Final Fantasy Type-0 Review (PS4)

It's Final Fantasy, but not quite the way you know it.  Final Fantasy Type-0 is a different kind of Final Fantasy.   Put down your textbooks, don your red cape, and take up your sword for this one.  It's time to dole out some ass-whuppins.

Final Fantasy Type-0 is kind of like Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles on the Gamecube.  That's to say, you roam around free, beating the crap out of anything that dares to call itself an enemy.  Fortunately, Type-0 does what Crystal Chronicles did and vastly improves on it.

First off, you play Class 0, an entire classroom of badass teenagers in red capes.  These kids are so badass, an entire military of armed and trained grown men can't stand up to them.  Each kid has their own weapons and skill that can be upgraded with AP.  These bloodthirsty teens can also be customized with any skills and magic.  Once you've customized the kids to you liking, trot of into battle, kill people and monsters, and steal their souls, which causes the enemies to explode for reason.

Check out that epic cape.

The graphics are...meh.  This game is a port from the PSP game and it shows.  The playable characters and Akademia (the school Class 0 attends) look good.  The towns, battlefields, enemies, and NPC look like they were ripped straight from the PSP version.  That's not to say they look bad, but you can tell this wasn't originally a PS4 game.  Maybe the Xbox One version looks better.

The school is epic.

Akademia on the world map.  As you can see, the school is pretty much a city.

This classroom is too darned big for only fifteen students.

The music is pretty good.  The sound track goes perfectly with sending high school kids off to war to murder people (or get murdered themselves).  It's better the Final Fantasy 8, which also has the high school kids going to war them.  There's some pretty epic stuff here.  From that chilling opening menu theme, to the battle preparation theme, and some of the battle themes will have you thanking God for YouTube.  Final Fantasy usually sets a high bar for music and Type-0 makes the cut.

The gameplay is solid, but can be subpar sometimes.  As mentioned before, battle is like Crystal Chronicles on steroids.  You can roam freely on the battlefield, beating whichever ass is close enough to kick.  Some characters are better suited for melee combat, while others are better from long range.  Be careful, though, because the enemy will fight back and some of them pretty hard.  Your kids can die pretty easily.  Get too greedy in battle and you'll be dead faster than you can say, "I've got a pimple".  But you have fourteen kids at your disposal, so you can send as many as you need to their deaths until you win (or lose).  The students on AI duty tend to be sturdy and smart, so they won't keel over unless the enemy is particular tough.  If combat is really tough, you can always sacrifice (yes, you kill them) your entire threesome to summon super monster called an Eidolon to dish out beatings.  In all honesty, combat can be tough to adjust to, be it can be addictive once you adjust.

Combat does have its flaws.  First, there is the three-member party system.  This system has always sucked and hopefully future RPGs pull away from this.  Also, players who dislike random encounters should stay away, because this game follows that RPG tradition, as well.

Surveying the field before battle.

Then, melee combat doesn't always feel right.  It just doesn't feel as good as it should.  Your kids will usually get knocked down with one hit, taking their sweet time getting up, which will allow your enemies to size up the next hit.  So you might get caught in a situation where your kid will get hit and fall down screaming, only to get up right into the next hit and be sent back to the ground screaming.  This doesn't usually happen with long range characters because you're likely not close enough to be hit.

Ranged combat isn't without its flaws, though.  It's not just as simple as sitting back and shooting while your melee fighters rush in and beat ass.  Fast enemies can dodge your shots and hit you, sending your character to the ground squealing just like melee fighter.  Nothing's wrong with missing a few shots, but sometimes the circumstances under which you'll miss are BS.  Some enemies will be in your direct line of fire, yet you'll still miss them for some strange reason.

Cater, a member of Class 0, having fun with her guns.

Finally, the camera be an issue in combat, especially when you lock on to fast enemies.  When the enemies zip around the screen like they're on speed, so does the camera.  It's not game breaking, but it can take players out of the action.

Outside of the main story, there are quest you can do.  You can replay any missions you've beaten or study the characters and history of the world if you're interested.  Heck, you can even raise and breed chocobos.

Chocobos are so cute when they're little...

...but they grow up.

In the end, Final Fantasy Type-0 is a flawed, but good experience.  It is the game Crystal Chronicles should have been.  Decent graphics, epic music, and solid gameplay help the game overcome the flaws.  Players looking for a different kind of Final Fantasy should check this one out.

Street Fighter 5 Review (PS4)

This is it.  The game that made me want to get a PlayStation 4.  It's Street Fighter 5, the biggest disappointment in the PlayStation 4 library.  So where did it go wrong?  Let's dive in and find out.

First off, let's start off by saying this is the best looking Street Fighter game to date.  The graphics are like Street Fighter 4 on steroids.  The game just flat-out looks good.  Street Fighter 4 is the only game that can possibly compare.  There are neat little touches, like palace guards and a punk rocker playing music in the background on the Train Station level.  There's usually something goofy going on in the background of every level, so players should keep their eyes peeled to see it all.

Those guards in the background are hilarious.

The music head-rocking and fist-pumping throughout.  The Street Fighter series has always had top-class music, so this is no surprise.  If you like bad music, stay away from this bad.  No bad tracks here.

The gameplay is the same great stuff you're used to by now.  Pick a character and beat the crap out of everyone until the game decides to give and admit that you beat it.  There are a few things that have been added for depth, such as elemental attacks.

There are a few bad things in the gameplay department however.  Some characters have changed a lot in terms of how they are played.  For example, Chun Li's Lighting Kick is no longer performed by tapping a kick button multiple times, but like Ryu throwing a fireball.  Looking for M. Bison's psycho crusher?  You won't find it here.  Poor Vega is almost trash now.  So, yes, while the gameplay is largely the same, make sure you hit that training room to prevent confusion in battle.

M. Bison's standard Psycho Crusher is gone, but he has this neat flame geyser

So, with the exception of minor character hiccups, it sounds all good, right?  Not quite.

The first problem is the roster.  Right out the box, you get sixteen characters.  While that's small compared to other fighting games, the roster size isn't really a problem.  The problem is that there's no Sakura.  WTF, Capcom?  Street Fighter just isn't the same without "Ryu in a dress".  Where is she?  She's not even a DLC character (and may never be).  Bring Sakura back, please.

Most of the classics are here.

Some characters have received quite the makeover.

Hopefully this isn't the only place we see Sakura.

Yes, there are cute women on the roster, including the legendary Chun Li.

Sakura wasn't the only thing left out.  All the game modes were left out as well.  No versus mode (at least not against the computer), no arcade mode, no time trial (not a big loss), and story mode is BS.  You have to download the REAL story mode.  The BS story mode comprises of picking a character and fight 2-5 lame, easy fights.  Survival mode is there, but like "story mode", it's BS.

Speaking of the BS story mode, there are costumes that you'll only have access to in that mode, unless you have internet access.  You like that police uniform Chun Li's wearing.  Sorry, it's DLC.  What about those shorts Laura is sporting?  DLC.  Hey, is that Sakura in Karin's ending.  Yeah...can't help you there.  It's such a tease and it's total BS.

Want to use this outfit outside of story mode?  You gotta download it, first.

Simply put, Street Fighter 5 IS a good game.  The music, graphics, and gameplay you know are back and better than ever.  The problem the level of content.  You'll get the REAL story mode and additional characters...as DLC.  It just feels like such a rip-off if you paid full-price and don't have internet access.  The overreliance on DLC is just a killer.  If you have an internet connection, don't miss this one.  If you don't have an internet connect, buy this one with caution.

Cool Characters: Hein

Have you ever wanted to be a butler?  Have you ever wanted to hand out beatings like Halloween candy?  Well now you can do both, thanks to King of Fighters 14.  Introducing Hein, the ass-kicking butler.

Even a simple kick looks cool when a butler does it.

Everything about this guy screams cool, aesthetically at least.  He just calmly trots out there in his butler outfit and calmly breaks his foot off in some asses.  He has a cool walk where he pushes his glasses up at the beginning, whether he's going forward or backward.

This is one acrobatic butler.

From a gameplay standpoint, he's...meh.  He has a few useless specials and a weak (if not nonexistent) keep-out game.  Not having projectiles sucks, too.  He does have a few good specials, though.  His normal attacks are good and effective.  And of course, he looks cool doing it all.  Maybe it's the outfit.

Not sure what this move is good for, but at least it looks cool.

He cleans floors and clocks.

And what good would a butler be if not for good manners?  Take a look a this picture:

Bowing after whupping twelve asses.

So, as you can see, butlers can be cool, too.  He may not be the best character, but he is certainly one of the coolest.  Pick up King Of Fighters 14 and give him a try.

King of Fighters 14 Review (PS4)

It's a the ultimate test of strength, teamwork, and patience.  The King Of Fighters is back and sort of better than ever (emphasis on 'sort of').  Well, let's get into it.

King Of Fighter 14 is a 2D fighter akin to the likes of Street Fighter and Killer Instinct.  The thing that sets this series apart from your typical 2D fighter is team play.  You pick not one, not two, but three characters and trot them out against other three-character teams, beating the crap out of them until you meet the final boss and beat the crap out of him.

Speaking of characters, there are a LOT of them.  Fifty plus, including unlockable bosses and DLC (Yay, Whip is back).  They may be divide into preset teams, but you can select any three characters you want.  You have longtime favorites, as well as new characters, and with so many, you'll find at least five characters to like.  They did leave out some favorites, but that to be expected (maybe they'll be added as DLC).  Some characters have rivals that may activate a cutscene before they fight, so keep an eye out for that.

As you can see, the cast can get pretty wild.

As you can see, Mai has some stiff competition for the title of hottest woman in this game.

Graphics are a mixed bag.  The in-game graphics are good, but some of the profile pictures look like trash (looking at you, Nakoruru).  Also, while the in-game graphics are good, some characters (like Yuri) just like weird.  Kyo still looks badass, Mai still looks hot, and Iori still looks like a guy you don't want to meet in a dark alley.  In other words, the graphics work as a whole.

Two badasses looking like badasses.

The music is pretty good.  In particular, the Team Ikari theme will have you rocking your head for the whole fight.  There's some playlist-worthy stuff here.

As for gameplay, this is one of the easier entries in the series.  SNK games are known for being balls hard, capped off with the cheapest bosses in videogame history (that may not be an exaggeration).  This one dials down the challenge quite a bit.  It usually takes fifty tries to beat the final boss in an SNK game.  This boss can be beaten of the first try, which is almost blasphemy for games like this.  It's good if you like have all of you hair when you beat the game, but it sucks if you like frustration and BS.  He's still tough and cheap, but well-planned and aggressive attacks will rape him.  Crank up that difficulty if you want that old-school SNK challenge.

This big guy may not be too tough, but he still has plenty of cheapness in his arsenal.

Outside of the main story, you can tackle Mission Mode, which will enable to play character Trials, Time Trials, and Survival Mode.  As you can see, you get all the necessities right out the gate (isn't that right, Street Fighter 5).  You can also listen to music and characters voices, as well as view pictures of the characters.  One thing that would have made the game even better would have been a Mission Mode with lots of cool stuff to do, like KOF 2006.  Oh well, you can't have everything.

Some character trials are tough, but practice makes perfect.

So, there you have it.  King Of Fighters 14 is a pretty good game.  It has some flaws, such as a derpy AI, but nothing game-breaking.  It would have been nice if Mission Mode actually had missions like KOF 2006, but you'll live without them.  On the good side, the game has solid graphics, good music, lots of characters, and Mai Shiranui.  What more do you need?  Check this one out.

Gravity Rush Remastered (PS4)

Thank God for remakes and re-masters.  I never owned a Vita, so I missed out on some gems.  In particular, Persona 4 Golden and Atelier Totori Plus are games I wanted to play, but couldn't because I didn't have the hardware.  I could live that though, because I had (and still have) the originals and while they may or may not as good as the Vita remakes, I still have the experience and that was good enough.  However, there was one game in particular that I wanted to play but couldn't; Gravity Rush.  It looked like fun, but not having a Vita made it impossible for me to play.  Then, the PlayStation 4 came along and made this wish come true by having Gravity Rush Remastered in its library.  Hooray!

The heroic theme on the screen gets you in the mood to fly.

A close up of our heroine.

Gravity Rush is a game where physics and cute girls meet.  You take the role of Kat, who can defy gravity with the aid of her pet cat (which looks like outer space).  So, there's a girl called Kat with a pet cat (ha ha).  Anyway, the world is broken like Humpty Dumpty, so Kat and her cat have to put it together, all at the behest of a dirty old flasher who's body looks like a black hole.  It won't be easy though, as you have to fight countless monsters and (gasp) another cute girl who can also defy gravity.

You thought I was kidding about the flasher, didn't you?

Speaking of saving the world, what a world it is.  The game takes place in some place that I can only describe as Victorian-era steampunk version of Cloud City from The Empire Strikes Back.  This world is seriously messed up, but in a good way.  It truly feels like an escape from reality.  Your journey through this world is accompanied by comic-style cutscenes.

Kat and her cat, Dusty.

The gameplay is also something that almost defies explanation.  It feels like some weird mix of Super Mario Galaxy and Grand Theft Auto.  You walk around a mostly-open world, defying gravity, completing challenges, and going on missions whenever the heck you feel like it.  That's right.  There's no rush to reassemble the world.  You can fly around at your leisure, collecting crystals, which you need to upgrade Kat's abilities as well as start some machines, which will open up more challenges.  You can also send Kat crashing into things like a crash test dummy (this doesn't hurt her, so beat the heck out of her if you want).

Dive straight into the story or take your time and enjoy the sights.

Look out below!

As for Kat's abilities, she can throw standard kicks to hurt enemies low to the ground.  As mentioned before, she can also manipulate gravity.  She can simply hover or you can send her flying in whatever direction you want.  If you press the attack button she'll do a flying kick, which will hurt enemies depending on how fast she's going when she hits them.  Being able to defy gravity means she can also walk up or along walls.  You can make her grab things with a gravity force and carry them around or throw them like an angry Jedi (or like an angry gamer throwing a controller).  She can gravity slide to move faster on the ground.  She also has super moves, including a drill kick that absolutely rapes any enemy unfortunate enough to be in her way when it's used.  All of these abilities are upgradable, increasing their effectiveness.  Needless to say, Kat is well equipped to deal with any situation.  There is a learning curve though and you'll need to practice before undertaking the serious missions.

Kat throws a kick while her cat watches.

The enemies are mostly blobs that vaguely resemble some kind of creature.  They have a glowing red orb that you must hit if you want your attacks to count.  Hit them anywhere else and you'll slide right around them like they're made of butter.  Fortunately, Kat auto-adjusts and will home in on the weak spot, assuming the enemy movements aren't too sharp.  The enemies may look creepy, but are easy enough to defeat.

Everything else fits where it should.  Cut scenes are present like a comic book and you can tilt them by tilting your controller.  The music is diverse and tracks are appropriate for the situation they're used in.  The sound effects nice as are the graphics.  The controls are laid out well and Kat's responses are (usually) crisp.  The camera can be disorienting sometimes, but that was probably by design, considering the type of game this is.

Outside the main game, you can complete challenges, play side missions, or fool around and explore the areas you've unlocked.  Completing side missions unlocks extra costumes for Kat.  You can also replay any on the story missions after a certain point.

Now THIS is how you ride a train.

So in the end, Gravity Rush is a neat little game.  It can be confusing and frustrating, but the overall experience is good.  Check it out.

Hunie Pop Review (PC)

Puzzles, girls, and sex all meet in this little gem.  Hunie Pop is an raunchy, yet addictive puzzle game that will have you laughing right up until the end.  Oh, and it's not bad.

You'll get your shot at all these women and more.

You play as some disembodied male or female (your choice), though the gender of your character doesn't matter much.  Anyway, you learn right away that you are a loser who can't laid.  That's when you meet a woman called Kyu, who promises to turn you from a loser to a sex machine.  Thus begins your quest to plow every woman you meet.

She'll be your guiding hand most of the way.

After a practice date with Kyu, you're given some locations to go to.  After selecting a place, you are greeted with two women interacting.  These interactions can be quite humorous (pick the shopping mall first and prepare to laugh your ass off).  Once this interaction finishes, one of the women notices you and starts a conversation.  From there, it's time to play ball.

Shit gets real when these two meet.

There are several things you can do with the woman.  You can converse her, in an effort to get to know her better.  These conversations are how you earn a substance called hunie, which is used to upgrade your character so you'll be more efficient at dating.  You can buy her food and drinks to keep talking to her, which is a good thing, because the longer you talk to her, the more you'll learn about her.  Eventually, you'll fill up her profile, which she may quiz you on from time to time.  There's no real penalty to screwing up conversations, except for not getting any hunie.  You can get her gifts to butter her up so you get more hunie for giving good answers.  You can leave and find the next girl to flirt with.  Finally, you can get into the meat of the game and go on a date with the her.

You can do assorted things with the women.

Dates are presented and a puzzle where you must score a set number of points to succeed.  You have a game grid with a bunch of colors on it and you have match three to five tiles of the same color tiles to get points.   Some tiles do different things, like give you more turns or other stuff.  Beware of those broken hearts (the purple ones), because they take away points and the penalty is harsh.  The point threshold gets higher with each successful date, making the dates harder as you continue.  Each successful date gets you munie to be spent giving the women gifts and food.

This is the playing field.  You can see two of those damned broken hearts.

Speaking of the women, you start off with one, but seven others can be accessed simply changing your location for a total of eight women readily available.  Others (including Kyu herself) can be unlocked and some require observation and proper situation to get.  I won't say how to do it here, but there is more to this game the what you see on the surface.

As you can see, the women have their own schedule and won't always be available.

In terms of what you see on the surfaces, the women are cute in an anime way.  As for the rundown, you have a college student, a depressing barista, a flight attendant, a yoga instructor, a gothic chick, a fitness chick, a teacher, a middle-aged porn star, and a slutty fairy.  There are some others, but telling would be spoiling.  Most are foul-mouthed, but for the most part they all have their own personalities and gifts they like to receive.

Converse with the women to earn hunie and learn more about them in them process.

 We need more teachers like this.

Also, those colors that you're matching during the dates correspond to their strengths and weaknesses.  Play to a woman's strengths gives you maximum point and,  as a result, makes dates easier.  Playing to a woman's weaknesses won't take away points (like those damned broken hearts), but chances are you're going to fail that date because you're not scoring enough points.  Upgrading your traits can help when those point thresholds start getting ridiculous.

Upgrade those traits or take an ass-whuppin'.

Successful dates get you more than money.  The women will also send you a pictures of themselves, with each usually raunchier than the last.  After four successful dates, the women decide to put out.  Yep.  This is where the sex happens.

Much like the dates, sex is a puzzle to be solved.  Once again, you have to match colors and reach a point threshold to "satisfy" the woman.  What makes sex different from dating is the there is no turn limit, no dating gifts, and the woman is now in her underwear, making sexy (or what passes as sexy) noises.  Also, you have to keep matching colors to "satisfy" her.  The point counter drains when you aren't matching colors and you can't leave until she's satisfied.  Well, you could give up (it can get be irritating sometimes), but you won't get the fourth picture if you do.

Just a sample of the pictures you can unlock.  Sorry, I can't show the dirty stuff.

As for the other stuff, the music is good.  As mentioned before, the graphics are cute, but not too cute.  As for extras, you can unlock other women, collect all the pictures and items, and try your hand at a "super hard" mode called alpha mode.  There's enough to keep you occupied for a few days.

At end of the day, Hunie Pop is a fun, sexy puzzle game that WILL entertain you.  It can be weird to hear these cute women with cute voices swearing like a bunch of drunken sailors, but the good soundtrack balances things out nicely.  Addictive gameplay and a few secrets make this a solid game.  Check it out.