For the week of August 19 – 25
Check out what I played last week
This week, I went into the “vault” and fell in love with a few PlayStation One games.
August 19 – Bushido Blade 2
I’m back trying some more Squaresoft games from the PlayStation era that I missed out on when I first owned a PSOne. This time, I wanted to try Bushido Blade. Having never tried either game, I decided to jump into the sequel. But, after playing and enjoying it so much, I also need to try the first game.
I had no idea how much fun I would have. This is a sword-focused combat game, but not quite like Soul Calibur. You face off against different foes, with most possessing a bladed weapon. In Soul Calibur, you have a health bar. But in Bushido Blade, one direct hit is all it takes to end the fight and your life. Because of that, this is more about strategizing your attack. You can try to swing wildly, but it will only lead to your demise.
The only frustrating part of the combat is that there are a few characters who have firearms. I’ve encountered an enemy with a pistol and another one with a machine gun. These have a clear advantage. The one with the machine gun was frustrating. They would run away from me, then fire from long range. There is the option to parry or dodge attacks, but I was never that good with the timing. In the end, I did get them but it took far too many attempts.
I wonder what Bushido Blade’s reception would be in 2024? I am a bit surprised that Square-Enix never considered rebooting the franchise. Sure, the story isn’t anything particularly captivating. But, there must be an audience that would love this kind of action. Because of how much I enjoyed this game, I need to try the first game.
August 20 – Bushido Blade
So, I decided to play it the next day. I got a ROM of Bushido Blade and wanted to see how much if differed from the sequel. The two games were released just over a year apart, but there are some notable differences. To be perfectly honest, I like the sequel more. Bushido Blade 2 takes the good stuff in this game and makes it even better, especially with more content.
My biggest gripe with the first game is “The Bushido Code”. At first, I was under the impression that the story mode here was very short. I was only going about five fights deep and the game would just end. It was only after researching online that the text screens I was seeing were telling me I failed. I wasn’t fighting fair and the game was punishing me for it.
If you “cheat” in fights, you get punished. The game considers attacking a foe early, using dirt/snow/mud, or other unfair tactics as cheating. So, if you do that in a fight, then they just stop you from progressing the story any further. This was frustrating because I was certain I was fighting fair. Eventually, I did manage to win all my fights as intended and saw a character’s finale.
As I stated in the section of Bushido Blade 2, I wish there were more games like this. Lighthouse, the developer did release a follow-up series called “Kengo”. Those games were not considered that good and only two ever came to North America. I had no plans to seek them out. This has got me interested in seeing if there are other similar games. I remember Ghosts of Tsushima having duels, there might be others that could work.
August 21 – Pony Island
As I was playing through Pony Island, I thought, “This reminds me of ‘Inscryption’”. It was only after I finished the game that I learned the truth. Both games are from “Daniel Mullins Games”. Pony Island was their first game but I can see how they share some of the same concepts.
I’m not going to go into too much detail about Pony Island. But this is a game that mixes many genres into one wild story. It’s not a long game. Most people should finish it in about two hours. The references are evergreen, so you don’t have to worry about the game feeling dated.
Once I began playing, I couldn’t stop. I was super curious about how things would end and what odd occurrences I’d encounter. There were a few confusing sections but if you follow the instructions, you can get past it. This is an easy recommendation and is very cheap to buy.
August 22 – Rival Schools: United by Fate
With most of Capcom’s non-Street Fighter fighting games, I “discover” them well after their peak. I only played Darkstalkers once I bought the PSP version for cheap on my PlayStation Vita. Although not a traditional fighting game, I wish we got more Power Stone. I have a Dreamcast Copy and I also bought the PSP collection for that on my Vita. The latest Capcom game I’ve fallen in love with is Rival Schools: United by Fate.
As this was only released on PlayStation, I’m playing it via emulation. I had no idea that this was a two-disc fighting game, so I started with the “Evolution Disc”. That disc contains console-exclusive content, but it lacks the game’s main story mode. So, I found the “Arcade Disc” and booted up the story to see the game’s main mode.
In Rival Schools, you pick two characters to fight with. One is your main fighter while the other is your support. In combat, when your “power” meter fills up to a certain point, it lets you do more powerful special attacks. It also lets you call on your support fighter to perform a Team Up Technique. These vary depending on who is your support. I noticed that female characters tend to help replenish help or add to your “power” meter. While male characters will perform a more damaging attack.
For a fighting game, the story is fine. I went through it a few times, but have only been able to get the “bad” endings. There is a fight halfway through the mode that opens up the “good” ending. I haven’t been able to win that fight, which they purposely make harder than other fights. I don’t know if dropping the difficulty disables that option, but I don’t know how to win it. I’d love to figure out a way to play Project Justice, the sequel to Rival Schools. The English Dreamcast version goes for 200+ CDN on eBay. I will try to see if I can find a Japanese copy when I’m in Japan this October, which would be more affordable.
August 23 – Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club
The Famicom Detective Club series doesn’t have much of a following out here in the West. When the first two games were finally released in North America, it felt like they sort of came and went. There was no real fanfare, and Nintendo has never bothered to market them after launch. So it’s interesting that they are releasing a new game in the franchise. On top of that, they are including a demo. I’ve had a chance to try Emio – The Smiling Man before its full launch in a few days and it’s pretty good.
This demo is a bit different from most. Nintendo decided to drop this demo in pieces. They released the game’s prologue and first chapter a few days ago. Then, they dropped chapter two on August 22, with chapter three arriving around August 27. With the game launching after that, it’s a great way to keep the momentum up and drive sales.
The game’s prologue is brief. You do very little detective work. The main focus here is to get used to the game’s interaction system. It also sheds some light on the events for the game, while still leaving more to discover. Meanwhile, the first chapter does get more into the investigation. It still leaves a lot for you to discover later in the game, but I think the pacing works.
Some people may want the game to progress a bit more than this. I suspect chapters two and three will have a bit more content and plot development. The key for this demo is to get you interested in the game’s story and it’s achieving that goal. I still need to play the remaining free chapters (2 and 3), but I am considering buying this at launch.
August 24 – Gigantic Rampage Edition
Based on the information I found, Gigantic was a game launched in 2017. Like many free-to-play games, it didn’t last very long with the studio shutting it down a year later. They brought it back earlier this year as Gigantic: Rampage Edition and changed its format, making it a pay-to-play game. This week, it’s free through the Epic Game Store. This is a team-based shooter with MOBA-like elements. While it’s not bad, I have my problems with it.
My biggest gripe is the matchmaking. Not only am I struggling to get into matches on a Saturday, I’m noticing people drop out. The message “A player has declined…” or something along those lines has come up on my screen a lot. Even in-game, I’ve seen people leave a match, which leads to unfair teams. It’s good that I’m not getting bots (although there are still bots), but it makes it hard to learn and to have fun.
There are two modes in the game: Rush and Clash. Rush is available after completing the main tutorials. But you need to reach Level 10 to unlock Clash. After five games in Rush, I am only at level six. So, I need to play another 4-6 games of Rush before I unlock Clash. I don’t see myself reaching Level 10 in one day. Rush is an interesting mode. Matches consist of two teams of five. The goal is to collect resources that then allow your team’s beast the time to incapacitate the enemy beast. When this happens, you then have about 15 seconds to attack it. The team that defeats their opponent’s beast first is the winner.
There are a lot of characters in Gigantic. So, you will need to take the time to learn the pros and cons of each. Because of that, you need to invest the time to find the character that works best for you. One day is not enough, but I also don’t feel Rush is enough to keep me interested long-term. There might be an audience for this game, but I don’t know if it has the long tail to last in the competitive gaming space.
August 25 – Kingdom Come: Deliverance
Recently, there’s been coverage around the upcoming Kingdom Come: Deliverance II. Although I never played the first game, I remember the discourse around it. With the first game on sale, I wanted to try it out. I thought this was an action RPG like The Witcher 3. The key difference is that this one focuses on realism, at least for the 15th Century of Central Europe.
Unfortunately for a game from 2018, Kingdom Come: Deliverance feels dated. Outside of the janky animations and noticeable glitches, I am not a fan of its control scheme. On an Xbox Controller, the run button is the B, jumping is the X button. It takes time to get used to considering how most games don’t go that route. The other problem is its slow start and how poorly of a job it does in making me care about our main character.
I need to spoil aspects of the start of the game. After performing some basic functions within your little village, it gets attacked. In the process, you witness your parents’ murder, then you flee on horseback. Your character is a wimp who can’t swing a sword. If the game is about your character becoming a hero, it’s going to take a long time. I don’t care for our character, Henry. He looks like he’s about to start crying at any moment.
For a game that claims you can complete quests in more than one way, the start doesn’t let you do that. They call the major quest as your village is under siege “flee”. I thought that Henry could sneak his way out of town. Unfortunately, that’s not possible. Every time I hid in the bushes, enemies would still find me. I wish the start of the game did a better job of engaging me. At this point, I have no plans to continue and zero interest in the upcoming sequel.
