8 Oct 2022

LTTP: Judgment [PS5]

by | posted in: Reviews | 0

I’ve been meaning to check out Judgment for a while now. As a fan of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s Yakuza/Like a Dragon franchise, it only made sense to check out Judgment. Judgment was the first game they developed to star a completely different cast of characters with Kamurocho as backdrop. It plays like a Yakuza game in many ways, but it has its own distinct voice and style.

I warmed up quickly to Takayuki Yagami and his partner, Masoharu Kaito. In fact, many of the characters, including the antagonists were instantly captivating thanks to their outstanding performances. They did a great job teasing out tidbits of information about the characters and their history. 

Like with RGG Studio’s previous works, the story was the driving force to punch my way through the streets of Kamurocho. I wouldn’t describe the execution of the murder mystery narrative as excellent, but it was captivating and I was satisfied with how it wrapped up in the end. I felt the transitions from between beats and twists took a bit of liberties and didn’t quite do enough stitch together a believable ramp up. Nevertheless, I was till thoroughly entertained and still found it to be the most relatable story the developer has ever put out.

Considering the detective angle, a number of gameplay mechanics were introduced to compliment the shift in tone. As a private detective, Yagami tailed a lot of people, and spent a fair amount of time looking for clues and evidence. There were moments of piecing everything together, but they were not as involved as I would like. Yagami was a former lawyer turned detective, and I was hoping to see more Ace Attorney style mechanics where I would be presenting evidence and dispelling lies. There were some, but not nearly as much as I hoped for.

Brawling was still a focal point to the core gameplay loop. Yagami was more nimble and acrobatic compared to Kiryu, but a faster paced style is not foreign to the series. Health and ki meter management was given greater weight because Yagami could suffer severe injury that would temporarily cap his max health until he visited a clinic. Attacks from weapons such as swords and guns could injure Yagami unless he harnessed his ki. 

The side content involved Yagami taking on side cases, getting way into flying drones, and the occasional Mahjong. Kamurocho will still radiate Kamurocho things which included hostess bars, drinking, and oh so much delicious food choices. I was a tad disappointed that there wasn’t a larger overarching mini-game on the size of a running a hostess bar, but alas, I felt there was still enough to do in Kamurocho in-between major story beats. Unfortunately, Judgment took the Mr. Shakedown concept and took it too far. I kept running into the same fights over and over again which became nuisance more than a fun distraction to conquer.

Knowing how the Yakuza/Like a Dragon franchise is going down the turn-based route, I think RGG Studio can successfully continue their story driven brawler games with the Judgment franchise based off my impressions after the first game. I was so impressed with how well they introduced the new characters and stories. Judgment felt like a long running franchise already. The familiarity can largely be attributed to the familiar setting and mechanics, but there was no guarantee that I would like this spinoff just because it was set in Kamurocho. It’s not the place that defines meaning for me, it’s the people, and RGG studio introduced us to some great ones.

Verdict:
I liked it

Ratings Guide

30 Nov 2021

LTTP: Yakuza Kiwami 2

by | posted in: Reviews | 0

Yakuza 2 on the PlayStation 2 was an eye opening experience for me. It was my first Yakuza title and it was also my first time experiencing a smidgen of life in Japan. The neon of Japanese nightlife, the small cramped alleyways, the hostess clubs, and the art of punching tigers in the face. Yakuza Kiwami 2 allowed me to revisit all those wonderful memories through its faithful remake of that 2006 cult classic.

When I think back at Yakuza 2, I see Kiwami 2. The character models, the cutscenes, the cities; all the years of playing Yakuza games slowly evolved that image of Yakuza 2 to what Kiwami 2 actually looks like. The reality is anything but. I took a look at some screenshots and footage from that old PS2 game to remind myself how far the series progressed in the last 15 years.

While it plays and looks a whole lot better than the old PlayStation 2 version, I’ve grown accustomed to playing this game at 60 FPS and I really wish that was an option on the Xbox Series X. It runs fine on the console, but the sluggish response makes navigating in the cluttered and crowded streets of Osaka awkward. It’s hilariously awkward, but not ideal if I were trying to evoke the calm and cool Kiryu Kazuma demeanor.

 The story beats were as I remembered which only reminds me of the disappointment of not seeing Kaoru Sayama play a role in subsequent Yakuza game. I recognize that other prominent characters introduced in one game would fade away in the future games, but she was Kiryu’s love interest and the lame way that she just disappeared in Yakuza 3 and to never return was a bummer.

While the core story remained intact and relatively untouched, the peripheral activities and side missions received more significant reworks. The hostess management game from Yakuza 0 made its way here along with a brand new real time strategy game involving Majima’s construction crew fending off gangsters guest starred by Japanese wrestlers. I’m not familiar with any of those names, but they gave off strong wrestling vibes. 

I didn’t spend much time with either of those activities. I spent more time playing Riichi Mahjong which I actually learned how to play for the first time. It was similar to Hong Kong Mahjong which I learned earlier this year so I wasn’t going in blind. 

I also spent a fair bit of time completing all the side missions and trying to impress Haruka by taking her places around Osaka and Kamurocho. The latter I gave up on after her demands became increasingly ridiculous. Taking a little girl to various eateries around the Osaka was one thing, but her request for me to dominate a poker game in a seedy underground casino was just too much. This little girl needs to stop hanging out with Kiryu.

I declared Yakuza 2 as the best of the series for the longest time only to have it be dethroned by the excellent Yakuza 0. I wondered how well Yakuza 2 would hold up many years later and I’m glad to see that it has. It’s still the second best Yakuza title. I have yet to play Yakuza 5 and Like a Dragon, but I doubt they would do much to sway my opinion on this.

Framerate preferences aside, revisiting Yakuza Kiwami 2 was a pleasure. An engaging story set between two iconic Japanese locations filled with drama and over-the-top action? What’s not to love? With the remasters, remakes, and the availability of a majority of these games on Xbox Game Pass, it’s never been a better time to check out this weird and wonderful franchise.

Verdict:
I liked it

5 Nov 2019

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 Review

by | posted in: Reviews | 0

Nintendo and Sega coming together to celebrate the Olympics during the heights of the Nintendo Wii and DS crazes yielded the very successful launch of an arcade sports franchise. It’s one of the most successful Nintendo exclusive franchises that I ignored until now. 

I’m a fan of Mario. I like the idea of Sonic. But I’m ambivalent to the Olympic Games. So it will take a bit more to convince me to check out one of these games. What sold me on Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 was the title itself. The Summer Games were headed to Tokyo next year and having just spent a wonderful time there in 2018, I thought it would be fun to revisit it virtually. I also figured it would be another fun party title.

I didn’t play any more events with the fiancée since the preview but I sank a good half hour into the Football event. It’s been a long time since I played Mario Strikers so I feasted on this little tease of a high definition Mario football. There was just enough depth to draw me in and keep me wanting.

The Story Mode and Quick Play modes gave a brief introduction to each event. Most events were easy enough to pick up and play while others offered “Advanced” techniques to liven things up a bit. Table Tennis offered different shot choices. Football had through passes and chip shots. Then there were Dream Events which took events like skateboarding and karate and turned them into competitive multiplayer events. Skateboarding Dream Event was essentially transformed into a Mario Kart-lite with usuable items and rings to collect.

I enjoyed the idea of the Story Mode. I liked the idea of Tokyo 1964 Olympics being represented in a 8-bit and 16-bit 2D style while 3D renditions were used to depict the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Interspersed between the two eras were trivia facts of the two Olympic Games, Tokyo, and tidbits about Nintendo and Sega’s iconic characters. I haven’t kept up with Sonic’s growing cast of characters — I didn’t even know Dr. Eggman Nega existed — so this was a solid primer. I learned lots which was not something I predicted going in.

I expected the story to serve as a framework to facilitate Olympic events and it succeeded in that regard. What I didn’t expect was how dialog heavy those story moments were. The pace wasn’t as plodding as Puyo Puyo Tetris’ but the down time between events were often longer than the events themselves.

I never owned an NES before but I felt the 2D events were appropriate for that era of console hardware. Pattern recognition and quick reflexes served as the requisite skillsets for both the 2D and 3D events with the 3D events requiring analog fine tuning for some mini-games. However, since all games can be played with a single Joy-con, controller complexity was kept at a minimum.

Having visited Tokyo late last year and loving it. I found the interactive map and sightseeing filled me with nostalgia. Like the Olympic events themselves, I found Sega captured the spirit and essence of each location and attraction well. I was hoping check out the highest point of the Tokyo Skytree’s observatory but alas they only rendered the grounds surrounding it.

Rounding out the offerings is a multiplayer mode that I found difficult to find matches for prior to release. Splitting 24 events into their own separate multiplayer hoppers on top of having ranked and unranked of those modes cannot possibly be conducive to finding opponents. When I finally found a match (it was the Football event), it was a sluggish experience with unresponsive controls. Needless to say, but this game may be best experienced locally.

Technical issues cropped up during the skateboarding Dream Event as well but every other event performed as I hoped; silky smooth.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 is a celebration of the Summer Olympics 2020 through the lenses of Tokyo, Sega, and Nintendo. It’s a collection of mini games that have will entertain not unlike a Mario Party title. I came away with it pleasantly surprised by the breadth on offer. The Olympic events themselves were well realized while other included mini-games like the Dream Events and Game Room games were iffy. I would love to see the Table Tennis, Rugby Sevens, and Football events flesh out more with more play options like tournaments but I know that’s a big ask. However, I figured asking for Sega to flex more of its arcade styled chops is never a bad thing.

Ratings Guide

Verdict:
I liked it

17 Oct 2019

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 Preview

by | posted in: Game Previews, Previews & Impressions | 0

The 2020 Summer Olympics are less than a year away which means it’s time for another Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. The franchise eluded me for years. I didn’t fancy it on Nintendo’s previous consoles but with it coming to the Switch and the Games being hosted in Tokyo, I figured there’s no better time to give this franchise a look. 

I roped my fiancée into trying this game with me and were immediately impressed with how easy it was to pick and play. We appreciated the fact that most if not all the events were unlocked in the Quick Play menu.  

We went through half of the events in a single sitting, trading wins, and generally having fun with many of the events. Some were trickier than others. The triple jump gave us a bit of trouble   because we were both getting mixed up with button placements due to all the time spent on Xbox controllers. Make no mistake though — that wasn’t a slight against it. We both felt it was representative of the real sport. The triple jump isn’t easy.  

We were both fans of the 4 x 100 relay race. It was great to see the option play it on the same team and we appreciated that there was a bit of strategy and execution in this event. I think this mode would be a barn burner in a party setting.  

After we pulled off some great tricks on the wave and skate park, the fiancee took a break and I decided to check out the story mode. I had no idea what to expect but I didn’t quite anticipate an interactive brochure to Tokyo and the Olympic Games. Japanese and Olympic trivia enlightened and informed while Sonic and Mario characters populated the streets and locales of Tokyo.  

I’ve only scratched the surface but I firmly believe that if you bought tickets to an Olympic event, this game should be included. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 has been a wonderful taster to both Tokyo and the upcoming games. I look forward to checking it out some more.

1 2 3 4 … 9