Category: Platformer

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Game Ramblings #20 – Xeodrifter

More info from Renegade Kid

  • Platform: PS4
  • Genre: Action/Platformer, Metroidvania
  • Also Available On: PC, 3DS, Vita, Wii U

I’ve been grabbing a lot of the releases by Limited Run Games for my collection of late, and being a fan of Metroidvania games, this one was at the top of my list.  While this isn’t the best Metroidvania I’ve ever played, it’s one of best in terms of its raw mechanics, and that props up the main issues that I had with the game.  In the end, I really had two main issues with the game; it’s length and repetition of boss battles.

Unlike Metroid’s generally single open world, Xeodrifter takes place on 4 smaller locations.  While there is a bit of revisiting to each location, the small size means there is not much in the way of secret paths to visit.  There are a handful of spots in each world with hidden health or weapon upgrades, but not the breadth of secret areas that the Metroid games use to open up entirely new paths for core traversal.

Like Metroid, each core upgrade is also given after a boss battle.  However, the bosses in Xeodrifter all have the same visual design, other than a color palette swap.  Each battle also builds on top of the previous, with largely the same mechanics, with generally a single addition using the skill learned from the previous battle.  By the end of the game, this makes the boss fights quite a lot easier, as you’ve generally already learned the pattern of how to beat the boss, and can generally make a pretty good guess at what the new mechanic will be.

That said, mechanically this game really does shine.  It’s core shooting and movement is extremely fluid, and at a generally faster pace than would be expected out of the bigger names titles in the genre.  The upgrades also add a lot of flexibility to the game, with the standout probably being the upgrade that allows you to pass between different depths in the scene, not unlike the 3D gameplay used in recent 3DS Kirby titles.  Combined with other abilities, such as the submarine and dashing, you’ll often be juggling movement and shooting across multiple planes of gameplay at the same time.

Also of note is the gun upgrade system.  This game ignores the more standard straight beam upgrades from Metroid in place of a point-based upgrade system.  The guns can be upgraded in 5 ways; bullet size, bullet speed, fire rate, fire spread, and movement wave width.  Because of this, the guns can be upgraded in a way that suits the player’s style, rather than just being a straight upgrade.  For example, I maxed bullet size and fire rate, while putting a few points into the movement wave.  What this gave me was effectively a machine gun shooting large pellets, while moving in a small wave pattern.  I could have just as easily made a powerful slow firing shotgun, or something akin to a rail gun depending on how I wanted to play.  It was a truly fun way for them to handle the hidden upgrades typical of the genre.

Generally speaking, if you’re a fan of Metroidvanias, this is probably worth a try.  The game has its issues, but it has great core mechnicas, and is relatively cheap, so for a bit of a time filler, it’s worth the play.

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Game Ramblings #18 – Kirby: Planet Robobot

More info from Nintendo

  • Genre: Platformer
  • Platform: 3DS

Let’s be realistic here.  The mainline Kirby platformers haven’t really changed that much in the nearly 25 years the series has been going.  Sure, there’s been the more experimental games, some entirely touch driven like a number of the older DS titles, or motion driven like Tilt ‘n’ Tumble.  However, the platformers all effectively have the same gameplay; a bunch of pretty standard platformer levels where Kirby can suck up the enemies to gain powers, ranging from archer abilities, to fire breathing, and more.  Robobot doesn’t make an attempt to change that, but it both succeeds at not screwing up the formula, and bringing in some nice touches to make this a great entry nonetheless.

So, the question then I guess is what this one does that’s different from the standard formula.  The biggest obvious difference is the Robobot part of the game’s title.  In most of the levels, Kirby can takeover a big ass robot frame, and truck around the levels in that, rather than on foot.  While the core gameplay is still the same (the robot also sucks up and gains powers), the implementation of the powers between the robot and Kirby on foot is entirely different, and the robot being large also allows for destruction of areas in the level that Kirby alone can’t get into.  What this does is enforces a larger sense of exploration than is typical in a Kirby game, as getting a robot frame can allow you to get into areas you previously had to pass up.  It’s also worth noting that like most games with robots, punching things in the face is still satisfyingly great.

Robobot also brings back the multi-plane gameplay from Triple Deluxe, and uses it to great effect here.  In particular, some of the robot sections have you jumping back and forth between both level planes based on power ups.  For example, the wheel powerup turns the robot into a motorcycle, and allows jumping between the near and far plane with the press of the button, allowing for much quicker traversal through the level without having to stop.  Some boss fights also take advantage of the depth, with freely rotating circular arenas, or the robot punching projectiles in and out of the screen towards the enemy firing at you.  The depth also ties into a lot of the collectible aspect of the game, with stamps and collectable cubes hidden all over.  In general, it took a good feature from the previous title, and expanded on it in ways that really made sense given the game they were developing here.

That being said, the game has some issues, but they aren’t any different than a typical Kirby game.  By and large, this is an easy game, and the difficulty is more in trying to be a completionist, not missing any collectibles.  I don’t think I ever died in a way that wasn’t self inflicted due to missing something and needing to force backtrack, even on the final boss.  The game was also relatively short, clocking in at something around 6-7 hours.  That said, I didn’t play through the included minigames, which seemed like they were probably 25% or so of the included content.  Had I been going for a 100% collectible completion, you can probably clock in another 3-5 hours, depending on how nice RNG is treating you in the collection of the in-game stickers.

Realistically speaking, there’s no mystery to whether or not to play this one.  If you like Kirby games, you’ll like this.  If you haven’t liked Kirby games, you probably wouldn’t like this.  If you’re looking for something new, that’s definitely not here either, and you’re probably better off playing Rainbow Curse on the Wii U.  Regardless, this was another fun Kirby game, even if not much has really changed over the years.

As an aside, Nintendo’s website for Kirby has an adorable Kirby sprite.  Nice touch guys.

kirby_site

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Game Ramblings #15 – Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir

More Info from Atlus

  • Platform: PS4
  • Also Available on: PS3, Vita
  • Originally On: PS2
  • Genre: Action RPG, Platformer

The remakes continue, though in this case a remake of a much more niche title.  Following up on the Wii to Vita remake of Muramasa, Vanillaware and Atlus have now brought the even older PS2 title Odin Sphere to newer consoles.  The question then is whether this game is only for new players to the game, or will players of the original still enjoy the experience a second (or more…) time through.

The original release was great at the time, but suffered from some major performance issues on the PS2.  This is absolutely the first thing returning players are going to notice as an improvement.   Obviously the now 1080p redone visuals are fantastic, and Vanillaware’s art continues to not disappoint, but the framerate is significantly more stable than in its previous life.  There’s still a handful of spots where I noticed the framerate dip a bit, but it was never damaging to the experience, and certainly not to the level of the PS2 original.

For new players, this is definitely a great game to hop into Vanillaware’s games if you haven’t already.  The game takes place over five core books staring different main characters, and two wrap up books to complete the overarching story.  The five characters all have very different play styles, from close-range swords to mid-range chains up to crossbows, giving the 25+ hour experience a nice variety of different gameplay types.  The stories weave characters and locations together, and end with a split ending to wrap up, depending on how the player tackles the sixth book.

Combat takes place within arena-style side-scrolling rooms, typically containing between 4-10 enemies, as well as your occasional mid-boss or end-boss in each chapter.  Generally speaking, combat is extremely fast paced, more similar to fighting games than a typical RPG, with the player trying to do their best to string together high combo counts, and throwing various potions to apply ticking damage to enemies.  Overall, the skills available allow the player to customize their general attack rotation to fit their comfort level, adding a nice touch of depth to the system to bring it back in line with your more typical RPG games.

For returning players, it’s worth noting that there are two options, the Original Mode, which is simply the PS2 version with redone visuals.  There’s also the Leifthrasir mode, which includes additional areas, additional cutscenes, and a generally refined experience. As an example, here are the first few minutes of the Original vs Leifthrasir modes.  In general, I expect most returning players will enjoy the full remake variant, as it generally massages what was already a great experience into something more refined.

Then what’s the verdict on buying it?  Probably.  I suspect fans of fighting or action games will get more out of this than your typical RPG fan.  In general I never got to a point where I felt underleveled, so the fast-paced action is definitely more of the gameplay focus, with the RPG elements serving to enhance the gameplay, rather than being the core progression.  That said, fans of games with great art in general have a lot to love here, with the hand drawn visuals being even more stunning now in 1080p.  If it came down to a choice, I’d probably still play the Muramasa remake over this, but I don’t think you can really go wrong either way.