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 with 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 her.

You can do assorted things with the women.

Dates are presented as 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 the proper situation to get.  I won't say how to do it here, but there is more to this game than what you see on the surface.

As you can see, the women have their own schedules 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.  Playing to a woman's strengths gives you maximum points 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.

My Senran Kagura Estival Versus Dream Team

It's no secret that I like Senran Kagura.  What is secret is the characters I like to use.  Before I start, I will say that these aren't the top five girls in terms of usefulness or even popularity.  These are MY personal favorites, based on a number of factors.  Also, I won't be including DLC characters, so (against every fiber of my being) Ryofu and Ayane won't be on this list.  Anyway, here are the five girls on my Estival Versus dream team.

5.  Mirai

It's an umbrella.  It's a gun.  It's an umbrella gun.

When she gets going you don't even have to move to defeat bosses in the one-on-one battles.  Just stand there and shoot like your life depends on it.  It's hilarious to watch the boss struggle to get to you, only to watch her go flying the moment she within three miles of you.  Good Stuff.

Bosses are almost defenseless against her umbrella gun.

Happy after a long day of blasting heads.

4.  Homura

Ready to curve up peons like turkeys.

She fights with six swords, three per hand, and slashes at anyone within reach like a female version of Wolverine on her menstrual cycle.  Plus, she has a cute ponytail and some funny interactions with the other girls.

Check those sick swords...and that sick ponytail.

Relaxing after slicing people up.

3.  Renka

Ready to bust heads and look hot doing it.

Just a well-designed character all around.  She's a drummer girl, who fights with giant drumsticks, and has a drum-based theme.  Heck, some of her move even has her beating on a magical drum while she's beating on enemies.  All of her traits seem carefully thought out and have good synergy.  Oh...and she's hot.  Just hot for no good reason other than for the sake of being hot.  Being hot is compounded by being eighteen.  Yep, she's an adult, so drool away, guys.

Marching to the beat of her own energy drum.

After beating on heads, she goes back to beating on drums.

2.  Ikaruga

Years of training has gone into this ass-whuppin'.

Possibly the coolest-looking character in the game.  Everything about her just looks cool.  Her outfit, her fighting style, her hair, everything.  And her theme is the most badass in the game.  Just cool.

One heck of an outfit.

A smile as big as her sword.

1.  Yumi

Ikaruga may look the coolest, but Yumi actually is the coolest.  She's a snow lady, which genuinely makes her the coolest.  Everything about her screams cold and ice.  Her appearance, her moveset, her outfit, her run animation, even her personality.  Also, she is the default guide (the voice you hear as you navigate the menus).

Icy cold death from above.

Yumi's ice surfing is the coolest run animation in the game.

Transformed and ready to go.

The Ice Queen never rests.

And there they are.  My Estival Versus dream team.  They may or may not be the most useful, most popular, or the cutest, but this is the team I ride with.  Like them?  Don't like them?  Who are your favorites?  Feel free to comment below.

Onechanbara Z2 Chaos Review (PS4)

Videogames can be so simple sometimes.  Zombies, violence, and scantily-clad women.  That's all there is to Onechanbara Z2 Choas.  Nobody ever said simplicity was bad.

Undead ass-beatings lie within.

In this game, you take the role of four women.  First, you have the mainstays of the series, the temptress Aya and foul-mouthed Saki.  They bring two others to the party, vampires Kagura and Saaya (no, that's not a typo).  These archenemies must come together to defeat a new breed of evil.

The four ravishing vixens you'll be playing as.

The gameplay is fast, fluid, fun, and simple.  You just select the order you want to use the girls in.  Then, you run around and kill every enemy you see.  If one of the girls is getting her ass kicked too much, just switch to the next girl and continue the fight.  Even with all four girls at your disposal, if you're careless you might take an ass-whuppin' and all four girls will be dead faster than you can say "g-string".  Yes, there is some level of challenge.  It's not just killing things and drooling over girls.

There is a little more to the game than mindless hacking and slashing, though.  Each girl has several weapons that you can switch between at any time.  The whole time you're fighting, these weapons will get covered in blood and will need to be cleaned.

The real fun, though, is when the girls themselves get covered in blood.  Yep.  With all the blood flying around, the girls are bound to get covered in it.  When the girls get covered in too much of it, they will turn into a berserk killing machine, doling out beatings and rape to all who dare to get near them.  However, you must be careful, because while in berserk mode your girl's energy will slowly drain and she CAN actually die from it.  You can revert the afflicted character by going to a goddess statue or she transform back over time, assuming she doesn't die first.  You can also keep her from going berserk by using statue fragments.  Of course you could also switch the girl out after she changes over (her energy won't drain while she's on the sidelines) and unleash her when you need to kill without prejudice.  The afflicted girl can get even more powerful with a mega-transformation for maximum butt-kicking powers.

The action can get pretty fast and crazy.

The graphics do their job.  The girls really do look hot, especially Kagura and Aya (sorry, but there's no getting around it).  Some of the imagery can be disturbing.  For example, there is an area where you fight where the ground is completely completely covered in blood.  It's pretty creepy.  Also, the enemies look good, especially the bosses.

Make no mistake, this is so creepy stuff.

The story is total BS.  It's almost in comprehensible.  Seriously.  You'll be going WTF the whole time.  This game is a sequel, so the first game may give you a better idea of what's going on, but in general, the Onechanbara series as a whole has a head-scratcher of a story.

Pretty nice looking game.

So the game looks and plays good.  What are the flaws?  It's too short.  The game ends just as it starts to get good.  It leaves you wanting more and not in a good ways.  It feels kind of cheap, like when Street Fighter 5 first came out.  Also, sometimes there's a little too much going on at times.  You just be hacking and slash when your girl will suddenly just drop dead, because you didn't realize you were getting it as good as you were giving it.  As mentioned earlier, watch your girl's energy and switch frequently to keep them alive.

What about the other stuff.  The music seems weaker than other games in the series, but it's still loaded with the fist-pumping energy a game like this needs.  On the sound front, we finally have English voices.  They may or may not be bad, but I can finally understand what Aya and Saki are saying and that trumps everything.  There is also a challenge mode, which adds a little more length for those left unsatisfied with the short story mode.  You can change the girls' outfits in coordinate mode, power up the girls and their weapons in battle settings, or just drool over them in gallery mode.  One thing that other titles in the series have that's mysteriously missing from this entry is survival mode, which also can have helped counter the short length.

Now THESE are good uniforms.

All-in-all, Onechanbara Z2 Chaos is a solid game.  It's short, yet violent and moderately-satisfying.  The action is fast and there are plenty of enemies to kill.  The girls die pretty fast, but the use of items and frequent switching can help on that front.  It's just mindless, over-the-top mayhem.  If you like female protagonists, skimpy outfits, and hilarious amounts of violence, this is your game.  I say check it out.

Senran Kagura: Estival Versus Review (PS4)

Senran Kagura gets sort of a bad rap.  To an extent, it's understandable.  I mean, let's look into what it is.  It's a game where you play as a girl and beat other girls until their clothes fall off.  These other girls won't take this lying down and will instead beat you until your clothes fall off if you allow them to.  It sounds kind of perverted, which can turn some people off.  This is a little sad, because there is actually a solid game underneath this exterior.

Upon getting into the game, you may be reminded of Dynasty/Samurai Warriors. You pick a character, beat on waves of peons, and occassionally fight a boss (who themselves are selectable characters).  You have weak attacks, strong attacks, jump attacks and other things.  It's monotonous, button mashing fun like the aformentioned Warriors games.

Sometimes you can barely find you own character because of all the peons.  Surprisingly, there's no slowdown.

Estival Versus isn't a total Warriors clone, however.  There are a number of differences that set it apart.  The most obvious one is that this game has an all female cast.  That's right.  Every character (main characters and peons alike) is female.  As such, you have the usual crap that comes with female characters interacting in manga/anime type settings.  That sisterspeak garbage, the attempted groping from the perverted girl, among other things are all present here.  Fortunately, it's not overdone in this game.

The next and possibly most important difference from the Warriors series is tone.  The graphics are cartoony and the action is lighthearted.  As a result, the sexuality doesn't come off as sexy, but funny, which is what I believe the developers were going for.  You'll hit peon with a combo, causing their clothes to explode Ikkitousen-style while sending them flying Team Rocket-style.

Beat the crap out of them and watch their clothing explode.

Continuing on, you also have the ability to use bombs, which can inflict maladies such as poison and freeze, to inflict even more pain on hapless victims.  The game even has cute little mechs (yes, really) you can ride, allowing you to dish out some major-league hurt.  The enemy may ride there own mechs into battle as well and yes, their hits hit badly.  You can also use transformations to wreck havoc on peons and bosses alike.  Bosses can also transform and put some major-league hurt on you as well, so be careful.

That mech may look cute, but don't laugh.  Those things are serious business.

As for those transformations, you have two.  The first changes your character into some magical-type girl.  While in this mode, your girl gets powers and her defense increases.  As for the second transformation...you strip your girl down to her underwear, which extends her combos and increases her attack power.  This second transformation is kind of pervy, but you could simply opt to not to use it.

Moving on, this game is long.  There's a lot to do, though most of it is the same.  You have a main story mode the spans nine days, forcing you to play as different characters to advance.  This can suck if you don't like a particular character because they have a crappy fighting style.  You can replay these missions with any character after you beat them.

There are also various difficulty settings you can play on.  The game isn't too difficult as long as you don't underestimate it.  Seriously.  You may be ready to for the hard difficulty, but if your girl isn't, you'll be walking into a vicious ass-whuppin'.

The scars of an intense battle, clearly visible.

On top of the main story, each girl has her own seperate story.  Things can get tough here, so make sure your girls are leveled up enough before delving into these.  Good luck playing as one one the crappier characters.  Once again, you can play these with any character once you've beaten them.

She's the coolest character in the game.  Literally.

As for everything else...it fits.  The graphics have that cute, anime look.  The music is playful, yet still intense enough for combat.  Some character themes, like Ikaruga's, are pure badass.  The story is what you'd expect; cute girls fighting and doing silly things.  The game is content heavy, with lots of stuff to find (creative finishers), buy in game (dat store though), and download (yay, Ryofu Housen and Ayane).

Look closely for familiar sights.

There is a library where you can listen to music and pictures you've unlocked and bought.  Also, you have a dressing room where a lot can go down.  You can dress the girls in outfits you bought from the store or put them in other girls' outfit.  You can chose any five girls you want and put them in various poses and states.  Or you can just drool over them, if you want (if you like girls like this).

All in all, Senran Kagura: Estival Versus is a pretty darned good game.  It's long, fun, and satisfying.  It has a big roster and only a few characters suck.  The DLC characters they added make it that much sweeter.  It can be repetitive and a little perverted, but it has too many other things going for it to recommend against.  Grow a backbone and play this one as soon as you can.