Recent reviews by CyberBinary

It does what it says on the tin, and it's relaxing

This game is great. Sonic Generations is a classic that holds up and Shadow Generations follows up on the intent and design behind it. The spectacle on display is always energetic and thrilling and Shadow's control feels just a bit tightened up compared to Modern Sonic. I don't think the level designs end up being as interesting or as replayable as those in Sonic Generations, but the smaller amount of collectibles doesn't force you to replay them as much either. The open White Space area is fun to explore albeit frustrating if you are intent on gathering all of the collectibles. It desperately needs some way to track down the last remaining machine parts. Overall, I wouldn't say that Shadow Generations is perfect, but my few nitpicks don't prevent me from recommending the game.

Sonic Generations received some touch-ups as well. The collectible Chao are often placed in areas that I didn't often visit in the levels. In contrast to the Red Star Rings, which are placed on higher paths to reward good play, the Chao are often found in nooks and crannies on lower paths. The Chao can be a little hard to spot, but I found collecting them to be rewarding nonetheless. The script and voice over received an overhaul as well. I'd say that both lack some of the energy from the original release and I find them to be a minor downgrade. Honestly, none of the changes made to Sonic Generations are large enough to sway anyone's perception of the quality of the game, which I have always believed to be great. With the addition of Shadow Generations, Sonic Generations continues to maintain its position as the best "modern" 3D Sonic experience even 13 years down the line.

I was playing through Mega Man Battle Network 1, but uninstalled due to an update which added new, shady DRM. This DRM was added in an attempt to curb modding. Various mods put in a lot of work giving you the option to do stuff like change the font and fix typos in the scripts. It's a shame to see Capcom work specifically against the people who have obtained these games through legitimate means. I'd want to finish my playthrough if the new DRM is ever removed. Until then, I'd advise you to either get these collections on other platforms or get the games individually for the GBA.

Capcom has added shady DRM to this game in an attempt to curb modding. This isn't represented on the store page either, which is misleading. I would either wait for this to be removed or play these games elsewhere, either through other modern platforms or the GBA and NDS.

Scratches that roguelike itch very well.

It might be weird not to play as Gunvolt much in his own mainline game, but man is Kirin's gameplay fun. In a similar way to Copen in Gunvolt 2, I think I like playing as Kirin more than Gunvolt. The story feels tangential to previous games but the cast as a whole is much more lively than either Gunvolt 1 or 2. It's a relatively short game if you just intend to play through the main story, but it’s packed with extras that can take a lot of time and effort to complete for even the most skilled of players. Generally, you'll enjoy this game the most if you engage with its scoring and ranking system. This pushes you to play the game in the most fun way - flying through stages without touching the ground. Outside of that, there's an epilogue story, secret bosses, extra stages, a boss rush, D-nizer mode, time trials, an extra playable version of Kirin, secret endings, and more. If you have even a passing interest in action-platformer games, you'd be doing yourself a disservice not to check out this game (and by extension, the rest of the Gunvolt series).

Edit; While I recommend this game, I thought it prudent to also list my gripes with it. The most glaring issue is the means by which you earn Image Pulses (this game’s equipment). These are obtained randomly at the end of each stage depending on how many collectibles you found within it. In concept, this shouldn’t be too different to materials and medals in Gunvolt 1 and 2, but in execution it‘s tedious at best. The Image Pulse DLC packs are egregious in that they have no reason to be excluded from the main game. For a game titled “Azure Striker Gunvolt 3”, it is disappointing that there is no way to play as Gunvolt as he was in the previous games. You can only play a new, powered-up Gunvolt with infinite jumps, infinite air dashes, angled shots, altered Flashfield, Arc Chain, no SP, and no equipment, under the time limit of the Fetters Gauge. D-nizer mode and the Primal Dragon Image Pulse allow you to play as Gunvolt, but you’re again bound by the Fetters Gauge and gameplay modifications made in this game.

I think they want this game to die.

This game just consumes your time and your life. You get sucked into a vortex in which productivity ceases to exist. Good luck.

It's a rough version of the game. There's the standard issues of the font, the character sprites looking flat, the HUD looking out of place, lack of later introduced content, etc, but i'm shocked with how unpolished this feels. Controller support is shoddy, which seems to be a fairly common issue. My controller was only detected when I unplugged it and plugged it back in while the game was running. For others, this doesn't work. Holding a button repeats the input in battles, meaning that unless you tap the button you could misinput a command. Moving diagonally feels strange, especially with the 4-way sprites.

Outside of the remaster job, I don't think the game underneath holds up very well. It's pretty grindy, especially for gil. It can be unclear about where you're supposed to go and what you should be looking for next. Combat is extremely simple, and the high encounter rate leads you to end up spending lots of time in battle. These are all common aspects of games from this era, so it's to be expected. Still, however, I don't think it makes a very good experience compared to contemporary games, even other remasters of older games. If you want to get this, you really gotta know what you're getting into. I got it to experience how the franchise began, and to experience a historic game that paved the road for the modern JRPG. I wouldn't recommend it to the average player due to flaws of both the remake and the original underlying design.

Edit: Changed phrasing to increase clarity

"Just one more day and I'll go to sleep." "Woah, this Social Link is available today? Damn, I'll go to sleep after that." "If I go to sleep, I'll forget to turn in my quest items tomorrow."

The balance of life sim elements and deep JRPG gameplay creates an experience that is difficult to pull yourself away from. Combine that with fun characters and an intriguing plot set in a cozy Japanese town and you'll see hours of your life slip away. Keep 'em coming, Atlus.

Edit: Forgot to mention the number of BANGERS in the soundtrack.