This interview about Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution was originally supposed to go live during the time window while you could still pre-order a physical Game Boy Advance copy of the game from Limited Run Games. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, this interview ended up being delayed into May for publication. However, Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution will be coming to home consoles, and so you can still definitely pick up a copy of the game then.

You can find out more about WayForward and Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution on the official website, on Discord, on Facebook and Instagram, on X, on TikTok, on YouTube, and on Twitch. 

You can also check out my impressions of a hands-on demo of Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution here.

Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution is set to release in 2024 on Game Boy Advance, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC.

This interview has been edited for content and clarity.

Operation Rainfall: My name is Quentin H. with oprainfall, and could you two introduce yourselves?

Matt Bozon: I’m Matt Bozon, I’m the director of the Shantae series — but specifically here, Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution.

Erin Bozon: And I am Erin Bozon, the creator of Shantae.

OR: Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution started at a Game Boy Advance title in 2002. What can you tell us about this title, and why was it never released?

MB: Well, it is a sequel to the original Shantae game — early, early ideas for this game started in November of 2000, which was when we got our dev kits. Shantae 1 was still in development, so we were starting to think about what a sequel might be. I actually started to have some of its early, early framework — or I guess design ideas, I should say — getting worked on even while the first game was not quite done.

You asked why it was not released. So, Game Boy Advance was very difficult at retail. It was very license driven, toy aisle, movie tie-ins, TV show tie-ins. It was very challenging. And prices of those cartridges were very expensive, so it was very hard to get publishers to want to take a gamble on an expensive cartridge for a completely unknown property. [And] the first game hadn’t even come out yet. And by the time it did come out, it had proven to not be a great seller. It was a fan favorite-

EB: -it only sold 10,000 copies.

MB: So yeah, it got cult [classic] status.

EB: It had a limited release.

MB: Yeah, it had a fan following, but not really a lot. Not enough to prove it would be successful as a Game Boy Advance game. Which, as I mentioned, was so much more expensive to manufacture and produce. Margins were very slim, and so, ultimately, there were a couple of places that looked at it and went ‘Maybe we could do something with this if you can get it on the cheapest cartridge and you can cut the content down.’ Really nice people who tried their best. But we’re like ‘We can’t even fit the demo on one of these tiny cartridges, much less the whole game — there’s just no way.’

EB: We [had] maxed out all the features, so to cut it down wouldn’t have worked.

MB: So, it just got put away and Shantae didn’t really come back again until digital distribution, which was like a rebirth — that was Shantae: Risky’s Revenge, which was a completely different game. This one just kind of went away and stayed away.

EB: And waited for more updated technology.

MB: For us, Risky’s Revenge was the third game we developed. But it’s the second game anyone ever saw.

“We’re always trying to do the next Shantae game, always. It’s always on the forefront.”

OR: How much progress was actually made in Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution before the project was shelved? How much of what WayForward did back in 2002 was actually still usable for this upcoming release?

EB: I think 50 percent?

MB: Fifty percent of the game’s systems, all of the player mobility, transformations, animations, big ideas that had already been built — engine, all that kind of stuff. What it didn’t have was the Golden Path adventure. You could only do 25 percent of it. So, if you’re speaking purely of game development, that is about halfway through the development process. Usually, the back half is a lot of ‘Now you’ve got to mass produce your content.’ We had done all the legwork, but we hadn’t done all the other stuff where you build out the full game experience.

This was really, really important at the beginning of the project: ‘Were we going to just resume work?’ And we ended up doing that. It’s just the same work, same code, same tools — tried to put our computers in the state they were in 20 years ago, back when resolutions of 1024 by 768 was as big as your computer monitor could possibly display. We had to go back in time and actually work in those constraints. Stuff and tools that were not even Windows-compatible yet, they were in DOS. Animations were made in DOS. A lot of this stuff — we’re working on stuff that is old, even back then. In the early ’90s, we were working on tools from the ’80s.

EB: Dpaint! [OR Note: Also known as Deluxe Paint.]

MB: Dpaint, yeah!

EB: DPaint was our go-to for the first game and the second one.

MB: All that stuff was still the same stuff. While we made improvements, we didn’t ditch the old things. We just continued. And that’s kind of like having one or two hands tied behind your back, honestly. So, you get none of the advantages of modern game development, other than being able to communicate with Teams and talking and chatting on a video call. But not the game.

EB: You were saying that there was no ‘undo’, right?

MB: There’s no undo! *laughs* We didn’t have that kind of technology yet! It’s Game Boy Advance, through and through. That’s what it is.

OR: Why look to the past to bring Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution back now instead of working on the next ‘big thing’ after Shantae: Seven Sirens and after the re-release of the first two Shantae games?

MB: That’s the best question ever.

EB: We’re always trying to do the next Shantae game, always. It’s always on the forefront. But you have to find someone to help fund it, you have to find the time and the staff and a slot — because a lot of times, you have to work on other titles in order to afford to do something that’s an indie game. So we came to a point where’s it’s like ‘Okay, we can afford to work on another Shantae game because he had just finished working on — I’m not sure we can say it-‘

MB: *laughs* I help out a lot at the studio! I was between projects I was helping out on.

EB: Yeah, we can’t say exactly what he was working on, but he had been on something for a year, and then he was going to have a time where he could actually work on maybe a Shantae game. So, we did talk about doing the next one in the series. But there was this one that had never been released, and it told us a little more of the story. It’s like — it’s there, and when can we release it? And retro stuff is really on the rise right now. So, it’s like ‘Yes, we could do a new one, but when are we ever going to go back to finish this one?’ And so, it just seemed like a good time.

And we did ask different companies if they could help fund it, and we did show them different games. And they were like ‘Yes! Let’s do this!’ and we were so thankful that someone will help fund it so we can get another Shantae game out.

So things lined up — Michael Stragey was available, and he did the engine for the first game, and Matt was available, and we had a lot of the art already done. So instead of maybe taking a year or two to do the whole new game, this one could fit into a slot that was less than a year. So timewise too, for Shantae fans, you don’t want them to go too long before a new game comes out. So to know that it had already been since 2020 or 2019 since the last Shantae game came out, we were like ‘Ahhh, if we can just get another one to play while we work on the next one, that would be great!’

MB: Completely along with that — Limited Run Games had been doing more reproduction cartridges — like that great thing with Shantae on Game Boy Color. It was like everything aligned nicely.

EB: Josh [Fairhurst] is such a fan that he was all for it, and that they would come on board and help us make another game. We can’t do it ourselves.

MB: He totally believed in us and in the preservation mission that he has. ‘Yeah, we’re finding an old game — here is an old copy laying around on a hard drive, and it should have existed but it didn’t.’ And so, he gave it another shot.

And like you said — Mike Stragey — we weren’t working together anymore. He had gone on to do other things, and it had been 20 years. So, he was between projects, and the timing was right. He’s like ‘I could do it, is it real?’ and we were like ‘Maybe it’s real! I don’t know!’ And then all the pieces fell into place. Super cool, also kind of a now-or-never thing. I feel if this was five years later, I’m not sure it would have made any sense — I feel like it would have gone away again.

EB: Especially as we continue to make more and more advancements with the Shantae series, I feel like now is a good time because we’re still [re]-releasing some of the older ones.

MB: Definitely.

OR: You streamed Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution demo as part of the Kickstarter campaign for Shantae: Half-Genie Hero in 2013. During that demo, you mentioned “I’m playing this game with an analog stick — this game was not designed for an analog stick” — and obviously, platforming with a D-Pad is way different than platforming with a Switch [Joy-Con] or PS4/PS5 controller, and this game has been announced for modern consoles.

How difficult was it to adapt the game’s GBA controls to modern console controllers?

MB: So, I guess I’ll say that that is a work in progress. The closest thing to this game, and I know it’s very strange — once this game is done, it will be as though it was done 20 years ago. Pretend that it was remembered fondly by people who played it — even though they didn’t — and now pretend that it is now time for the port by Carbon Engine team to modern consoles. It will be very similar to how they did the port for Shantae Game Boy Color. And since we’re working on it together — WayForward and Limited Run — it’ll also be very similar to when we ported Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse from the Nintendo 3DS with that upscaler kind of look to it. Not upscaling the pixels, the pixels are clean — I don’t like blurry pixels, it’s a thing of mine I can’t stand that, I like clean pixels — but the illustrations.

Erin’s group has artists redrawing everything at 4k resolution, and it will be beautiful. Your Carbon Engine port will have your Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse­-like, if you’re playing that game on a modern console, similar. You have your pixel art in the middle, your beautiful portrait art on the edges, your illustrations. And if you want, you can still play the cartridge version on [modern consoles], too.

So, if you are like ‘I want the way it really looked without all the high-res art’ — same with the controls. Just like on Pirate’s Curse, you can use the control stick to move around. If that’s what is comfortable for you, you can do that. But for, I think a lot of players, they are going to reach down lower on the controller and get the control pad and use that for the more traditional controls. So you can use both.

For me? I actually tend to play it both ways. When I’m getting into the precision-type fighting moments, I go down on my control pad. When I’m starting to wonder about, I’m taking a little rest and using my analog stick for my thumb. So, you can do both. But traditionally though, people are gonna wanna use the control pad.

Or I’ll plug in my Super Nintendo controller — I use that all the time for Switch stuff. I love plugging that thing in — any device that will support my SNES controller. I love it.

OR: Something interesting for a Game Boy Advance game — you can’t really patch it after release. We saw that when Nintendo tried to Berry patch Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire. How does it feel knowing that you have to get it right now?

MB: I’m nervously laughing. The reason I’m nervously laughing is — okay, Erin and I have done so many games. We have a Sabrina game that got 25 percent of the game deleted the day before the game shipped. Not the day before — at midnight, it was shipping in the morning to manufacturing. You really made 25 percent of the games, between midnight and 6 a.m.? Does that sound familiar?

EB: And I was pregnant — I was eight- or nine-months in.

MB: So, you’re making levels and people at the same time? *laughs* That’s crazy. It is a completely different mindset that I think is kind of gone from the world today. You have to live with everything that’s going out there. When it’s done, it’s not done. You have people who play it — as many people as can get hands on it.

EB: That’s why, after beta, we have a playtesting phase that goes for a month or something. You have as many people get their hands on it to try to find as many bugs. Our son was a play tester for years, and now he animated some of the Shantae characters. But he was a play tester since he was 15, until a couple of years ago.

MB: He’s good with the glitch theory-type stuff.

EB: He tries to break it.

MB: He’s like ‘If this is a game that is built on these types of things, then theoretically, they will probably do these things.’ And then he goes checks it.

EB: He’s a genius — he is like ‘I can break it, I know I can!’

MB: So there’s ‘Yeah, we’re gonna do the traditional Q&A looking for bugs’, and we’re also more like the quality — is it fun? And then there’s a whole other thing that Limited Run is going to do — and I had never heard of such a thing, and I thought it was actually crazy when I heard this. They have a fairly involved manufacturing process, because they are creating a specific chip set to make sure this thing runs just right on the card. And then they are going to individually test each individual cart by hand. I have never heard of such crazy stuff before.

EB: Just such quality assurance.

MB: I guess what that means is — and back in the day, old school development, you always shipped knowing there was a bug. Not one you knew of, but you knew. Once this thing expands out into the hands of [the public], something will be found. When it’s found, it will probably have to be like ‘Yeah, that’s part of the game’ and you hope it isn’t some egregious thing.

And yeah, you’re right, you cannot patch it. The only thing that can happen is you could — in this case, there is something a little slightly different because there is a Carbon Engine port coming [and] you could patch that original game. And then include it — that would be the fixed or patched version of the game. But even that is even a little bit unusual, because we’ve done re-releases of games in the past — like Shantae 1. Shantae 1 has some well-known bugs or weird exploits.

EB: We’ve seen people do run-throughs where they could skip stuff because they went through a wall. But it’s kind of fun to see people break the game.

MB: And if they like it, we want to leave it in. It’s only the things that would spoil the experience — we don’t want to spoil the experience for anyone. If there are some things that are kind of fun to break, then it probably is best that it be left in there. But you’re right, you can’t patch it, so you gotta check it and check it and check it again. But from the beginning of time, until only around not so long ago, you couldn’t patch anything anyway.

So, all we’re doing is going back to how you had to do things before, when you had to be absolutely sure before you hit that submit button — that you were absolutely done.

OR: Something else mentioned during the livestream was that [Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution] would be 20+ hours, which would make it the lengthiest Shantae game by far. Has that length been retained for this coming release?

MB: No, no. I think that would have been based on everything we had come up with to that point. Now that we’ve actually made the game, and it’s full quest line, I can say, I think with a fair amount of confidence, that that would have been a fairly drawn out 20 hours. This clocks in with much better pacing right around…I would say a little longer than, considerably longer than, Risky’s Revenge and a little shorter than Pirate’s Curse. Not as long as Half-Genie Hero with all of its DLC options. Right around in that sweet spot is where it lands. I think it’s going to be a satisfying length and move at a good pace for most of the people who are going to be into it.

EB: Not including the speedrunners.

MB: Yeah, without overstaying its welcome. Another way to put it is that every Shantae game has a ‘How fast can you beat it time?’ seems to be clocking in at about all of the other Shantae games. What you don’t want is a 20-hour game where it’s 10 hours of backtracking. A nice, clean, streamlined, respect-your-time game. As a result, shorter, but I think, more dense. Less watered-down flavor.

“And so, what happens, of course, with all of the Shantae games is when something finally doesn’t happen, all of those animations don’t get thrown away because I don’t like to waste anything.”

OR: Let’s talk about some other Shantae cancelled projects.

In an April 2021 interview with Nintendo World Report, you said that “CAPCOM did entrust us with a Dolphin development unit sometime around 2002 in hopes that we could come up with a Shantae GameCube sequel” and that “[w]e did some very early exploration into this idea, but ended up focusing on Shantae Advance instead ‘because that was where the work-for-hire jobs are and you have to keep the lights on’.”

Can you talk any about that early exploration with the GameCube? How far along did you get, and what was the concept behind the title? What was it like to essentially tell CAPCOM ‘thank you, but no’?

EB: GameCube is like my favorite console.

MB: This one is tricky. The reason it’s tricky is because I don’t know all of the facts. So, [CAPCOM was] very happy with Shantae Game Boy Color. That was excellent, they weren’t worried that it didn’t sell well. They were just happy with the quality — for them, it was very high. I was aware of a whole CAPCOM thing, they were trying to greenlight five CAPCOM games at the time. What was it? Viewtiful Joe, P.N.03, Resident Evil 4, and a mystery cancelled game. [OR Note: The cancelled title was ‘Dead Phoenix’, and the fifth unmentioned title was ‘Killer7’.]

So, we found out about that too. We didn’t know if we were one of those five, or not. I always wondered if we were supposed to be, but the timing was always the same — ‘oh, that’s why they gave us a kit.’ But we were new to 3D [and] we were trying to figure it out. And so we didn’t have a ton of confidence — there was a lot of R&D and experimentation phase during that time.

So, what ended up happening there was ‘Well, Shantae shouldn’t probably be the experiment — we should go straight into the thing that’s working that at the time was our core business.’ Which was the handheld team. So that’s why I went in that direction, and just let some of the — handheld was a small part of the studio at the time. About six out of the 20 or 30 people. So, I was like ‘Okay, we’re going to huddle up, focus on this, get really good at handheld’ — which is what evolved from Game Boy Advance into the DS.

Other parts of the company were going more 3D, PC — trying out various things on console, testing our reach as a studio. And those early, I guess, experiments, just kind of kept shifting from one thing into the next. So, while it was Shantae, I can tell you that the theme of the [GameCube] game was river rafting. The concept was revisited for Nintendo DS, which would have been Risky Waters.

There was concept art, there were some test videos made using really crude 3D. Not anything that was put through an actual art team — just ‘Hey, let’s make some basic geometric shapes and try moving a raft through it.’ And the concept of that was ‘What can the controller do, and what’s that like?’. And it’s like ‘oh, it’s fun to squeeze those analog triggers, it could feel like paddling through the water. Maybe this is what we do. Put all four characters on a raft, have four inputs, you’ll paddle paddle paddle, you’ll smack monsters, you’ll pull over off onto the shore, go into a dungeon, do traditional Shantae gameplay, pop out of the dungeon, get back onto the raft.’

That was the concept, and in that era, a lot of games were doing sort of strange and unusual things. It felt like experimentation was in the air, and it was a fun time.

OR:  You mentioned in a 2007 interview with MTV that you assembled a treatment for Shantae: Risky Waters on the DS after the console was announced, but you couldn’t find a publisher for it. Can you tell us more about that treatment? How close was it to the GameCube version?

MB: Okay, I can talk about that! No one’s ever asked about this as far as I know — this is a really funny one.

So, it was very similar. Our early test kits for Nintendo DS did show that you could do things that were very similar to GameCube. Like, ‘that’s very similar — let’s get this design out and bring it back in!’. So, what I had for that was — it was dual screen, which we didn’t end up doing until Contra 4 — I designed and directed Contra 4, so a lot of those same designs and ideas — I was like ‘I want to play with this and that for Shantae’ — did get experimented with. It was dual screen gameplay, so what you had gameplay on the top and bottom, and you had to manage both.

So, when you’re on the bottom, rafting in 3D, on the top, you had Sky on her bird. I don’t recall what the task was, but you were doing flyby things. You could target and drop powerups onto the crew below on the raft. When you pull over to a place to go into a battle area or a labyrinth or a dungeon, then you would have the action on the bottom. You’d be exploring, and your team members would be on the top. And you could manage them also just using L and R buttons. It’s like, ‘Can you play two games at once? Can you do platforming while managing some light gameplay on the top?’.

And the way that worked was that you had Uncle up top mixing potions and health items, and then he would throw them down into the dungeon for you. And each character had its own sort of thing. Rottytops would play almost like a tower defense thing where a bad guy would would come in, and she would be ripping off her leg and beating up the bad guys as they’re trying to get in — which would keep the number of bad guys down in the labyrinth in the bottom of the screen from getting overwhelming.

And so, what happens, of course, with all of the Shantae games is when something finally doesn’t happen, all of those animations don’t get thrown away because I don’t like to waste anything. Those animations got all put into Risky’s Revenge. So, the reason that you fight Uncle Mimic in that game is — you get to a point where you’re like ‘What’s the boss of this area going to be?’. Well, we had this full animation set of Uncle Mimic fighting and mixing potions, throwing bombs, all of this stuff. That was him as a helper character from what would have been the Shantae dual screen game. But instead, it’s like ‘Well, we’ll make up a new guy, he’s the Hypno Baron, he is making Shantae think she is fighting her uncle.’ There, I’ve got all the animations and I don’t have to throw them out and I can use them. And that’s what that was.

That’s about as much as I can get into without going back and re-reading that document.

OR: You were also the first e-Reader licensed in the United States.

MB: I think we were the only one, at least Nintendo told us at one point that we were the only person to ever ask for e-Reader.

OR: What was the process like to become a licensed e-Reader developer, and can you talk about that from the developer side? It’s a Nintendo product that really fell on the wayside.

MB: I love, I love the e-Reader, or Card e-Reader, or the e-Card Reader, depending on what region. We ran to the Celebi movie [OR Note: ‘Pokémon 4ever’] to get the cards to watch the little cartoon in the e-Reader. Totally loved that device. I was pushing really hard for a Shantae game on the cover of Nintendo Power — ‘I want to print the code, have people swipe their e-Reader cards through the Nintendo Power cover and get a little game.’

Because of that, I asked our CEO: ‘Can someone at Nintendo get us that dev kit?’. His response after awhile was ‘No one has ever asked for that dev kit, because who would want that?’ And I was like, ‘I want that!’. So, they sent us a dev kit, and I’m sure there is a lot of NDA stuff that is like ‘Don’t talk about what’s on the thing’, but it was a development kit with an e-Reader where you could look inside and see the guts of it, see what it was capable of doing.

We did some experiments. The experiments were Shantae battle cards, and you couldn’t physically do this, in theory what you would have done — is you’d swipe your move through. ‘I want fireball, I want hair whip, I want a high kick’, and you’d swipe them through. And there was just enough space to have really simple, tiny, tiny, I think the animations had to be down to 14k or something — like barely anything — but we did make a tiny animation set of Shantae. She looked just like the Game Boy Color Shantae for all practical purposes, but she could just do one of a few actions. And you’d just swipe in a bad guy card and swipe in up to, I think, three Shantae moves, and you’d be able to combat a thing and see if you would win or lose.

Not sure why it never went anywhere — I think it was because, honestly, that era ended so quickly. We had those Super Mario Bros. 3 cards come out, and then it very quickly became Pokémon Battle-e, and then they were kinda gone. So, it had its really cool moment, and there was just no catching up to it and getting into the card manufacturing. Man, if we could do that today? Because we do card manufacturing. I mean, actual trading cards- cards. We can do Shantae cards now. But no one had those anymore.

EB: We love all that old school stuff — Pogs, etc.

MB: The Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution game is only available until April 7th, but there is no preorder. In the future, you can’t get it anymore. So, when the preorder closes-

EB: -You can get it on other systems, but if you want a cartridge, it’s the only time you can get it. They aren’t going to reprint it. So, the collectors who really want to play it on the system, you really have to get the cartridge before April 7th when its gone.

MB: Yeah, after that, you’re just waiting on the Carbon Engine. Which I have a lot of confidence that will be a great port, but the port is not the same as the game. Even if the port has all these cool bells and whistles.

EB: I think a lot of Shantae fans are collectors, and sometimes they will get upset: ‘Oh, you need to re-release this thing!’, so if they can hop on when its actually pre-orderable, that’s the best.

OR: Lastly — there is a four-player mode announced for Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution. Can you tell us briefly about it?

MB: Yeah, the four-player battle mode is for two to four players. You only need one cartridge, so you don’t need to go buy four. You can plug in anywhere up to four Link Cables. Once you do that, it transmits the game to all the empty devices, and then you’ve got four people playing in a combat arena. It’s a constantly rotating play field, where if you don’t grab onto the fence, you will fall off and land on some spikes and die. It’s kind of last-man-standing, like Bomberman.

Everyone has a different animation, but you basically have a punch attack, a character-up-and-release attack that will clobber a guy and send him bouncing all around, and then you’ve got to watch out for when that arena is about to rotate. Then you grab a fence, or you’re going to fall and get knocked out. It’s just fun, light-hearted Link Cable stuff [that] the world hasn’t seen in a long time.

OR: Thank you very much.

Are you excited for Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution? What is your favorite Shantae title?

Did you ever play with the e-Reader?

Let us know in the comments below!

The post GDC 2024 INTERVIEW- WayForward Talks Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution, the Nintendo e-Reader, and Other Cancelled Shantae Games appeared first on oprainfall.

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Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution has been billed by WayForward as the ‘lost chapter of the Shantae saga’ that went into development for the Game Boy Advance in the early 2000s, but was shelved indefinitely until now. Set between the original Shantae game and Shantae: Risky’s Revenge, Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution has the half-genie Shantae protecting Sequin Land from another evil plot by Risky Boots, and I found myself loving a retro – yet incredibly modern-styled game – that fit right in with 2024.

I grew up playing Game Boy Advance games, and so I was extremely happy to be able to go hands-on with Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution on an authentic Game Boy Advance console before shifting to a modern-era handheld replica device. Even though the GBA uses a D-Pad, I was surprised at how well Shantae’s controls worked, and it did not feel like a step backwards from Shantae And The Seven Sirens with the quality of gameplay. Fighting with the hair whip, jumping and dodging, and even the dive mechanics all are beautifully done – and most crucially, when I died, I knew that it was clearly my fault and not the game or the console’s fault. The enemies were also challenging, and while I did die on the one boss fight I had available in the demo, it was absolutely a blast to figure out the combat pattern and then absolutely obliterate it. There are even gravity-based mechanics in this game for diving into the water in order to get deep enough to glide to the next area through a water-filled tunnel.

The graphics are also gorgeous. The Shantae team clearly pushed the Game Boy Advance hardware to its limits to make Sequin Land pop off of the screen as much as possible. During the demo, I was able to check out one of the towns, and I was impressed with how active the character models were and how detailed even minor NPCs were. The game’s colors are also incredibly vibrant, and I was just impressed with how much attention went even into the background graphics of each area.

The detailed background art is incredibly necessary to have, thanks to the gimmick for Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution. In this adventure, Shantae can go through portals and jump between the background or foreground of each area ala Virtual Boy Wario Land. Jumping between the background and foreground effectively doubles the amount to explore in each area and makes you think about how to get to your goal. It also meant that sometimes I would see something in the distance on the other layer, and I wanted to get to it. I unfortunately did not get to experience the full potential of how this would play out in a variety of levels, but I loved what potential I could imagine for it. The other gimmick that Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution has, where Risky Boots can flip the gameplay world upside down, was unfortunately not something I was able to see during my demo.

Ultimately, would modern-day Shantae fans be pleased with Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution? I think the answer is absolutely ‘Yes.’ While this does feel like a throwback game, it controlled neatly and precisely like a modern-day title. It also had that fun gameplay the Shantae series is known for. While preorders through Limited Run Games are closed for the Game Boy Advance version, this game will still make its launch on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and 5, and on Steam later this year.

Are you excited for Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution? Did you pre-order the Limited Run Games version in time?

Let us know in the comments below!

The post GDC 2024 IMPRESSIONS- Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution appeared first on oprainfall.

This series will take a look back at video games that have hit a significant milestone in time – be it release date, end of service date, and more – and talk about what works and what doesn’t work in the game through a modern 2024 viewpoint. While this column will not be nearly as regularly published as Cooking Eorzea (my FINAL FANTASY XIV Online-themed cooking column), I will try to do new installments decently often.

First up? Lightning Returns: FINAL FANTASY XIII.

Lightning Returns: FINAL FANTASY XIII was the capstone action-RPG to the FINAL FANTASY XIII trilogy that first kicked off on North American shores in March 2010. With this final entry released on Feb 11, 2014 – 10 years ago this week – in North America, I wanted to take a look back to this oft-forgotten sequel SQUARE ENIX game and talk about what worked and what didn’t work with it through my modern-day eyes.

To put my experience with Lightning Returns: FINAL FANTASY XIII out there: I started the game back in early Nov 2015, and I finished it up in the latter part of Feb 2016. I completed all the side quests that I could on a single playthrough, defeated the ultimate enemy fight, and completed the main storyline. Since that time, I have been obsessed with the OST, and I listen to it quite often in my day-to-day life. In writing this column, I re-watched a lot of cutscenes for the game, reviewed the official player’s guide, and thought back at conversations that I’ve had with friends as I was originally exploring this title.

Finally: all opinions are, obviously, my own.

So, with all that said, let’s start off with…

The Schemata System
(AKA Lightning Returns: FINAL FANTASY XIII’s Class System)

Lightning Returns: FINAL FANTASY XIII’s biggest strength, both at launch and now in 2024, is the Schemata class system. While only Lightning is playable in this game, the player was allowed to set three different Schemata classes for her at a time and flip between them with a press of the L1/LB and R1/RB buttons. What made the Schemata system so cool though was that almost all of the classes were able to be bought from NPC stores scattered throughout the game, and they all played differently and slotted into different gameplay roles. You could further customize each Schema by equipping one weapon, one shield, two accessories, one adornment, and up to four abilities!

This turned each Schema into pretty much whatever you wanted it to be, and there was no real top-tier end-all-be-all layout but instead you could adapt the different jobs to fit in the roles that you needed them to be. If you wanted to be a ‘tank’ class that can handle magic, then so be it. If you want to be a healer who can also deal serious damage, then have at it!

This element of Lightning Returns: FINAL FANTASY XIII is something that I’ve honestly wanted to see replicated in other FINAL FANTASY games, but to no avail. More customization is always a good thing, and I loved being able to set up my party however I wish with the Schemata system. It is a very fresh system, even in today’s video game landscape.

Lightning’s Return: FINAL FANTASY XIII’s Story Set-Up (Even If The Plot Didn’t Quite Land)

I love the story setup for Lightning’s Return: FINAL FANTASY XIII.

Lightning, blaming herself for Serah dying at the end of FINAL FANTASY XIII-2, puts herself in an endless sleep she describes ‘as dark as death’ as she dreams of a day where she can bring her beloved sibling back. Lightning is awoken by God, and she is told that the world will end in 13 days. God bestows upon her the title of Savior and tells her that she has to save as many souls as she can in the time that remains before Chaos consumes all. Lightning strikes a deal: If she plays the role of Savior and keeps the world going for 13 more days, then her reward is a ‘Miracle.’

That ‘Miracle’? Serah will get to live again.

To carry out Lightning’s mission, God reverted Hope back to the child form he had in FINAL FANTASY XIII and placed him in command of the Ark- Cocoon’s remnants.  Hope turns out to be the one who told Lightning about God’s plan to build a brand-new world and about God’s offer to bring Serah back. They both acknowledge what a cruel bargain it is by God to make. And if all this wasn’t enough, both Lightning and Hope realize they no longer have the ability to feel emotions anymore.

Hope then reveals that 500 years have passed since Chaos was unleashed to consume the world, and it nearly succeeded in drowning the planet. What is left of the world is now called Nova Chrysalia. With all that destruction also came another kind of horror: immortality. No one, not even children, can grow older, and there is no more new life born. Instead, everyone waits around for violence, accidents, and sickness to eventually claim them. One. By. One.

As we play through Lighting Returns: FINAL FANTASY XIII, we see everyone else’s story get setup.

Vanille, awaking a few years before Lightning does, believes that God is punishing her and she is willing to sacrifice herself to save the dead from suffering further in Chaos. Fang has lost Vanille to the Order of Salvation cult and now lives outside of what passes for ‘modern society.’ Sazh spends his time trying to find his son’s soul in a desperate search that has destroyed his upbeat personality. And Noel? He has become a murderous vigilante who believes he has to kill Lightning. Finally, there is Snow. Unable to get past his grief from Serah’s death, he presides over a never-ending party in a brilliantly glowing city called Yusnaan. He has held this role for centuries, and he now wishes to simply die.

Lightning Returns: FINAL FANTASY XIII is a bright, colorful, beautiful game that is also absolutely depressing to play in the most wonderful way possible. Each of the characters are wrapped up in a deep ocean of sadness, and all of their stories intersect repeatedly as those 13 days left pass. So many RPGs always present a world of happiness and hope at the start of the game, and Lightning Returns: FINAL FANTASY XIII does not give you that. Instead, the stakes are clear: Thirteen days, and the world ends. Thirteen days, and you might get what you want and bring Serah back to life. Thirteen days to undo centuries of unhappiness that shackle everyone of Nova Chrysalia.

I was immediately hooked by all of this, as I haven’t played a FINAL FANTASY game that felt this hopeless since FINAL FANTASY XIV Online 1.0 when you knew that Dalamud was going to come down from the sky with the end of the Seventh Umbral Era.

Unfortunately, the story’s execution did not quite live up to the set up for each of the characters – and for Nova Chrysalia – at the game’s start. I don’t want to spoil that for anyone who might want to pick up this game after reading this, after all. The plot fell kind of flat for me in the third act, and I found myself not really caring about some of the main plot threads that led up to that. I unfortunately blame the writing more than anything for this, but I am still in love with the game overall. It isn’t a bad game by any means storywise – just didn’t feel as satisfying as I would hope it to be.

But the world’s setting, and the awful deal that Lightning strikes to save Serah? is insanely memorable and it is a perfect way to start off the conclusion to the FINAL FANTASY XIII trilogy. And the story concepts still work, even now in 2024.

The Amazing, Powerful, Almost-Perfect Soundtrack

Lightning Returns: FINAL FANTASY XIII does not have a theme song like pretty much every other modern FINAL FANTASY game does. Instead, the three composers for the game (Masashi Hamauzu, Naoshi Mizuta, and Mitsuto Suzuki) used Blinded by Light as a reoccurring theme throughout the game. The original soundtrack (‘OST’) was released across four discs, and it runs for just a bit more than five hours. The only track I did not care for on the OST is the very, very jarring Fang’s Theme ~A False Leader~, which sounds like a steel mill singalong – complete with swinging hammers on anvils – before switching over to a soft bridge and then back to the hammers on anvils again. It simply isn’t great.

For me, the standout piece is Lightning’s Theme- A Distant Glimmer by Masashi Hamauzu. It starts with just a piano, and then it just continually builds up from a simple, sad theme into an overlapping strings and piano composition with a lot of joy in it. Music can communicate so much about a character, and Lightning’s Theme- A Distant Glimmer truly paints Lightning as a character who starts with no hope and happiness before she begins to find herself again throughout Lighting Returns: FINAL FANTASY XIII.

I truly believe that Lightning’s Theme- A Distant Glimmer would be perfect for a video game concert such as A New World: intimate music from FINAL FANTASY, and I will never fail to suggest its inclusion among other series greats like Aerith’s Theme and Sarutabaruta. This soundtrack still is an amazing listen, even in 2024, and should not be slept on.

Chronostatis, Eradia, and the Divisiveness of Those
Gameplay Mechanics

The in-game time management system – Chronostatis and Eradia – are probably what people think about the most whenever they talk about Lightning Returns: FINAL FANTASY XIII, and with good reason as it is the single most divisive element of the game.

To set up the lore: God will awake after 13 days. When that happens, this world will be done for and he will make a new world to replace it. There is nothing that can prevent this from happening on a set timetable. That is, other than Lighting offering up her life force in bits and pieces to push that deadline back by stopping time. Hope calls this life energy Eradia – but it is tracked as Energy Points (or ‘EP’) in the game.

Each in-game day lasts for one real life hour. That means that an in-game hour lasts for two-and-a-half minutes, and that a minute on Nova Chrsyalis lasts only two-and-a-half real-life seconds. In other words, time moves very, very fast in Lightning Returns: FINAL FANTASY XIII. You can stop it by spending a single EP to pause time for 30 in-game minutes, which equates to a minute and 15 real-life seconds.

You can replenish EP most easily by killing enemies in the world. Unfortunately, there are only a finite number of enemies out in the world, and so you cannot just kill indiscriminately, as you’ll end up using up the best way to replenish EP during each in-game day. So, you have to balance how quickly and often you kill enemies in the game.

Finally, certain NPCs and quests are locked behind certain times of the day. If you miss the time window for an event, then you can’t do it for that day.

What all of this means is that Chronostatis and tracking the in-game passage of time takes over everything else if you want to complete the game in a single 13-day cycle. I actually used the schedule laid out in the official player’s guide – alongside the internet – in order to make it happen, and I was constantly obsessing over time and making sure I hit areas when I needed to in order to get all of the story beats (which you have to absolutely do in a single run-in order to properly finish the game) and all of the side quests done in one go.

The completionist in me disliked it then, and I dislike it even more now as it is one of the most stressful gameplay experiences I’ve ever had. Even when I was deep into the game and it was clear I was going to finish Lighting Returns: FINAL FANTASY XIII in one go, I was still stressing about making my ‘appointments.’ If you want to play video games to just relax and have fun, then Chronostatis will really damper that for you. If you are a completionist like I am, then Chronostatis will drive you insane.

Tick, tick, tick. Time is constantly slipping away, and it feels like I can never do enough at all. And yes, I know that if I don’t manage to save everyone and complete all the story beats in a timely manner, then I will get a second chance in a sorta ‘new game plus’ that carries all my stuff over. But I really just want to do it all in one go, anyway.

I really think do that Chronostatis was innovative, but it simply is too divisive to be a series mainstay – especially in 2024 – and it is what will turn people off to the game.

And there you have it!

These are my thoughts on Lightning Returns: FINAL FANTASY XIII, and what worked – and what didn’t – while looking at it through the eyes of someone a decade post-North American release. Ultimately, Lightning Returns: FINAL FANTASY XIII is a game that still brings a lot of enjoyable value in 2024, if you can get past the Chronostatis and Eradia/EP gameplay system.

When A Retrospective Look returns next, I will be talking at what worked-and-didn’t-work for BABYLON’S FALL. (Yep, I played this game before end-of-service.)

Please look forward to it!

Did you play Lightning Returns: FINAL FANTASY XIII?

What do you think about Lightning’s final adventure? Did you love the music like I did, and does it all hold up well in a 2024 perspective?

Let me know in the comments below!

The post A Retrospective Look- Lightning Returns: FINAL FANTASY XIII In 2024 appeared first on oprainfall.

At the start of this past week I finally went ahead and finished up Like a Dragon Gaiden. It was Infinite Wealth launch week and I wanted to be ready. There was still some leftover side stuff I would’ve liked to do first, but it was more important for me to finish up the main story and see how things go for Kiryu leading up to the latest game. I really enjoyed Gaiden overall. It was short, but it was a nice little entry and I had a lot of fun playing it. I definitely think it’s something fans of the series should check out before the eighth mainline game.

My copy of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth showed up a bit late on Friday, but it got there in time to start that night. I was also pleasantly surprised that it came with a small double-sided poster, which I didn’t see mentioned in any promotional info beforehand. I went through all of the early game Yokohama stuff and have only just begun exploring Hawaii. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of Ichiban. I didn’t find myself as enthralled with Yakuza 7 as the rest of the Yakuza series, the story just wasn’t quite as exciting for me. At least not until certain returning characters showed up. It’s also a little surprising that despite RPGs being my absolute favorite game genre, I find myself preferring Yakuza‘s original gameplay style. It simply seems to suit it better in my opinion.

However, thus far I feel like Infinite Wealth will be much better. Having Kiryu in the game helps and overall the big trip to Hawaii is making things a lot more exciting for me. I’m looking forward to checking out all the new minigames and side content, not to mention seeing where the story goes. Battles still aren’t the most exciting compared to some other RPGs, but there do seem to be improvements, such as with there being more nearby scenery interaction than before and the ability to manually move around during battles. I’m still not very far, I believe I’m about to head back to the house Ichiban was at before from the return address on the envelope, this time with Kiryu. I was checking out some substories in the area before heading off. – Jenae

On the road leading up to Infinite Wealth‘s launch, my sister and I continued our retro game replays, this time visiting a couple SNES classics. First on the docket was Lagoon, a favorite of my husband’s that I never played as a child. In the same vein as Ys, Lagoon is an Action RPG that clearly started life as bump combat but was changed to manual slashing when ported to the Super Nintendo. Unlike Ys, Lagoon did not age as well – at least in my opinion. The story here is similarly refreshingly straightforward with an attempt at a twist and a moral at the end, but it’s basically just chosen hero go out in the world narrative, and that’s fine. There’s plenty of locales to explore and I actually liked Lagoon‘s multiple races more than Ys‘ standard towns. It’s all aesthetic, but I’m a fan of fantasy races so it was nice seeing a smattering of them here. Unfortunately, it’s probably the only thing Lagoon has going for it when compared to other old ARPGs. The music was fine (I’m a huge fan of the start screen tune, for instance), but it’s hard to compare to Nihon Falcom. There’s plenty of variety in locations, but you spend so little time in them they feel like you blink and miss them. There’s little quality of life tweaks you don’t realize how much they add to the experience until they’re not there. For instance, you have almost no feedback when you take damage. Nasir’s sprite will flash, but there’s no audible indication you’ve been hit, and there were times I found myself not realizing I’d taken damage because I thought the sprite flickering was the enemy. Your NPC companion moves so slow as to be a hindrance the few times he joins up with you. Nasir can learn multiple elemental spells and obtains multiple rods that power up those spells, but I found no real reason to engage with the magic system outside using a simple fireball or wind strike. I forgive it a lot for how old it is, but considering Lagoon was contemporaneous with Final Fantasy IV, I can’t give it too much of a pass. That being said, I had a lot of fun with this game even with its frustrating difficulty curves and off-center combat. This is a classic RPG for a reason and I’m glad I played it.

After Lagoon, we started up Lufia 2. I’ve never played Lufia, but this is one of the few games I’m willing to play out of order on the suggestion of my husband, who feels the games work better this way. So far it’s incredibly fun – much more so than Lagoon. A more traditional RPG with turn-based combat and parties, Lufia 2 is a gorgeous game with fantastic music. It’s difficult but not unfair (so far) and I love the presentation. The sprite work is particularly gorgeous. We’ve only completed the first real dungeon and are heading to our third town after defeating a giant catfish, but I’m curious to see how the very basic narrative hook is going to build into something larger.

Now for the meat of my week: Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. I’ll be writing up a much more complete review once I finish the game, but I’ve got some thoughts based on my first 20 hours with this eighth mainline Yakuza title. Unlike Jenae, Ichiban is my favorite franchise character, so I was incredibly happy to have him back and catch back up after the events of Like a Dragon, which I adored. (I was also a huge fan of Gaiden.) It’s been three years since the events of Yakuza 7 and Ichiban’s having a bit of a rough time. His prospects pick up a bit and he finds himself heading to Hawaii, where circumstances force him and the Dragon of Dojima himself into a mutual partnership.

Exploring Honolulu City has been a blast. I love the detail Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio puts in its locations, and Aloha Beach is no different. Not only are the locations gorgeously rendered, but the team tackles the same down and dirty issues and themes the Yakuza series is known for: homelessness, police corruption, gang warfare, social disparities, family – it’s all here. The Like a Dragon series is one of the best at taking a deep dive into the human condition, and Infinite Wealth is no exception.

Battles have also been lovingly updated with some nice quality of life features. You can now move around freely within a specific range, giving you the option to set up attack combos with your friends. Your attacks can shove enemies in a specific direction, and shoving them into your teammates will cause your teammates to join in the attack for extra damage. You can also knock enemies into the environment for additional damage, or into other bad guys to deal damage to other baddies. If you attack an enemy from close enough, you also get a proximity bonus. Attacking from behind deals higher damage and can circumvent shields. It’s a small addition, but the movement adds a lot of consideration for how to handle battles. One of my absolute favorite additions is the Smackdown. If Ichiban and company engage in combat with blue icon’d enemies, they will immediately win the battle. This removes the tedium of fighting low-level enemies while providing the money and experience you’d get otherwise. Star Ocean The Second Story R implemented something similar with its Bodyguard ability, and I think it’s the single best QoL feature for RPGs and should be standard.

I do have some quibbles with the game, though. You can access a podcast early on in the game that is not subtitled nor translated, so unless you can understand Japanese you won’t be following along. There’s an English language version podcast once you hit Hawaii that is also not subtitled, so I supposed RGG was going for authenticity and both languages miss out on something. The podcast also pauses whenever you open your menu or the map, and every time you get into battles – and there are a LOT of battles – leading to me just not even bothering trying to listen to the English podcast either. It’s too hard to follow along. While in Hawaii you can also access a scooter to zoom around Honolulu City, but you can’t interact with anything while on it, so if you’re trying to collect the items scattered around the region, or greeting anyone on the street, you’re better off walking.

Overall I’m having a blast with Infinite Wealth and can’t wait to jump back into it. The game plays beautifully on PS5, Xbox Series S and PC, so you can’t really go wrong with any platform of your choice. I’ll have a full review later but until then, this is definitely worth checking out. – Leah

What games have you been playing this week? Let us know in the comments!

You can read previous Week in Gaming entries here!

The post oprainfall Week in Gaming: Jan 21 – 27 appeared first on oprainfall.

It’s been a while but we’re back from the holidays, and with it some ponderings on a slew of games played during the end of the year!

My sister and I spent the holiday playing the first three Ys games on the Turbografx CD, courtesy of the new Analogue Duo I bought for my husband. Ys is a series I’ve often said I wanted to check out but never bothered because there are so many games and the continuity was slightly confusing. The first three games are ones my husband played a long time ago and remembers fondly, so we finally just said screw it and started from the beginning (without owning an actual PC88, that is.) I can definitively say I do not like bump combat, so I let my sister play the majority of Ys I and II. I appreciate the simplicity of that game design, I’m just far too impatient for it. Ys II‘s addition of magic helped, but it was still overall not my cup of tea. Bump combat aside, the first two Ys games were incredibly charming in their presentation, with lovely sprite work and portraits that felt nostalgic despite me never having played them in the past. They definitely evoked that sense of 80s aesthetic I grew up with though, and the straightforward story only added to that feeling. There was no grand sweeping narrative, no major plot twists, no deep and misunderstood villain. It was just Adol the adventurer, doing his best to save the folks who needed his help. That’s not to say Ys I and II lacked a story or didn’t have anything to say about the fallibility of humans and the ways hubris can fracture otherwise utopian worlds, but compared to modern standards, it’s pretty quaint.

Ys III was a major departure from Ys I and II, both in story and gameplay. I played the majority of this one, since I preferred the side-scrolling action compared to the overhead bump combat, and I’ve gotta say it was both incredibly fun and incredibly infuriating at times. Some of the boss designs were just flat out unfair for the style of combat, and I banged my head against it longer than I would like (I’m looking at you, hidden cave boss with the bullshit teleporting crystals).  Having rescued Ys from evil, Adol and Dogi continue their adventures, this time heading to Dogi’s homeland after hearing of nefarious things happening there. An ancient evil is being resurrected (as you do) and Adol takes it upon himself to help Dogi’s village. This will take him through mines, up a mountain, into the pit of a volcano, and deep into the heart of a corrupt empire. Again, not the most convoluted story, but a satisfying one in its simplicity. The characters are silly and suffer from some particularly bad voice acting, especially compared to Ys I and II, but the gameplay is solid and responsive. I had a blast with this one, and it’s definitely the kind of game I’m glad I played with others around so I could kvetch and laugh in equal parts with everyone else.

I would be remiss not to touch on how phenomenal the music was in all three of these games. Straight bangers the whole way through, and I can see why Nihon Falcom has the reputation it does for producing games with magnificent soundtracks. I’m looking forward to advancing through the rest of the series soon.

Continuing with the Analogue Duo, we also spent an hour or so with the charming Dragon Half board game on the Turbo CD. Seeing as the game does not have an English patch, we fumbled through to the best of our ability, but even not knowing what we were doing, the game was a lot of fun. Dragon Half features an eclectic cast of characters, and each of them break off to form four different teams that players control. You roll dice to advance around the board, which is just an arrangement of towns and castles, where you can buy items, get into fights, or take on quests, depending on the color square you land on. Blue tiles are shops and quests; yellow tiles are events – both good and bad – and red tiles are battles. Battles are played out using RNG, with the enemy and player taking turns. At the start of each round, there’s a character screen with the enemy and your team, under which is a power bar that ebbs and flows. You determine how well your team will do by timing pressing Button I such that the enemy has fewer bars and you have more bars under your character. Once that’s decided, the battle plays out automatically. If you have less power than the enemy, your team will often make mistakes, either falling down and missing the enemy, or sometimes damaging your own party instead. This mechanic can also work in your favor if the enemy has less power than you on its turn. Once you win, you earn money and experience. You’ll need money to buy the items quest givers ask for, so it’s a fun gameplay loop regardless of your level of Japanese understanding. I’d love to see an English patch of this so I can better know what I’m doing, but it was a ton of fun even with my beginner-level Japanese thanks to the animations and voice acting. If you’re a fan of Dragon Half, this game’s a hoot. – Leah

Super Mario Bros. 3

Before the holiday week, I had continued my slow and steady foray through SMB 3, crashing and burning plenty, yet it was a fun bit of gaming. Mostly fun, thankfully, however moments of actual frustration did pop up from time to time. I have to say, some of the stage designs are particularly obnoxious, probably on purpose too, having taken me several tries to figure out the necessary timing or platforming sequence to successfully get through. The forts in Worlds 4 and 5 were the main culprits of my difficulties then. I’m glad stockpiling lives is fairly easy, so far at least. Anyway, I managed to complete World 4 and make it through both of World 5’s maps as well.

I also wish to share, what has impressed me from the start are the graphics. I had forgotten how good this game can look. It’s no Kirby’s Adventure, yet SMB 3 has its moments where I can’t help but to appreciate the thought that went into particular designs. And with the cleverness and creativity of the world themes, stage designs, and enemy designs, you have a notable visual achievement here.

Another observation, it was at this point when the game started to distinctly feel more challenging. Fewer easy stages in which I could complete without taking a hit, more stages and forts where I’ll fail several times before making it through. Worlds 7 and 8, I’m fearing, will be a nightmare for me.

Unfortunately, once the holidays came about, my playthrough came to a halt. Not because of a lack of time, but because I couldn’t muster the want to do so. For several years now the holidays haven’t felt like they used to. I no longer look forward to them and the resultant depression is real. I can only hope the scales tip for the better sooner rather than later, as I would very much like to game, but at the same time, I don’t feel like it, and that feeling is currently the greater of the clashing two. – Drew D.

This week in gaming I finally finished up the very first Ys title. I decided to play the Chronicles version on Steam and I had a lot of fun with it. Though that last tower was a real pain in the ass with all the backtracking and such. Looking forward to digging into Ys II when I get a chance.

The other game I played last week was AEW: Fight Forever. I ended up getting a very late review copy of this and I have to say the game overall is pretty fun. It plays a lot like the N64 wrestling games such as WCW vs. nWo: World Tour, but has been greatly modernized. There are a good number of customization options and the story mode here is pretty fun as well. There are something I’ve found lacking here but I will go into more of that when I write up the full review this week.

Also on tap this week, Goblins! I guess Goblin Slayer lost in this world! – Steve

What games have you been playing this week? Let us know in the comments!

You can read previous Week in Gaming entries here!

The post oprainfall Week in Gaming: Jan 7 – 13 appeared first on oprainfall.

While watching Naoki Yoshida (“Yoshi-P”) present the Keynote at FINAL FANTASY XIV FANFEST 2023 London, my favorite part of it all was the announced raid series for the upcoming Dawntrail expansion titled ECHOES OF VANA’DIEL. Drawing upon FINAL FANTASY XI Online, this upcoming alliance raid series instantly caught my attention and my heart, as I played and raided in FINAL FANTASY XI Online for almost two decades now. In fact, I wrote a lengthy essay about my love for FINAL FANTASY XI Online as part of my ongoing FINAL FANTASY XIV Online cooking series titled Cooking Eorzea.

As a result, I immediately started writing up a list of 11 enemies from FINAL FANTASY XI Online that need to be part of the ECHOES OF VANA’DIEL raid series in FINAL FANTASY XIV: Dawntrail. This list is comprised of a mixture of storyline fights and endgame fights that only the very best raid groups could successfully take on.

I sincerely hope that SQUARE ENIX takes this alliance series seriously and implements fights that are at least a faithful homage to their original FFXI forms. All that said, I cannot wait to dive into these new raids when Dawntrail launches in Summer 2024.

Warning: There WILL BE story spoilers for FINAL FANTASY XI Online in this list. You have been warned.

So, without further ado…

1) Shadow Lord

(FINAL FANTASY XI Online)

No list of potential FINAL FANTASY XI Online-inspired raid bosses could possibly start with anyone other than the main antagonist of the base FINAL FANTASY XI Online game through Mission 5-2, as the Shadow Lord truly is what kicks off the sequence of events that impacts multiple future expansions with the Crystal War that concludes 20 years before the start of this MMORPG.

Deep within the Throne Room inside of Castle Zvahl in Xarcabard, Shadow Lord will constantly switch between either magic or physical attack immunity during the fight in his first form and then constantly cast Implosion, a major AoE magic damage attack non-stop until he is beaten down in his second form. While this seems incredibly simple, the sheer amount of damage that Shadow Lord can do at the original level cap of 50 made this an incredibly hard battle to win.

With Shadow Lord as the capstone to the opening chapters of FINAL FANTASY XI Online before you set out all over the world to fight more enemies, see more places, and save the world too many times to count, this fight is a no-brainer to be included in ECHOES OF VANA’DIEL. This fight’s inclusion would also mean that Warriors of Light will have to have a mixture of physical attackers and magic attackers in order to win and be able to drive down Shadow Lord’s HP before he can kill them first.

2) Kam’lanaut

(Rise of the Zilart)

Kam’lanaut is the Archduke of the Grand Duchy of Jeuno, and Eald’narche is his ‘younger’ (though technically older story wise!) brother. Both of them are members of the Zilart race who plot to open the Gate of the Gods and bring about the destruction of Vana’diel throughout a fair bit of the early FINAL FANTASY XI Online storyline – and they will use Kam’lanaut’s position as the head of the most powerful city-state in Vana’diel to make it happen.

This fight is a lot of fun and it requires adventurers to pay attention to what is happening at all times. Kam’lanaut’s signature fight skill is that he casts an elemental en-spell onto his weapon that will cause him to do particular elemental damage to the alliance…while also being healed by magic cast upon him of that same magic. For instance, if he has fire en-spell cast upon his weapon, then fire spells cast upon him will actually heal him. He also has an attack, Great Wheel, that will reset hate and does AoE damage.

This, plus the fact that he can cast dispel, silence, and slow enmasse makes him a worthy and challenging fight that Warriors of Lights cannot just mindlessly defeat and move on into the next room.

3) Domina Shantotto and Shantotto 

(A Shantotto Ascension – The Legend Torn, Her Empire Born)

Four words: Hilariously written, non-stop rhyming.

In one of the three digital-only add-on mini content expansions, the ultimate fight of A Shantotto Ascension – The Legend Torn, Her Empire Reborn is to prevent the Shantottofication curse from being cast across Vana’diel where everyone will be turned into Shantotto, and so you end up fighting two versions of Shantotto in this fight at the same time. (Just go with it, trust me.)

Domina Shantotto is equipped with a scythe that can use an AoE attack called Salvation Scythe that inflicts various status ailments and a lot of damage. When she isn’t swinging her scythe around, she is capable of casting every spell in the game. Unfortunately, you don’t have just Domina Shantotto to deal with. You also have regular Shantotto too. She utilizes a staff, uses a variety of black magic, and she will cast Meteor below 10%. She also has a powerful AoE attack called Divine Malison that inflicts a variety of status effects on players.

And if THAT wasn’t enough to deal with, both of them will enter a ‘rage’ mode when either of their HP drops to various percentages. During this time, their defense is massively boosted, their HP auto-regens, and they will use level 3 skillchains with each other to seriously damage adventurers and cause status effects.

If it isn’t obvious, double Shantotto is double trouble, and this fight to save Vana’diel is not a fight that you can just sleep on, but instead requires careful planning and attacking in order to survive and would make a great fight for FINAL FANTASY XIV Online to include.

4) Gessho

(Treasures of Aht Urghan)

Gessho is a beastman tribe member who has been excommunicated from the Yagudo theocracy after being branded a heretic, and he turns out to be one of your strongest allies throughout the Treasures of Aht Urghan expansion. He is incredibly well-written, and he gave a real humanity to the Yagudo that has not been present in the story up until that point.

In Mission 35: Legacy of the Lost, you end up fighting Gessho while he is a fully equipped ninja. He uses Ninjutsu spells, including Utsusemi that allows him to take zero damage from attacks, ranged weapon skills, and summon clones of himself to the field to attack alongside him. And if that isn’t enough, him and his clones can all use Mijin Gakure – the Ninja one-hour ability that causes significant non-elemental magic-based damage to everyone around them. And unlike the one-hour ability being used by adventurers using the Ninja class, it will not K.O. Gessho or his clones.

In other words, Gessho is a ninja that can explode repeatedly while also not taking any damage and would be a significant challenge for any Warrior of Light to overcome in battle.

5) Lilith Ascendant

(Wings of the Goddess)

Lilith Ascendant is the enemy born from when Lilisette is absorbed by Lady Lilith- who is also Lilisette, but from another timeline where the Crystal War never ended, the Shadow Lord was never defeated, and she where she forged a pact with Odin- at the end of Wings of the Goddess. I promise, it does make sense in the storyline.

This ultimate fight of the Wings of the Goddess expansion is primarily about causing status effects in players. For example: her Dark Burst ability resets job ability timers, her Dark Sun ability causes AoE Death, Dark Freeze does conical ice magic damage and terrorizes, and Dark Quake causes earth magic damage, amnesia, and bind. The most terrifying attack of all though is her Dark Moon skill: that causes AoE light damage and will place adventurers in a weakened state – like if they had just been raised.

If that wasn’t enough, Elemental Gyves will also spawn in the battlefield whenever Lilith Ascendant does a special attack. These are different elemental, non-moving targets that can be killed or despawned that create status effects in players and will also cause a state decrease. For example, the Water Elemental Gyve will cause drown and will give anyone within the range of effect Magic Defense Down.

This turns any fight into one where one where not only player positioning is vital to staying alive but requires healers to be on top of their skill sets in order to remove debuffs and status effects as quickly as possible while the tanks and melee are in a weakened state. Lilith Ascendant also looks like a classic FINAL FANTASY ultimate enemy, and fights like one too. This enemy – especially with the fairly unique focus upon status effects – would make a great raid enemy in FINAL FANTASY XIV Online.

6) Pandemonium Warden

(Treasures of Aht Urghan)

This was an end-game raid from the Treasures of Aht Urghan expansion, and arguably one of the hardest raids in all of FINAL FANTASY XI Online. A Tier V Zeni Notorious Monster, it is spawned deep in Aydeewa Subterrane after trading a Pandemonium Key to a ??? spawn spot.

Pandemonium Warden has 11 total forms that it changes into one after another, and all 11 must be defeated in order to win the fight. Each form has a massive AoE attack and moves reminiscent of the original enemy- including a unique skill for each form. With each form spawn of Pandemonium Warden, eight Pandemonium Lamps also appear. They must be dealt with separately away from the main tanking group as they also have a powerful AoE attack, and they must be killed quickly as they will be nearly impossible to pull off of the main Pandemonium Warden tank after a few minutes thanks to shared hate.

When you reach Pandemonium Warden’ s final form as a Dvergr, then you still have to deal with Astral Flow every 25% that will wipe out everyone within a large area if you don’t move out of range quickly enough. Each use of Astral Flow also will respawn all of the Pandemonium Lamps that were already killed, meaning that they have to be quickly dealt with all over again. You also cannot go too far away from the fight, as Pandemonium Warden also has drawn in, and it will pull everyone into the center of the battle arena together.

This is a small overview of a chaotic, difficult, and crazily fun fight that is absolutely unlike anything else you will experience in Vana’diel. It is also a perfect fit for a FINAL FANTASY XIV Online raid, and one that will give any raid group a challenge as it will force different alliances to handle different aspects of the fight all at the same time.

7) Nidhogg

(Rise of the Zilart)

For many years, Nidhogg had a chance to spawn within a 30-second window every half hour for three hours every 21 hours after it was last killed as the HQ chance spawn of Fafnir. The spawn chance of Nidhogg also went up for every day that Fafnir spawned instead of Nidhogg. If it sounds confusing, then just imagine being up at 3:20 AM, bleary-eyed, and desperately hoping that the Nidhogg would spawn after 10 days of only Fafnir.

This fight takes place deep within Dragon Aery inside of The Boyahda Tree. Positioning in this fight is fairly unique, as all players have to stand on either of his front feet in order to avoid the frontal AoE Dragon Breath ability that does a lot of damage. Among Nidhogg’s abilities are the ability to single target terror, dispel a single buff with Horrid Roar, and to cause both blindness and AoE damage with Hurricane Wing.

There are two things that makes this fight worthy of a FINAL FANTASY XI Online-inspired raid. First, adventurers could not use AoE attacks while fighting Nidhogg. Dragon’s Aery is a very small area, and there are 11 Darters (dragonfly enemies) that spawn around him that are both higher level than the then-level cap of 75, and that will aggro if they are attacked first. Oh, and they will also all link up together to attack if one is attacked. This means that instead of just fighting one Dragon, you now are dealing with potentially 11 other highly-leveled add-ons at the same time. Needless to say, it can be EXTREMELY chaotic, and this would force Warriors of Light to be unable to spam their regular move rotation.

Second, there is Spike Flail. If you attack Nidhogg from behind, he will use his tail to cause massive AoE damage that will kill everyone in the area. Wipes to Spike Flail were not common, but they would absolutely change the game when they happened, as you can see below during one such fight that I was a part of.

For context in the below pictures: SA stands for ‘Sneak Attack”, which is a Thief job specialty move that generates hate, and it is used behind the enemy for the critical hit damage. Usually, you pair it with Trick Attack to transfer enemy to correct player (aka ‘SATA’). When it doesn’t go off perfectly, you wind up with enmity being given to the Thief…who was behind Nidhogg in the below screen caps. Finally, all of these players below are equipped with the best gear possible in FINAL FANTASY XI Online at the time:

(Photos by author).

Causing Warriors of Light to care a lot about positioning, worrying about add on mobs, and not being able to use their default rotation makes this a fight that would be a real stand out in ECHOES OF VANA’DIEL, and Nidhogg would be a better gameplay shakeup than almost anything else in FINAL FANTASY XI Online.

8) Schah

(Rhapsodies of Vana’diel)

Located in Reisenjima, Schah is the hardest Notorious Monster introduced in the Rhapsodies of Vana’diel expansion and most likely the hardest fight in the entire MMORPG. Also: if you want an Aeonic Weapon, you will have to eventually fight it.

Whereas Pandemonium Warden focuses on managing eleven different forms and the battle mechanics for each form with the adds somewhat secondary, Schah is the opposite. Schah spawns fourteen additional enemies that have to be all killed before you can do any damage to the main enemy: seven Bhata (Pawns), two Ashva (Knights), two Gaja (Bishops), two Ratha (Castle/Rooks), and one Mantri (Queen). These adds start spawning 30 seconds after the fight starts and will keep spawning 48 seconds after each rank dies, with the Mantri first appearing three minutes into the fight. Also: if a Bhata is not killed within two minutes after spawning, then it will turn into a Mantri. These adds all have various abilities, cast high level magic, and will do incredible damage if not properly managed. And on top of all that: Mantri will use Enthrall to AoE charm everyone.

As I said at the start: until those additional enemies are dealt with, adventurers cannot damage Schah. Schah is no pushover over, as it can also use every spell that the different adds can use, can use Royal Decree (which is AoE damage and resets all ability timers), and can use Banneret Charge. Banneret Charge is an AoE attack that resets both hate and affected players’ HP to 1. And if that wasn’t all enough, Schah also has heavy resistance to attacks and to all magic but Dark.

It is a very hard fight that is very, very fun and it would require a high level of coordination among Warriors of Light to conquer.

9) Garazu-Horeizu

(The Voracious Resurgence)

In the latest expansion for FINAL FANTASY XI Online, Garazu-Horeizu is the ultimate villain who is determined to resurrect Chaos. Like Shadow Lord, Garazu-Noreizu is more notable for his role within the expansion’s storyline than anything else, but that doesn’t mean that he is a pushover.

These skills include casting Tier 2 Ancient Magic, Comet, Meteor, and spamming Silencega instantly over and over again. And if that wasn’t enough, he can use Tartarus Tocsin, which is an AoE damage and sleep skill. Additionally, he can also absorb some of the player’s stats and cast dispel…And it is all AoE. When his HP starts to drop, he will summon multiple cloned allies of YOUR allies, the Destiny Destroyers, to help him. This quickly devolves into, like the Shadow Lord, a damage race to kill Garazu-Horeizu before he and his allies can kill you.

I ultimately chose Garazu-Horeizu over the final boss, Chaos, because I did not want all the raid fights to be ‘gods’ or ‘god equivalents’, but to be characters who also had a major role in FINAL FANTASY XI Online. While this would undoubtedly be a mid-run ECHOES OF VANA’DIEL raid boss, I know that there would be a place for him in the content.

10) Promathia

(Chains of Promathia)

Promathia is the God of Twilight and the namesake of the Chains of Promathia expansion. There is a lot to be said about Promathia, what the chains that bind him are, and what it means for the Vana’diel of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. I am being purposefully vague here, since Chains of Promathia is probably my favorite FINAL FANTASY storyline of all time (narrowly beating out Lighting Returns: FINAL FANTASY XIII) with a plot that just drops mind-stunning revelation after revelation upon you as you play through it and you just need to experience it for yourself.

In this fight, you are partnered with Prishe and Selh’teus (two major expansion story NPCs) alongside your own party of adventurers. There are two stages of the fight. In the first stage, Promathia has different AoE and cone attacks that inflict dispel, plague, curse, and various amounts of damage. He can also cast the magic attack Comet. What really sets this stage apart is that he has five different ‘Chains’ attacks, and each one only affects one of the five playable Vana’diel races (but is negated by a story item collected previously in The Garden of Ru’Hmet).

The second stage has Promathia hitting incredibly hard, and he now also uses AoE abilities such as Mute and Amnesia, and he will cast Meteor once a minute. If that was not enough, he will also switch between magic and physical attack damage invincibility.

This is a hard, and difficult fight in a battle arena that is my absolute favorite in all of FINAL FANTASY XI Online. It is truly an epic battle, with incredible stakes, and there is nothing like fighting alongside Prishe and Selh’teus. In addition, due to ‘plot reasons’, the Chains attacks would have to land on the various inhabitants of Eorzea- unless, of course, SQUARE ENIX includes a way to negate them as well in the raid dungeons. Promathia is simply an amazing, iconic fight, and both the God of Twilight and his battle arena would be perfect for ECHOES OF VANA’DIEL.

11) Maat

(FINAL FANTASY XI Online)

Like there could be anyone else in this final, 11th, slot from FINAL FANTASY XI Online for the ECHOES FROM VANA’DIEL raid series in FINAL FANTASY XIV: Dawntrail expansion.

When you first hit level 50, and every five levels after that point, you have to seek out Maat to increase your level cap inside Ru’Lude Gardens in the Grand Duchy of Jeuno. While he appears to be just an old man, Maat is a master of all 15 jobs that were created before the Chains of Promathia expansion was released. In order to break your ‘limits’ (level cap) and unlock the then-final level increase from 70 to 75, you had to test your might against Maat himself as you both fight each other on the same job.

And he WILL test you. He is incredibly powerful, incredibly strong, and any player who played FINAL FANTASY XI Online knows just how hard taking him on can be. He is an obstacle that everyone faced who wanted to get to the level cap, and he takes no mercy on anyone. You can have all the best buffs, eat the best food, and wear the best gear…And still easily lose against him.

While this fight is undoubtedly the one that would require the most change, I would personally love Maat to shift between all of the FINAL FANTASY XI Online jobs to fight Warriors of Light with and make an alliance prove their worth in a raid by besting him in battle. It would be a true fight of strength and a way to test FINAL FANTASY XI Online jobs against FINAL FANTASY XIV Online jobs in a way that would make sense in-universe.

Conclusion

And there you have it! Eleven enemies that would be perfect for any Warrior of Light to test their might and mettle against.

I will admit that I had a very hard time narrowing down my list to just 11, and I ended up regrettingly leaving out Hades from the Seekers of Adoulin expansion and the Ark Angels from Rise of Zilart expansion- they would have been my 12th and 13th choices if I could have permitted myself to have two.

Regardless, I know that SQUARE ENIX and the team behind FINAL FANTASY XIV Online will do a wonderful job implementing and honoring the history and story of FINAL FANTASY XI Online in ECHOES OF VANA’DIEL and I just cannot wait to explore it all!

Who did I miss and who have you fought during your own adventures in Vana’diel?

Let us know in the comments below!

The post 11 Enemies from FINAL FANTASY XI Online that NEED to be in FFXIV’s ECHOES OF VANA’DIEL appeared first on oprainfall.

Spent the weekend at my favorite gaming convention, RetroGameCon! I look forward to this con every year, and this was no exception. I spent the vast majority of my time walking around checking out the booths, and grabbed myself a physical copy of Star Ocean The Last Hope International (I only had the original version on Xbox), as well as a proper boxed copy of Til the End of Time (I misplaced my box at some point). I also grabbed a copy of Raji, which I thought looked really interesting but never had a chance to play. And of course it wouldn’t be a con if I didn’t come away with a couple handmade tchotchkes, so I am now the proud owner of an Umbreon hat.

I also got to sit in on a couple fun panels. The first one was a Q&A with John Riggs and Metal Jesus which was just a fun chat about a variety of subjects, including music and video games (considering the panelists). There was also a Sonic mega-panel with several voice actors, including Jon St John, who I didn’t know voiced a Sonic character! Learn something new every day. My favorite panel though was a nostalgia panel about retrogaming. The panelist, ND Bowman, is a professor at Syracuse University. It was a really interesting panel discussing what nostalgia is, how gamers who were born after certain systems were even made could still feel nostalgia for the time and games of those systems, and how generational play can build nostalgia in the participants. Knowing there are folks in academia talking gaming and its impacts on social structures and families seriously fills my nerdy little heart with joy.

Lastly, I of course played a bunch of games at RetroGameCon! The free play area is always fun, and my son of course sought out the vintage computers so he could play a plethora of Pac-Man clones. He also won his first game of Solitaire and was incredibly proud of himself. We all did terrible at DDR and tried our hand at some notoriously bad video games (my game of choice was the 3DO’s Shadow: War of Succession). A bunch of indie games were also available for demo, including a fun little twin shooter called CyberPigeon, which is currently available for Steam Early Access. I really liked the aesthetic for this game, with your adorable little 2D pigeon flying through a constantly shifting void being attacked by robots. You can collect coins to buy upgrades, which range from additional pigeons with special abilities to gun upgrades. The game is fast-paced and addictive and definitely something I think a lot of our readers would find interesting.

In non-convention news, we finally started our playthrough of Resident Evil 8! Ethan Winters continues being the unluckiest man alive. This game is definitely not as scary as RE7, leaning more into camp than horror, but that suits me just fine. It reminds me more of RE4, and I loved the way that game balanced horror and humor. So far we’ve defeated Dimitrescu (what a fantastic character, from design to personality) and are moving onto Angie and Donna’s domain. We’ve been playing in the third-person mode, but I think I’m going to swap back to first-person when it’s my turn to play again. I think having the third-person perspective is interesting but it causes some jarring changes when the game swaps between gameplay and cutscenes. So far though, I’m loving the game. It drips character and the Village itself has a ton of personality. I like how it’s broken into regions, and the villains are all fantastically over the top and hilarious. That doesn’t mean I haven’t had my share of screams, but I welcome the more lighthearted nature of RE8 over RE7‘s overbearing terror. – Leah

I’ve been pretty invested in Dragon Quest XI these last couple weeks. Since I last updated you all on my DQXI adventures, I’ve secured all of the orbs in the first story arc, I went to Yggdrasil, things happened, I got to the point in the game where the party separates, relocated everyone thus re-securing all of the orbs, got myself a very important sword at the volcano forge and that’s where I left off. I’m at the end of the second arc and decided to take a break right about here. I don’t want to run off and end this arc just yet, I’d like to make sure I’ve fought any unique monsters in this part of the game and then head off and grind in the last area before the boss. I decided it was time for a break though because I’ve been so glued to it for the last few weeks and I don’t feel like running around to do those leftover things just yet. I might go back to some other game for a little bit, but I’m not sure yet.

Other than Dragon Quest XI, I’ve also been playing a lot of Riichi City lately. They just started a new Lycoris Recoil collab event last night. I was hoping to unlock a new character of some kind, event exclusive or otherwise, but after using eight of my freely earned summon chances on the gacha, I’ve come up empty. I unlocked the same new riichi stick twice and that was it, the rest was just gift items, which you give to your characters to raise their bond level. I did rank up though while I was doing ranked matches for event points. I’m hoping to earn more gacha chances and get a new character in the next couple weeks, but it’s looking very unlikely that I’ll get anyone. I have very sparse luck with these things and considering I got my first non starter character a couple weeks ago, I probably won’t unlock anyone new, anytime soon. – Jenae

What games have you been playing this week? Let us know in the comments!

You can read previous Week in Gaming entries here!

The post oprainfall Week in Gaming: Oct 1 – 7 appeared first on oprainfall.

Nintendo Live Official Website

Ordinarily, I put out my thoughts on a fan-event fairly quickly -within the week- of the event itself. Nintendo Live 2023: Seattle has been the one exception. Not for a bad reason, but simply because there is so much potential that I kept talking with other people connected to oprainfall and to my own social group about what Nintendo could do with it. If you want to take away one thing from this column, then let it be this: Nintendo Live 2023: Seattle felt like an incredibly successful dry run for a potential future standalone Nintendo two-day convention.

Before we get to why I feel that way, let’s talk about the event itself. Hosted adjacent to PAX West (and sharing a building with part of the event, in fact), Nintendo Live 2023: Seattle was a separately ticketed event that did not require PAX West 2023 admission to attend but instead held a free lottery system for people to potentially gain admittance for a few months beforehand for one particular day. Nintendo also distributed a handful of tickets at PAX West itself. What this means is that Nintendo was able to spread the attendance out over the full four days of PAX and that, most crucially, Nintendo knew exactly how many people were going to be attending each day and it helped to make Nintendo Live 2023: Seattle feel like an event that was both at capacity yet not overwhelmingly overpacked.

Inside Nintendo Live 2023: Seattle itself, the different activities fell into four categories: demos (including for the yet-to-be-released Super Mario Bros. Wonder), photo opportunities with characters and items, live events to sit and watch that ranged from competitions to musical performances, and merchandise shopping. I will be taking each of these up in turn.

First and foremost: the demos. Nintendo had several video game demo available – as well as some of their partner’s titles like Just Dance 2023 and Disney Illusion Island – across the entire show floor. While all but Super Mario Bros. Wonder have already been released, it was a great opportunity for people to pick up a console, play a demo in a staging area themed after the various game, and try it out. For example, Pikmin 4 was in a full-on Pikmin­-themed area that took you right into the game. Nintendo even cleverly enticed people to play retro titles that are available on Nintendo Online, such as the NES classic Ice Hockey, but turning it into a competition. The wait to try out the demos were not very long, and even for Super Mario Bros. Wonder, I only spent around 20 minutes waiting to pick it up and run through it. Some of the competition slots ran longer, but nothing was too bad.

If you are already a major Nintendo fanatic, then chances are you have probably owned or demoed everything that was there but Super Mario Bros. Wonder. To help keep those Nintendo fans busy, there were a ton of photo opportunities. Did you see the billion-dollar-making The Super Mario Bros. Movie? Nintendo hauled in the Mario Bros. van for you to take a picture with. What about if you’re a fan of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate? The life-size replica props were available for you to take pictures with. Kirby, LEGO Bowser, Tears of the Kingdom Link, Ink Squid, the three Pokémon Scarlet/Violet starters, and more were all on hand for you to get up and close to take pictures with. Nintendo also smartly rotated out the non-statue photo opportunities fairly frequently, and so there was always someone new to get a picture with just around the corner.

All of these lines seemed fairly quick to get through, with one exception: K.K. Slider from Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Every single time I passed by that line, it was capped, and it seemed to be around 50 minutes to an hour long. Not because K.K. Slider was doing some really long photo shoots, but just because he was that popular.

My personal favorite was the re-imagined room from the 1980s. This photo line, while not as busy as K.K. Slider’s, was always busy as well. And when I was able to get in, I was surprised to find that it was a fully-realized and built living room. I flipped through the albums, checked out the NES and R.O.B. at the TV, and even the vacuum cleaner and the couch. It is a cool idea that I really hope Nintendo will expand upon for the future. I would love to see, for example, a 1980’s Japanese living room with a Famicom in it!

Next, there are the various live events to sit through and watch. The big marquee event for Day 4 of Nintendo Live 2023: Seattle was the Splatoon 3 Championships 2023. This event took place on a giant stage in the back of the event hall, and it had excellent on-site commentary for people who weren’t fans (at least until then!) of competitive Splatoon 3 gameplay. There were also two concerts being held per day with a full-on live band: one for The Legend of Zelda and one for Super Mario Bros. There was also something called Mario Dojo for people to compete in, but I only saw it start right before I had to leave for other media appointments. I don’t know if that was just poor timing on my part or if Mario Dojo (seemingly no relation to the DSiWare Photo Dojo) was just put on that infrequently.

The biggest surprise was that for all of these live events, I had no trouble showing up at the last moment and getting a fairly awesome viewing spot. Now, it may have been a bit further back or it might have been standing-room-only, but at no point did I feel like I was being walled off from enjoying a part of the Nintendo Live 2023: Seattle experience. Even the Super Mario Bros. concert that I attended, which had given out ‘Warp Pass’ tickets a while ago for seats up close, had a ton of standby seating and stand-by watching areas for people if you really wanted to watch it. My biggest fear, going into Nintendo Live 2023, was that the concert was going to be performed in a walled-off room and I was going to miss it entirely. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case at all. Even when I dipped in and out of the Splatoon 3 Championships, I was able to find a spot to watch the tournament happen live on stage.

If there was one somewhat dark spot though, it had to be the merchandise line. The Nintendo Live 2023: Seattle merchandise sold out through the online My Nintendo Store fairly quickly on both occasions it was put up, and so many attendees had to buy it in person if they wanted the event-exclusive T-shirts, the event-themed Switch case, or more. The line ended up taking people around one-and-a-half to two hours to get through, and it wound through the outside courtyard, back inside, and then through an inside queue system.

When you got close to the front of the line, a store employee would mark your order down on a wipeable sheet and hand it off to the stockers, so that they could assemble the order and have it ready for you to buy when you got to the front of the line. It was, in theory, a great system. However, there were simply not enough cashiers on hand to help move the line as quickly as it needed to go in order to process people through in a timely manner. I found myself ultimately wishing that there was some way for people to scan a geo-locked QR code, place an order through a secret website, and then have Nintendo ship out the goods after the event. Instead, there were ever-capped merchandise lines instead of people being out on the event floor.

All of Nintendo Live 2023: Seattle, with the except of the merchandising, was a master class on how to put together a fan-based event. There were plenty of demos, tons of photo ops, live performances and events to attend, and it all happened in lines where you were never waiting truly long.  In fact, the whole event kept things moving so quickly that I could see that everyone not in the merchandise line was having a wonderful time.

And that brings me to the point I made at the top of this column, about this event feeling like a ‘dry run.’ The only thing missing from Nintendo Live 2023: Seattle from making it a full-on fan convention like FINAL FANTASY XIV FAN FESTIVAL 2023-2024 or BlizzCon was the lack of a Keynote Speech ala a live Nintendo Direct.

As I was taking pictures and watching performances and playing games, my mind kept being flooding with possibilities about how this event could be expanded in a future year to be the launch event for a Nintendo console. I could easily see the executives from the various Nintendo branches presenting a live Nintendo Direct to show off a new console and new games on Day One, and to conclude with the words “and you can demo those games on our new console for yourself today on the show floor, you can take pictures with Mario and our other new friends, and you can even see a live performance of a couple secret tracks from one of the new games later in the afternoon.” It would take what Nintendo did with the unveiling of the Nintendo 3DS at E3 2010 (complete with hands-on fan demos) and crank it up into a Nintendo-only event where they wouldn’t have to share the viral social media attention.

All of that may, of course, just be ‘blue sky’ dreaming on my part.

But Nintendo Live 2023: Seattle seemed to be so successful that it is hard believe that it wasn’t a test run for a more substantial Nintendo event of some sort in the future. Personally, I plan on the next Nintendo Live event, no matter where in the country it is held. And honestly? You should too, if you can.

Did you attend Nintendo Live 2023: Seattle? If so, what did you think?

Where would you like Nintendo to host their next Nintendo Live event?

Let us know in the comments below!

The post Nintendo Live 2023: Seattle’s An Amazing Event for Gaming Fans appeared first on oprainfall.

WayForward has announced various upcoming games they’ll be releasing through Limited Run Games, some of which will also be available digitally as well. First up, is a new Game Boy Advance Shantae game. The press release states that this game, Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution, is the long-lost sequel to the original Shantae. According to the press release, the game is back in development after being put on the shelf for almost two decades. It’s also mentioned that WayFoward will be building off the original game code from the early 2000s. Plus, they’ll be releasing the game on a Game Boy Advance compatible cartridge through Limited Run Games.

The Shantae series director, Matt Bozon, says, “Restoring the lost Shantae sequel has been an incredible adventure! After reuniting as a team, we restored the original game demo, and now are working hard to complete the full game on original hardware! This isn’t a demake or a new retro-style game, but an actual GBA-era title that was lost to time. We paused development in 2004, and now we’re back at it nearly 20 years later with the same tools, hardware, and Link Cables that we were using back then. It’s crazy, it feels impossible, but it’s happening! We’re on a time-travel mission to save Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution, and finally bring it to the fans!”

Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution is scheduled to be released sometime in early 2024. A more specific release date has not yet been announced at this time. Feel free to check out the announcement video down below and read a little bit more about the game from the latest press release.

Filling in the gaps between the original Shantae (2002) and Shantae: Risky’s Revenge (2010), Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution sees Shantae protecting Sequin Land from a twisted new plot orchestrated by her nemesis, the pirate Risky Boots. Using a secret subterranean device, Risky is able to rotate and rearrange the continent, plunging it into chaos and giving her more coastal cities to plunder. Fortunately, by harnessing this technology and the knowledge of the Relic Hunters, players will be able to turn the tables on Risky, giving Shantae new paths through environments and a chance to thwart the villain’s scheme.

Another new announcement WayFoward made, which they’ll be publishing alongside their partners, Sunsoft and Limited Run Games, is Clock Tower. The press release states that an enhanced version of the original 16-bit Clock Tower game is headed to Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox and PC, sometime in early 2024. Yet again, a more specific release date has not yet been announced at this time. The game will be made available digitally in North America and Europe and a physical version will be on select platforms, which is being done by Limited Run Games. No platforms have been officially announced for the physical copy. You’ll find the announcement video below, in addition to more info about the game from the press release.

Originally released on Super Famicom in 1995 in Japan, Clock Tower traps players in the haunting confines of the Barrows family manor, where they’ll be pursued by Scissorman, a murderous, shears-wielding psychopath. As teenage orphan Jennifer Simpson, players will use a point-and-click interface to explore the mansion and search every disturbing corner to find items, reveal secrets, and discover ways to survive Scissorman’s assaults. Without any offensive capabilities, Jennifer must rely on her wits and resourcefulness if she has any hope of escaping with her life and earning one of the game’s multiple endings. A tense atmosphere, chilling sound effects, detailed 2D animations, and randomized elements to maximize replayability demonstrate why Clock Tower is considered a groundbreaking pioneer in the survival-horror genre.

Harnessing the power of Limited Run Games’ Carbon Engine, this new edition of Clock Tower retains the authentic gameplay, graphics, and sound of the original version while also adding modern features and enhancements. These include a new vocal theme song performed by Mary McGlynn (Silent Hill series), a new animated opening, motion-comic cutscenes before and after the game, a bonus art gallery, border artwork, save states, multiple language options, and more.

Key Features

The final announcement, this one from WayFoward again, and also NIGORO, is Rose & Camellia Collection which is headed exclusively to Nintendo Switch. The press release says the collection will feature five games, more than 30 characters, and new English voicework. It’s scheduled to launch digitally in North America and Europe somewhere between late 2023 and early 2024. Also mentioned in the press release is the fact that a physical version of Rose & Camellia Collection is going to be sold through Limited Run Games. Once again, you can check out an announcement video below and read some additional info from the latest press release.

Rose & Camellia Collection tells the tale of an over-the-top upper-crust inheritance battle spread across five games: Rose & Camellia, Rose & Camellia 2, crossover title Rose & Camellia vs. La-Mulana, and all-new entries Rose & Camellia 3 and 4 (debuting in this collection). As tensions and tempers rise amidst the division of family wealth and power, so do open hands, resulting in a series of ludicrous one-on-one slap battles between the all-female cast. Using either immersive Joy-Con motion controls or touch-screen swipes, players will smack some respect into their aristocratic adversaries by slapping, dodging, feinting, and countering until only one heiress is left standing.

Initially debuting in the early 2000s as a hit online Flash series, Rose & Camellia Collection marks the first time the saga will be available on a dedicated gaming console, providing the definitive versions of the included games by adding high-definition visuals, full English voiceovers (plus text in English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, and Japanese), an anime-style opening, and two all-new vocal songs by frequent WayForward collaborator Cristina “Vee” Valenzuela. Complementing the single-player story mode, the collection also offers a new competitive two-player local versus mode, in which one player controls one of the heroines, and the other plays as one of the villains.

Key Features

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I love Kirby’s Adventure. It’s my favorite Kirby title and my favorite NES title, too. I’ve played it countless times and each one has been an absolute pleasure, as I mow down enemies, wreck the bosses, unlock all of the extras, and clear stages in a blur. Kirby’s Adventure is a joy and a gem, and so back when Nightmare in Dream Land was first released, I was excited to play this reimagining of my favorite Kirby title. Strangely enough, nowadays I have very little recollection of my experience with it. Is it because the memories have mixed with those I have of Kirby’s Adventure, or have they just faded with time? Regardless, as I’m finding myself once again wanting to blitz through Adventure, I thought I would instead give Nightmare in Dream Land another go, and see if it has the same charm and magic the original unquestionably possesses.

Nightmare in Dream Land shares the simplistic plot of its predecessor, in which we see Kirby and the residents of Dream Land unable to dream anymore. Dreams have stopped flowing from the Fountain of Dreams and as Kirby sets out to find out why, he spots King DeDeDe. Upon witnessing DeDeDe taking the Star Rod from the Fountain of Dreams and handing pieces of it to his cohorts, Kirby sets out to recover the fragments and return the Star Rod to the Fountain, thus mending the flow of dreams to Dream Land. Unbeknownst to Kirby, however, a more sinister presence looms over the dreams and dreamers of Dream Land.

Like the original, Nightmare in Dream Land presents its story with a slideshow if you wait on the start screen, which means we are gifted a cute, colorful introduction to Kirby’s quest. Concise and cute, the slideshow conveys Dream Land’s current dilemma in a way for players of any age to grasp, and is adorably befitting of the Kirby style. The inviting slideshow, depicting an equally delightful story, nicely segues players towards the charm, energy, and fun this game has to offer.

As a remake of one of the most spirited titles of the series, Nightmare in Dream Land delivers exactly what one would expect regarding its gameplay. The essence of Kirby’s Adventure has been faithfully reproduced, which means making your way through cleverly designed stages full of enemies to tackle. The imaginative and diverse platforming of the original is mostly preserved here, seeing Kirby run, swim, and fly across stages that are as colorful and charming as they are perilous. Adventure’s copy ability style is also preserved, meaning we don’t see newer powers nor the additions that many abilities have received in later titles. Rather, we get the most traditional form of this iconic gameplay mechanic. The hidden secrets which unlock the mini games also return, though hidden doors and such have been made to be just a touch more visible compared to Adventure. Overall, gameplay regarding the main campaign has been pleasantly and appreciably reproduced, providing the same levels of liveliness and enjoyment.

Of course, a remake will have changes and additions, and fortunately these only add to the quality. One new inclusion is the multiplayer, in which up to four players can play the mini games, or play through the main game together. I found this addition to be an incredible idea, especially multiplayer for the main game, as it brings a new way to enjoy a familiar effort. In fact, my hopes are that this multiplayer option is retained if, or when, the game is re-released on the Nintendo eShop. Another set of changes and additions from the original comes by way of the mini games. Rather than Crane Fever and Egg Catcher, Nightmare in Dream Land features Bomb Rally and Air Grind. Certainly different than the two original mini games, both are fun and test similar skills, such as reaction speed and precision timing. Quick Draw is the only returning mini game and with a redesign, yet still tests reaction time, too. Although I found myself missing Adventure’s mini games, again, the two new offerings and the redesigned Quick Draw are each a pleasure to play.

Although Nightmare in Dream Land offers a close reproduction of Adventure’s excellent gameplay, it also possesses the very few shortcomings of the original, as well. The challenge of gameplay remains on the accessible side, meaning more veteran gamers will blaze through the game. That’s not to say there isn’t any challenge, as there are plenty of segments with clever platforming and shrewdly placed enemies to test your skills. Several of the boss fights, too, offer a pleasant challenge, yet with a bit of practice and patience, all challenges can be overcome rather quickly. The other shortcoming, really more of a wish on my part, is game length. As in, I wish the experience, as wonderful as it is, was longer. Yes, this is me wanting more of the charm and fun the game offers, but longer stages and more of them would have been magical. Other than the one minor issue and my wish for more, Nightmare in Dream Land is every bit the gameplay achievement as its predecessor.

Perhaps the most obvious difference between Adventure and Nightmare in Dream Land is the aesthetic presentation, given the GBA’s hardware. As such, the developers had much more artistic freedom, and I believe they made the most of it. Visually, Nightmare is absolutely beautiful, with more coloration and detail across backgrounds, foregrounds, and sprites. Dream Land looks incredible with the added details, making for levels and backgrounds that exude a fantastical, vivid feel. Also, each level has benefited from the new graphics by way of their style and character. For example, Vegetable Valley has become more of the lush natural haven it’s intended to be, with more to emphasize its forested foregrounds and idyllic land and riverscape backgrounds. Or, I like how Butter Building’s first stages have sections depicting clean, regal surroundings, yet also feature portrayals of lost history, past battles, and dilapidation in later ones. As for sprites, Kirby and the enemies definitely look cleaner and only benefit from the larger color palette. The hats and such that depict abilities are easy to recognize, and I appreciate that many of the powers’ attack animations have been altered or touched up for the better. The enemy sprites, especially mid and main bosses, all look as good as ever, emphasizing that creative element in each of their designs. As a whole, Nightmare’s visuals perfectly recapture the same whimsical style and feel of Adventure, with a noteworthy effort full of the same fanciful charm.

As for the audio, Nightmare updates the original tracks of Adventure, altering tones and adding to their melodies and harmonies. I felt the end results were appreciable, as most of the tracks gain a bit of pep, fitting nicely with the energy of gameplay. The few slower, calmer tracks see more in the ways of altered harmonizing, which nicely emphasizes their intended mood setting. As for sound effects, they, too, have been updated, with sharper and cleaner effects, yet maintain the styles and intentions of their 8-bit counterparts. As a whole, the audio efforts are impressive, as the altering, sharpening, and modernizing of the audio never diminishes, but rather maintains the styles, moods, and overall allure of the original’s audio.

Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land is both a wonderful experience on its own, and a nostalgically delightful reminder of the brilliance of Kirby’s Adventure. Nightmare does a fantastic job of honoring the past, with similarly high quality gameplay. And yet, it also manages to deliver its own charm and feel through its aesthetics, as well as touches of uniqueness in its encompassing style, feel, and gameplay, as well. Overall, Nightmare is every bit as fun as its predecessor and deserving of the same degree of praise. As of this writing, unfortunately, Nightmare is not available on the Nintendo eShop, nor are there any plans to make it available. However, I do believe, at some point, we will see it again, given its quality and contributions to the Kirby series. My hopes are that a release is announced sooner rather than later and that HAL Labs is able to make its multiplayer available, perhaps via an online play option. As for me, I’ll be including Nightmare in Dream Land into the rotation when I doubtlessly get the itch to play through this chapter of Kirby in the future.

Review Score
Overall

The post TBT Review: Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land appeared first on oprainfall.

If there is one takeaway from The Game Awards 10-Year Concert with Fireworks this past Sunday, it is this: Geoff Keighley knows how to pull off a well-oiled show that fits within a time limit. There was very little downtime during the two-hour concert, it was clear that the concert was incredibly well-rehearsed, and I loved every moment of this celebration of 10 years for The Game Awards.

First, The Game Awards 10-Year Concert with Fireworks could not have picked a better venue than the Hollywood Bowl. I viewed the concert in the pool circle, but I purposefully walked up to the very back of the venue before and after the show and I found that it was a great view no matter where you were. The acoustics from where I was up front was admittedly very great, and you can see the iconic Hollywood sign in the background from the very top of the bowl. It is the spot in Los Angeles to see a concert outside of possibly the Microsoft Theater in downtown L.A., and it is certainly the most iconic place to be.

The producer and host of The Game Awards and The Game Awards 10-Year Concert with Fireworks, Geoff Keighley, opened the concert by saying that this was “[s]uch a special night for me”. You could feel a real, honest, charisma radiating from him as he introduced each upcoming musical selection in an extremely-well rehearsed and scripted bit of dialogue. Amazingly, Mr. Keighley pulled off the tricky balancing act of not overstaying his welcome at any given point while also setting up the next suite or single to be performed or guest to be welcomed to the stage, and he did not overshadow the various guest appearances or the Los Angeles Philharmonic itself.

There were 15 different suites and singles performed during The Game Awards 10-Year Concert with Fireworks, and almost all of them were from recent titles such as God of War: Ragnarök, Elden Ring, Hogwarts Legacy, and just-released titles such as FINAL FANTASY XVI and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.  The Game Awards 10-Year Concert with Fireworks even flexed the strength of its popularity and success by playing music from two un-released games: a debut suite from Starfield and the main title track from Spider-Man 2. There were only a handful of older games  represented at the show: Diablo II and Diablo III as part of the Diablo IV suite, and a suite from The Last of Us. If you played video games at all, chances are there was something that you recognized being played during the concert.

No matter what game The Game Awards 10-Year Concert with Fireworks wanted to present music from, the concert made sure to have the defining version of that music played. For example, Hades had the vocal track In the Blood, and the concert had Darren Korb and Ashley Barrett, who sang the original track, perform live. Eivør, a vocalist from God of War: Ragnarök, sang as part of that game’s suite. Finally, Gustavo Santaolalla himself came onto the stage to perform part of the melody (and a solo!) for the music he composed from The Last of Us. Every moment performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic honestly felt a bit like magic, and they really showed off just how much the music in video games are art.

The most intriguing part of the show, for me, was the video accompaniments for each of the 15 of the 15 pieces performed, as the Ten-Year Theme for The Game Awards had fireworks to view overhead instead. Mr. Keighley informed the audience throughout the show that the studios were the ones who came up with the suites, and it was intriguing to see how each studio approached the video accompaniment. On one end, Riot Games created a League of Legends and Arcane suite with an accompanying video that contained plot content from Arcane mashed up with videos from LoL competitions and video game cutscenes. On the far other side of things, Naughty Dog’s suite for The Last of Us was only accompanied by panoramas of various locations in the game that gave nothing away if you haven’t played the series. Having attended a wide variety of video game concerts over the years, I found myself loving how each studio created its own ‘voice’ in how to set up the video musical accompaniment. The wide variety of styles also ensured that I would never get bored or know quite what to expect when a new game was about to be performed.

Of course, then there is Jack Black and Tenacious D. I have never seen Tenacious D perform before, but the first half of the The Game Awards 10-Year Concert with Fireworks was capped off by Tenacious D coming on stage and performing their new-single Video Games. Tenacious D absolutely owned every bit of that stage they were on. I had never heard the song before, but it definitely was a lot of fun to listen to. The real shock of the night, for me, was when Jack Black returned at the very end of the show to perform the single Peaches from The Super Mario Bros. Movie. This song, which peaked at number 56 on the US Billboard Hot 100, had Jack Black performing in a full Bowser outfit and singing his absolute heart out with a grand piano accompanying him. It was amazing, it was ridiculous, and it was literally everything I wanted to see at The Game Awards 10-Year Concert with Fireworks.

It was also, unfortunately, the only musical representation that Nintendo-exclusive titles had at the show. All of the various pieces performed came from games that were exclusive to or cross-platform on the PlayStation, Xbox, or PC platforms. While some games such as Hades are available to play on the Nintendo Switch, I was quite surprised that there were no suites from Nintendo-exclusives such as The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom or Super Mario Odyssey that were played. I do not know if this was Nintendo simply refusing to permit scores from their games being played or if this was a decision by The Game Awards 10-Year Concert with Fireworks to not include Nintendo-exclusive music, but their absence was definitely felt by me until Peaches was performed by Jack Black and it felt like Nintendo was finally represented in some way at the very end of the show.

As Geoff Keighley said right before the Ten-Year Theme was performed, “[t]his has been so incredible.” And honestly? He wasn’t wrong. The Game Awards 10-Year Concert with Fireworks is one of my favorite video game concerts that I have ever been to, and I cannot wait to see what The Game Awards has planned next. If there was just more Nintendo-exclusive content, this concert would have been an easy perfect score. However, it is due to the amount of high-quality games and performances present, plus the conclusive performance of Peaches, that it almost completely makes up for it.

If you did not get to go, then you truly missed out on something special. Personally, I want some version of The Game Awards 10-Year Concert with Fireworks to become a yearly thing, as I would definitely attend again, and I encourage anyone who can to attend whenever another show is hopefully put on.

Review Score
Overall

Were you able to attend The Game Awards 10-Year Concert with Fireworks? What was your favorite performance?

Let us know in the comments below!

The post REVIEW: The Game Awards 10-Year Concert with Fireworks appeared first on oprainfall.

I feel like I can always turn to a Kirby title when I’m emotionally low. Charming, candid, and overall uplifting, the Kirby games forever deliver fun, leisurely experiences without the need to stress or exert. My last few reviews touch upon games that offer this; ones which demand very little and offer us much more. The Kirby series has taken this and made it a style of its very own, offering us a unique escape full of wonder and magic which only a lovable puffball like Kirby can take us on. In Kirby & the Amazing Mirror, this escape is more an escapade of secrets and discovery. Very much an adventure full of hidden paths to uncover and large worlds to explore, this longer Kirby installment yet has plenty of easygoing fun to swiftly brighten and uplift any mood.

In Kirby & the Amazing Mirror, a Mirror World resides above Dream Land, whose mirrors may reflect, and make reality, the wishes of those that may peer into them. One day, a malevolent force enters the Mirror World, reflecting its own evil intentions upon the mirrors, thus plunging the Mirror World into darkness. Meta Knight recognizes that this darkness threatens both the Mirror World and Dream Land, and so sets off to the Mirror World. Meanwhile, Kirby is confronted by a shadow resembling Meta Knight and is soon split into four copies of himself. The shadow takes off towards the Mirror World and the four Kirbys give chase. Upon their arrival, they see the real Meta Knight being cast into a mirror by the shadow, who then breaks said mirror, and scatters its fragments across the Mirror World. The four Kirbys must now collect the fragments, track down this shadow to save Meta Knight, and stop the threat to both the Mirror World and Dream Land.

Like most Kirby titles, we’re offered just enough story to give background and reason for the adventure Kirby is setting out upon. And although the story is not overly unique, in fact, collecting fragments of a plot device is a Kirby staple, it possesses enough charm, familiarity, and ease of understanding to make the game both attractive to its fans and easily accessible to all. Young, old, experienced, or newcomers, the story is simple and inviting. Ultimately, the pure, innocent plot serves as a perfect segue into what truly makes a Kirby game a Kirby game; its gameplay.

Like most Kirby games, Kirby & the Amazing Mirror’s gameplay offers simple, pure fun that any level of player can enjoy. And with a suitable challenge level, as well as easy-to-master controls, attention can be fully given to the experience. Starting with the familiar, Amazing Mirror is an action platformer that sees Kirby traversing colorful worlds, avoiding hazards, and mowing down loads of enemies by using them as projectiles, or by copying their abilities. The abilities Kirby can copy are plentiful, ranging from familiar favorites to several new ones, such as the Smash ability, which lets Kirby use some of his Smash Bros move set. Also, several of the well-known abilities have been expanded to give Kirby additional ways to attack with them, akin to Kirby’s Super Star. Needless to say, learning of an ability’s additions and being pleasantly surprised is a blast.

Although there are similarities aplenty to other Kirby titles, Amazing Mirror does feature a few unique changes that add a bit of variety to the classic Kirby formula. Perhaps the standout difference is the Metroidvania style implemented for this title. Rather than a linear series of worlds and stages, players must traverse an interconnected world whose many paths must be discovered, or unlocked using specific abilities to advance. Those abilities are usually nearby or near enough to a door leading back to the central hub area, so the task is never daunting. Rather, the way this style is implemented simply lets you explore spans of different worlds and rewards you when you take note and remember hints, or when you have the chance to revisit. I would say the Metroidvania style has been adapted to perfectly fit the delightful Kirby mood and feel.

Other unique additions to gameplay include the phone, which summons the other Kirbys, or a warp star, and multiplayer. With the phone, the other Kirbys can be called for simple actions like having them hold down switches to open doors, or to just cause a bit of havoc when overwhelmed by enemies. Calling the other Kirbys during a boss fight possesses its own particular brand of adorable chaos. The warp star takes you back to the central hub, either when needing a quick escape or to traverse the world quickly. As for multiplayer, on the Game Boy Advance, it allowed up to four to connect and play together. In regards to current availability and hardware, we can only wait and see if the potential Nintendo Switch release will remodel the multiplayer for local and/or online play.

Another aspect of gameplay that departs from the norm, Amazing Mirror features a slightly higher than expected challenge level. Narrow areas of play filled with enemies is a frequently used design, which may test unprepared players. Also, unique hazards and level layouts that will test your platforming add to the challenge. New, tougher enemies add to the challenge too, as these require more than one or two hits to defeat, as well as a bit of caution when approached. I appreciate the danger they add, though I found they can also slow a faster play pace. And lastly, the boss battles have their intimidating moments, though I found them far more entertaining than difficult, with a clever blend of familiar and unique. Altogether, the challenge level is, again, a bit higher than expected, along the lines of Kirby 3, yet a little patience and practice will always see you through.

Taken in its entirety, Kirby & the Amazing Mirror’s gameplay is impressive. The level designs are imaginative and various, inviting players to explore and engage. The execution of the Metroidvania style is noteworthy, as it adds much in the way of exploration and depth to play. And for those looking for the more traditional Kirby experience, worry not, as there are ample opportunities to unleash and plow through waves of enemies. Mowing them down is as fun as always, and the challenge of mid and main boss fights offers pure satisfaction when victorious. The new aspects, and the familiar, all work well together to offer an overall uniquely deep, remarkably fun experience.

The Kirby style typically means aesthetics saturated in charm, and Kirby & the Amazing Mirror offers it in spades, with its imaginative, inviting visuals and solid sound score. Starting with its visuals, this game simply looks outstanding. The backgrounds and level designs are colorful and appealing, and the spritework is equally impressive. Especially Kirby’s sprites, the depictions and effects of each of Kirby’s powers look great, showing off the cleverness behind the abilities. Enemy and boss designs are just as impressive and offer Kirby some truly unique adversaries. The overall feel of the visuals is lively and charismatic, perfectly capturing that appealing Kirby style. As for the audio, every track is fitting for its environment, adding to the charm and feel of the worlds Kirby traverses. Each piece also does well in its ability to set or emphasize the mood, bringing more immersion and energy to the experience. I also appreciate the mix of familiar and new, as some music borrows from previous works, while others are completely new to the series. A last note, the musical effort as a whole sounds like Kirby; entirely fitting and evoking that particular style and feel we come to expect from a Kirby title.

Kirby & the Amazing Mirror is a mesmerizing journey and an authentically fun romp through one of the most imaginative and deep of the Kirby titles. It’s a gem, and most definitely a must play for any fan of the series. Newcomers, too, will easily find the fun and charm of Kirby in this title, which offers hours of gameplay for those that appreciate fast, high-energy platforming or plenty of exploration. With its simple, enjoyable gameplay and engaging aesthetics, Kirby & the Amazing Mirror will never fail to entertain or brighten any mood. A final note, as of this writing, Nintendo supposedly remains intent to release Kirby & the Amazing Mirror on Nintendo Switch Online. Therefore, I wholeheartedly recommend anyone with interest to keep an eye out, for this is absolutely a Kirby game worth experiencing.

Review Score
Overall

The post TBT Review: Kirby & the Amazing Mirror appeared first on oprainfall.

In my previous TBT review, I cover Super Mario Land 1 and 2 for the Game Boy and I talk about the simplicity of their gameplay. To go a bit further, I’d say I appreciate this aspect the most in these kinds of games, for it makes them terribly easy to just pick up and play. There is no significant time commitment nor mental or emotional investment needed to get enjoyment out of them. Also, there is a particular charm these titles possess along with that simplicity. They may feature silly backstories to start us off, and incorporate seemingly ridiculous elements in their worlds and gameplay. And we hardly ever question it, we just accept it and enjoy the magic. Those are the feelings I look forward to presently, wanting to game, not having much time or the feeling to do so. So instead, I recently reached for the Game Boy versions of Adventure Island I and II, soon enjoying the simple and the silly, as well as the challenge and fun they offer.

Like with so many titles from the late ’80s and early ’90s, backstories and story development were glossed over in favor of gameplay, and Adventure Island I and II are no exceptions. In these cases, it’s the typical “save the princess” storyline as we play as Master Higgins to save a girl named Tina from a cohort of monsters in I, and Jeannie from aliens in II. And from there, gameplay takes center stage. Bare bones is all I can say, and although I chose to play and review these games specifically for the need to leave my mind and emotions behind, an additional plot point or two wouldn’t have hurt.

Anyway, we’re here for the gameplay, and that of Adventure Island I and II both have their strong points; however, they each have their flaws too. Starting with their basic gameplay, both titles are platformers that offer varied means of attack and movement. Both games see Higgins equipping a throw-able weapon, with II offering a variety of weapons with different behaviors. Both games also offer him opportunity to pair up with a dinosaur ally that may alter his movements, from running or swimming faster, to traversing dangerous terrain, or even flat out flying over most obstacles. The main objective of both games is to survive, as these titles implement a 1-hit sudden death style, while side-scrolling through each stage, or fighting a boss at the end in specific stages. Both games offer eight levels, or islands, with around five stages per level. Both also feature hidden bonuses in various forms. In II especially, alternate routes, hidden stages, and mini games will be rewarded to those keeping a sharp eye. And so, clearing enemies, dodging hazards, and collecting fruit to replenish a health bar styled timer, all the while keeping a lookout for hidden advantages, bonuses, and secret paths, make up the core of gameplay.

As for execution, gameplay is mostly solid in both titles. The play mechanics are simple and easy to master, and the overall degree of challenge is acceptable, as platforming, enemy variety, and layout all gradually increase the difficultly as the games progress. The item system, which allows you to stock and choose which weapons and companions to take before a stage is helpful, especially when you’re finding yourself stuck on a particularly difficult stage. Lastly, all of the hidden extras help to add diversity to a gameplay structure that may feel unduly familiar.

As I mentioned, the two titles also have their flaws; however, beginning with that familiarity, gameplay in both titles is nothing truly unique. Even when these titles were first released, there were already games that offered more unique play mechanics or were notably more impressive or innovative in their platforming. Gameplay can also come to feel repetitive quickly due to uninspired and terribly short stage designs. Most stages can be cleared within a minute or two with marginal skill or strategy. The increase in challenge, the bonuses, and the boss battles all help to stave off the feeling, yet with minimal effort or a touch of practice, any and all stages can be sped through, meaning that most play time is spent on these numerous short, familiar treks. I’d even suggest that if the health/ time bar were eliminated, I’d feel more inclined to spend additional time within each stage to explore or collect everything. Another, smaller complaint, is that Adventure Island I lacks the password system of II, meaning that the game must be completed in a single sitting. Hardly an issue for the experienced or veterans of platformers, rather I make comment of this as it may be a point of frustration for younger or less experienced players. My complaints aside, both games are, again, solid gameplay efforts, offering plenty of fun for those willing to demonstrate a bit of forgiveness.

Moving on to aesthetics, Adventure Island I has a satisfactory visual and audio effort, making the game look and sound as one may expect given its title. Visually, the designs of stages channel that island feel to an extent, with terrain and platforms having a primitive, untamed style. Backgrounds also have the island vibe, however many designs are a bit on the minimal side, with reused, repeating designs and long stretches of blankness. The strongest visual point is the pixel art, as Higgins, the enemies, and the dino buddies all look great. And as for the audio, the developers tried to adapt music from the NES predecessor, however, the tracks sound squeaky at their worst and are forgettable at their best. The music simply lacks impact, thus they serve as a basic alternative to silence. Too few tracks to begin with, they are also reused often, however, I will say each track does sound and feel fitting with the stage they’re paired with.

Adventure Island II has an overall better aesthetic presentation, featuring stronger pixel art, and a cleaner, less squeaking audio effort. Visually, the spritework is sharper and more detailed, bringing a bit more life to Higgins, the new and returning dino allies, and to the new enemies. The sharper spritework also gives an overall cleaner, more appealing look. Stage design and backgrounds possess the same strengths and shortcomings as I, as they, too, channel the primitive island style and feel in their designs, yet are also lacking detail and variation. Lastly, the audio effort is better, in that the music is less grating or squeaky, but again, too few tracks that lack memorableness are reused often to fill the game out. Overall, the aesthetics of both games have similar strengths and weaknesses, making for adequate efforts that merely serve their purposes, albeit failing to leave significant lasting impressions.

Adventure Island I and II are pleasant, straightforward romps across handfuls of short, vanilla platforming stages. With hints of charm and whispers of challenge, both titles offer short spurts of pure fun, yet offer experiences more familiar and plain than anything else. Depth and intrigue these titles have not, however, for those looking for experiences that will allow players to easily and readily turn their minds off, I can wholeheartedly recommend the simplicity of play and ease of distraction these titles can offer.

Note: As you may have guessed by now, I am using the numbering specific to the western releases on the original Game Boy.

Review Score
Adventure Island I
Adventure Island II

The post TBT Review: Adventure Island I and II appeared first on oprainfall.

Recently struggling to find time to game and missing it, nostalgia can be an especially powerful motivator. Remembering certain titles from my youth and how much I enjoyed them, as well as recalling that jovial ability to just play while shutting myself off to the world around me, finally got me to pick something up and play. It didn’t matter how popular or niche, nor how long or short the games were, I enjoyed them as a kid and hoped I would do so again. And so, I revisited two well-known classics, Super Mario Land and Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, pleasantly humbled for how much enjoyment I received from two short, yet particularly charming games from my youth, and now, as I write this, trying to be as objective as I can through my waves of nostalgia.

So, classic Mario is save the princess right? Sort of. We all know how lax the Mario developers can be regarding stories, yet we are, gratefully, provided a bit of setup with these two titles, providing just enough reason for Mario to do what he does best. In Super Mario Land (SML1), Mario treks through Sarasaland in order to find and rescue a princess. But not Peach, groundbreaking, I know. It’s Daisy. Daisy has been abducted by an alien and they, along with four other unique bosses, are terrorizing Sarasaland. In Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (SML2), a jealous rival of Mario’s past, Wario, manages to take over Mario’s island during his time saving Daisy. As to how Mario acquires or owns an island, furnished with his own castle, as a supposed humble plumber will forever nag me. I mean, did Peach just give him an island? Or did he buy it? With what money then? And did he build the castle, or hire help? Really, did Peach just finance the whole thing? Anyway, upon his return to a now spellbound island, he must recover 6 coins to re-enter his now captured castle to oust the jealous squatter, break the spell, and return his island back to its once peaceful tranquility.

Needless to say, no one is playing these titles for the blurbs included in the instruction booklets. No, we’re here for classic Mario, which is to put our platforming skills to the test, while dealing with suspiciously well placed enemies and enticing us with discoverables along the way. SML1 offers a decent, though short, challenge reminiscent of its original NES counterpart. Four worlds with three levels each, this is mostly classic platforming with a variety of enemies thrown in, and with the difficulty naturally increasing as we progress. The platforming has its moments of cleverness in its design, necessitating speed, good timing, and a daring jump or two. There are also hidden extras for those on the lookout, in the forms of pipes that lead to rooms full of coins, or invisible blocks and lifts that may also lead to coins or 1UPs. They surely help in an otherwise strictly side-scrolling style of gameplay. And then there are the two shooter-style levels, of which I wish there were more. They welcomely break up the monotony of the platforming, and only add to the fun. Fighting the final boss of the game in this style is also a pleasant departure from the norm. I feel the game would have only benefitted from more of these levels, as the strict platforming can feel one-dimensional. But let’s face it, more levels in any form would have been a boon, for it’s over all too soon. And yes, even with an expert mode to tackle after completing a full run, the experience is overall sweet, yet too short.

Then there’s SML2, which improves upon gameplay in nearly every aspect by adding a variety of different environments, adding new abilities, and bringing tons of creativity to its platforming. Perhaps the most notable aspect of gameplay is the emphasis of vertical platforming. We’re no longer constrained to a left-to-right course that simply has gaps or minimal climbing within a fixed vertical axis, but rather most levels feature ascending and dropping to their main and hidden paths. Platforming only gets better by the use of an assortment of moving platforms and the need to push abilities to their limit. The magic carrot, for instance, which gives Mario rabbit ears and the ability of slow descent, opens up the platforming by pushing the degree of challenge and making for some novel ways to reach hidden areas. And lastly, many of the more challenging platforming sequences require you to bounce off enemies. A well timed bounce may allow you to reach a seemingly out of reach area, or, paired with the rabbit ears, extend a long descent enough to reach a secret path.

As for criticisms, the only real complaint I have is that SML2 skimps on the levels that drastically alter the platforming. The Space Zone, for example, only offers two levels, plus a hidden third. I would have loved more, as Mario’s speed and jumps are affected by the different gravity levels of the moon and star courses. I find the altered gravity a clever way to change up the platforming, and so I wish we could have had more. Also, the level to reach the Space Zone, in which you need to navigate the course while floating in a bubble, and the familiar yet few underwater levels all offer variety in gameplay, and so I wish we could have had more. Honestly, not enough of the good things is, again, my complaint here, as SML2 is an absolute gem and always a fun experience.

Check out more classic Mario on page 2 ->

The post TBT REVIEW: Super Mario Land 1 & 2 appeared first on oprainfall.

This week I took a break from Bloodstained to play and take notes for a TBT review, which will be for the Game Boy versions of Adventure Island I and II. And I have to say, I’ve been enjoying these games purely for their simplicity. Simple fun hardly ever requires any significant time commitment or any other kind of investment. You can just pick them up and play. I imply this in my upcoming review for the Game Boy’s Super Mario Land 1 and 2, where there’s plain fun from start to finish through its simple gameplay. And I also love how easy it is to just turn my brain off and enjoy with these kinds of titles.

I feel I’ve been needing that last bit, that small break or release from real life that I seek in gaming or reading. Yet lately, I’ve been finding it more difficult to obtain that release in media that demands a commitment. Bloodstained demanded a commitment with its Shard and Alchemy systems, along with my unreasonable need to earn boss medals. And so frustration and unwillingness to play would creep in. No such problem with these four Game Boy titles.

As for these handheld versions of Adventure Island, I’m enjoying my playthroughs, as I take my notes, screenshots, and consider the highs and lows I wish to address. I’m also enjoying the silliness of the titles, in that we play as a dude supposedly stranded on this primitive island, yet there are skateboards and such that impossibly hatch from these eggs scattered about. And, in the second title, alien abductions are just a thing. I find myself missing that level of silliness, an element of gaming that feels more forced in modern titles. Here, the silliness is natural and considerably par for the course with Game Boy titles of the time. I think I miss that normalized, unquestioned silliness more than I realize. – Drew D.

Recently I’ve been trying to power through the last bit of Like a Dragon: Ishin!. I didn’t do as much side stuff as I hoped to and originally I planned on doing a little more side stuff. I like to at least indulge in some sidequests and minigames, have a little fun and not only play through the story. But last week I unexpectedly ended up with two more games for the backlog, Star Ocean: The Divine Force and 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. I’ve wanted both of those for a while, but they just weren’t games I had prioritized getting myself. I’m looking forward to jumping into them eventually. Anyways, because now I have even more games on hand already and Ishin has been out for a little while now, I figured it’s time to simply get through the last chunk of story and finish it. I was on Chapter 8 before this past week and I’m now at the beginning of Chapter 13, so I’ve only got two more to go counting 13. I essentially just got past everything hitting the fan and I’ve probably only got a few more important story fights, or overall battle events, left.

In addition to trying to finish up Ishin, I’ve also started Harvestella, I started it before I ended up with two more games for my backlog. Harvestella though has been sitting in my backlog since it arrived in January. After that mahjong tournament the other week, I was back in a bit of a slump and feeling like something new to play, so I finally started it. I’ve made a good bit of progress so far. I started completely over since it’s been some time since I played the demo. I really enjoy the more chill atmosphere with the small town and having my farm to earn funds for adventuring. I’m currently at the beginning of Chapter 3. I went to the spring village, Nemea, to check out somewhere new and I got an additional party member. But before going straight to another seaslight, I figured I better do a bit of grinding, monsters have started sapping my HP pretty quickly. It’s weird grinding in Harvestella, because you don’t actually level up until you sleep and go to the next game day. I’m now level 14 and I just bought a handful of cooking recipes from the general store. I’m working on grinding some more still and doing various sidequests. – Jenae

What games have you been playing this week? Let us know in the comments!

You can read previous Week in Gaming entries here!

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You can see tour dates and buy tickets for upcoming performances of CRYSTALLINE RESONANCE: FINAL FANTASY Piano Concert here.

You can also find out more about La Fée Sauvage on their official website.

CRYSTALLINE RESONANCE: FINAL FANTASY Piano Concert is, more than anything else, an amazing concert to attend. If you’re a fan of the FINAL FANTASY series, even casually, you will recognize a lot of the music being played during this show. The two pianists (yes, there were two) put on an amazing performance by syncing up the video presented on the screen while making sure their hearts were clearly invested in pulling off highly-emotional compositions for the audience. That said, there are some odd choices made by SQUARE ENIX and La Fée Sauvage that do detract from the performance and serve somewhat as a distraction during the show. All in all, CRYSTALLINE RESONANCE: FINAL FANTASY Piano Concert is genuinely a concert for FINAL FANTASY fans that should not be missed.

“Both pianists were emotionally and physically invested in their performance, and I was in awe while watching them perform complex scores from the venerable FINAL FANTASY franchise.”

First, the music: I attended the early evening performance of CRYSTALLINE RESONANCE: FINAL FANTASY Piano Concert on March 3, 2023 in San Francisco, and there was a total of 23 pieces played. The concert was clearly geared towards people who started playing the series starting with FINAL FANTASY VII, and it had a special emphasis on music from FINAL FANTASY XIV Online in the second half of the performance. For me, this was not surprising as FINAL FANTASY only truly entered mainstream gaming after the beginning of the PlayStation era, and so it makes sense that SQUARE ENIX and La Fée Sauvage would want to create a show aimed at that audience. This concert played all the ’hits’ from other FINAL FANTASY concerts such as Distant Worlds: Music from FINAL FANTASY or A New World: intimate music from FINAL FANTASY. For example: you’re going to hear Ronfaure (FINAL FANTASY XI Online); you’re going to hear To Zanarkand (FINAL FANTASY X); and you’re definitely going to hear Aerith’s Theme (FINAL FANTASY VII). All of these classic pieces were all extremely well arranged and very recognizable even if there wasn’t a full or small backing orchestra playing.

The concert hall itself was a small, intimate setting that was not unlike the concert I attended in Berkley, California for A New World: intimate music from FINAL FANTASY. There was only one seating level, and there were not a TON of seats available in the theatre. This had the dual purpose of both letting everyone have a good view of the pianists and the stage while also creating a much more ‘cozy’ feeling. I do not know if this is simply a feature of where I am currently seeing FINAL FANTASY concerts in Northern California or if this is how these shows are now put on, but I honestly love this change from the massive theaters that I had previously attended SQUARE ENIX concerts in before. You could also hear the sea gulls from outside during the performance, and it added a bit of local ‘flavor’ to it that made me really wish Fisherman’s Horizon (FINAL FANTASY VIII) had made the final setlist.

The first half of CRYSTALLINE RESONANCE: FINAL FANTASY Piano Concert took place over roughly 45 minutes with 11 pieces played, and the remainder took place after a 15-minute intermission. After the intermission, the pianist was changed out for the last half of the concert. Once the second part was completed, both pianists then alternated playing an encore performance. Each musical piece was introduced with the title of the FINAL FANTASY game that it came from before being played against a video from that particular game that either was directly taken from the part of the game where that score was first played or through a montage that showed off the game in general. The video pieces were continually intercut back-and-forth with live clips of the pianist playing the song, either from the keyboard itself or a waist-up view of the performance. Interestingly, the clips from the NES and Super NES-era FINAL FANTASY titles seemed to be taken from the FINAL FANTASY PIXEL REMASTER versions of those games. This was a bit unexpected for me, as I had played those games on various original Nintendo/PlayStation One platforms they were published on for North America, and I have not yet picked up these newest retro re-releases.

The pianists were the clear star of the show. As various FINAL FANTASY cutscenes and gameplay swirled on the screen overhead, the performers would frequently lean into the keyboard or lean back while playing, depending on the intensity of the piece. Both pianists were emotionally and physically invested in their performance, and I was in awe while watching them perform complex scores from the venerable FINAL FANTASY franchise. There was no ‘phoning it in’ for this show by either performer, and I was constantly pulled away from watching the cutscenes projected on the screen to focus on their actual playing, as it was completely enchanting. The pianists were not afraid to demand the audience’s attention to make sure that this was a concert for FINAL FANTASY fans and that they were the ones who were making it happen.

What was most interesting for me was how many arrangements were presented for the ‘sung’ themes for FINAL FANTASY games. There were piano versions for Eyes On Me (FINAL FANTASY VIII), Melodies of Life (FINAL FANTASY IX), Kiss Me Good-Bye (FINAL FANTASY XII), FINAL FANTASY XIII- The Promise (FINAL FANTASY XIII); and Answers (FINAL FANTASY XIV Online) was featured as one of the encores. I have listened to all of these pieces before as part of various CD collections, and I was able to mentally track the lyrics for each song in my head in time with the live performance. The piano really ‘sung’ the melody notes for Eyes on Me and Melodies of Life in such a way that it made both songs sparkle and stand on their own. For fans who do know all of the lyrics, La Fée Sauvage and SQUARE ENIX occasionally synced the video clips and live piano performances up with the imagined-lyrics in such a way to make the piano-melodied lyrics fit perfectly with what is happening on screen. I am being a little vague on purpose here, as I think it was simply one of the most magical parts of the entire show and I do not want to spoil it for anyone else. But trust me: you will gasp like I did when you see and hear it.

My favorite two pieces, were, by far, A New Horizon- Tavnazian Archipelago (FINAL FANTASY XI Online: The Chains of Promathia) and Valse di Fantastica (FINAL FANTASY XV). It is no secret that FINAL FANTASY XI Online is my favorite FINAL FANTASY title. This particular song was played perfectly, and I felt myself drawn into so many memories of struggling through that expansion and discovering the beauty of the Marquisate of Tavnazia while the story of Prishe and Selh’teus played out for the fate of Vana’diel. Valse di Fantastica was one of the pieces that I openly voiced during the intermission would be played. I loved Altissia in FINAL FANTASY XV- enough so that I actually visited it’s inspiration, Venice, and wrote about it in as a travelog– and the encore performance for that song against the game’s story perfectly closed out the night.

I have, so far, talked about a lot of positives for CRYSTALLINE RESONANCE : FINAL FANTASY Piano Concert and that is because it truly was a great show. That said, there were some disappointing and odd choices for this performance.

First and foremost, for a concert that opens with a montage of all the mainline FINAL FANTASY games through FINAL FANTASY XV, there were no stand-alone pieces for FINAL FANTASY I, FINAL FANTASY II, or FINAL FANTASY III. I was really hoping to hear The Rebel Army (FINAL FANTASY II) or The Crystal Tower (FINAL FANTASY III), both of which are truly iconic songs from those games and which are perfectly suited for the piano. There was also no love for the various FINAL FANTASY spin-off titles. For example, the song Sunset Path from Lightning Returns: FINAL FANTASY XIII is one of the most beautiful compositions in the entire franchise and it is easily adaptable for the piano. While SQUARE ENIX is finally giving some love to the MMORPG expansions for FINAL FANTASY XI Online and FINAL FANTASY XIV Online in their mainline concert series, it is truly a tragedy that these spin-off and sequel titles are still ignored.

“CRYSTALLINE RESONANCE : FINAL FANTASY Piano Concert is a concert that I don’t think you should miss if you’re looking to hear your favorite FINAL FANTASY compositions in a new way.”

All of the pieces in CRYSTALLINE RESONANCE: FINAL FANTASY Piano Concert, with the exception of Mambo de Chocobo (FINAL FANTASY V) that closed out the first half of the show, comprise a very somber setlist. Some of the FINAL FANTASY series’ more light-hearted pieces, such as Jesters of the Moon (FINAL FANTASY IX), Costa del Sol (FINAL FANTASY VII), or Ride On (FINAL FANTASY VIII), would have been great to sprinkle in from time to time to break up the heavy mood. I do recognize, however, that this would have resulted in some fairly deep cuts being performance that more casual FINAL FANTASY fans would not have recognized. Even though this is a show that played almost all of the classic and modern ‘hits’ that people want to hear live, with the possible exception of Aria Di Mezzo Carattere (FINAL FANTASY VI), and that not everything can fit into a two-hour block, I still would have liked a bit more tonal variety.

The part of CRYSTALLINE RESONANCE: FINAL FANTASY Piano Concert that bothered me the most, and the part that some of the audience around me had issues with too, was that there was no opening or closing remarks during the show. In fact, the two pianists were not introduced to the audience whatsoever. For a show that placed such an emphasis on the pianists’ performances to the point where their playing was constantly intercutting the cutscenes on the video, it would have been nice to know who they were. This strange choice of not acknowledging the performers had the unintended effect of somewhat reducing them both, despite their clear reverence for the series’ music, to being performance props. I have been reviewing video game concerts since 2017, and this is the first time this has happened. I don’t know if it was only for this particular San Francisco show or if that is a reoccurring event for CRYSTALLINE RESONANCE: FINAL FANTASY Piano Concert, but failing to identity and recognize the sole performers for the show that is so intricately intertwined within the shown cinematics is inexcusable.

There were a couple more odd things that I noticed that are worth mentioning. The only merchandise sold at this show was a three-disc CD piano-arrangement album titled Piano Opera FINAL FANTASY I-IX. You could only buy this album in cash, and I was a little surprised that they didn’t have any other merch, such as a themed tote bag, a themed T-shirt, or even generic character keychains or music boxes from the various games that are already being sold in the online SQUARE ENIX Store. The other odd aspect was that this was, in a lot of ways, a ‘spoiler-free’ performance for the games. You don’t see the pivotal moment of what happens to certain characters in FINAL FANTASY X, FINAL FANTASY VII, FINAL FANTASY XV, etc. Instead, you just see the direct before and after of it with that little bit just cut out. What this does is that it slightly lessens the emotional ‘punch’ that you know is inevitably coming in the piece because of what happened in the game. The only reason that I could figure is that this is intentional by La Fée Sauvage and SQUARE ENIX to not spoil the various games for people who may not have picked up those FINAL FANTASY titles yet to play through.

Finally, I wish we could have gotten a ‘sneak peek’ musical performance from the upcoming newest release in the series, FINAL FANTASY XVI. It would have been the perfect way to cap off the night, though I totally understand why SQUARE ENIX didn’t include that game within the setlist.

CRYSTALLINE RESONANCE : FINAL FANTASY Piano Concert is a concert that I don’t think you should miss if you’re looking to hear your favorite FINAL FANTASY compositions in a new way. The final score that I am giving this concert is one that I honestly thought a lot about before scoring, and it is definitely one of the hardest that I have had to give so far. The quality of the pianists is just so good, and the song selection is so amazing, that it does overpower any other issues I had with the show besides not introducing the performers to the audience. I ultimately had a wonderful time going, and I will gladly wait for the next FINAL FANTASY concert series to be announced.

Review Score
Overall

You can see tour dates and buy tickets for upcoming performances of CRYSTALLINE RESONANCE: FINAL FANTASY Piano Concert here.

Ticket was purchased by the reviewer.

Have you been to see CRYSTALLINE RESONANCE: FINAL FANTASY Piano Concert? 

What was your favorite FINAL FANTASY composition played?

Let us know in the comments below!

The post REVIEW: CRYSTALLINE RESONANCE: FINAL FANTASY Piano Concert appeared first on oprainfall.

There are two Collector’s Editions available for pre-order through Limited Run Games. The 3DO Collector’s Edition includes a two-disc physical copy of D, a three-disc version of the Japanese Director’s Cut, the soundtrack CD, a slipcover case, an instruction manual, and an 18″ x 24″ poster. The PC version, meanwhile, comes with a physical copy of the game on CD and also on a themed USB drive, a copy of the soundtrack, a slipcover, an instruction manual and an 18″ x 24″ poster.

The 3DO Collector’s Edition retails (pretax/shipping) for $64.99 USD, and the PC Collector’s Edition will set you back (pretax/shipping) only $49.99 USD. Pre-orders are available starting today through March 5, 2022.

I reached out to Limited Run Games to inquire if the included Japanese Director’s Cut would be localized into English or another language. I was told that unfortunately it would be Japanese language only, but that LRG wanted to include it in the Collector’s Edition for completion’s sake.

You can pre-order D: the Game Collector’s Edition now for 3DO or for PC. Limited Run Games is also selling a 3DO themed t-shirt pre-order too.

Have you ever played D on 3DO? What about on the Sega Saturn or PlayStation?

Let us know in the comments below!

The post Limited Run Games Begins 3DO/PC Pre-orders for “D” appeared first on oprainfall.

It’s been appreciably easy to praise the two seasons of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and for many a good reason. From the story and character development to its aesthetic decisions and production, both seasons of Stand Alone Complex shined in most every aspect. And with a foundation laid from its developed characters, its detailed, intricate cyberized backdrop, and with the talent of its story writers, I imagine the creators could have told so many more stories while further intriguing and immersing us in the vivid Stand Alone Complex universe. However, the decision was made to forgo the production of any additional anime seasons and instead for Stand Alone Complex to conclude with the film, Solid State Society. Loosely based on the main storyline from the original manga, the task of the creators became one in which they would need to translate those elements that made the anime such a success into a film worthy of concluding such an amazing series.

Set two years after the events of 2nd GIG, Public Security Section 9, now led by Togusa, investigates a number of supposed suicides, all of which have occurred by a particular group of refugees. This link, which suggests a conspiracy, leads to the discovery of a virus which was used to hack the refugees and force their actions. The hacker behind the virus is dubbed the Puppeteer, who is using a vast number of kidnapped children to distribute the virus. As Section 9 investigates, Batou is reunited with Kusanagi, who is conducting her own investigation into the Puppeteer and the virus. Having her own knowledge of events and the hacker, she warns Batou not to approach the Solid State Society before continuing with her own investigation. Left on their own again, Section 9 learns of the possibility that the Puppeteer is a mechanism within this Solid State, and Batou suggests to Togusa and Section 9 an unsettling theory that Kusanagi herself may be the Puppeteer. And so, with questions regarding who or what is the Puppeteer, Section 9 must contend with this enigmatic entity whose origins and ultimate motives allude them.

Solid State Society features a mostly entertaining story effort, recapturing much of the intrigue and energy of the two anime seasons. Though with some borrowing from the manga, the writers manage a notable degree of originality and complexity with its plot, and include a few good doses of action too. Also, the conflicts and questions surrounding the Solid State and the Puppeteer, as well as watching the cast work through them, have their moments of pure mystery and immersion. Lastly, serving as both a revisit and a farewell to such amazing characters, I feel the film does an excellent job of letting us see where everyone is, how they are, and leaving us with a sense that these characters will continue being the same incredible individuals well into their futures. As it indeed feels like a final chapter to this amazing series, Solid State Society does plenty right, adapting many of the strengths of the anime to deliver one last story and gifting us a last expedition alongside these outstanding characters.

However, there are a number of issues, many of which stem from the constraints of film. As I said, the story has complexity to it, yet needed to be condensed to fit the film’s length, and so the film has moments in which plot development and details feel as if they’re unloaded on you. These moments can feel a bit overwhelming and the more subtle details presented may be missed or forgotten as the film progresses. Another issue, much of this unloading is done through straight dialogue and the result, I feel, only hobbles immersion. Yes, there are moments of raw emotion, self-reflection, pure energy, and excellent use of visual presentation, and they are each fantastic and reminiscent of the brilliance of the two seasons’ storytelling. But if the film just had more of it, and more variety to break those dialogue heavy scenes, I believe the story would have reached the anime’s level. Lastly, and more an understandable observation, there are no side stories or any world building. Again, I get it, it’s a film, yet they’re definitely missed due to how much of a noteworthy mainstay they are to the anime. Overall, although the story has its flaws due to time restraints and decisions in its presentation, the story is nevertheless engaging throughout and possesses familiar depth through its complexity.

Regarding its characters, Solid State Society focuses on the main three; Kusanagi, Batou, and Togusa, presenting them in a way that mostly maintains their personalities and growth from the anime. Especially Kusanagi and Batou, they very much feel like the same characters, with all of their previous depth and individuality on full display here. We also get those moments of particular humor and snark during calmer scenes that allow for it, and we also see their raw emotions and intensity when called for. One observation, and again due to film constraints, is that there isn’t much room for further character development. We do see some change regarding Togusa through his handling of his new leadership role, however, he is shown as less of the detective he was and has less of his personality shine through. Instead, he is curt, annoyed, and while he does demonstrate emotion, with displays of stress, frustration, and fear, I struggle to call it genuine development. And, all of this is ultimately moved on from once Kusanagi retakes the central role in the film. Similarly, another observation concerns the supporting cast, for although present and several are given some screen time, it feels as if their roles and presences are relegated to the background. Yet, I’m just glad they’re all included in some way and not completely forgotten about. Overall, the main characters remain the personable individuals we have come to know and love, and I appreciate this opportunity to see them all once more.

Along with its notable story effort, Solid State Society features as impressive an aesthetics effort as the two anime seasons, which means strong visuals and fantastic audio. Starting with the audio, Solid State Society sounds every bit as amazing as the anime, from its soundtrack and sound effects to its voicing in both Japanese and English. The soundtrack is fitting, bringing additional energy to action scenes, and instilling the proper moods for the more moderate scenes. It was nice to hear familiar songs from the anime, as this soundtrack borrows several pieces, and these tracks sound just as amazing while feeling every bit as fitting here, too. The new tracks are equally praiseworthy, as Yoko Kanno delivers at the same high level she’s known for. My one comment would be that I would have loved more new music, as I am thoroughly impressed by Stand Alone Complex’s music every time I hear it. Regarding the voicing, since they are the same actors as the anime, both the Japanese and English voicing remains stellar. As I’ve said in my reviews of the anime, this is how these characters sound when I think of them.

Concerning its visuals, Solid State Society keeps with the styles and quality of the anime seasons, making for a familiar, excellent presentation. The characters continue to look great and the backdrops convincingly channel the feel of this cyberized world. The animations are impressive, conveying mood and tone through subtlety in the slower scenes, offering pure energy during combat, and depicting those few, yet powerful emotional moments with impressive authenticity. The overall effect of the visuals are remarkable, as they noticeably emphasize story elements and add to the overall immersion of the experience. Together, the audio and visual aesthetics are incredible, making it clear to me and to any viewer that this is a production made with the highest of care and worthy of the highest praise I can give.

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex – Solid State Society is praiseworthy, serving as a revisit to such an outstanding cast and to a deep, detailed world, as well as a poignant conclusion to this absolutely awesome series. Although its story isn’t quite as exemplary as the two anime seasons, the film manages an engaging, entertaining story nonetheless, and maintains and expresses the brilliance of the characters so profoundly developed previously. The voice acting is as stellar as it always is, the soundtrack is full of feeling, the art style remains bold and distinct, and the animations are smooth and never fail to add tone or energy. As a whole, Solid State Society provides that familiar degree of imagination, emotion, and immersion as the anime, reminding us why Stand Alone Complex persists as one of the best animation efforts ever.

Review Score
Overall Story
Art & Animation
Music

The post TBT Anime Review: Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex – Solid State Society appeared first on oprainfall.

Stand Alone Complex is one of the few works that never fails to impress me. I continue to regard it as nothing short of an accomplishment, with its exceptional degree of story and character depth, elements which I can never praise enough. I even used the word quintessential in my review of its first season, again, believing that the label is wholly deserved for its consistently remarkable level of quality across its storytelling, animation, music, and voicing. Ghost in the Shell has always sought to intrigue its viewers; to encourage them to question, imagine, consider, and, at its best, to even empathize. The first season of S.A.C does all of this effortlessly, remaining an engaging and entertaining watch all the while. Fortunately, that quality and those aspects that make the first season so outstanding are present in Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG. A second season full of action, curiosity, and emotion, 2nd GIG only reaffirms my feelings of praise for the series.

2nd GIG takes place two years after the first season, where Kusanagi and Section 9 continue acting as a spec-ops unit that investigates and opposes real-world and cyber terrorism. This season focuses on a present national unrest due to past conflicts. After World Wars III and IV, countless refugees became displaced all throughout Asia, many of which were later welcomed into Japan for the country’s own reconstruction. Seen as cheap labor, these refugees would be treated as second-class and forced into refugee districts, while denied the same quality of life standards as native Japanese. Meanwhile, natives face rising taxes and unemployment, and are quick to blame the refugees. With the two sides clashing, and with the largest of these refugee districts, Dejima, requesting their independence from Japan, the unrest comes to a head when a radical group of refugees, The Individual Eleven, attempt to commit high-profile acts of terror. These acts are foiled by Kusanagi and Section 9, yet the intended flame-fanning is successful, as are the intentions for a refugee leader to arise. An idealist named Hideo Kuze rises as a champion for the refugees, and through his ideology and actions, the refugees become emboldened in their fight for independence. As Section 9 investigates Kuze and The Individual Eleven, a member of the Cabinet Intelligence Service, Kazundo Gouda, offers his aid. However, his particular knowledge of recent events and later involvements cause Section 9 to suspect Gouda and other government entities of a deeper connection with the current national unrest.

Similar to season 1, 2nd GIG has its episodes grouped by Dividual (and Dual), those telling the main storyline, and Individual, those which offer a deeper look into a particular character, event, or side-story, and provide a bit of color or backstory. Starting with the Individual episodes, these are again as fantastic as the Stand Alone episodes of season 1, in which they not only provide those back stories for characters and the world, they do so exceedingly well. Each of the Individual episodes is intriguing and entertaining, and always emphasizes the tones and shades of the world they occur within. Also like Season 1, they are noteworthy for proposing topics, issues, and conflicts that would potentially arise in this cyberized, technologically advanced setting.

Then there are the Dividual episodes and the main storyline told through them, and I believe it’s here that 2nd GIG differs the most compared to Season 1. Rather than the complex web of Season 1’s story, in which its characters, story points, and events are ultimately weaved together, 2nd GIG features a more linear story, drawn out by history and taking its time to disclose its major plot points through a saturation of detail. History is the key word, as past events, from the international and national levels down to the individual histories of participants, and the ways they connect to present affairs are what drive this season’s story.

As for its execution, 2nd GIG’s main story is a mostly intriguing experience, successful in its ability to bridge and bring to life an intense past and a volatile present. It’s presented with plenty of detail and that hallmark Ghost in the Shell style and feel that kept me mostly engaged throughout. Also of note, there is a slight, yet noticeable decrease in violence and conversely an increase in vocal and emotional confrontation. Although the methods are different, the levels of energy and fierceness are nonetheless as high as Season 1. I found this to be an excellent alternative to the more traditional violence while maintaining the franchise’s trademark fervor. Not to say there is none, there is still plenty in the forms of martial arts, gunfights, and military level altercations. A last note, the only shortcomings regarding the story that I experienced are the seldom occasions in which the story felt bogged down by its own pace and excessive detail. These moments, perhaps oversaturated in detail and exposition, felt as if they droned on. Fortunately, these feelings were seldom, as the story is overall amusing and its progression has plenty of dynamic scenes that helped me to quickly reengage. Overall, the stories are thought-provoking and captivating, different from Season 1, yet recapturing the brilliance.

Regarding its characters, we get to see as much in the ways of development and backstory in 2nd GIG, in similar style and quality seen in Season 1. The standout accomplishment in this season is Kusanagi’s development, as we are offered a more internal view, as in how her memories, thoughts, and emotions are influencing her. We get to see moments of her childhood during which she struggles with loss and the painful process, both physically and mentally, of her adapting to a prosthetic body. We see flashes of the earlier years of her career, when she works with Batou for the first time, as well as her first meeting with Saito. Of course, other characters, too, have their moments to shine like Saito, Batou, and the Tachikomas. Yet, this is very much Kusanagi’s arc. We get to witness her transformation from a calculating military head to something so much more. We are again treated to her brand of humor, glimpses of her playful sides, and the compassion that makes her so much more than a stoic major. Yet, we are now granted even deeper insight. We see Kusanagi questioning her purpose, revisiting events that shaped her, and rediscovering the myriad of emotions felt through her memories. It’s a stunning arc of self-discovery and transformation, and its execution is impressive, making Kusanagi a truly genuine character whose development alone is nothing short of a creative achievement.

Moving on to its aesthetics, 2nd GIG highlights the successes of season 1 and the series as whole, with stellar music, appreciable voice casting, and in the case of season 2, a stronger overall visual production. Starting with its audio, 2nd GIG features an equally stellar soundtrack as season 1, taking influences from rock, metal, techno, jazz, and more to create truly outstanding works. And each featured track elevates the scenes they are paired with, accentuating events on-screen with substantial emotion and depth. Also as impressive as season 1 is the voice work and, again, my praise is equally high for both the Japanese and English actors. They capture the essences of these characters. Never does an emotional outburst, a melancholy dialogue, nor a reaction made ever feel disingenuous. Rather, the casts bring unparalleled vividness and authenticity. It’s one of the many reasons why I consider the S.A.C version of these characters to be the best versions in any Ghost in the Shell production. With the outstanding voice acting and the amazing soundtrack, 2nd GIG’s audio efforts are an achievement all on their own.

2nd GIG also features an impressive visual effort, matching the high points of season 1 and addressing its few flaws. The overall artistic quality is still as impressive as ever, depicting expressive characters in a believably cyberized world. The art style is bold and sharp, bringing added life to the product and further defining S.A.C.’s particular, remarkable aesthetic. The animations are also as noteworthy for their boldness, as they never fail to convey the energy or tones of the scenes. They are as smooth, detailed, and fluid as season 1 and remain a highlight of the series as a whole. Lastly, I had mentions a few flaws in my review of season 1 and I am happy to say that most have been addressed. However, I did still notice occasional drops in artistic quality and this mainly occurred when needing to show depth. In seldom cases, the details of facial features would diminish to the point of feeling like laziness on the artists’ parts. Though, this is a far less frequent occurrence than seen in season 1. Other than this, the visuals of 2nd GIG are just fantastic, once again demonstrating the masterful efforts of the series’ artists.

Most everything done right in its first season is reproduced in Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG. Its storyline, one full of strife and intrigue, will entertain throughout. Kusanagi’s character development will never fail to awe and draw out my emotions and empathy. 2nd GIG delivers impressively, not shying away from real conflicts and issues, from a global level down to the personal and intimate, and at the same time offering ideas and proposing questions that stir our curiosity and challenge our perspectives. It truly is every bit an accomplishment as season 1 and I cannot praise nor recommend it enough. This is indeed quintessential Ghost in the Shell; captivating and immersive, ever stirring our emotions and imagination.

Review Score
Overall Story
Art & Animation
Music

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So this week I spent most of my time on review work and Final Fantasy XIV, but there have been a couple additions, as well. The new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is stupidly fun, especially as four-player couch co-op. I haven’t checked out online, nor have I been able to play the six-player co-op, but oh man, just playing with my family in the living room not only felt great, but was also incredibly nostalgic. I’ve always been a huge Turtles fan, and I loved the old arcade titles, as well as the home console versions (Turtles in Time is the best, I will take no questions). Shredder’s Revenge was like picking up the controller and jumping back in as if no time had passed. It’s such a great game. The modern updates with ninjutsu, the additional characters, and the music all make for an awesome gaming experience and I cannot emphasize enough how much everyone should give it a shot. If you have Xbox GamePass you can play it immediately without a financial commitment, but honestly this game is well-worth your money.

My other gaming venture this week has been getting back into the Dance Dance Revolution grind. After backing up our old hard drives and memory cards, we hooked up the PlayStation 2, loaded up the hard drive with just about every version of DDR we own, dragged out the Cobalt Flux, and just … danced. It’s been a really awesome experience getting back into a game I once played extensively back in high school and college. It’s also been a potent reminder that I’m not 20 anymore! But like Shredder’s Revenge, it’s also a huge nostalgia bomb. So many of these songs defined my life for almost a decade, and even though my footing isn’t remotely as strong as it once was, I am grateful for the chance to get back on the dance pad and give it a go. – Leah

What games have you been playing this week? Let us know in the comments!

You can read previous Week in Gaming entries here!

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