remember exactly what they were, but I heard them, and they always made me smile when I did.

Overall:

This is fun game. I'm glad I made myself play through it twice. I was not too impressed the first time around, but the second time was a different story. I could easily see this game joining my "rotation" of retro games that I play through every few years or so, like Resident Evil, Sonic, Mario, Contra, etc. Just something I can put on at any time and know that I'm going to have a good time playing it.

That said, this is a dime a dozen 2D platformer. Nothing you will see here, you haven't seen a thousand times before. It looks good, it plays good, and it is a fun and addicting challenge. But is the game original? Heck no. 

Castle of Illusion is definitely worth playing if you have the means to do so. But if you don't, I do not believe you'll be missing out on much if you decide to skip on this. It's a fun but not outstanding 2D platformer in a sea of fun but not outstanding 2D platformers.

THE GRADE:

B-

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Video Game Review #504: Skyblazer

Skyblazer

Super Nintendo

Nostalgia Factor:

I don't really have any nostalgic feelings about this game. I didn't know even it existed until just a few months ago, when someone posted about it in one of my retro gaming Facebook groups. I thought the screenshots for the game looked cool, so I made a mental note to check it out someday.

That someday is here.

Story:

This game's story is simple enough. There's a bad guy, who is being controlled by an even badder guy. He steals the princess. The good guy, Sky, embarks on a quest to get her back, while he slowly morphs into the hero of lore. As you make your way through the game, you learn the magical powers of the land, including the power to turn into a Phoenix. Using these powers, you defeat the bad guy. You defeat the badder guy. You rescue the princess. You turn into a Phoenix and fly away, never to be seen again.

The end.

 

Gameplay:

For the most part, this game handles fairly well. I found there to be some issues regarding inconsistent character momentum. The hit detection is also fairly questionable at times. You'll often find yourself just saying "huh???" when an enemy hits you and it was nowhere even close to touching you. There's a boss battle that involves swimming that is awful with this. It is a fairly common problem I found myself running into as I played this. And there is "knockback" which makes things even more annoying sometimes.

While the game does make it very easy to climb walls and grab ledges, you'll often find yourself accidentally grabbing onto a wall when you are just trying to make a simple jump. There's a stage where the ceiling is falling and it will crush you if you don't get through it quickly enough. My character often found himself latching onto the side of something, and then I wouldn't be quick enough to unlatch myself and get across, and I would be crushed. This happened a few other times, too, mainly with levels featuring things like moving platforms. This game is very quick to kill you with crushing deaths. I do love the boss battle with the spinning room, however.

All complaints aside, the game is actually quite fun to play. The visual style is what drew me in, but the gameplay is just as good. You start with a basic hacking melee attack, along with a simple projectile that you can fire ahead of you. The number of times you can use this special attack is shown by a red meter on the top of the screen. As you make your way through the game's levels, you learn new attacks. Use the select button to cycle through them. These attacks include: a dash attack, a projectile that fires in all directions, a lightning attack, and the ability to turn into a Phoenix and do damage to your enemy. You can also refill health using your magic meter once you learn the ability.

As you make your way through the 2D side scrolling stages, you battle your enemies using hack 'n slash melee attacks while mixing in some magic attacks as well. These enemies drop a lot of loot when they are killed. They are generous with giving you health potions, magic potions, and diamonds. These diamonds will give you an extra life when you collect 100 of them. They are all over the levels. All over the place, I say. Big ones give you ten diamonds, so as you can imagine getting 100 is quite easy to do. There are even stages where you can backtrack and farm items like health potions and diamonds by leaving and coming back over and over again.

Basic stage design consists of running through the stage, hacking enemies, jumping through some tough obstacles, hacking some more enemies, making it to the end of the stage, and sometimes fighting a boss character. While most stages are short and fairly easy, other stages involve some tough platforming challenges like jumping from falling rock to falling rock, riding fast moving elevators that race above hot lava, and the obligatory stage where your character is frantically climbing as the screen scrolls upwards. Touch the bottom of the screen and you die.

The boss battles are one of the best things about the game. They seem hard at first, but once you figure out their pattern, they are very easy to beat. Except for the underwater boss that shoots the eggs out. Screw that boss fight. Anyway, there is even a boss rush at the end of the game - and I actually enjoyed it for once. Usually I hate when games do this, but it is quite fun here. Plus the bosses are pretty easy, and the game is very generous filling your health and magic meters while keeping a giant flow of diamonds coming to constantly give you extra lives.

This game is fairly easy. That's not to say it is without some challenging segments. But I played through this game twice, and finished with over 20 extra lives in my inventory each time. In fact, that number was nearly 40 on my second playthrough. There are some challenging areas, like I said. They can eat into your extra life stockpile real quick if you aren't careful. The game can be a challenge the first time through it, but once you've seen everything and know what to expect, it really becomes quite easy.

But that's not to say it is not fun. It is a ton of fun. I think I would have loved this game if I grew up playing it as a kid. I couldn't put it down, and was completely pulled in by its classic 90s 16-bit charm.

Oh yeah, there are a couple bonus stages where you can fly around in Mode7 and collect diamonds in the sky. Another easy way to really rack up those extra lives.

Graphics:

This game looks fantastic. Its graphics are what drew me in to begin with. As soon as I saw these screenshots, I knew I had to play this game.

The characters are large and nicely detailed. The backgrounds are absolutely gorgeous. The special effects are terrific. The animation is top of the line. It feels like you're playing through a cartoon sometimes. It reminds me of Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts or Willow for the arcade in its graphical style. I just love how it looks.

Sound:

Unfortunately, the game's music is not terrific. Some of the game's tracks are nice, sure. Sound like they could be in a Final Fantasy game or something. But there are also some ugly sounding songs, like the theme that plays in between stages on the map screen. Seriously, WTF is that noise? All they had to do was make a cool, medieval sounding soundtrack. And while they succeeded on some fronts, they completely missed the mark on others. 

The sound effects? Good, I suppose. They do not stand out.

Overall:

This was a very good game. As I said, I have no doubt I would have loved this if I'd have played it when I was a kid. It's kind of like an easier Castlevania, with some wall-climby, high jumping platform elements mixed in. It also reminds me a little of the Sega Genesis Batman game for some reason. The action is fun and fast moving. You constantly are collecting power ups and diamonds as you play, which gives you that fulfilling feeling of collecting stuff. The boss battles are a blast. If you grew up playing games in the 16-bit era, but missed out on Skyblazer, you need to run out there and get this game. In fact, if you are a fan of gaming in general, I feel this is a game you need to play.

I don't think it's quite good enough to crack my upper echelon of gaming - the A range. The controls are floaty, the character momentum is weird, the hit detection is jank, and the game is also not very long. Despite these things, it still manages to be really fun to play. So I think a B+ fits it well.

Skyblazer: play it.

THE GRADE:

B+

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Video Game Review #503: Hogwarts Legacy

Hogwarts Legacy

PlayStation 4

Nostalgia Factor:

I always forget how you can check out games for free at my local library. They don't necessarily have a huge variety of games, but the ones they have do tend to be pretty decent. One of those options is Hogwarts Legacy. I remember putting this game on hold several months ago, and then just kind of forgetting about it for a while. All of a sudden in February I got an email that Hogwarts Legacy was ready for me to pick up, and I was like "oh, I forgot all I even put that on hold!" I went and picked the game up and immediately dived in.

While I am a fan of the Harry Potter franchise, I wouldn't say I'm crazy about it or anything like that. I didn't really care for the movies the first time I saw them, but then I read the books. I absolutely loved the books and read through them twice. I did eventually wind up going back and watching the movies again. While I still didn't like them that much, I was able to enjoy them a little better now that I was more familiar with the setting, the lore, the characters, etc.

To be honest, Harry Potter hasn't been relevant in my life for a while now. I'd say I last read the books in the mid/early 2010s. It's been a long time since I've seen the movies, too. And the Magical Beasts series? Haven't seen any of 'em. When this game came out, it piqued my interest, but I was in no rush to pick it up or anything. Harry Potter fever had long worn off for me. Still, I had high hopes for this game based on the things I'd read about it.

How would I like it? That's what we're here to find out!

Story:

You play as a 5th year student who is new to Hogwarts. You craft this character's appearance using a character customization system and give them a name. I named mine Rudy Boesch. 

Rudy is flying in to Hogwarts on a coach, with Professor Fig and a few other people. He detects traces of a mysterious magic on an ancient artifact that is shown to him. All of a sudden the coach is attacked mid-flight by a dragon. The characters are able to escape via a Portkey that is removed from the ancient artifact, and it takes them to a vault in Gringotts. 

A mysterious book is recovered from this vault and is taken by Professor Fig for examination. There are some fun action sequences that take place on the Gringotts mine carts. You're attacked, you get away. Eventually you wind up at Hogwarts, where you are sorted into a house (I was a Ravenclaw). From this point forward, the game opens up to you. You can advance the story by attending class and learning spells. As you take side missions for characters, you start to become immersed in the lifestyle of a student at Hogwarts. You learn all about your fellow students, taking part in quests with them that explore their backstories. The main quest of the game takes you into battle against goblins and dark wizards that are after an ancient magic that is more powerful than anything anyone has ever seen.

The game takes place DaVinci Code style throughout Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, and the surrounding lands. You uncover clues and penseive memories that lead you from place to place. You learn of the history of this repository of ancient magic and why the goblins and dark wizards are after it. You undergo trials to prove your worth. You defeat the bad guy at the end. I didn't think the storyline was anything too earth shattering, but I enjoyed it in the sense that it was more about the journey than the destination. The game as a whole delivered a pretty authentic Harry Potter (minus the actual Harry Potter character) experience.

Gameplay:

If you've played any recent open world 3D games, you should be able to pick up and play Hogwarts Legacy fairly easily. It takes place from a very familiar over the shoulder perspective. You run, you jump, you climb up on things, you use Revelio to make items that are hidden in the environment stand out. If you've played the Arkham series, the Horizon series, The Witcher, Assassin's Creed, any of these dang games, you've pretty much played Hogwarts Legacy.

You roam the grounds of Hogwarts, casting Revelio so you can uncover puzzles and solve them. There are hidden collectibles to pick up, such as flying books and hidden pages that can only be uncovered by the Revelio spell. Even if you put aside the main quest, you can always find something to do here. There are Merlin's Trials, which are little challenges or mini games you complete in order to expand your inventory slots. There are butterfly puzzles where you have to track down a butterfly that's shown in an image on a mirror, and then return it to the mirror. There are archways that contain hidden chests which can only be uncovered by solving math problems. There are raider camps to clear out. There are hidden caves filled with treasure. There are dozens of NPC side quests to take part in.

The world of the game is surprisingly big. For some reason, I was under the impression that this entire game would take place inside the walls of Hogwarts, but this is not the case. Not at all. Early in the game, you visit nearby Hogsmeade. I again thought - okay, the entire game was going to take place in the distance between Hogsmeade and Hogwarts. But no. The game is much, much bigger. It may not be the same size of the map of Red Dead 2 or anything like that, but it is big.

Luckily this game lets you fast travel with relative ease, as long as you've come within walking distance of the Floo checkpoint. Just open the map to transport from Floo to Floo. The downside to this: the loading times. They are very, very long in this game. Sometimes it feels like it takes minutes to fast travel from one location to the next. Often I found myself just hopping on my broom and flying manually to the next location, even if it takes a little bit longer. At least I'm doing something and keeping my mind engaged.

Speaking of flying on your broom, it couldn't possibly have been done any better than it was here. You can hop off and on your broom with great ease. You don't take damage if you run into stuff, and the game is very forgiving with not slowing you down to a grinding halt if you bump into something. Traveling to an fro is fast and very efficient. It's smooth. Plus it just feels cool, kind of like swinging from webs through the city in the Spider-Man game.

This game is filled with so much other stuff that I can't possibly mention it all. Saving mythical creatures from poachers, breeding them, brewing potions, growing plants, assigning things to the spell wheel, leveling up, using Talent points, trading in old equipment, picking locks, all that good stuff. The nice part of the game is that it even though it is chock full of content, it is fairly user friendly and I rarely found myself wondering how the heck I was supposed to do something.

Where the game exceeded my expectations was the combat system. Battles are a ton of fun. You start out with simple spark damage, but as you progress through the game and learn new spells, they are added to your battle repertoire. There are several fire spells which come in great handy. There are also spells you can use to grab your enemies and lift them up into the air and other spells you can use to throw them around. You can use R1 to throw things in the environment. When your magic meter maxes out, you can press both shoulder buttons to do massive damage to one enemy. 

There is a dueling system where sometimes enemies will use a shield that protects them from your basic attacks. These shields are color coded. If they have a red shield, use a fire spell. A purple shield, use a grab attack, etc. Once the shield it broken, you can unload on the enemy. Learning how to counter attack is key as well. If an alert icon appears dark red over your head while in battle - you should use a dodge move, as this indicates an unblockable attack. If it lights up orange, press the shield button to protect yourself. Continue to hold it down to unleash a counter attack which knocks your enemy off balance and makes him more vulnerable to your standard attack.

The difficulty balance of the game is fairly good. There were areas where I found myself dying left and right. And there are some very tough boss battles, particularly if you come into them low on healing items. But overall I found the majority of the game to be fairly easy. I always viewed the tougher battles as a welcome challenge considering the game as a whole isn't too overly difficult. 

Puzzles are pretty simple as well. They almost never stumped me. Much easier than they were in Immortals Fenyx Rising or the new Tomb Raider series.

Graphics:

This game looks fantastic, even playing it on a regular 'ol PS4. Why exactly did we need a PS5 again? I'm sure it looks slightly better on a newer system, but to me that is not enough to justify going out and buying a brand new console - for a slight graphical upgrade and shorter load times. And they wonder why the PS5 has been a bit of a flop. 

The landscapes of the game are big and amazing. Hogwarts itself looks terrific. So does Hogsmeade. So does everything, really. It does both the movies and the books justice. It really does feel like you are walking around in a living, magical world. I could dive into all the game's nice little touches, (like the authenticity of the details you see in the teachers' rooms, or walking inside Honeydukes and checking out the effects of all the candy you can taste) but there is simply way too much to list here. You're just going to have to "trust me bro" and play this one yourself.

Sound:

The game sounds as good as it looks. You don't hear the classic Harry Potter theme in full, but there are small clips of it that play from time to time, like when you complete a task or uncover a hidden secret. The music in general is grand, sweeping, and orchestral - like something you'd hear in a movie.

The game can be quiet when it needs to be quiet, pulling you into its magical world with its atmospheric ambient sound effects. Voice acting is also top notch. This game does a really tremendous job bringing the world of Harry Potter to life, from top to bottom. The graphics, the music, the sound effects, the voice acting, everything.

Overall:

This game was a lot better than I thought it would be. If you want a full, complete adventure set in the world of Harry Potter, look no further. If you're a giant fan of the series, this game is probably a dream come true. It's so authentic an experience, down to the finest detail. Even a casual fan like me who hasn't consumed any Harry Potter content in nearly 10 years was quite impressed.

The only thing keeping this from being an upper echelon game is its repetitive nature. Yeah the world is big and there is lots to do, but it gets old quick. Maybe I'm just burnt out from all the open world 3D games I've played in the past few years, but there was not much new or innovative here that really blew me away. I supposed the combat was probably the closest thing, but even that gets old after a while. This is essentially Immortals Fenyx Rising/Horizon/Assassin's Creed/Arkham etc but with a Harry Potter skin. If that's what you are looking for - great. I do like these sorts of games (and in fact this used to be my favorite genre) but I am starting to tire of them. I didn't even bother completing all the side missions or going for the platinum on this one. Once I completed the main story mode, I was done here. I also didn't think the story was anything too riveting or compelling either.

So while I agree that this is a very good game, it comes up just short of A range for me. Is it worth playing, though? 100%.

THE GRADE:

B+

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