Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 Review (PS4)

The Guilty Gear series is long-lived series of (mostly) 2-D fighting games.  It may not be as old as Street Fighter or King Of Fighters, but it has been around for 19 years, so it's not the new kid on the block.  It is, however, a bizarre series with an interesting story.  Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 is no exception.

2-D fighting games have always (and likely always will) be compared to Street Fighter.  This is understandable because Street Fighter is the standard setter.  However, I am here to tell you that this is NOT a Street Fighter clone.  If you're good at Street Fighter and think you're going to come in doling out beatings, you will take many ass-whuppins.  Some of the moves may be performed the same way and some of the same tactics may work temporarily, but get ready to change tactics on the fly.

The first thing you'll notice is the selection of characters.  They are a diverse lot.  You have characters who look normal, characters who look abnormal, badasses, hot chicks, powerhouses, fast-but-weak types, overpowered teenagers and kids, and straight-up weirdos, among others.  The best part is they all play differently.  There aren't any clones here.

Hot chicks...

...badasses...

...and weirdos.  Yes, that is man with a giant scalpel fighting a boy lying in bed.

There are some bizarre moves in here, too.  For example, there is a nine-foot tall doctor who has a move where he attacks you by disappearing and opening a door that materializes out of nowhere.  Another character is a one-armed female samurai who can stomp on the ground, causing a tatami mat to kick up and hit opponents who are unprepared.  Yet another character can summon cute little servants who can attack and level up (yep, like an RPG).  It's craziness at it's peak.

Tatami Mat!!!

This is what happens when you ask Jam for a discount.

After selecting your character and beginning combat, the next thing you'll notice is the speed of the combat.  The rounds can feel long, but the speed of the fighting is fast.  Seriously, you have to have Jedi reflexes to play this game.  If you're a slow gamer, stay away.

This game's graphics are nice, but the presentation is awesome.  Each character gets an intro scene, a winning scene, and a death move cut scene, all of which are anime quality.  The attention to detail is where the game shines.  For example, check out the Edinburgh Magicpolis stage.  There's a lot going on in the background while the characters are fighting, all with no slowdown.  It's quite impressive.

Also, the game doesn't cut corners on the cutscenes.  The characters' colors match up during the cutscenes match up with the characters' colors in-game.  These cutscenes are fully animated for each and every color combination for every character.  Whether they hand-drawn or digital, it must have been painful for the creators to do that for each and every character in each and every cutscene.  Just check out the differences in these shots of the same move.

The music is good, especially if you like rock.  There's some good stuff here.  Unfortunately, there's no sound test, which is baffling.  Seriously, I could listen to I-No's theme all day.

There are other things here.  There's a story mode, which is basically an anime to be watched.  This shouldn't be confused with Chapter Mode, where you pick a character and actually play though their story.  If you're confused about some things or a new player, there is a glossary and a timeline explaining the events and characters important to the game.  It's quite a read, some break out the reading glasses.  You can use money (called World Dollars) earned in combat to buy things from Gallery Mode or fish for item.

Fishing for things potentially gives you items you can buy from the gallery for cheap then it would normally cost.  Fishing is also the only way to get digital figures, as well as poses and colors for them, and backgrounds to put them in.  It's something to do when all the fighting is over.

A digital statue of Millia.

Fishing allows you to create scenes like this and more.

At the end of this day, this is no mere clone of Street Fighter or King Of Fighters.  Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 has it's own identity and is happy with it.  It's filled to the brim with stuff, including game modes I didn't touch on here.  Throw out every thing you know about Street Fighter before diving into this one.  It's a must for 2-D fighting game fans.  Play it.

Cool Hotties: Ramlethal Valentine

When the Guilty Gear series moved onto next-gen consoles, it brought into existence a truly hot game girl.  The end of the world has never looked this good or been this cool.  It's Ramlethal Valentine.

She may wear a silly hat, but she's hot and strong.

Ramlethal is so hot, they should change her name to Burning Building.  Look at her.  Just look.

Even this dresser can't overcome her power.

She perfectly fine fighting on top of a train in the middle of winter wearing a barely-there top, tiny little shorts, and NO SHOES.  Perhaps that cape (which seems to be a living thing) is good enough to keep in all her body heat.  Or maybe she doesn't get cold.

If you're a game girl, try not to get cold.

Her cape has freaking teeth.  Scary.

Naturally, your eyes will be drawn to her giant swords, a necessity for cool characters.  Rather than handling these sword and risking callouses on her beautiful hands, she let's her ball servants do all the work.  Heck, they even taunt you.

Notice her hands don't touch the swords at all.

Ramlethal is to big to use insults.  She sits back and let's her minions do that.

But she does punch and kick her opponent, so she's not afraid to actually get her hands dirty.

She's agile enough to do a handstand kick...

...yet powerful enough to claw out guts.

Of course she has moves that devastate, destroy, and kill.  You can't start an apocalypse with those.

Let's see M. Bison do this.

Those servants sure are strong.

Once all the fighting is over, you maybe be tempted to let her hug you, but resist the urge unless you want this to happen...

This woman's embrace is not loving or gentle.

And that's Ramlethal, a true cool character and a hottie to boot.  Check her out in the Guilty Gear Xrd trilogy...and prepare to die.

Lost Kingdoms 2 (Gamecube)

It's time to re-enter the fantasy world on magic and monsters.  Kingdoms will once again be brought to the brink of ruin.  Finally, the fate of the good and innocent will once again rest in the hands of a teenage girl with jewel and a deck of cards.

Lost Kingdoms 2 takes place 200 years after the original and follows a girl called Tara Grimface.  For the sake of get it out the way, Tara is hot.  At least hotter that cat-faced moron Katia.  She looks like a down-on-her-luck fortune teller, but she just more appealing to look at than Katia.

Tara's backstory is more interesting than Katia's.  Her childhood was pretty messed up, making her more sympathetic.  You wouldn't wish her childhood on anyone, though it was done .  Of course this results in Tara not being particularly friendly or trusting of others.  But she's not walking around being an asshole either, so you can still sympathize with her.

Also, her voice isn't as irritating as Katia's.  The banshee-like screeches and squeals Katia belted out made me want to strangle a cat.  Tara actually sounds like someone who can take a hit.  I suppose that makes sense, though.  Katia was a princess who'd never been in combat before the events of the original Lost Kingdom, whereas as Tara starts off as a seasoned veteran traveling with a band of thieves.  Anyway, Tara is less annoying.  With the character comparison done, let's move on.

Lost Kingdoms 2 plays similar to the original, with some game-changing differences.  First, there are two new types of cards (helper and transform) to go with the original three (weapon, summon, and independent).  Helper cards are like independent cards in the fact that they allow a creature to join you on the battlefield.  However, where independents are committed solely to fighting, helpers may not may not fight.  The value of helpers is in what else they do.  Some are solely healers, some dig up crystals (yes, they're back), while other enchant the battlefield with an effect to turn the tide of the battle.  Transform cards allow Tara to turn into a monster and go places she otherwise couldn't reach.  Summon cards behave a little differently, allowing you to choose what the summoned creature will do.  Weapon and independent cards are exactly the way they were in the first game.  Some card have changed their type from the original game, so there is a small readjustment period.

Second, there are no longer random battles.  You can see the monsters roaming around the battlefield, fighting or avoiding them at your leisure.  This makes deck management easier than in the previous game because you simply don't have to waste cards.

Speaking of deck management, it's a lot better in this game.  The biggest difference is that when you skip a card, you can use it again later.  In the original game, a skipped card was treated like a used card, which meant you couldn't use it again until the battle was over or you aborted the mission.  That was total BS and I'm glad they changed this.

Combat is still largely the same.  Tara can't fight without cards, so make sure you put together a good deck before trotting her out onto the battlefield.  As mentioned before, some cards have changed their type, so make sure you practice.  There is ample opportunity to practice now, because you can replay missions anytime you want.

Tara is different from Katia in the fact that she can level up (like in a normal RPG).  Katia could only get stronger at certain story points in the original game, but Tara can get stronger by fighting battles.  Also, Tara herself can have an elemental alignment, which reduces the crystal cost of using cards of that element.  Beware though, because if there's an element you're not proficient in, it cost extra crystals to use cards of that element.  There is a balancing act between the elements, so you'll never be able to master them all (or have difficulty doing so).  Tara can supercharge cards as well, doubling the crystal cost, but also doubling their effectiveness.  All this is to say that Tara is more fun to play as than Katia.

The problems that plagued the first game have been cut back, though they aren't completely gone.  The camera is better as you can now position it and move it freely.  This means obstacles you can't see don't block your movements.  The camera will, however, sometimes get too close to Tara, making it hard to see anything except her.  She's cute, but I'd like to see what the heck I'm doing.

Also, the controls are more responsive, making Tara much easier and quicker to move.  The cheap hits aren't as prevalent, but you'll still take some.  The one big flaw that's still there in full is that Tara still takes as much time to get up from being knocked down as Katia.  If you're not quick, you could wind up in an endless cycle of getting your ass kicked until you die.

The graphics and music are much improved.  Stages and themes from the previous game have been brought back and are better than ever.  As mentioned before, Tara's grunts and screams aren't as annoying as Katia's and she even has a spoken line at the end.  Its fun and funny to watch monsters walking around freely, making their distinctive sounds.  The music from the new stages is nice.  Nothing wrong in either of these department.

There is a stage that takes place in a battle arena, that affords you the chance to beat on monsters in one-on-one combat.  The most interesting part is that Helena is back...and she's easy.  She's the source is so many headaches in the first game, but she's Tara's bitch in this game.  Perhaps you'd prefer to beat the crap out of Katia (Yes, that Katia).  Well, you can do that, too.  Words can't explain how badly I beat the tar out of her and this game made that dream come true.  Just beautiful.

Lost Kingdoms 2 is a marvelous game and great improvement over the first.  Literally everything that was a problem in the first game has been fixed and overhauled.  Of course, the game isn't without flaws, but none of them break the game (like Helena in the first game).  Better graphics, better music, better gameplay, better controls, and yes, a better heroine make this a nice experience.  If you have a Wii or Wii U, take advantage of the backwards compatibility and give it a shot.  Don't miss this one.

Lost Kingdoms Review (Gamecube)

It's time to enter a fantasy world of magic and monsters.  Epic battles between good and evil will bring entire kingdoms to ruin.  The only hope for the good and innocent people of the land is a teenage girl with a jewel and a deck of cards.  This is Lost Kingdoms.

Lost Kingdoms is a kind of like a hybrid of Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokémon.  Katia (the main character) can't fight, but let's her cards do the fighting.  She has many cards at her disposal, divided into three different types.  First there are the weapon card, which are used like...well, weapons.  These are my personal favorite, because they allow Katia to get down and dirty.  Then there are the independent cards.  These are like Pokémon, as the summon a creature to fight alongside Katia in combat.  Finally, there are to summon cards, which call forth a creature that will either launch a quick attack and disappear or help Katia by healing her hit points or restoring her cards, among other things.  The game also has an elemental system, so she can make the most out of her cards.

The game even has a capture system similar to Pokémon.  Simply wear down an enemy until it's almost dead, decide which card you want to sacrifice, toss it at the enemy while holding the L button, and bam!  There's another monster in your collection.  It's good if you've just 'gotta catch 'em all'.  You can also buy cards from the card shop to fill out your collection.  If that's not enough, you can collect red fairies an take them to the fairy collector in exchange for cards.

Going back to the card shop, you don't just buy cards.  You can sell them, transform them into other card, or copy them.  Selling them get you money so you can buy other cards.  Transforming them is a good way to turn extras into cards you either don't have or word rather have and requires experience points.  Copying them is good if you have a favorite or need extras to sell or transform and, like transforming, requires experience points.  So as you can see, it's very much possible to get every card.

Katia can't just use these cards at her leisure.  She needs crystals to use them.  Each card has its own crystal value and if she doesn't have enough, she can still use them...at the cost of hit points.  It cost ten hit points for each crystal you're short.  Yes, Katia CAN die if she overuses cards when she short on crystals, so beware.

Also, you have the ability to skip a card if you don't want to use it yet, but the way it's handled is BS.  When you skip a card, it's treated kind of like an used card.  Put another way, if you skip a card you can't use it again until the battle ends.  Why did they do it that way?  Who knows?  Just keep in mind that if you skip too many cards, you could be hurting yourself during a boss battle or a tough battle when you're already short on cards, because you'll run out of them faster.  As mentioned, Katia can't fight without of cards, so you'll have to run from battle (which cost you a card) or abort the mission and start over.  Or you could let yourself be killed.  If you run out of cards at any point during the mission, you'll have no choice but to abort and restart.

There are some annoyances here and there.  The first thing is the way Katia moves.  It's hard to explain but she has to start moving before she actually moves.  It's weird.  Fortunately, this is only a problem when she starts moving or changes direction, but be prepared to take some cheap hits.  She simply doesn't feel right, like she's out of shape or something.

The second annoyance is a serious problem throughout the game.  When Katia gets knocked down, she takes her time getting back up.  This allows opponents to size her up for the next hit.  Combined with the first problem, you can imagine the frustration this can cause.  I remember screaming at the TV, "stop falling down and start fighting, you idiot!"

The third annoyance is the camera.  It's not always a problem, though.  On certain levels, it seems like you can't just find a good camera angle.  Sometimes the camera will make obstacles transparent, which can cause you to get stuck and cornered.  You'll take plenty of cheap shots because of this.

The final annoyance is Helena, particularly at Grayl Castle (you fight her more than once).  This purple cloak-wearing bitch pissed me off to no end.  She's a card-user like Katia, only she NEVER runs out of cards.  She's so cheap, I had to check to make sure I wasn't playing an SNK game (anyone who's ever fought Krizalid or Amakusa knows what I mean).  She is beatable, but bring extra controllers and patience.

As for the other stuff, the graphics are only average and haven't aged well.  The music is solid, yet somehow bland at the same time.  As for extras...when you beat the game, you can replay the missions (you can't replay them until you beat the game).  Extra missions can be unlocked by talking to Gurd (the owner of the card shop), so make sure to talk to her after every mission.  There's also a two-player mode where you duel with another player (sorry, no co-op here).  There's more than enough length (and frustration) to keep you occupied.

Lost Kingdoms is a mixed bag.  It has a lot of interesting things going for it.  You play as a (debatably) cute girl who fights a deck of cards.  The graphics aren't bad, the music works, and the gameplay is nice.  The execution is kind of shaky because of the way Katia and the camera handle, which can lead to cheap hits and deaths.  Oh, and that darned Helena.  Equal parts fun and frustrating, it's the very definition of a middle of the road game.  Give it a try.

Videogame Hotties: Audrey Belrose

Do you like mega-bitches, smokers, and women who look fake.  Well, you're in luck.  Huniepop's Audrey Belrose is all three.

Foul-mouthed and ready for a fight, Audrey is the bitch other bitches aspire to be.  Seriously, she's an asshole and doesn't care.  She's like Donald Trump with breasts.

This makes me laugh no matter how many times I see it.

Bad person or not, she's not bad on the eyes.  She can even change her look if you get tired of seeing her one way.

Audrey's default look.

One of her alternate looks.

My personal favorite.

Breaking out the swimsuit for a date at the water park.

There she is.  Audrey Belrose, mega-bitch supreme.  Check her out in Huniepop.

Cool Characters: Robert Garcia

Before there was King Of Fighters, the was Art Of Fighting.  It was an okay fighting game filled with interesting characters.  As interesting as they were, only one of the was actually cool.  Robert Garcia, the Italian Beating Machine.

Robert, looking cool after kicking thirty asses.

Robert is happy fighting in his vest, dress pants, dress shoes, with his ponytail.  Robert's look has changed over the years.  He started off looking like Steven Seagal in his prime, eventually evolving into his current state.

Just giving Kula Diamond a nice, relaxing ass-kicking.

So what makes Robert so cool?  Everything.  His look, his outfit, his move set.  Nothing about thing dude is lame.  In terms of gameplay, he has all the answers and virtually no weaknesses.  He has a fireball for long-range fighting, an uppercut to knock enemies out of the air, and a flying kick to safely close the gap on opponents.  He's like Street Fighter's Ryu and Ken, only he doesn't look as boring.

Shoryuken...wait, what?

Forcing icy-cold Kula eat fire.

Robert even makes athlete's foot look cool.

Do your best not to get in the way of that.

So, there's Robert for you.  Tough, versatile, and cool-looking.  Heck, he's even good-looking for those female gamers out there.  Check him out in King Of Fighters 14.