Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition

Rating for this game: 8.9

Happy Price: 14.99

Gameplay

Guacamelee starts with an average Joe type of character turned into a super luchador after a series of unfortunate events. The combination of humor, great combat design, and a unique Mexican art style make for a great cohesive experience. 

Combat: The combat reminds me of a wrestling game mixed with a fighting game. There is so much satisfaction launching opponents into the air, getting a 3 hit combo, then transitioning into a bone crunching suplex. As the protagonist wears a luchador outfit, there is a strong emphasis on wrestling moves like the super frog splash. This game is the best thing to happen for wrestling fans and fighting games alike. As the game progressively gets more difficult, your moveset can be upgraded and larger combos can be generated. There are also more enemies on screen, which plays great into the ability to suplex or throw opponents into one another. Doing so can launch another opponent into the air that can be followed up with more combos and the following sequence can be repeated. Skilled players can easily get 200 hit combos, the largest I got was 117. 

Progression: Staying true to the theme of the game, the user acquires Pesos based on enemies defeated, treasures found, and the length of the combos during battles. Upgrades are pretty expensive, so the player is forced to decide what exactly they want to build out. You are not forced to grind at any point, but you do have the freedom to go back and defeat more enemies for more Pesos if you wish. There did not seem to be a limit on upgrades, and from some footage I've seen online there were people that had far more life and stamina than I did. I was able to complete the game without having to go back at any point though. Defeating bosses gives you sliver coins, which are used to buy skins or outfits. Buying outfits usually consist of a trade off, for example "hits drain life of enemies, but player has 50% normal health". You can switch outfits at any checkpoint though, so its fun to try out different outfits and see what suits your play style.

Story

The story emulates Super Mario. Superboss has your love, you chase them through the game, and you defeat a bunch of sub-bosses along the way. At one point, there is even a tribute to Mario during a boss battle, which was awesome. The dialogue stayed true to the Mexican theme throughout the entire experience. Characters periodically speak Spanish, and names of characters are slang Spanish (Mexican) which brings authenticity and humor to the dialogue. I could not believe the people that made this game were from Canada. The writing is funny and keeps you engaged, but the focus of the game is gameplay. I was happy the story was written concise and dense enough to allow for quick, purposeful dialogue that allowed me to get back into the action.

Art

Environment: There is a clear influence on the art that resides with Mexico itself. The color palette is very festive and bright, and I think I've seen every major color in this game. Even the dead dimension has neon incorporated within it, making everything feel very alive and fast paced. It makes for a very pleasing look that never seems to let up. There are details and works of art in every corner of the game. From the skeletons that resemble the known day of the dead art style to the design of the villages, each element of this game was carefully thought out and executed cleanly. 

Animation: With the amount of enemy types and NPC characters I was surprised I did not feel like there were shortcuts taken with animation. It seemed each enemy had their own thing going on and nobody shared moves or animations. With 2D games often times there are things that get re-used and it is easily identified. I appreciated the fact that this was either hidden very well or not done at all. Along with the rest of the art style, animation was flawless and there isn't much else to say than that. 

Conclusion

A must have. The game is accessible to people of all ages. It is friendly enough for kids yet mature enough for a hardcore gamer myself. It reminds me of watching a Pixar movie where hidden jokes are added that only adults understand. When I was done playing, all I wanted to do was play more. The combat system is the star of this game because it is so addicting, but supported very well by the art style and authentic Mexican folklore that is both educational and fun to experience.

Banner Saga

Rating: 8.7

Happy Price: 9.99

Gameplay

Banner Saga is a turn based tactical RPG. It deals with a max party of six warriors of different classes, each with a unique ability. It is seldom you will find two warriors with the same ability, creating a unique combination of tactics that can be used depending on who is in the player's party. It also focuses on asset management and dialogue choices similar to Oregon Trail.

Combat System

Banner Saga created a system I had never seen before. There are two attributes to each warriror, strength and armor. Strength is also the users health. The way the system works is, if a user has a strength of 7, but the opponent has an armor of 8, there is a percentage chance that the attack won't hit. If strength is 7, and armor is 6, damage is guaranteed, but will probably do little damage. The lower the armor of the opponent, and higher strength of attacker, the more damage done. Some classes are designed to do more damage to armor, and others strength, so it's good strategy to mix these classes together.

Another unique thing was instead of one party having a turn, then the other party makes all their moves, there is a turn order based on individuals from each party. This creates interesting scenarios, because if you have a situation where it is 4v2, both sides have the same amount of moves in a given time. The person with four people in their party will make their four moves with each party member. The person with two people in their party will also move four times in the same span, but only with 2 party members. The strategy I used was take out the most powerful opponents first, that way as time went on weaker opponents got more moves instead of having powerful ones at the end going over and over again.

Party Management

Unlike an unforgiving game like Fire Emblem, your characters don't die for good in this game. If a party member reaches zero health, they are injured for a set amount of days. This injury imposes a penalty if they are not healed until the next battle. Even if a battle is lost, the game does not stop. The story changes instead which is something that defies what most RPGs do. Of course there is a negative impact to losing so it should be avoided at all costs, but it's not something that isn't salvageable. Based on decisions you make during dialogue, party members my leave or join your caravan. You must be very careful when deciding who to level up in this regard. If there is tension with a character, it is not wise to use them much when you can level someone else that appears to be more loyal. I had a situation early game where one of my top members wanted to leave, and I had to swallow my pride for him to stay.

The Journey

The Oregon Trail aspect creates tension throughout the entire experience. Since there is a currency known as "renown" that is used to promote party members to new levels, and also used to purchase supplies, you have to constantly have that battle on what to do. If you run out of supplies, caravan members starve to death and die. If you don't level up your characters when they are eligible, you risk losing battles. Most of the dialogue and minute decision making also happens on the journey from one town to another. There is great opportunity to increase renown and supplies in the moments of travel. However the wrong decisions can doom the caravan and have everlasting effects. Each decision has to be meticulously analyzed.  

Artwork

The artwork and animations are hand drawn and it all looks amazing. This is high grade production that rivals Disney classic movies like Lion King or Cinderella. It creates a beautiful setting amidst the dread of trekking through snowfall on the verge of starving to death. It's difficult to tell if animations we're re-used by multiple characters, but from what I can tell they are unique. I used four different archers and they all had different stances and ways they shot their bows. You can't say enough about hand drawn video games, they are incredibly difficult to make and something that is seldom done for those reasons.

Narrative 

One of the focal points is the story. It is incredibly complex and deep, with a large amount of characters to follow and many regions are talked about. They are all Nordic names and regions and it can be difficult to follow. I found I never really found certain characters to have a "voice" I could imagine in my head. Also, the presentation of the narrative could be confusing. At times I could not tell who was talking or saying what. I could see two people are talking to one another and understood what was going on, but when two people of the same faction we're talking it was hard to distinguish one personality from another. The story is incredibly engaging and helps get addicted to the gameplay as you want the story to progress.

Summary

It caters to an older more mature audience as it deals with complex dialogue and narrative that one must follow closely. Combat is innovative and the artwork is some of the best in any video game. It's a short game that will be around 9-12 hours depending on the player, and if you want to replay it for different outcomes. If you like tactical RPG's, this is a must have. However it's very difficult and new people to the genre will have a hard time. 

WWE '13

Rating for this Game: 9.2

Happy Price: 49.99

Gameplay

I remember when I played WWF Attitude in 1998 on the PSX. I had this idea of what a wrestling game should be, what I wanted to see and do in a game. WWE '13 has finally fulfilled that idea. This is the most complete wrestling game I've ever played.

WWE Attitude Mode: This mode is the closest thing to a campaign mode. You're taken back to 1996 when Bret Hart got screwed out of the title by Vince Mcmahon, and relive all the events up until the conclusion of the attitude era. If you were a wrestling fan during this time, it's one of the best experiences you will have playing a game, and the best experience on a next-gen wrestling game. Each match has different objectives to match what actually took place. For example, the famous hell in a cell with Undertaker and Mankind. In order to get the unlockable, you must throw Mankind off the top of the cell through the announce table. You can spend hours in this mode to unlock everything.

WWE Universe: This mode is oversold on the back cover of the game. The stories generated are quite minuscule and not fulfilling. Essentially you set your own goals of what you want to do, and choose how you want it done. This mode has no restrictions. If you create a wrestler, you can set up a title shot his first match, or choose to fight through the ranks and having the WWE Universe generate the timeline for you. Cut scenes and scenarios are quite repetitive, but you can spend hours in this mode as well. Most of the time you're just waiting for something exciting to happen, but nothing does.

Customization

Superstar: Customizing your superstar can take 3 hours alone. There are hundreds if not thousands of items to select from. The layering system allows for creating unique facepaint and tattoos. You can also create your own clothes if you don't like what's provided! After you've created your awesome avatar, you must select the move-set. There are thousands of moves to choose from. This process can take a long time but it's fun to construct a wrestler from the ground up. The option to choose a move set is also available. After the moves are selected, you can create an entrance. Doing all this work makes WWE universe worth playing, even though it lacks creating scenarios for your created superstar.

Matches/Scenarios: You can create your own PPV's, Shows, Arenas, and match styles. For people that love to create worlds  as I once did when I was about 11 and had a huge imagination, this can be very fulfilling. Want to pit Sheamus against Randy Orton? Then have CM Punk interfere, the power to do that is given. You also have the ability to merge Attitude era superstars into the universe. So you can have Stone Cold wreak havoc on all the modern superstars. Knowing I had this ability diminished the fulfillment of when cool things occurred though, because I could have just created them myself. That's the drawback of giving the user this much power without a penalty.

Conclusion

A must buy for a wrestling fan. You can easily spend 40+ hours in this game. Although with THQ being sold their servers haven't been working properly, so online is unstable. This game is selling for 39.99 and well worth it. To beat the Attitude Era and win the WWE championship in WWE universe mode without making drastic changes to it will take over 40 hours. That's $1 an hour to play this game!
I am going to keep this game, plus we don't really know if Yukes will develop the next installment. This is the best one yet, purchase it and hold onto it.

Assassins Creed 3

Rating for this game: 9.5 

Happy Price : 44.99

Gameplay

Assassins Creed 3 has stuck with the core mechanics of timing combos, assassinations, and parkour style building jumping. The recruitment of Assassins is also still present. There are quite a few additions to these mechanics that have great polish and separate this game from previous entries.

Combat: The only way I can describe the combat is "savage" or "barbaric" and frankly, fulfilling. The new character, Connor, doesn't kill as cleanly as his predecessors. His combat style is filled with animations that will consist of quick repeated blows to the head with his tomahawk, or sliced hamstrings that will lead to the snapping of a neck. There is nothing more fulfilling that stabbing a redcoat with a bayonet, and then shooting his comrade with it while inside the body as they attempt to double team you.

Navigation: This remains unchanged for the most part from previous installments. Although the team at Ubisoft has done a great job in creating a large New England forest to run around in. The placement of trees, branches, and rocks have been meticulously placed and not thrown together. With a large environment like this, one would expect that with the short development cycle this game went through, things would be randomly placed. But that's not the case, the level design is ever present and very much appreciated. It's a great feeling when you come across a tree stump that leads to a set of carefully placed tree branches, that can then lead to an air assassination of a redcoat attacking a convoy traveling along the forest path.

New Features

Driving Ships: Who would have thought that ships would be present in an Assassins Creed game. Ship battles are like a whole different game within the game, and best of all they're fun to do. The oceans have steep waves and troughs in storms or when there are many ships on the battlefield to influence such a thing. The best thing about it is that it isn't just a shader that cannonballs can fly through. Being in a trough can actually provide protection as the wave in front of the ship will absorb enemy fire. This will also apply to you when firing upon an enemy that has taken cover behind a large wave. Naval warfare also allows the user to barrage coastal forts on land which is always fun. It's a great feeling when their defenses can't touch you as a moving target, and your ship can cause total destruction to the static target. You feel like an assassin of the seas.

Assassin Classes: Recruited assassins now have classes. You can select which type of assassin you want to aid in battle. If you need a marksman, call upon the marksman. The max amount of Assassins you can have is 7, and they must be called individually, but all 7 can aid Connor at one time. Not every assassin is combat related. There is a group that pretends to arrest Connor in order to sneak into Redcoat bases "Trojan" style. Another assassin might stab somebody to cause a chase, to clear out an area for Connor. Recruited Assassins no longer die, but are just injured. Recruited Assassins now have personalities and are integral to the plot of the game, but are still something done on the side.

Conclusion

This is the best installation of Assassins Creed I've played to date. Everything feels very polished. The whole "Don't fix what isn't broken" mantra definitely fits this game. They've just added animations and a new environment to play around in. Not to mention all the historical references in this game. Riding with Paul Revere, navigating secret Freemason tunnels, and disputes with George Washington are immersive. You really feel like you've aided in the construction of America when playing this game, and you feel like a total badass doing it. I haven't played a game this fulfilling since Skyrim. The main storyline is short though, around 20 hours or so. If you don't do much of the side activities like recruiting assassins or naval missions, this game will creep up and finish on you in a hurry. It's a must buy, but considering the short story, wouldn't feel good paying full price for the game.

Faster Than Light

Happy Price: 14.99

Rating: 9.0

Gameplay

FTL is a ship management combat RPG that requires quick reflexes, strategy, skill and luck. Most players have a win percentage less than 10%, as one poor decision can create a chain of events that cause a loss. Outside of combat there are a series of decisions that need to be made that can alter the player's fate in an extremely positive or negative manner. 

Combat

There are several different ways to approach the act of blowing up another player's ship. Beam weapons, ion blasts, missiles, laser weapons, drones and personnel all have different properties that come with strengths and weaknesses. This makes each playthrough unique and encourages experimentation and after some time will increase the win rate. As the player accomplishes different goals, new ships are unlocked that come with their own presets which offer even more ways to play. For example my favorite setup is the Engi Ship which comes with an ion blaster and a drone system. The Engi race has double repair speed but halved melee damage when units board your ship. This particular setup emphasizes on disabling the enemies system, and using an automated drone to attack. The ion blaster will disable the system the player targets. Depending on the enemy, I usually disable the shield system so my drone can inflict damage, or the weapons system if I'm outgunned to balance the fight. This strategy works well until I come across a Mantis ship, which usually involves the enemy boarding my ship. Mantis have slow repair speed and high melee damage. This causes chaos on my ship, as the Engi are designed to repair, not fight. 

It takes usually about 90 mins to 120 mins to reach the boss ship. On the journey there, I have to try to recruit as many units that complement the Engi so I can make it through the late stages of the game. The currency used to upgrade the ship, purchase new weapons, and recruit all comes from the same limited resource pool called scrap. Grinding is not something that can be done, so you must decide early on what your strategy will be. A diverse crew will ensure that your ship can handle most situations. It's almost impossible to handle every situation. It only takes one unique situation where the enemy has the "perfect storm" of a setup that takes advantages of all your weaknesses to end the game.

Decisions, Decisions

At every level of the game, the player is making important decisions. It begins when you first arrive at a star system, what planet do you want to fly to? Data is not presented on what is happening at each location, so there is a large amount of luck when deciding where to go. At times you will run into an automated drone ship that results in huge rewards upon a win, or an advanced fighter ship that offers barely anything in return of difficult battle that leaves your ship battered. Also, depending on your strategy, an automated ship might be the worst thing you can find if your strategy is to board ships and kill the crew. Crew does not exist on automated ships, the player must wait after x seconds, and then escape the battle.

There are times when dialogue between a ship can result in something really good happening or really bad. There are instances where a "friendly" ship will request a crew member to board for assistance, but then your crew member will get kidnapped. Sometimes, offering a crew member will result in an upgrade, weapons, cash, or all three. These gambles make each playthrough different and alter the result significantly. Losing an important crew member that increases shield recharge by 10% and reduces reactor requirements by one is a huge loss. When you first start playing the game, you are naive but as you get more experienced, you can sniff out when a "friendly" ship is malicious. It's actually rewarding since you feel more combat experienced in this virtual world.

Upgrading the Ship

Upgrading the ship is a complex ordeal. There is the reactor which houses the amount of power that can be allocated to all the subsystems. Then each subsystem has its unique properties. As you upgrade a subsystem, more power is needed, Finding that balance of upgrading the reactor, and then the subsystems in a particular sequence that will result in a win is elusive and difficult to master. Upgrading the reactor takes scrap, but so does the shields and weapons systems. The nature of the game has the player on the run, which doesn't allow for grinding to gain as much scrap as possible. Going to areas that will yield the highest amount of scrap is part luck, part decision making on the player's part. It would be great to fully upgrade my shields, weapons, and my drone system. But all of that takes resources that are too scarce. I have to pick 2/3 in most cases, unless I get very lucky. You also have to manage fuel, which if you run out of, results in a loss. 

Art

The art style is simple but effective. It's a top down view that is designed for management and a bird's eye view. It's very clear when a system of a ship is damaged, the player can make this out quickly and respond as fast as possible. Using a simple color palette allows for this. The 32 bit art style coincides with the retro gameplay style that most gamers associate with high consequences for an inferior skillset. It all ties together neatly and everything is polished.

Sound

The soundtrack of this game is revered by the cult following, it was good but something I would elect to listen to over my own spotify playlists. Due to the low processing power this game takes up, its feasible to run background applications without any frame or performance loss. The sound effects of explosions and laser guns are standard, nothing is taken away from the sounds, but then again not much is added. However playing the game with the SFX muted is not advisable, as when a system is shutdown by the enemy there is an audio cue for that. That audio cue is necessary, since you're likely paying attention to the enemy's systems.

Summary

This game appeals to the hardcore PC gamer, and the same crowd on mobile. Critical thinking and quick reflexes are essential for success, and not all people possess those skills nor wish to develop them. The game is incredibly frustrating yet incredibly rewarding once the challenges are overcome. I think every Indy developer should play this game, but its not something everyone will enjoy.

Limbo

Rating: 8.6

Happy Price: 4.99

Gameplay

At its core Limbo is a side scrolling puzzle platformer. It's one of those games that redefines what a game actually is. There are only two controls, action and jump that determine how well things are going to play out. Everything else is based on the puzzle thrown in front of you. It creates a unique experience that will test your will and mental ability to solve puzzles while staying coordinated.

The game sits on the fence between a piece of art and a game. The animations are spectacularly done and there are unique death animations for each situation. The solutions for puzzles are usually surrounded by deathtraps, which creates this sense of being in a Saw movie. Any wrong move will result in death. Death is fun though, because there are so many different ways to die and there are animations to support them. You can be crushed, speared, pierced, electrocuted, drown, hit in the head, shot, etc. 

There is no dialogue or text to explain the story, the first time the game turns on it begins with gameplay. This is the first game I've played without a splash screen menu. The player wakes up in a forest, and just proceed through the forest, not knowing why they're there or who they are. I guess you are in Limbo in that sense. The black and white art style create a dark mood that is both frightening and soothing. There isn't much to be distracted from, and in this game you have to be focused on everything because death awaits at every corner. The player will die a lot, but the developers describe this game as a "trial and death" game. It's a short game lasting only six hours, but the six hours are densely populated with unique content. I would prefer this over something that drags out like Dragon Ball Z: Xenoverse. This game is perfect for someone that works a lot and wants to say they beat a game.

Summary

It's game anyone on a budget and tight schedule should check out. If you need a break from fast paced oversensory games like Call of Duty then you should try out this game. It's slower and focuses on a narrative that does not exist, allowing for the player to imagine the narrative through level design. It has personally given me ideas of what to put in my own games, so anyone interested in game development should have this in their library.