Recent reviews by λrc Impulse

I cannot defeat Plantman

Premise:

The year is 20XX. In a side-scrolling 2D action-platformer game, play as either Nina, a cute girl robot in blue who fires a long-ranged energy weapon, or Ace, a red boy robot who wields a beam sword, and defeat the 8 Robot Masters to save the day. Is this all sounding quite familiar? It should. The key difference this time is instead of the stages having the same layouts every play-through, everything is randomized in a traditional rogue-like fashion.

Gameplay:

Biggest praise front and center: the controls just feel right. I understand how flimsy and subjective that might sound, but I think anyone who has played Mega Man X series games would agree, the way that the jumping, wall-kicking, dashing and charging up the main weapon have been replicated in this game is perfect, especially while using a controller. This is a treat for someone who is a big fan of the inspiration, but the controls are responsive and precise enough for anyone to easily master as they blast their way through the stages.
Each stage is randomized and different every time but in an intelligently designed way where nothing feels out of place or haphazard – every level will have a great flow between fast-paced combat, tight platforming and grabbing powerups – often all of them at once! There are 5 level ‘settings’, each associated with two different bosses. Each setting has it’s own different graphics, level design, platforming challenges and roster of enemies to face. The enemies are nicely varied with many different attacking styles, as the platforming complications are too – with all the things you would know and (hate) as Mega Man standbys. Disappearing platforms, conveyor belts, spikes, projectile traps, it’s all here. The bosses are just like you’d expect from the series that inspired this too, big tough enemies with high life totals, challenging but attacking in a predictable pattern so more you fight against them the easier they will become. The long-standing Mega Man tradition of copying a bosses’ primary attack is here too of course, giving the player new options to supplement their primary attacks and play around their shortcomings – and each of them is critically effective against one other boss, yet another recurring element. Not only that, most of these sub-weapons also serve an extra role in simplifying stage hazards, such as an ice power being able to lock up a projectile trap, giving the player a choice to trade some of the universal energy that all the boss powers share for an easier time traversing potentially tricky sections.
Difficulty ramps up at just the right pace too, no matter which order you play the stages in, the first few will be simple, but after each victory the next stages get more and more challenging, with enemies having tougher upgraded forms and the platforming sections becoming much more complex, until the last stages of any given run are usually down-right unforgiving.
Luckily the player is given a lot of chances to even the odds though, as upgrades can be obtained from defeating bosses, clearing short challenges, finding secrets or purchased at a shop using the ‘nuts’ currency which is dropped by enemies. The sheer variety in the upgrades is pretty wild, ranging from very simple like more health or increased damage, to pretty creative such as causing defeated enemies to explode and damage others near-by, or allowing shots to pass through walls, or even gaining a small drone ally that will hover near the player and automatically shoot at enemies. Complementing these are the much rarer Core Augs acting as equipment of sorts, only one can be equipped at a time in each slot (head, body, weapon, and feet) but the benefits from these are more powerful and even more creative, like granting a double-jump ability or causing the player’s attacks to erase incoming enemy projectiles all of which are awesome boons. Such variety encourages a lot of experimentation and can have the player adopting slightly different strategies from run to run, helping to keep things from feel too repetitive and samey. I’m also a huge fan of the fact that there is no limit to the number of standard items the player can have at once, meaning that with enough luck you’ll be overpowered and unstoppable in the last few stages which is always very satisfying. If you find yourself getting bored with the variety on offer, there are even extra characters with completely different mechanics than the original two, offered as cheap DLCs.
At the end of any run, victory or defeat, you can use Soul Chips gained from defeating bosses and elite enemies to buy some small permanent stat increases and unlock new items in future runs – while I typically dislike ‘meta-progression’ aspects in my Roguelikes/lites it’s done rather tastefully here. Unlocking new options for the player is standard and something I don’t mind, and the stat-ups here are rather minor and are quickly maxed out. While they aren’t insignificant they’re far from upsetting the game balance, and if you decide you don’t want them anyways you can choose to play on the ‘Defiant’ difficulty which strips them away entirely, then if even that becomes too easy you can add several modifiers which even includes the option to turn the game truer to it’s old-school inspirations by totally removing all in-run upgrades or turning hazards such as pits and spikes into instant deaths – brutal conditions that are sure to challenge even the most veteran platforming fans.
All in all it’s fast-paced, rewarding, simple to learn yet challenging to win – just as it should be.

Presentation:

Just as the gameplay, this is as good as you could expect in a loving homage. The 2D sprite-work is nicely drawn and well animated, the backgrounds show a good amount of detail, and the colors are bright and punchy. A problem I’ve had with similar throwback 2D action-platformers is that sometimes there is just too much going on at once and it can be tough to keep track of all the enemies and numerous projectiles, but that is rarely the case here. This was one of the better looking games among it’s genre at the time, and although it’s been surpassed since then it hasn’t aged poorly at all and the overall art direction is stylish and memorable. In particular the big bosses have the right amount of goofy charm that would have them fit right in with previous ensembles of Robot Masters.
The sound effects are okay, nothing too spectacular or special (other than the satisfying boom of enemies exploding) but the music, hot damn it’s incredible. When I first started playing this game the tunes from the Agnisort and Deepstation stages were stuck in my head for days afterwards, and I’d find myself whistling or humming them all the time. Just the same as I would with the catchy tunes from console games of decades ago. I could go on and on about how much I like this soundtrack – it’s one of the best I’ve heard in ages.

Story:

N/A. Re-read the Premise section and you’ve got it. I don’t think anyone is here for a story.

TL:DR:

It’s a damn sight better than Mighty No.9. That’s faint praise though, so:
The best Mega Man game in years, in Rogue-lite disguise. If you’re any kind of Mega Man fan you owe it to yourself to play this game. If you’re in to platforming action or Rogue-lites, give it a go, you won’t be disappointed.

There is no escape – but you’d never want to.

Premise:

An isometric action Rogue-lite where you play as Zagreus, Son of Hades. Zagreus decides he’s had enough of being trapped in his father’s Underworld kingdom, and makes a break for the surface world – slaying every monster in his path throughout 4 procedurally generated layers of Hell. The great Gods of Olympus are sympathetic to his situation, and lend their powers to aid his escape, increasing his combat abilities. Should he be slain in the attempt, he’ll be sent back to the House of Hades to spend resources he collects and to chat with his family and co-workers.

Gameplay:

Enter a new room, smash the enemies, collect rewards, proceed, repeat. The formula is simple and easy to grasp, yet the sheer variety in combat and options available to the player is one of the most praiseworthy features of the game. Each ‘layer’ of the Underworld has different room layouts, and new enemies to fight against, each culminating in a boss battle. Six different weapons on offer, and each plays in a unique way, leaving it up to the player to find their own favorite style – from quick combo-based melee attacks of the Stygian Blade to the safe, long ranged style of the Heart-Seeking Bow, with how separate and distinct each weapon is, anyone can find a favorite, something they are most comfortable with but it doesn’t end there. Every weapon also has three more ‘aspects’ to be unlocked and each changes how the weapon functions, sometimes drastically. Combine this with the hundreds of Boons, offered by 10 separate Deities, with each God of Olympus offering different modifiers to a weapon’s moves, passive benefits or changes to generic abilities that can be used with any weapon, no two runs through the Underworld will be the same. Like any Roguelike/lite experience, the variety is well enforced by the random nature of the rewards, you’re never given full control over which Boons and benefits you’re offered, so the player is encouraged to experiment with many different options.
Controls are smooth and polished, every weapon feels satisfying to use, and the combat is fast-paced and just fun. It all lends to a smooth rhythm of one hard-fought battle right after another which makes the game VERY hard to put down once you’re on a roll.
With each victory Zagreus will grow stronger, weather from gaining new Boons for use in the current attempt, or resources to spent in-between runs – a note of praise to be said for that the most common and plentiful of resources are also the ones that are most useful for unlocking passive benefits that will make the game easier – without ever removing the challenge or being an overly simplistic ‘your numbers are bigger now’
Speaking of challenge, the ‘Pact of Punishment’, the game’s way of providing steadily increasing difficulty, is downright brilliant. The player is free to adjust more than 10 different parameters to make each run more challenging, ranging from simple such as enemies dealing more damage or having more health, to more devious such as the player having a time limit to clear each region, or being presented with fewer choices when selecting a boon, leaving the player to ignore things they may hate and crank up those they’re comfortable dealing with. This is a perfect way to present increasing the difficulty as one step at a time, rather than overwhelming a player with too many changes at once.

Story:

Normally this could be a one-paragraph section, or skipped entirely for most similar Roguelikes or Rogue-lites, but for Hades that couldn’t be farther from the case. The character writing and script for this game is nothing short of excellent – especially our lead character, Zagreus – an embodiment of a well realized wish-fulfillment character. He always has the perfect thing to say – snarky about most things, sensitive and sympathetic in the right situations, confident, well-spoken, and altogether awesome – he leaves the impression that either you want to be more like him, or you’d want him to be your best friend.
The supporting cast is great too, especially the Olympian Gods aiding Zagreus, an ensemble that resembles a sit-com cast (but it’s way better than that sounds!) with Athena acting as the calm, logical older sister who just wishes everyone could get along, Poseidon the goofy dad/uncle who tries way too hard to be impressive and ‘cool’, Zeus the blowhard patriarch who can’t the respect he believes he’s due, Dionysus the ultimate party animal frat bro, or Aphrodite seeming sweet and attentive – if you’re the one she has her eyes on. Cross her or get in her way and her true, petty and manipulative nature is laid bare (just like everything else!).
Each and every one of is unique and distinct, and each is full of excellent and memorable dialogue. I especially like the characterization of Ares, who’s extremely calm and polite but without question a violent killer as he’ll often remind you. It would be been so easy to just write him as a buffoon, as many Greek Myth takes do.
This isn’t even getting into Zagreus’ co-workers and family who reside in the house of Hades, who are all just as well-written as the rest, though their stories tend to be much more personal and emotional to contrast the zaniness of the Olympians. Without veering in to spoiler territory, there is much to be done with Zagreus helping them confront their inner turmoils and setting right what had gone wrong in the past, long before the in-game narrative begins.
Noteworthy is that nearly every ‘in-game’ aspect is given an ‘in-universe’ explanation, which is very rare for this type of game - by far the most common cliche for any roguelike story to employ is a time-travel or alternate dimensions explanation for the endless different re-runs. This game tries a lot harder than that. Once again for fear of spoilers, I’ll leave it at that.

Presentation:

Dripping with style. The game’s graphics, though 2D and far from a technical marvel, are downright artistically gorgeous. Each setting of the ‘layers’ of the Underworld are all very different and distinct, the character designs are unique and well-made, the effects of all the different weapons and powers in combat are really cool, nothing is lacking and the game is top to bottom colorful, flashy, and lovingly crafted. What’s more is that the sound design is just as excellent – the music is rather good (though I’ll admit Elysium’s battle music did start to grate on me after a time) and sounds of combat with all the different enemies against all your different powers are impactful and satisfying.
Special praise has to be given to the voice-acting, which is absolutely superb – with so many different characters it’s a huge plus that not one of them is weak in this department especially seeing as there is so much dialogue in this game.
I could go on but it would be a stream of hyperbolic superlative. I’ll append it to: this game’s graphics and sound design are very very good.

TL:DR

The real deal.
A remarkable, once-in-a-generation game and at such a laudable price-point, unless you absolutely cannot stand Roguelike mechanics, you have no excuse not to play it.

DENUVO SURPRISE !!
Very glad I beat it twice already, now I can uninstall without regrets.