Beastly Bash: River City Ransom: Underground and Blaster Master Zero; New Retro Gaming

Ever since Shovel Knight, a lot of Indie and Triple-A developers are trying their best to cash-in on nostalgia as much as many studios trying to cash-in on television since then internet is literally absorbing them.  While games like A Hat in Time and Yooka-lale are two of the most anticipated Collect-aton Adventure games, one by the orignal rare devs and another by a huge fan, two games grabbed my attention. These games are the kickstarted game River City Ransom: Underground and the reboot of Blaster Master known as Blaster Master Zero. An indegame and a Sunsoft masterpiece as a return of an underrated company who made challenging and classic third-party games.

River City Ransom: Underground takes place years after the first game for the Nintendo Entertainment System (or NES for short.) where a new generation of teenagers have to deal with a break-out of gang violence as they are framed with kidnapping the mayor's daughter. The characters then get ambushed by the swat them as well as Abobo who is currently the principal of the school! The teenagers escape the school only to meet the old protagonists in their auto shop, where the old double dragon's base use to be. Did the double Dragons move on to a new place? Anyways, the teenagers must fight to defeat the gangs, stop the leaders in their tracks, and discover the truth behind all the violence that is happening within the undergrounds of River City.

This game plays as much as the first River City Ransom game for both better and worst. The players collect money from their fights to buy food that they can use to, not only heal cautiously, but to boost their status and increase your endurance, learn moves so the characters can perform longer combos, adopt cats, go to a sauna, and everything anyone expect from a River City Ransom. It's fun to play with other players via local or online through the steam network system.  This game is a blast to play with a group of associates and friends alike.

However, this game still needs patching and tweaking as this game cannot be recommended just as yet.  For one, the netcode is per-to-per, meaning the connection can be either hit-or-miss depending on who is hosting the current game and whether or not the game will side with the players. Another issue is the game is very vague, while it dose recommend a controller,  the game describes the controls as a numbered controller instead of the Xbox controller as if they were lazily ported to multiple systems.  Another major gripe is the key map points are obnoxious , as some parts of the game's story happens in places that feels like place-holders until the developers place them into a proper place. Everyone know about the hidden place behind the metal fence as the biggest example. Finally,  this game could have been polished over-all.  It's still a fun game overall, but this is why Q&A exist, especially in the independent market!

This is why I recommend Blaster Master Zero to those who loved the orignal game or to those who want to play the game but hate sprite flickering of the  old, dated NES games. One plays as Jason as he is looking for his android frog pet named Fred and stumbles on the battle tank called Sofia III, which he finds an underground world inhabited by mutants. On the way, Jason save this girl with amnesia who is the key to helping him on his adventure. This game is a great way to introduce newcomers to Metroidvania for those who are imitated by big games like super Metroid and Castlevania's DS games that rewards players for playing good. Get new weapons for your tank, gather power-ups and updates by killing kill the boss mutants, explore the map while listening the revamped music and well pixelated backgrounds,and save the underworld, save your pet frog, and return home.

There are only fewer issues with this game. For one, there is fall damage that can lead to cheap, instant deaths. This can be annoying for small, minor platforming sections which are needed for some portions of the game where Sofia III cannot reach to. Even if it seems not too far, death can come to those who are not cautious within this game. Another issue is that the game has one stealth section that feels like it was added just for difficulty spike where it doesn't belong. This can be true for most Metroidvainas, and it's far worst in those games as well. However, the other complaints can be solved depending on the version of the game as it is available for the Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo 3DS. The map will appear on the bottom of the screen and hazards  that are upcoming can be predicted by the ruble on the Nintendo switch. It all depends on which version that the players choose.

In the end, they are both good games to play for those who love retro and retro-inspired games. I do recommend Blaster Master Zero for now until River City Ransom Underground gets a big update that fixes the majority of it's issues. Hopefully, this means that Sunsoft has returned so many of their orignal IPs like that one awesome fighting game that no one has heard about...and many more? Besides that, there are plenty of good games coming out this year. Maybe Toejam and Earl will be good? Until then...

Beastly Battle: Binding of Issac: Afterbirth Plus Vs Anti-Birth!

Well, everyone knows that Downloadable Content can be the best thin to add on to a game or just pointless padding or a cash-grab by the gaming industry as their main focus. With the Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, it's a remake of the first flash game with all the original DLC built in. Since it was controller enable, and not flash but C++ unlike the original build, it's highly recommended. However, the developers are either growing tired of working on the game and lost the idea what the original Isaac has done, or are only doing it for the pay. When they originally released Afterbirth, it suffered from so many bugs and issues, it burned the fans as they should have waiting for the game. And as I type, Afterbirth plus has committed the same sin but worst as it made changes to the gameplay that no one has asked for. Meanwhile, a fan add-on has grabbed the attention as Anti-Birth changes the game in all the right way.

So how do they compete with one another? That's why they must face-off between one another in this review. The first thing off is how the DLC effects the gameplay. In After-Birth Plus, while there are around sixty items, twenty of the items are just reskins of the other items. What's worst is that the synergies have been heavily nerfed as the items were terrible than the last add-ons and if the play restarts when they feel like the run is bad enough, the game counts that as a death and achievements are disabled on normal, none-cheat mods.

However, Anti-Birth is a Add-on that not only made with balance in mind, but makes changes that The Binding of Isaac Rebirth really needs. While there are some copies within the add-on and some items do cancel out others, items like ice tears, missile in a jar, the bowl of tears, and other of the new 50+ weapons synergies with even the past items from the Isaac game. There's even new holy items that as just as good as the hell items from the vanilla game, adding a certain balance that was needed for some time ago. The game feels much more balanced, making Hard mode true to it's name, as it also adds new unlocks for the players as well. This is how an add-on should be made.

One of the biggest complaints about Isaac: Rebirth has music, while it did work for the atmosphere, it was NOT as memorable as the original as not only was it fitting, but very catchy as themes like the one for the shop was in the back of everyone's mind. There where some songs like the Mega Satan fight that stood out, but the basic level music is the easiest music to forget about. Thankfully, Anti-Birth is not only fitting but very catchy as well to the point that the soundtrack might as well be bought from Soundcloud. Thank you, Mudeth. This great soundtrack and for 2 dollars, it is worth it plus more!

The final point is the bosses within Antibirth Plus, as there's only four new bosses and only one new character within the add-on. The new bosses are basically glorified boss versions of the previous enemies with the exception of having random attacks. While the bosses fit the theme of delirium, which is the final boss of the add-on that shifts itself into other bosses, the design feels entirely lazy as the maps and enemies as if they copied and pasted the coding with little to no heart into the content. It feels like the DLC was not worth the full price.

Anti-birth adds PLUS FIFTEEN bosses and two new characters which are very unique and different, as well as new enemies that will give players a new challenge that fit the stage that they originate from. These bosses were made creatively as their patterns are much more thought out as if the players remembers how the boss attacks, it's bearable and even fair. There was thought put into these bosses and they are challenging yet balanced, making all the new bosses memorable and fun!

Honestly, Anti Birth was made with love! Something that the current developers lost as The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth lost that after they worked on the game for too long. In fact, there is gospel that the company might actually make Anti-Birth might become an official Add-on for Rebirth. It's clear that Third-Parties are what is keeping rebirth alive. While After Birth + does allow mods, they are considered cheats and can ruin the experience for very picky completionist. If anyone wants to get AfetrBirth Plus, wait for it to go on sale. Anti-Birth is for free, and it goes highly recommended!


Anti-Birth wins, hands down.

Beastly Byte: Resident Evil 7; The Soft Reboot or The Binding of Ethan

     After three years of a missing wife, the main protagonist Ethan runs off during work to save Mia from the clutches of redneck America. Ethan travels to Dulvey, Louisiana, to a worn-out manor of the Baker residents and is trapped and must escape the evil lurking within. However, Resident Evil has not been innovated since Resident Evil 4 and many fans feel that the mechanics and gimmicks of the game did not age well. Let's not mention the what happened afterwards because of the lost of focus on Capcom's part! Will this game be able to re-innovate the horror franchise, even though it barrows from past games like Outlast meets Resident Evil HD?

Positives:

• The game actually use elements of horror with only small moments of jump-scares
• Saw the missed potential of the cancellation of Silent Hills and took advantage
•  The 3D options make the horror experience deeper
•  The limited inventory from past Resident Evils helps the horror via item management
• Over four (the quickest normal run) to over six hours of game-play
• A crafting system to help add the feeling of survival 
• High quality SFX audio and an actual realistic flashlight in a horror game
• Has the charm of horror of each of the Bakers
• Classic Safe-Room music magic and horror music
• Cleaver use of shadow puzzles
• Well played scripted events that keeps everyone guessing
• The Bakers stalks the player in Madhouse difficulty, adding to the already added challeng

Negatives

•  The other half of the game drags on for way too long and is boring
• The common enemies of the game , while not zombies, are bland and repetitive
• There's only three bosses that reoccur as rematches within the game
• One boss is coming soon in a free DLC, so players have to wait
• The background looks out of the PlayStation 3 graphics
• Some of the voice-acting are mixed at best, molded cheese at worst
• The Game unlocks can make the hardest difficulty too easy with practice 
• The PlayStation 4 pro is needed for 60fps
• The PSVR option give players the worst motion sickness
• Could have been a game on it's own if Resident Evil didn't need a shot in the arm

Grade: B

     While I do want to give it an A Grade , the minor problems is what decided the final grade of the game. However, this is the focal-point that Capcom really needed to find! This game is the best possible way to go back into survival horror as the franchise. While Inde-devs helped keep the genre alive and Capcom took note from these games and famous horror movies to the point of almost plagiarism or tribute, this is a horror game the fans have been hungering for. Will it be dated as Resident Evil 4 is slowly falling into? Only time can tell. For now, Resident Evil 7 is a great Rent-to-own for the counsel players and an absolute buy for those who are planning to get it for their PC.  Hopefully, Capcom is willing to push ahead and learn from their mistakes. Until then, hope that the industry can learn to not acting like Konami and Actionvision.

Beastly Bash: Best Games of 2016

Now before we begin, this is MY list of games that are the best of this year but not everyone's choice. While there are games like the Jackbox party pack which are very fun to play, these games are released on a yearly basis and will not count on this list as these are just continuations of a game franchise and has little changes between releases. These are (my) games of 2016!

Doom ('16)

While the developers had no real faith of this game's launch as they are no longer giving review codes, this game ended up being surprisingly good once everything is optimized. This game is like if Original Doom had a beautiful daughter and she has the similar attributes while bringing something new on the table. The multiplayer might have been basic, as the developers for that part of the game was made from the developers of the newer Halo games, but the real meat is in the single player campaign. Lots of hidden goodies, tributes to the orignal series,  upgradables that are not over-kill like most power-fantasies like most shooters, and the Brutal Doom influenced brutal kills that benefits the players as the monsters drop health and Ammo. this game is constantly on sale on steam and is updated constantly, making it a must-get game!

Pokemon Sun/Moon

Pokemon has been a franchise that has lasted for over twenty years and I have been playing this game since I was only ten years old. Many critics have complained that the game generations stayed mostly the same, I personally feared that this generation would have disappointing as Black and White as the changes to me weren't a welcomed one . Thankfully, I was wrong as most changes do benefit not only your Pokemon in your party, but the ones in the bank as Poke-Pelago, which banked pokemon can help from growing beans, Berries, finding stones, and much more. The Poke Refresh can heal status element than the former element in X and Y, helping friendship evolutions more than ever. The only disappointment is that it leaves the player wishing for more. Hopefully, there will be a SWITCH on what's to come.

Dishonor 2

This is how one would make a sequel to a great game, as this time you play as Corvo and the new elected Queen Emily with their own special abilities; So much replay value off-the-bat!  While this game is not perfect, it's more than makes up for it with it's gameplay. The challenge is just as challenging and more as the player can turn powers off to punish themselves and limit their powers to the maximum! It dose suffer from the mechanics in the past like collecting and completing the game is such a harsh task, but it's mostly optional as the players can still get the chaos and none ending...but sadly, it's not as important as the last game as the endings are tacked on and haven't evolved from the last game. Overall however, it's how a sequel should be made.

Watch_Dogs 2

Let's face it: Watch_Dogs 1 was a major disappointment as it was bullshotted, badly ported to the PC, and felt like a slap in the face as it was a bad Grand Theft Auto clone. Thankfully, Ubi tweaked everything including the PC port for the sequel  and it's instead a Saints Row 2 clone, as despite the flaws of each character as being hipster douchebags, they are lovable because they are hacking to take down a white collar criminal who looks like an evil, thinner version of The Completionist. The only disappointing thing is that the combat and driving mechanics are terrible within the game, making stealth an unintentional best and fun part of the game. I know Ubi didn't want to steal from games like True Crime New York City or Dishonor which changes the story from your playstyle, this would have been higher on my list if they did so.

Darkest Dungeon 

Finally, this game is fully released and just as dank, dark, and fun roguelike game in some time. The player hire mercenaries to help fight the creatures of the night as new mercenaries rise and  some fall not only to death but their own vices if they are not well managed well within the village. The monster designs are fantastic in their ugly ways, each mercenary has their strengths and form attributes that can either help or hurt the party along the way, The best part is the narrator, as it fits the tone of the game and a major plot-twist that won't be spoiled for those who has not finished this game. Those who paid for early alpha and their kickstarter where not disappointed!

Beastly Bash: Worst Games of 2016

To kick in to "This is the worst year" argument, there where games that came out this year that should be avoided at all cost.  To be clear, this list will be avoiding shovel-ware games like the TMNT: mutants in Manhattan because they are merely children games meant to cash-in on a franchise. Ironically, these games are just as bad if not far worst! These are the worst games of 2016!

No Man's Sky

As everyone states, this game is more like No Man's Lie. While this is from the same developers as Joe Danger, the point that the company used Bullshot, False Advertisement used to sell a particular medium such as misleading images or gameplay. While there's laws in the UK to prevent this from happening, the US Laws absorbed it as a way to help corporate pigs to get away from the law's reach on the fallacy of Just Cause. But putting the lies aside, this game is bland: No real differences within other games, no multiplayer, a crappy interface with a even worst inventory system, and worst of all, a terrible, lazy ending that starts the game all over again. Avoid at all cost, especially since the majority of players abandoned the game since launch. Kickstart that out the window.

Resident Evil: Umbrella Corps

Another cash grab attempt by capcom via third-party company as games like Blizzard's Over-Watch is killing the competition in the industry today. While games like Battle Born came too little too late, this game was out only to make money off the dead horse that is Resident Evil. Stupid AI zombies, broken mechanics,awful character creator, the worst DLC, bad controls, terribly translated by the development staff, and nothing but repetitive maps and missions. A cheap game from a cheap company. This game is easily forgettable and is complete garbage. It's a reason people leave before they're rewarded with the worst decals.

Battlefield 1 (Single Player)

This is yet another cash-grab, bland multiplayer shooter that is being advertised as a remake of the first battlefield game. The problem is that the game is just as painfully average to the point that it's a waste of money. This game is a major slap in the face to those who loved the original game, giving Call of Duty fans the scoff at the series. DICE has not made a fun game since Bad Company 1 and it is starting to show as EA proves that money comes first over everything else. Games like Wallenstein: The New Order and DOOM'16 did better innovations than shooters like this. This game is a mess in it's single player campaign. Better of making this game a multiplayer focused game for a fraction of a cost and separate from the single player campaign.  Hopefully, it wouldn't be evil as Star Wars: Battlefront, but it's highly doubted!

Paper Mario: Color Splash

Nintendo has lost focus on their RPGS because they are publishing too many from Fire Emblem to Mario and Luigi. The problem with this game is the humor is replaced with meta sarcasm. While fans can forgive them because of the graphics and the deadpooling, the gameplay is just as bad as Paper Mario: Sticker Star, hence why none-gamers call this game as Paper Mario: Sticker Star 2. They where better off porting The thousand Year door on the New 3DS instead of canceling it because of a mere leak. The gameplay is way too clunky, a problem most Jrpgs have addressed in the past. While they did fix the problem that battling isn't worth  it, the card battling system is absolutely garbage. Please save up for the Nintendo Switch....

Everything Digital Homicide

When a developer attacks everyone as a game company for making terrible games trying to sucker everyone within the industry, everyone knows to keep away from their games and tar-and-feather them to hell and back. From bribing gamers to review their games, attacking every review for pointing out how bad their games are, developing by other names to avoid getting into trouble, and censoring criticism on youtube and attacking the freedom of speech which everyone should have a taste for. Thankfully, of this year, the company has closed down their doors for good. However, the term "vote with your wallets" has never been true more than ever now. Be cautious, be safe.

Beastly Bash: Nintendo Switch; how it could fail, but what can be done!

Big Disclaimer: This is merely speculations of the Nintendo Switch, formerly known as the NX. The facts on the system are subject to change within the development of the system and this is merely an opinion piece, meaning anything goes but things are most likely to change depending on how Nintendo and company handles the situation. Thank you for reading.


Nintendo has finally released the first-look at their newest system the Nintendo Switch, a Tablet hybrid of a portable game system  with that or a home counsel. In theory, this is a great idea and what the Wii U SHOULD have been. By partnering up with Nvidia's shield developers, Nintendo was able to make  a powerful system that is able to run most game engines including Unity. The shield didn't sell well because it requires to stream games and game streaming fails because of sync issues, so having a portable tablet that takes carts would have been a better idea.

However, Nintendo had problems in the past with advertizing and relations, causing them to falter within the gaming industry. From cheap networking to third-parties being shunned by Nintendo. And after not so long since the reveal, there's already a major backlash towards the new system at question that needs to be addressed to nintendo. Here's some of the major concerns about the council and perhaps  some ways for Nintendo to fix it down the line.

Nintendo Network

Let's face it, Nintendo fails at networking. From disconnections in Splatoon to their attempts to making the gamecube an online gaming attempt as well as a 3D counsel in the past.  While this is a minor complaint, Nintendo is missing out with games multiplayer since everyone these days are distant from themselves, a reason Online games with social features are a must in these times. Nintendo has released Miitomo as a social way to get their fans to meet other oddballs. Hopefully, Nintendo will fin a way to take advantage and use their earning to improve their network system. Maybe a HD remaster of PSO1. Please?

Third-Party Abandonment

Nintendo tends to make friends as much as a lone wolf company usually make friends and leaving them in a bloody mess. Even with most of the supporters and more that the released list from Konami, Activision, and Capcom who know how to piss their fan bases off. While there are Third-Party support for the system, there was a similar support as the one promised for the Wii U and the third-party didn't even touch it with a thirty foot pole. In fact, there's word of a backlash within certain companies because they lost faith in Nintendo's innovation in hardware. If Nintendo doesn't follow up with building up Public Relations with the third-parties, it could happen again and Nintendo would suffer for it.

System Size

Remember when the Nintendo 3DS first released? It was rather tiny because it was first designed for the Japanese and Asian demographic, which have tiny fingers. Judging from the reveal trailer, the switch tablet is close to the size of an Samsung phone. Most would think it's for children, but we all know they tend to smash those things more times and as often and it's being advertised towards adults. It's not known as how heavy the counsel is, but it should be light from the looks of things. While they COULD use the screen for Virtual Reality, Or VR for short, big handed people would find the controler painful to use. Releasing an Nintendo Switch XL or American version would probably fix that issue, but that would also increase the price and weight causing more problems. This is a system that really needs a protective case.

Battery Life

Battery life can either make or break a portable system, as many other tablets can last from three to twelve hours. From the rumors from reliable sources, the battery life is only up to three hours, as the same annoying levels of the Wii U gamepad. This issue can KILL the system on a portable level, something Nintendo is known for since the invention of the Nintendo Gameboy and the pokemon series. While the battery life can be fixed with third-party hardware, that would however clash with the dock Nintendo made. While a proper case with built-in batteries extend the controller, it has to have good batteries to sell!

Competition 

It is true that Nintendo innovated the fusion, but the fact that everyone predicted this would happen means everyone will follow suit and make knock-off. However, it's not these fools Nintendo will have to worry about. It's the companies like Microsoft and Sony that will try to follow up on the idea like they did with motion controls and now with VR. While first party games will keep the fans at bay, the third-party developers are more likely to make games for the competition more over because they have a deeper history with them because of multiplayer, graphics, and mostly the money they made from the different counsel developers. Microsoft has the capabilities and the power to fallow behind with their own line of tablets as they made during Windows 8's lifespan. While they have failed as well as their phones, they can make a recovery just like the Android line of phones.


In the end, the Nintendo Switch is one thing that might make or break Nintendo's success after the failure of the Wii U because of Nintendo's mismanagement of the system. There is still hope for the system to be successful if Nintendo advertise the features better. There are speculations that Nintendo will port most of their Wii U titles thanks to digital distribution, but it's confirmed that the Nintendo Switch is not backward compatible. More likely it will be an enhanced ports like EVERYONE is doing for the next gen consoles. It's hard to speculate when the only words are those of rumors and speculations, but when your company can't contain the leaks that are mostly accurate, Nintendo needs to release the info via more Nintendo directs, otherwise, Mario himself can't even clean up this mess...

Beastly Bash: Disappointing games of 2016!

Wow, this year has been the worst for everything from gaming as steam greenlight publishes tons of shovelware from garbage developers to death killing good stars from their depression, cancer, or what not. For most of us, it was the failed or false promises that these developers delivered on. These are the  disappointing games of 2016! Note that shovelware games are excluded because that would be a waste of everyone's time.

5 - Mighty Number 9

This is on the bottom as I knew it would be a waste of four million dollars. "Better than nothing" was the biggest understatement of how bad business can go within the gaming industry. Graphic that look like something made on a playstation 2 muddy graphics, forgettable music, and overall mediocre experience. This is one of the games that caused doubt with kickstarter games, as many other fear that the same thing could happen to other developers. When DUSK did better and with a quarter of the budget, one knows something is wrong. While there are worst games out there, wait for it to go on sale to look at it and DON'T GET IT AT G2A! So many fools have to pay for that legal mistake...

4 - Project Scissors: Nightcry 

This is one game that was under the radar since it's kick-starter has managed to reach it's goal for around three hundred thousand dollars, but from the look of things, should have been left in the oven for at least one more year. Since it's from the original developer and his company Nude Maker (Ew, I know) to make this game, it feels like they reuse models from their past porn games. Don't ask, it just looks that way as the first playable character. At least the first person to die is reboot Dante? Honestly, if the mechanics were tweaked, its camera angles where like Clock Tower First Fear, a better chapter mechanic, and a better save system, it would have been a great horror game. At least it has cheese?

3 - Street Fighter 5

Capcom, we know how painful developing a game could be at times, but it doesn't excuse leaving the fanbase starving for more content and feeding them like a neglected pet forgotten by their owner. While Capcom did release fighters for free to earn with fight money, the game itself was more of an early access by a Triple-A developer. While big game companies did this before (we're looking at you Warner Brothers!) and could have been worst, other fighting game players have to go to other games like the latest King of Fighters 14 on the Playstation 4 to get their fix. It would feel better if they managed to actually complete making their game before releasing it.  Sadly, it was released in it's unfinished launch. Now to go for a burger...Wait a minute. 

2 - Star Fox Zero 

Nintendo has no idea what to give to their fans anymore. While they're busy making the N-X, their fusion of home and portable gaming system, they shoved their forced gemic on platinum games like Nickelodeon forced them to make shovelware games. No spit that the controls is what killed the game to most critics. It's a reason third-parties didn't support your system. That's why Microsoft and Sony abandoned  their motion control because they knew it wouldn't last long. Should have focused on 3D that's a step-up from the 3DS. A 3D headset that could have thrown the Oculus Rift out into the used electronics section of a Goodwill store. Thats where I found mine for my review. I also found an old PS1 and Xbox original. Seriously! 

1 - Duex Ex: Mankind Divided

Mankind is divided alright: The game is literally broken up so that Square-Eniq having a sequel, this game has mixed reviews on the PC port, Man and Augments are fighting even though they have no reason but that of the same plot of X-men without the linking plot threads, no real punishment system in place for both lethal and none, and an ending that was somehow worse than Human Revolution that leaves more questions than answers! While they did improve the gameplay, it's to the point that it makes the game too easy like a overprotective parent bribing the kid to lose in a fist fight only to find out he was really weak after all.