Here’s the trouble with Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD: there’s a lot more downtime than I can handle. I love the aesthetic, the core mechanics, and the premise. On the other hand, you spend way, way too much time poking around dingy rooms on a pixel hunt. Sucking up every scrap of cloth, every loose bit of wallpaper, on the off-chance it becomes something? Absolutely not. Fighting ghosts is awesome, but looking for those ghosts is a major drag.

Your premise is simple enough. Luigi has been dragged into service once again by Professor E. Gadd. Some malicious spirits have shattered the Dark Moon, and you’ve got to re-assemble it. We’re pretty light on story, and that’s totally fine. A short pitch means more room to explore mechanics and design. And to be fair, the nuts and bolts are properly slick. You’re given new skills, new tech, and new ways to hunt down ghosts. The movement and combat systems feel smooth and seamless. Except for the right stick, and it seems like your spectral buddies are pretty forgiving in response. I only wish things weren’t chopped up so aggressively.

I dug into the mission system in more detail in the preview, which you can check out here. To be brief, I can’t stand it. Less brief, slicing things into missions dramatically increases how many cutscenes and loading bars you have to smash through and/or hide. For every 10-20 minutes of gameplay, we get a pixelation sequence. There’s also a mission briefing, a victory dance, a ghost deposit scene, and the mission select segment. All of this doesn’t add up to that much time, but! The missions themselves also feel somewhat padded.

Too Much Between Missions

It turns out I have no patience for pixel hunts. Luigi’s Mansion 2 involves poring carefully over every inch of a map, hitting every surface with every ability, and doing tons of backtracking. All of that saps my life force immediately. At first I didn’t mind, mostly because you don’t do too much of it per mission. But it gets worse as you go on. Soon missions were 40-minute affairs. I was doing laps all over the map, combing each spot to see what I’d missed. The regular ghost fights became rote, though the boss battles still felt creative.

Although, honestly? There’s a lot of waiting in the boss fights. You wait for the ghost to pop its head up, stand around while it reacts to your attacks, and wait for the cycle to repeat. The rest of the time you’re dodging, or maybe just patiently memorizing the pattern. In that sense, the boss fights are a great microcosm for the frustrating pacing of the whole game. It is satisfying to figure out their gimmicks, though.

Sweet Spooky Vibes

I wish Luigi’s Mansion 2 lived up to the promise of its aesthetic. The spooky mansions are crammed with detail. Cobwebs camp out in every corner, flickering candles line the halls. The walls are dotted with rotten neglect and secret passages. The rich carpets, elegant furniture, and vintage design speak of a vibrant history untold. Each stage has an ominous yet approachable vibe. This game looks amazing and feels exhausting. And then there are the stairs.

Said stairs are in world two. It’s important to me that you know how awful they are. The final boss of world two is guarded by a gigantic staircase. There is no reliable strategy for quickly surmounting this specific obstacle. It’s just a long, exhausting slog. It’s technically a puzzle, but one that feels more cruel than clever. Honestly, it’s a wonder that I got to world three at all. I tried every strategy that I could, every trick in my toolkit. What I need you to understand is that they did not help in any substantial way. I hate those stairs so much.

Those Stairs Are The Worst

Hunting ghosts with a vacuum cleaner is a rad premise. The aesthetic is perfectly suited for this idea. Every mansion looks and feels distinct. But all of this falls apart for me in the execution. Not at first, and not all at once, either. But I slowly realized that Luigi’s Mansion is built around wasting your time. The mission structure puts roadblocks between you and the action. Each world is chopped into half a dozen trips to the same map. And you spend so much time backtracking, pixel-hunting, and getting lost that it’s baffling. I recognize that game criticism is a subjective art, that my opinion might be unusual. But I simply can’t summon the obsessive patience and persistence that this game consistently requires. Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD is a frenetic, atmospheric ghost hunt that’s been sliced and stacked into something safe, digestible, and slow.

***A Nintendo Switch code was provided by the publisher***

The post Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD Review – Ghostly Gig Work appeared first on COGconnected.

The Rocket Knight games totally missed me when I was a child. So I approached this collection with an open mind and a blank slate. To my surprise, they’re pretty good! If you can push past the old-school difficulty and the frantic rocket controls, you might really enjoy yourself with the Rocket Knight Adventures: Re-Sparked collection. You’ll probably have to lean on that rewind feature pretty hard, though.

As always, my PC game reviews are being done on a Stealth 16 Studio A13V laptop. Although in truth, you could play these games on a toaster with a touchscreen and be just fine. Even the recommended specs are pretty generous.

Old-School Tough

I know it’s in poor taste to whine about the difficulty, but it feels necessary here. These are decidedly old-school games, and they’re not shy about killing you repeatedly. Which is fine! It’s assumed that you’ll be playing each stage until you’ve memorized it before moving on. That blessed rewind function helps you circumvent this. Between that and the ability to save pretty much anywhere, you can definitely finish this collection with a little patience. Okay, so it’s more like a lot of patience. But any old-school game fan has that in reserve, right?

Each game in the Rocket Knight collection looks excellent in its own way. The pixel art is bright, bold, and properly crisp. The enemies look like cartoon characters in motion, and the levels are well-designed. I’m not as sold on the music, but I’ve never liked Sega’s soundscapes that much. There are some exceptions, of course. A boss fight here and there with a catchy theme. But most of the music is pretty forgettable. The mechanics are a different story.

Fly Me To The Moon

The ‘rocket’ in Rocket Knight is a brilliant bit of game design. You can blast through most enemies, rise above any obstacle, and sail over hazards. It’s only during boss fights that you have to slow down. Even then, half the bosses are just as weak to rocket strikes as everything else. The only serious roadblock is controlling yourself as you careen through the games.

To be fair, it’s not impossible or anything. You’re just likely to miss, hit the wrong directional input, or smash into a hazard at first. And it takes quite a while before you get the hang of it. Again, the rewind function is a literal lifesaver here. I was frustrated with the hair-trigger controls, but it’s the price you pay for such high-speed gameplay. On the other hand, if you can master the rocket system, you can pull off some incredible platforming feats. You just need more of that old-school patience.

I refer to the games as a single unit throughout this review for a reason. The three titles are pretty interchangeable. You see some shifts in visual style, but the music and the controls are all more or less the same. It’s convenient in that you can swap between games easily. But there is a slight lack of variety in this collection. Your mileage depends heavily on your fondness for the franchise in general. The image gallery and the music player also require a tangible nostalgic connection to the games. Although it is cool to see what the old ads and box art looked like back in the day.

For fans of the franchise, this is an easy sale. You’ve got three games to play and tons of art to sift through. New players might be more cautious. The core gameplay is well-crafted for sure. And you can’t go wrong with that high-quality sprite work. But these are still punishing offerings from a bygone era. You’ll need a lot of patience and perseverance if you want to get through this collection. The rewind function is a serious advantage, but even that system requires some practice and fine-tuning to use. Retro gaming fans new and old will appreciate the Rocket Knight Adventures collection, though maybe you’ll wanna wait for a sale.

***A Steam Key was provided by the publisher***

The post Rocket Knight Adventures: Re-Sparked Review – Speedy Sega Smash-Up appeared first on COGconnected.

Moonstone Island is finally on the Nintendo Switch! Any game that can be cleanly divided into discrete sessions like this is pretty much perfect for a portable console release. Better still, I’ve never played this game on PC. So my experience was doubly new and exciting. On the other hand, I’m not as familiar with the differences between versions. You can check out the original review here if you want to compare the two experiences.

The premise is simple enough. You’re being sent out on your own for a whole year. At the end of said year, you’ll be an alchemist? Or at least, more of an alchemist than when you started. While you do gain a lot of magical crafting skills, there are also monster-taming, farming, commerce, and social skills to hone. It doesn’t seem to matter which skills you hone, as your main quest only requires a year to go by. What you do with it is entirely up to you. I gravitated towards dungeon diving.

To be clear, I love this level of freedom. There’s no pressure to achieve any specific goals, you’re free to succeed however you wish. I only discovered the dungeon quests because of a checklist that appears when each day wraps up. Said checklist is super effective at pushing you forward. You’re also motivated by the recipes you unlock. Finding out there was a better way to fly between islands? That kept me up until 1 AM a few times. Plus, actually unlocking that ability was very satisfying. Doing so made exploration even easier, which is another major motivator.

So Many Islands To Explore

Your world map is procedurally generated when you start. I didn’t realize how big it would be at first. But once you get that island-hopping glider, it all becomes clear. This place is huge! I instantly developed a burning desire to see every single island. But doing so requires whole tech trees’ worth of development in other areas. You need protective gear, stronger monsters, and ample supplies. Everything is connected in dozens of little ways.

Although every system is complex and cool, the combat takes the cake in that department. Fights are card-based, with new cards assigned to your monsters as they gain levels. All the cards have complex interactions with one another, monster elements are a factor, and even items make a big difference. The battles are robust enough to be a game all on their own. To have farming, crafting, social links, and exploration added in as well? It’s downright preposterous, how big Moonstone Island feels.

Rich, Robust Battles to Fight

Every NPC is a source of quests. You can bond with them, find monsters for them, and even sell them resources. Each island can have mines and dungeons to explore. There are seals to recover, memory shards to collect, and monsters to tame. All the monsters can be raised with custom card decks and stats. You can build more houses and farms on different islands. I can’t overstate how stupidly big Moonstone Island can be, if you’re up for it. That said, it’s not perfect by any means.

The moonstones, for example. They’re the game’s most precious resource, you need them for so many projects, and they’re near impossible to acquire fast enough. One moonstone drops per island per season. You need three stones to make an ingot, and you need ingots for endless reasons. I was constantly running out, with new moonstones being hours away in some cases. The only recourse I found was through dungeon diving. Chests can drop them, you see. But mines and dungeons don’t refresh with time. So you’re constantly pushing further to find more stones. It’s honestly pretty exhausting at times.

Moonstone Island also gets a little choppy on the Switch. My game never froze while playing, but larger islands, busier islands, would cause the framerate to suffer sometimes. To be fair, this was happening before the game’s proper release date on the console. Things may get patched up in the near future. But it feels worth mentioning regardless. There are other small issues, but nothing a patch or two won’t clear up.

Mostly Smooth Sailing

I’m impressed by the monster design, but I don’t love it. What I mean is, the pixel art is clean, crisp, and colorful. On the other hand, the designs don’t blow me away. The level design is the same way. Everything looks lovely, but not in a memorable way. It just sort of washes over you with a pleasant sigh. So I appreciate the visuals and animation on a technical level, at least. On the other hand, the mechanical design takes all of my focus anyway, so I’m not fussed about it.

This game feels perfect for portable play sessions. I almost never use my Switch in handheld mode, but this was an exception. I loved firing it up, getting in a day or two worth of labour, and shutting it down. The quest system, combat, and need to explore kept me coming back. I wish moonstones were a bit easier to find, but otherwise? Moonstone Island is an excellent time. I highly recommend checking it out on the Switch.

***A Nintendo Switch code was provided by the publisher***

The post Moonstone Island Switch Review – Portable Monster Farming appeared first on COGconnected.

I’ve played several missions in Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD, and you know what? I don’t love the mission structure in general. The game looks great, the animation and music are slick, and the controls are pretty good. But there’s just something about the missions that mess up the pacing for me. Is it possible for a game to be too portable-friendly? I think Luigi’s Mansion 2 might qualify.

This is all thanks to the game’s original release on the 3DS. Portable games need to be extremely quick to pick up and play, you see. That way, you don’t lose too much progress if the 3DS batteries die out before a mission is finished. Plus, what if your commute to work is only so long? But it turns out the Switch doesn’t have this same issue? Or at least, console games aren’t designed around this limitation to the same extent.

Luigi’s Mansion 2 is a mix of puzzle-solving and action, but it’s not an even mix. You spend a lot of time carefully examining rooms and running your vacuum over every pixel. That’s fine, that’s the core gameplay loop. But when you add the mission completion time, the mission briefing, and disguised loading screens into the formula, suddenly I’m bored. There’s too much downtime in a game that’s already set a slower, more careful pace.

A Lot Of Downtime

To be fair, I’m not a man with a wealth of focus at the best of times. This game may simply not be for someone like me, with a prescription to keep me sitting at my desk for 8 hours a day. But I still wish I was being summoned back to home base 50% less. You’re even re-visiting the same stage multiple times! Why not just leave me to my own devices until I’ve accomplished my goals?

Aside from this one major issue, the game is pretty fun. Catching ghosts still feels great, and you’re given new abilities pretty regularly. The visuals are a major upgrade from the 3DS version, and the controls are mostly fluid. Aiming your flashlight/vacuum can get a little fiddly, but I’ve more or less gotten used to it. The handful of missions I’ve played so far feel well-crafted, even if they are a bit slow.

Of course, I’m still only a little way into Luigi’s Mansion 2. It’s always possible the missions will get hard enough that I’m grateful for the overall game structure. I’m also looking forward to seeing the rest of the bosses, stages, and optional content (if any exists). Who knows? I might come to appreciate the entire game being sliced into digestible chunks. Until then, keep an eye on this spot for a full review of Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD at the end of June.

***A Nintendo Switch code was provided by the publisher***

The post Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD Has a Pacing Problem appeared first on COGconnected.

Everyone wants to sip from the Dark Souls goblet, you know? But knowing what to swallow is a different matter altogether. Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is an upcoming action-adventure title that takes a lot of Dark Souls cues to some interesting places. I had a chance to check out the demo on Steam. So far, it looks like they’ve got some good ideas. Although my tolerance for Soulslikes is pretty low, this one might prove an exception to the usual rule.

The game takes place amid a terrible war between a magical army of the undead and the human coalition. We’re fighting with melee weapons and black powder rifles. They’ve got sinister magic on their side. You play as a Sapper named Nor looking to murder the malevolent god who started this whole war. I was thrown into battle immediately, where I got the usual block/parry/dodge breakdown. It’s not long before you’re introduced to a bunch of extra skills that try and separate Flintlock from the usual pack of Fromsoft clones. Honestly, they do a pretty decent job. One major standout is traversal.

There’s a big focus on gunpowder all throughout this game. Gods, it turns out, are not immune to concussive/explosive damage when properly used in battle. So it’s all powder, all the way down. For example, you can use it to double jump and dodge. This absolutely rules. I moved in zero other ways as soon as this was unlocked. You can jump, second jump, and air dodge before you hit the ground, so I did so constantly. Black powder is also a major component in actual combat.

Powerful Black Powder Leaps

I found the battles more Soulsy than the setting and the traversal, but still somewhat distinct. You’ve got limited flintlock ammo, which is replenished by successful melee attacks. Well-timed shots, parries, and blocks are essential tools for your continued survival. You eventually get access to a musket as well, but that’s more for starting fights than anything else. Reloading said musket is a huge pain, which I actually sort of love? Those were some super unwieldy rifles. It’s only right that reloading them is slightly long and cumbersome process. Setting off the flintlock is impossibly fast, but that’s a necessary concession if you want it to be useful in battle.

Fights started out pretty easy, but they got a lot harder by the time I wrapped up the demo. I played through the whole thing on normal mode, but there are two other settings if you want to mix things up. Easy mode disables achievements, which was somehow enough to keep me from using it. I don’t care about achievements at all, but even so! I was utterly stuck on the demo boss, defeated and ready to give up. Hovering over the easy mode switch, that notice about achievements essentially pushed me to continue. It was a truly fascinating glimpse into rudimentary gamer psychology.

A Beautiful, War-Torn World

Belatedly I realize you probably want to know how Flintlock looks, sounds, and feels. The game is quite beautiful, in that seamless AAA fashion I’m quite familiar with. The audio design is crisp, the voice acting is decent, and the soundtrack feels perfectly suited to the setting. I appreciated the controls, in that they’re fluid and fully responsive. Part of this might be thanks to my familiarity with Soulslikes in general. You know what you’re getting into as soon as you pick up the controller. I’m curious about where the story is going to go from here, especially since the opening leaves you with several big questions. Time will tell whether they’re enough to keep me absorbed when the full game is released.

Although the demo for Flintlock is pretty short, I’ve seen enough to be intrigued. The Souls influences are strong, yes. But there are also several important distinctions carved into the core gameplay loop. The traversal system is great, and the shoot/slash/parry rhythm is a welcome adjustment. Plus, the setting is so much more vibrant and engaging than the usual grimdark Fromsoft clones out there. I’ve got high hopes for the release version of Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn. I suggest you keep an eye on it as well.

***A PC preview build was provided by the publisher***

The post Fight Magic With Guns in Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn appeared first on COGconnected.

Some remakes take out everything but the bones, so they can be rebuilt from the ground up. Others add a coat of paint and call it a day. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is different in that it somehow does both. This is a faithful remake that looks like your memories using fresh assets and resources. Either that or the devs cleaned up and perfected every existing model and background. The game is a triumph no matter what the answer is. This is the best version of an already excellent title.

This is the way of remasters these days. You think it’s just a port, based on the trailers. You’ve played this game before, you know what to expect. But you don’t! Not exactly. You see, TTYD has pulled off that clever trick that so many other remasters have tried lately. You think you’re looking at the original game, because it appears just like you remember it. When in fact, what you’re looking at is a complete overhaul of an old favorite. There are new lighting effects, new audio cues, new character models, and more. I wasn’t quite sure at first, but a look at the old game online confirmed it. This is practically a brand new game. The dialogue and gameplay is preserved, sure. But the devs have ripped the guts out of this thing and shined it up from tip to tail. 

More Than A Coat of Paint

Static visuals have become animated. Certain flat effects have been given slightly more depth. All the character models now look like paper cutouts. Mario and company aren’t exactly more lifelike, but everyone feels more vibrant, more lively. The characters more completely embody their papery selves. Princess Peach has a reflection in the slick cobblestones. Once you start looking, the changes are everywhere. You can hear the difference as well. Dialogue proceeds with rhythmic noise that reflects each character. Mario exerts himself with his more familiar joyous declarations. Your wahoos and whatnot. It feels like every action comes with a perfectly-crafted sound now. Things like menu navigation, save blocks, and screen transitions. It’s a subtle but significant change that brings the whole game to life.

I’m getting ahead of myself. Thousand Year Door is the second entry in the Paper Mario series. It’s considered by many to be a high-water mark, a plateau the games never reached again. Mario is on a quest to rescue the princess and collect a list of MacGuffins, maybe stomp some bad dudes along the way. You know this game, you know this story. The devil is in the details. In particular, the dialogue is fantastic. Mario and crew are clever, snappy, and sincere. The jokes come fast and frequently, and even long speeches feel breezy. Although our plumber protagonist is silent, everyone else easily compensates for this. Your whole companion squad is a pure delight. Each line is crammed with clever energy, and almost the entire game has a pace to match.

Excellent Writing

Not every chapter is this cool, sadly. You encounter a tournament arc in the third chapter that I’d love to just skip. Especially since I’ve played the original. You just fight, collect your winnings, and wander around the tournament grounds. The battles are all pretty straightforward, and by the end I was feeling properly crazed. I can only watch Grubba break down the fight rules so many times before I lose it. Thankfully, the other chapters are rock solid.

While the battles are simple affairs, you’ve also got puzzles to contend with. These are trickier for sure. Anyone who tells you otherwise has played the original game several times. Some puzzles rely on Mario’s abilities to solve, or the abilities of his many companions. Those are great puzzles. Other times you’re wandering around the dungeon until you pick out the one door or switch you previously forgot about. This is downright exhausting. The best dungeons combine exploration, abilities, and environmental objects to really cook your brain for a minute. This is rare, but always entertaining.

Fun With Badges

I’ve dumbed down the combat a bit in my initial assessment. Though it’s true that Thousand Year Door is pretty straightforward in battle, it gets tricky as well. You’ve got a host of badges to experiment with, tons of skills to master, and lots of enemies. Plus, Mario and company don’t get stronger very often. Instead, your victory is based on strategy and skill. This can make regular fights somewhat repetitive. After all, once you’ve solved a given encounter, what’s left to think about? I staved off this encroaching boredom by blowing resources like crazy. What else are you gonna use that fire flower on?

Thousand Year Door is a remake done right. The new sound and visuals look terrific. The game’s essential identity has been preserved. Plus, the original release is able to shine through with no distractions. It’s exactly as wonderful as you remember it being. I’m still impressed with the writing, and the level design is mostly excellent. I still hate the tournament arc, though. And I wish some of the puzzles didn’t involve scouring a dungeon until a forgotten button or door is dragged into the sunlight. Although the original release is amazing, it’s also nearly impossible to play anymore. For new and old fans, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is an essential addition to the Nintendo Switch library.

***A Nintendo Switch code was provided by the publisher***

The post Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door Review – Still The Best appeared first on COGconnected.

I’m more or less burnt out when it comes to survival crafting RPGs. I can only punch so many trees and collect so many rocks before a hard limit is hit. You need a proper hook to keep me coming back. V Rising has vampires and a highly refined combat system. Those are pretty good hooks! There’s also a robust multiplayer environment. I don’t care about such things, but I recognize when they’re done well. Honestly, ‘vampires’ was enough to sell me on this game. Thankfully, it’s also quite good.

You play as a vampire looking to rebuild their empire. There’s very little story beyond this simple premise, and that’s totally fine. What else do you really need to know? Humans and monsters all want you dead, and it’s your job to frustrate their desires. Also, do your best to extend your unholy dominion over every corner of the world. And if you can do these things while building a gigantic castle? Even better. Though there is no proper story, the progression hums along quite smoothly. Your goals are clearly laid out, with the required steps making perfect sense. Admittedly, your goals are either ‘murder’ or ‘make things’ for the most part. But the building and murder are also really fun. I don’t mind simple tasks, so long as I’m enjoying myself.

Castles and Killers

Combat in V Rising is simple but effective. You have a small move set, a slowly expanding list of spells, and a handful of weapons to master. Everything is powered by blood, which means you’re always needing more. It’s an interesting twist on the usual survival meter management. All blood gives you bonuses, but they don’t stack. Instead, your blood-based stats are replaced every time you drink from someone new. You have to choose between a healthy supply of blood and more time with better stats. Since leveling up is tied to your gear, it means actual combat is mostly skill-based.

Here’s where one of the 1.0 features really came in handy for me. You see, there’s a difficulty slider now. I turned it to Relaxed mode almost immediately. The combat is still challenging and fun, but in a more manageable way for me, a scrub. Those looking for a more serious challenge can definitely find it in the game’s hard mode. For me (the scrub), fights are still really fun. You’re bouncing around, managing skill timers, and drinking tons of blood. It’s just not so catastrophic to make any mistakes, is all. Sunlight doesn’t kill you quite as fast either, which is nice. It’s still extremely bad to get caught without shade during the day, however.

No Sunscreen Strong Enough

Having two separate goals means reaching certain milestones a lot faster. In particular, you won’t be slaving away for dozens of hours to get a proper castle going. You’re also not waiting ages to start feeling powerful. Instead, the path to these goals is smoothly built and full of little victories along the way. You’ve got bosses to defeat, equipment to upgrade, and an evil lair to expand. Switching tracks from ‘murder’ to ‘build’ and back also kept me engaged. In fact, the two paths are deeply intertwined.

This is ideal, really. Since every action feeds into both major goals, I never felt like I was wasting time. Even the simple act of resource gathering was always a useful one. Your castle can always get a bit bigger, after all. And while you don’t earn experience for killing people, you do harvest their delicious blood. Which is again, used for basically everything. It’s truly a remarkable ecosystem.

Blood and Stone

V Rising feels pretty well optimized, which makes sense. It was in early access for quite a while. If nothing else, it runs on my Stealth 16 Studio A13V with zero problems. The graphics are colorful and clean, while the animations for attacks and traversal are all properly smooth. On the other hand, actual traversal is sort of a drag.

Getting to your objective can take ages, unless you find a waygate. Even then, certain items can’t be teleported. So you’ve gotta choose between convenience and keeping your inventory. So you end up doing a lot of running back and forth. I avoided waygates whenever possible, just to keep my materials on hand.

My playthrough was strictly a singleplayer one. I don’t advise this. Mostly because the game is built for multiplayer in certain small ways. There’s a host of skills and items that stay dormant unless you’re raiding other player’s lairs. The slow traversal feels tailored for divided territory. The world feels a bit emptier when you’re on your own. While V Rising is a blast, it’s much more fun when played online.

While I’ve mostly left survival crafting sims behind, V Rising feels different. The vampire hook is part of it, but the game’s design is a big factor. Building and murdering all tie together in one big progression tree. Moving from one path to the other feels perfectly smooth and seamless. Plus, both activities are pretty fun. I don’t love the traversal at times, and the game sometimes feels too big for a single player. But the core gameplay loop is a delight. Sure, a game boiled down to ‘build’ and ‘murder’ is a simple one. But there’s elegance in simplicity. V Rising is an excellent survival crafting RPG that I highly recommend.

***A Steam key was provided by the publisher***

The post V Rising 1.0 Review – New Vampire Empires appeared first on COGconnected.

The Intel core i9-14900K Intel core i9-14900K is an absolute behemoth. I’ve spent weeks with this CPU, and it’s so powerful it feels like cheating. Whenever a task or an application runs with perfect fidelity, your first thought is ‘of course.’ After all, why wouldn’t it work? You’re using a sandblaster on a soup cracker. When you spend a king’s ransom on the best CPU on the consumer market, of course it’s going to perform every task perfectly. To think otherwise would be downright delusional.

I ran several tests to confirm my initial impressions. For the games, I leaned quite heavily on PC Game Pass. I don’t have a super serious gaming PC myself, you see. This means I don’t generally have cutting edge games just lying around. Thankfully, Microsoft has me covered (for a sobering monthly fee). EGS giveaways, Steam demos, and F2P juggernauts also stepped in to give me a hand. All in all, there are some pretty intense titles covered by this generous spread.

Trying To Push The Envelope

Forza Horizon 5 is a great opening salvo for things like this. The cars themselves are super detailed, and the high fidelity makes frame dips stick out like gigantic road bumps. The game ran like hot butter on the i9-14900K. I dipped briefly into Destiny 2 as well. This game is rapidly turning useless for testing purposes. You’re subjected to a dizzying assault of ‘previously on’ montages before being thrown into the middle of a mission you don’t understand. Anyways, the game runs beautifully.

The next two game tests were downright fascinating. I downloaded Star Wars: Jedi Survivor and Another Crab’s Treasure. Now, Jedi Survivor is pretty famous for not running super hot on most consoles and PCs. I was concerned this incredible rig would be no exception. The game crashed while trying to optimize files. I hadn’t even started playing! But I tried a second time and it was perfect. Crisp visuals, 60 fps, flawless ray tracing. Another Crab’s Treasure is an anomaly. I wasn’t using it to test the CPU, not intentionally. But running that game was the only time I saw this PC get properly loud.

To be clear, the game still ran with perfect fidelity. The i9-14900K was given a pop quiz, and it passed with flying colors. But I remain baffled that this game managed to test it so. The fans, normally silent, kicked up to max power and volume. The RGB lighting turned an angry red. An actual, honest to goodness usage alert popped up on my screen. For Another Crab’s Treasure, of all things. I promise the game you’re picturing, the one you’ve heard about, doesn’t seem the type. Not to test PCs like this, at least. But apparently it is? Either the game is quite poorly optimized, or this CPU has a short list of extremely specific weaknesses.

Always The Ones You Least Expect

Again, no other game gave me this kind of weird grief. Furthermore, no other task was this taxing. I whipped up a video review on DaVinci Resolve using 4K footage. I had tiny chunks of nine different videos being spliced together and rearranged. The CPU struggled a bit, but I definitely never got any usage warnings. Especially not during the rendering phase. In fact, rendering this video review took me less time than the runtime of the actual video.

For reference, DaVinci Resolve is ‘free’ video editing software. I use the quotes because the actual cost is measured in processing power. The program is not optimized well at all, but it’s miles better than dealing with the insidious evils of Adobe. I used this clunky gorilla to try and redline the CPU and I could still multitask while the render was happening. This is the benchmark you have to resort to. Not ‘can I do this,’ but ‘can I do this and several other things at the same time.’

Time for some important context. While I’m testing out the i9-14900K, it didn’t show up to my condo alone. It’s installed in a preposterous machine. Like wine and cheese, it’s all about the pairings. A good CPU is best served with an extremely powerful graphics card. In this case, a 4090. To be fair, this just reflects a pretty important rule in PC building in general. Your components have to be compatible and comparable for everything to run right. Otherwise, you’re not going to get the most out of any individual element.

Works Best On A Team

One thing CPUs like this have gotten better at is overclocking. This presented me with something of a dilemma. While I’m thrilled about such a power boost being so accessible and streamlined, I don’t really need it with a system this powerful. Truly, the only purpose overclocking serves at this advanced level is to make multitasking more feasible. Here I ran into a problem – namely the limits of my own hardware. I can focus on rendering and watching videos, sure. But I can’t do editing and a second thing, so I don’t need the computer to do it either. But, the i9-14900K provides a great opportunity to stretch those mental muscles, so to speak.

Praise for this CPU almost feels disingenuous. More of a given than something it needed to earn. This is the most powerful CPU I’ve ever tested or used. You can do just about anything you want with this machine. You need the hardware to match, of course. And it’s gonna be a pretty pricey investment. But if you can afford to step into this world, there’s nothing quite like it. Intel’s i9-14900K is an absolute titan of a CPU. If you need the best system for gaming, editing, streaming, or anything else, this is what you want, full stop. CPUs don’t really get better than this one.

***A retail version of the hardware was provided by the manufacturer***

The post Intel i9-14900K Review – The Best In The Business appeared first on COGconnected.

Underwater exploration should be so cool. Who wouldn’t love drifting through the deep, scanning fish and solving mysteries? I so badly wanted to love Endless Ocean Luminous, and I simply could not. While the vibes are immaculate, the actual gameplay loop is a murderous grind with no relief in sight. Swimming and looking at fish might be incredibly cool in real life, but it lacks something essential as a video game. Perhaps there’s something here that I’m missing?

Gameplay is split between story missions and free dives. The free dives can be either solo or online shared dives. Both modes have you exploring various maps and scanning the marine life contained within. While the story mode offers a break from the simple loop of the free dives, you have to earn each chapter as you go. A certain amount of fish must be scanned before you can proceed with the story. As the story progresses, you need to do more and more scanning between chapters. This creates a pacing issue that only worsens as time goes on.

Scanning Fish Forever

Admittedly, this same monotonous gameplay loop can be very relaxing. If you play without any specific goal in mind, it can be a lovely distraction of sorts. Drifting through the ocean and checking out various fish is a pretty serene activity. The visuals in Luminous are colorful and crisp, and the fish all look terrific. Though you’re always underwater, the dynamic lighting still marks the passage of time as you dive. The only problem is the scanning. Constantly holding L and having the camera whip around to focus on your targets interrupts the flow of things. It’s a bit frustrating that the only tangible gameplay mechanic also works against the game’s laid-back vibes.

Shared dives are less lonely, to be sure. But they don’t do much to break up the monotony. Instead, the task at hand is divided between everyone involved in the dive. So it’s light work, but still pretty simple. The one nice thing about diving in a group is the forest of tags that end up covering the map. It feels more active and engaged, at least from a distance. The tags are a great way to map out things like salvage and rare fish. Although since it’s the player’s choice what tags are used, it’s not as useful as you’d hope.

Multiplayer Lightens The Load

All of your activities in Luminous earn you currency and experience. The experience increases your rank, while the currency is all for customization purposes. It’s nice to have something to spend your money on, though it doesn’t make a gigantic difference in your overall appearance. You can change out your color scheme and apply stickers to your suit. You can also purchase new emotes for interacting with other divers. Eventually, everything gets quite expensive. This means even more scanning between purchases, which causes the pacing to suffer again. You have to spend so much time scanning countless fish after a certain point.

That’s the central issue, you see. The chill vibes are at war with the persistent need to be endlessly scanning. It interrupts the flow of gameplay, and it’s also the only gameplay mechanic. Without scanning, you’re merely floating in the ocean with no agenda. While actually performing the one tangible activity gets utterly exhausting within a couple of hours. I don’t know if Luminous needs more gameplay or less, but the current balance feels deeply unpleasant to me. Perhaps I’m just the wrong audience for this game, but I totally failed to connect with what I was playing for more than a few hours.

I’d Rather Be Swimming

This is a pretty simple game to break down. You’re drifting through a beautiful ocean paradise, scanning marine life. Doing so teaches you more about them, and also saves the world. Getting to this story gets harder and harder as things progress. If you love the simple gameplay loop, you’re in luck! There’s so much of it to be had. But if this simple premise doesn’t immediately appeal to you, then this game will disagree with you completely. For the ocean life lovers out there, Endless Ocean Luminous will be a peaceful meditation and an extensive learning experience. There just isn’t a ton of gameplay to go along with it, is all.

***A Nintendo Switch code was provided by the publisher***

The post Endless Ocean Luminous Review – Plenty of Fish In The Sea appeared first on COGconnected.

I don’t know what makes for a perfect remaster. But I do know a very good one when I see it, and Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is starting to take that shape for me. So far, it’s merely a matter of presentation, of simple aesthetic decisions. But all these choices have been excellent ones. In other words, my critical first impression of this game has been a positive one. It’s a sort of sneaky little trick the game successfully played on me, one that I appreciate a great deal.

This is the way of remasters these days. You think it’s just a port, based on the trailers. You’ve played this game before, you know what to expect. But you don’t! Not exactly. You see, TTYD has pulled off that clever trick that so many other remasters have tried lately. You think you’re looking at the original game, because it appears just like you remember it.

When in fact, what you’re looking at is a complete overhaul of an old favorite. There are new lighting effects, new audio cues, new character models, and more. I wasn’t quite sure at first, but a look at the old game online confirmed it. This is practically a brand new game. The dialogue and gameplay is preserved, sure. But the devs have ripped the guts out of this thing and shined it up from tip to tail.

You Can Almost See The Scissor Marks

Static visuals have become animated. Certain flat effects have been given slightly more depth. All the character models now look like paper cutouts. If you look closely, you can actually see the spots where the scissors clipped everyone out. One or two models have a couple of tiny bends and wrinkles, adding even more depth. Mario and company aren’t exactly more lifelike, but everyone feels more vibrant, more lively. The characters more completely embody their papery selves. Princess Peach has a reflection in the slick cobblestones. Once you start looking, the changes are everywhere.

You can hear the difference as well. Dialogue proceeds with rhythmic noise that reflects each character. Mumblespeak, crafted with sound samples taken from other iterations of the characters in question. It adds a whole new layer, like cake icing for your headphones. Mario exerts himself with his more familiar joyous declarations. Your wahoos and whatnot. It feels like every action comes with a perfectly-crafted sound now. Things like menu navigation, save blocks, and screen transitions. It’s a subtle but significant change that brings the whole game to life.

Having played the original game, I thought I knew exactly what to expect. But the slick new sound and visuals have forced me to revise my expectations. Now, I’ve got a lot to look forward to with this new version of TTYD. I’m extremely curious about what else is different going forward. Yet, even if the aesthetic overhaul is the extent of it, I’m in for a good time. The devs have done a great job so far. I’m confident that the full game is also going to be excellent.

***A Nintendo Switch code was provided by the publisher***

The post Thousand Year Door Is Looking Better Than Ever appeared first on COGconnected.

Adding DLC to a story as complete as FFXVI comes with some risks. Stories have their own momentum, after all. It can feel very weird to try and come back to a finished tale and sort of putter around. The apocalypse is in the skies, the mood is grim, and certain characters are patiently waiting to die. To be clear, The Rising Tide does not avoid this problem. And how could it? FFXVI is a well-oiled rollercoaster. You can’t extend the thrills by adding more track on the end, no matter how it twists about. But, this second DLC release does manage to have a bit of fun while it lasts.

Rising Tide takes us to a new region, with a whole new Eikon to master. It’s finally time for Leviathan! Clive and the gang need to free Leviathan’s Dominant from a century of ceaseless torment. Like the previous DLC release, this one is pretty short. But at least the boss fights are a major improvement. Honestly though, I found the story even more forgettable this time around. There’s just something about the main narrative that makes any additions to it feel extraneous. The sidequests and the regular battles are pretty tame as well. We finally meet the Tonberries, and they’re just not deadly enough? I survived every encounter with no issues, and that feels wrong. All of this was just prep work for the boss battles, however.

Brutal Boss Battles

Spoilers ahead! Well, not ahead. Here, specifically. Both of these boss fights were absolute nailbiters. The time-stopping ice knight beat the pants off me a half-dozen times. Then came the Eikon battle. I thought I was in for a cool, thrilling QTE slugfest. You know, like a reward for surviving the previous battle. Hahaha, nope! Leviathan is a brutal boss battle. He’s so tough that I tried (in vain, mind you) to adjust the difficulty settings. This most definitely did not help. Not to say that I didn’t enjoy myself, because I very much did. I just wasn’t expecting the challenge level I encountered.

Another cool surprise came after the story section of the DLC was completed. You get access to a hefty chunk of endgame battle content to slog through. In fact, I’m pretty sure this postgame bonus is longer than the main DLC campaign by a wide margin. The difference in size is so pronounced that the DLC itself feels inaccurately named. Maybe I’m exaggerating a little. But the point is, you’ve got a lot more battling to do once the tale of Leviathan has been told.

Good DLC should pull you back into the game’s world. Final Fantasy XVI’s DLC sort of achieves this goal. You want to spend more time there, but the version of the world on offer feels a bit bleak. Maybe this is just the ‘end of days’ vibe that permeates the final chapter. Perhaps I’m just cursed with knowledge about these characters and their ultimate fates. Either way, the actual tangible content is mostly pretty fun. Yes, the sidequests are a bit dull, and I wish the main quest was a bit longer. And while I don’t care about the plight of Leviathan and his Dominant, the ensuing battles are a blast. Plus, there’s a boatload of postgame content to dive into. Though the Rising Tide DLC doesn’t quite hit the same story highs as the main game, that gameplay is still tons of fun.

***A PS5 code was provided by the publisher***

The post Final Fantasy XVI: The Rising Tide Review – Rocky Start, Strong Finish appeared first on COGconnected.

TopSpin 2K25 has been a long time coming. The last game came out in like, 2011? It’s been a good while. If you’re a tennis fan of any sort, this is huge. Well, it’s great news if you’ve been dying for a decent tennis game. My own experience as a tennis game newbie was quite different. Is this what fans have been waiting for? That depends on a few things.

Tennis is more complex than it appears, but it’s still a pretty simple premise. The various game modes in TopSpin 2K25 all boil down to the same elegant showdown between you and your opponent. You’re not managing a whole team, and you aren’t mastering several different positions. MyCareer mode, the exhibition matches, and the online landscape all offer the same challenge. You’re playing with different characters, and on different courts with varying skill levels. But it’s tennis all the way down.

Of course it is, you’re saying. What on earth would it be besides tennis? To be clear, I’m not making a value judgment here. It’s honestly a fascinating ecosystem to step into. John McEnroe gives you extensive lessons. The MyCareer mode takes your training a step further. Finally, the online matches are where you put all that practice to the test. It’s all very smooth and streamlined.

Tennis All The Way Down

My thoughts on the online portion are limited. I’m writing this prior to the full release, so the online environment is a total ghost town. You can buy experience boosts (a bad sign) but everything else is cosmetic. If the matchmaking system is smart enough, the boosts won’t matter much. On the other hand, you can absolutely buy better stats for your MyCareer player, albeit indirectly. So do with that information what you will. The full scope of things won’t really be clear until well after launch day.

Building up your own player in the MyCareer mode is something of a savage grind. You start out with horrendous stats, so winning matches is pretty tough. You can play on lower difficulty, but the rewards get much worse. It takes quite a while before your stats get to the same level as a pre-built pro player, but it can definitely be done. On the other hand, you can eventually get stats better than any of the pros in the roster. If you’ve got the patience to grind it out, you can reach some pretty impressive heights, at least in theory. I haven’t gotten there yet, but I can see the shape of things to come.

None of this matters if the actual gameplay doesn’t feel right. Thankfully, it’s excellent. Playing Tennis in TopSpin 2K25 is immediately intuitive and smooth. It’s not easy, but you instantly grasp how it all works. Aiming your shots, choosing the style, and getting in place are simple yet stressful actions. There’s a frantic quality to your matches that feels authentic to the actual sport, at least how I would play it. You need patience and excellent reflexes, things I developed slowly over my playthrough. It took me a while before I got my head around things like stamina and shot type, but I eventually managed. The core gameplay is smooth and engaging enough that you’re quite happy grinding away to get better.

Looks Good, Feels Great

Not only does the game feel good, but it looks pretty dang decent as well. The character models are highly detailed and the animations are slick. The camera cuts and in-between segments really help it feel like a broadcast game you’re catching on some lazy Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, a lot of the commentator podcast segments and announcements are crazy dull. Also, they repeat themselves a lot, at least when announcing the start of a match. You’ve got some great songs on the soundtrack, too. It all adds up to a classy, high-quality package.

I didn’t run into any serious bugs, with one weird exception. During character creation, the game would crash out if I tried to go too crazy all at once. Like, I tried making a ‘no middle sliders’ alien-looking weirdo at least three times, and it simply would not. On the other hand, if I made these lunatic decisions one or two at a time, I had more success. Everything else ran beautifully on my PS5. The skirts on female athletes can’t sit still even a little bit, but that’s hardly worthy of note.

After thirteen years, is this the tennis game you’ve been waiting for? Personally, this simple formula didn’t grab me. This is pure tennis, a faithful simulation of a complex sport. The entire experience has been distilled and purified, perfect for extensive practice and a steady accumulation of skills. But it makes perfect sense to me. Every element of the game funnels the player towards the gradual acquisition of abilities. You will get crazy good at TopSpin tennis if you stick with this game. It’s honestly remarkable how effectively they’ve built this training machine of a sports title. Playing feels intuitive and responsive, they nailed the vibe, and there’s almost nothing between you and the core gameplay loop. The state of the online scene is yet to be properly determined, but even so. If you’ve been looking for the next great tennis sim, TopSpin 2K25 is sure to hit just right.

***A PS5 code was provided by the publisher***

The post TopSpin 2K25 Review – Back In Fine Form appeared first on COGconnected.

Spiritual successors are a tricky business. If you change too much, you lose that critical connection to the old game(s). But changing too little is equally risky. You don’t want it to feel like a re-hash, you know? Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is more than a JRPG. It’s a long, detailed love letter to the Suikoden series. The devs at Rabbit & Bear have used their time with the Suikoden games to make as perfect an homage as possible. Did they keep too much from those games, or not enough? Either way, the end result is fun, enormous, and totally endearing.

I have a tiny bit of experience with the Suikoden games, but I’m still more or less new to the franchise. Even so, I’m not totally lost here. The basic narrative and mechanical threads feel familiar enough. You’re at the head of a rag-tag band of rebel fighters looking to overthrow the empire. Along the way, you’ll round up roughly a hundred companions. It’s enough of a labor/fighting force that you’ll be starting your own kingdom as you topple the evil one. I appreciated the relative complexity of the larger plot beats. Not everyone in the empire is beyond redemption, which was a pleasant surprise. Of course, the minor details are still pretty straightforward.

This isn’t to say I hated the story or anything. I just found the smaller stories to be somewhat smooth and predictable. It makes sense that recruiting new people gets pretty rote. But I wanted a bit more variety in their acquisition, a bit more often. There are a few too many people who come to your team the moment they meet you. Either that, or they want an item in the immediate vicinity. I’d just appreciate more frequent variety, that’s all. Speaking of variety, how about that combat?

Tale As Old As Time

For the most part, Hundred Heroes keeps things fresh in the fights department. You’ve got a wide cast of characters to choose from, and they all have a ton of moves to mess around with. Even so, the regular battles felt like background noise at times. The biggest challenge I faced was making sure my healing supplies were adequate. And even this was a fairly simple task. Not the boss fights, though. Those were an altogether different beast.

Boss battles in this game were the only times I sat up straight and paid real attention to what was happening. The other fights are a breeze by comparison. You’ve got to manage six peoples’ health, SP, MP, and turn order. It’s a lot to keep track of! On the other hand, said boss battles feel super long. Maybe I was just under-leveled, but every boss fight was practically endless. I understand that major battles need more substance. I get that ‘substance’ in this case means time spent battling. On paper, it should add up perfectly. But somehow, a lot of the boss fights in Hundred Heroes felt a bit too long for my tastes. Otherwise, they’re all pretty fun! You bust out some sweet special moves, maybe a few Hero Combos, and you’re in business. It’s only the pacing that suffers.

Some Pacing Problems

I felt this pacing problem pop up in several areas, to be honest. It isn’t something I can easily pin down, but it plagued me nevertheless. Exploration drags as well, especially if you’re doing any backtracking. I would have loved a fast travel option. Sure, I can gather a ton of resources along the way. The trip isn’t totally wasted time, but it still feels super long. Your characters even feel a bit sluggish when they move. Normally this doesn’t bug me much. But seeing them zip around in cutscenes at a pace the gameplay can’t match? That’s not great. It feels like the devs wanted an authentic old-school JRPG experience. And they’ve succeeded, but maybe it’s too much?

Take the inventory limits, for instance. This feels like an old-school mechanic. You’re forced to make hard decisions about what to keep and what to delete while you’re travelling. Which sounds great, but you have a warehouse at home with no size limit. So it’s not ‘what do I keep,’ it’s more like ‘what do I keep at home.’ This is less of a consequential mechanic and more of an inconvenient one. By combining the old-school system with a modern one, you’ve undercut the need for the old-school mechanic to exist in the first place.

Inventory Laments

On the other hand, there are tons of cool systems in Hundred Heroes. The massive War Mode battles make large-scale fights feel more impactful. Pixel art JRPGs have always struggled with depictions of massive engagements. War Mode presents a cool solution to the problem that gives you agency at the same time. Duels are another battle alternative on a smaller scale, though I found them slightly more frustrating. There’s also a trading system that I barely grazed. If you were so inclined, I’m certain you could make tons of money moving products around the market. I appreciate the inclusion of a Rune equipment system, but it’s very limited for a lot of your playthrough. Too many slots are locked for too many characters. Also, the weapon upgrade system is pure busywork. You could excise it from the game completely and it would change nothing.

Though the story didn’t resonate with me as much, I still really enjoyed the writing in this game. The dialogue is clever and well-written, and the voice acting is terrific as well. So many of these Hundred Heroes are unusual, fascinating characters. It hardly makes sense for there to be a Magical Girl archetype in your party, but I’m delighted all the same. The three protagonists are captivating and cool, and even the villains have some standout lines. I even stuck with the English voice track the entire time, which is an unusual achievement for me.

Being a pixel art game, Hundred Heroes runs beautifully on a wider range of PCs. My i7-13620H has no trouble with the game, for example. And these pixels look excellent. The character models are expressive, colorful, and smooth. Boss sprites look massive and properly crisp. The backgrounds and environments are fine, but nothing to write home about. You can tell that the devs spent all their effort on the characters, which is fine by me.

A True Homage

As far as homages go, Hundred Heroes is an exceptional one. That old-school sensibility is captured perfectly, almost to its detriment. The sprite art is exceptional, the voice work is fantastic, and the character designs are excellent. I wish the pacing was more modern, though. And I’d be fine with an updated approach to inventory management. But all that is what makes this such a faithful successor to the Suikoden series. Well, that and the establishment of your own kingdom full of heroes. If you’re looking for the next Suikoden game, this is it! Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is a worthy ascendant to the Suikoden throne.

***A Steam key was provided by the publisher***

The post Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes Review – The Suikoden Successor appeared first on COGconnected.

The Conversion Crunch

Said old rig is an Acer Predator 300 SE. I won’t get too bogged down in details, but a normal video project was also a serious slog. In particular, converting footage took me an entire workday. The machine also got so hot I was concerned about it catching fire. I can’t overstate how labor-intensive this activity is. The A13V handles a similar workload in around 40 minutes. Of course, it also gets pretty hot doing so. We’re still talking about a laptop here, after all.

For reference, I use DaVinci Resolve to make videos. Adobe Premiere got uninstalled roughly 20 minutes after I found out how free the alternative is. The answer is completely! And yet, there are downsides to this program. For one thing, it’s a little harder to run on most machines. Chopping and stitching 4K footage takes a crazy amount of CPU power, which the Predator 300 SE didn’t quite have. So I needed to use several wacky workarounds. Things like proxy footage and lower timeline resolution. The A13V doesn’t need any of this duct tape nonsense to run DaVinci. It just works! How about that?

So Simple It’s Magical

Finally, most video renders take something like 10 minutes to execute. This is about a sixth of the time needed for the Predator 300 SE to do the same thing. Which is amazing! So, to recap. If you’re the sort of gamer who also creates and publishes footage of your best work online, your gaming laptop needs to be a straight-up monster. And it stands to reason that any laptop that can quickly render video can do just about anything. In other words, now that I’ve tested the Stealth 16 Studio A13V in these two crucial arenas? I’m pretty sure this laptop can do whatever I need, even the stuff I haven’t thought of yet.

The post Making Movie Magic With the MSI Stealth 16 Studio A13V appeared first on COGconnected.

Sonic fans are generally split into two camps. The 3D fans are forever looking for the next Sonic Adventure game. Meanwhile, the 2D fans are just building new games in realms that Sega has long abandoned. Freedom Planet 2 is one such title. Like the previous entry, this is a loving homage to the Genesis/Master System/Sega CD era. If you loved the first game but found yourself wanting even more, then you’re in luck!

The plot picks up a few years after the events of the first game. A brand new villain is wreaking havoc, and it’s up to our heroes to stop them. To be honest, I wasn’t quite plugged into the plot. I’m really only here for the actual gameplay, which is still mostly excellent. The major narrative beats feel like justifications for the beautiful environments and the excellent characters. Which is perfectly fine. Freedom Planet 2 looks and sounds amazing. Although I’m still not in love with the voice work.

Sped Past The Story

Don’t get me wrong, the voice actors are doing great work. The lines are expressive and vibrant. It’s just that half the protagonists have these squeaky, high-pitched voices that hurt me physically. It’s bad enough that I’ve skipped a few cutscenes, which is never a good sign. Some of the writing is also a bit on the cringey side, but this feels appropriate. Like the Sega games being honored, Freedom Planet 2 isn’t afraid to get a little ridiculous with its dialogue.

I can’t overstate how much Freedom Planet 2 nails that Sega Genesis aesthetic. This game looks and sounds incredible. The pixel art is colorful, crisp, and extremely detailed. Every level features these lush, breathtaking environments that capture your attention. Enemies and allies both come alive with fluid animation and gorgeous designs. Items and skills also look terrific. Even the towns and hubs are bursting with details. You can tell that the team poured their whole being into every inch of this game.

Incredible 32-bit Aesthetic

The sound and music are also pretty exceptional. Every track has this powerful, ethereal vibe that soaks into your brain through your ears. This is pure 32-bit nostalgia, laser-targeted and razor-sharp. As much as I loved the soundtrack to the first game, this is a massive improvement. My only complaint is that neither soundtrack is on Spotify. You’ll have to go to Bandcamp or YouTube for these songs. Even beyond the songs, the sound effects are fantastic. Little things like gem collection and level objects all sound perfectly 32-bit. Though the voice work rubbed me raw, I couldn’t turn this game down.

Excellent aesthetic aside, those Sonic comparisons have to come from somewhere. It turns out this game can move crazy fast. Ramps, loop-de-loops, and boosters are scattered throughout almost every stage. That Sonic DNA is strongest in the level design, at least when it comes to movement. Combat is a different animal altogether. Instead of simple jumps or homing dashes, you’re given actual combat skills. Things like shields, ranged strikes, and dash attacks. Of course, this also means that battles are a lot harder.

I love the speedy traversal in this game. Getting around is an absolute joy, one that lets you really take in the incredible graphics. On the other hand, combat slams the brakes in more ways than one. Your hair-trigger speed does you no favors in battle, and your attacks are all a little on the floaty side. This is mostly fine, until you get to a boss battle. I found boss fights in Freedom Planet 2 pretty exhausting affairs for the most part. They look amazing, and they’re quite frustrating. Not impossibly so, but bad enough that I was regularly tweaking the difficulty settings.

Nostalgia is a tricky business. Pixel art and chiptunes are all fine and good, but you need more than that to capture an era. You’ve gotta drill down, deep into the bedrock of bygone eras. Freedom Planet 2 is a perfect time capsule of Sega’s glory days, for better or for worse. The graphics are amazing and the soundtrack is incredible. But the dialogue is corny and the combat feels out of place. Maybe this is for the best. Perhaps you can’t properly emulate a lost era of gaming without preserving the flaws as well. Either way, this game feels like time travel. If you’re hungry for a high-speed platformer crammed with Sonic and Sega vibes, you can’t pass up Freedom Planet 2.

***A PS5 key was provided by the publisher***

The post Freedom Planet 2 Review – The Fast And The Furriest appeared first on COGconnected.

Too often, Mario hogs the spotlight. It’s always refreshing to see someone else from the Mushroom Kingdom take center stage. Princess Peach: Showtime! gives the titular princess a chance to shine. For the most part, it’s a pretty enjoyable outing. You’ve got cool outfits, unique powers, and delightful sets on every stage. Not every role is equally fun, of course. Some levels are a miserable slog, while others feel a bit uninspired. But the overall package is an entertaining one.

So what’s the story here? Showtime starts with Peach going to see a live show. Things take a turn for the weird when the stage is invaded by a bunch of sour grapes. Without Peach’s assistance, the show will not go on. The plot is a thin layer scraped atop a stack of loosely connected stages, I paid it little mind. For the most part, the gameplay is where my focus remained. And it’s pretty fun! You’ve got a ton of roles to play, each with their own distinct mechanics. The Swordfighter is combat-focused, while the Detective is purely about mystery-solving. You put on a show as the Mermaid, and you try your level best to make cakes as the Patissiere.

Slight Cookie-Related Trauma

Again, most of the levels are a delight. While you’re moving quickly from genre to genre, the mechanics still feel well-crafted and simple to learn. Even the stealth sections were a pretty good time. I just, I truly hated the baking minigames. Every other section felt more forgiving, more intuitive, and more fun. Showtime turns making pies and cakes into an incredibly stressful, frustrating slog. It’s not so much that these sections are too hard. It’s more that they’re poorly designed. Failure is both punishing and easy, which I have little patience for. Every other section is that much greater by comparison.

Every stage has a few secrets as well, which I appreciate. Seeking out things like outfit upgrades, coins, and hidden sparkle gems is always satisfying. The downside being that you’ve got to run through the stage in its entirety each time. The levels are sort of on rails, a performance that must be fully played out. This makes getting 100% rather time consuming. And of course, playing through the baking stages a second time is agony. If nothing else, you get a second look at the lovely stage designs.

Excellent Set Design

Like any good stage performance, the sets are beautiful. Some rotate to show off a backside, some are built from cardboard, and some seem much more real. Certain props, like the horses, are obviously fake. But they move with all the graceful energy you could ask for. Other little touches include spotlights, curtains, and mechanized platforms. It all comes together to give Showtime that live theatre feel. Even the regular costume changes feel like extensions of the major theme.

Combat is something of a weak point. It’s fine, but the game really shines in other areas. Things like stealth, mystery solving, and baking are all more inspired than the combat. Even if the baking sections are the bane of my personal existence. Fights just feel like set pieces added for the benefit of the audience. You swing a sword or twirl a ribbon, and the enemy is subdued. Gameplay variety is the highlight here, rather than any single element.

A Real Gameplay Buffet

Such is the problem, mechanically speaking. There’s a lot of glitz, glamour, and dazzling displays, to be sure. But there’s no substance to any of these sections. Instead, as the central conceit suggests, this is all cardboard and makeup. While I wish there was more depth to these individual systems, I do like the variety we’re given. Plus, the game does challenge you as you go. The stages may be simple, but they still get tough.

Maybe this comes off as unfocused or contradictory. I had fun, but Showtime failed to hook me somehow. The stage variety is both a weakness and a strength. I like switching between concepts so frequently. But this comes with a cost, namely a depth deficiency. You’ve got tons of mechanics that take no time to learn. Stages oscillate between easy and enraging. There’s a giant list of collectibles that come in exactly two varieties. Even so, the raw concept is still cool. Giving Peach a whole closet full of roles is a great idea, albeit one I wanted more out of. If you give Princess Peach: Showtime! a chance, who knows? You might have a pretty good time.

***A Nintendo Switch code was provided by the publisher***

The post Princess Peach: Showtime! Review – In The Spotlight appeared first on COGconnected.

Assuming you’ve been waiting all these years for a new Tennis game, TopSpin 2K25 is looking like the one. 2K has brought a beloved franchise into the modern age, complete with all their usual bells and whistles. Does that include microtransactions, you’re asking? I don’t have that answer yet, but I have plenty more. In fact, my time with the preview build taught me tons about the sport in general.

You see, I’m more or less brand new to Tennis, holistically speaking. Unlike some of my fellow journalists in attendance, I knew exactly bupkiss going into this thing. Which is fine! TopSpin 2K25 has a whole Tennis Academy designed to correct this deficiency. John McEnroe is your guide through a series of lessons perfect for drilling the fundamentals deep into your brain stem. It’s all about aim and timing, at least in the beginning. This is expressed through a dizzy dance of stick inputs and button releases. I like the timing being dependent on when you let go of an input, it feels more patient, more precise.

Practice Makes Perfect

After learning a few key points, I moved on to some exhibition matches. Here my training came to fruition. Rather, it became apparent that I hadn’t trained enough at all. But that was always gonna be the case, especially given how short this preview session was. I just had to learn on the go, which it turns out I’m not great at! You see, perfectly timed shots are a big part of your early success. It’s critical that you figure out this mechanic before moving on. But doing so is harder than it seems, especially for a condensed gameplay session. I still managed to win a few games, however.

Notice how I said ‘games’ and not ‘matches.’ It turns out I choke up a bit in the last quarter. During training, McEnroe mentions fatigue several times. At this stage, I don’t know if this is a holdover from actual Tennis training, or a tangible in-game mechanic. Either way, my playing often got measurably worse in the later stages. I also experimented with a couple of different play surfaces. They definitely make a difference, though I’m not well-versed enough to go into much detail. Another variable is the shot syle you choose. These are measured to the four face buttons and it’s not immediately clear which is which. Maybe I didn’t get far enough into training to find out? Honestly, that should be lesson one. Two at the very latest.

Lot Of Shot Options

There’s a wide variety of players to choose from, which is nice. I even saw some legends so famous that I recognized them. The roster is an even mix of new talent and old favorites. Battling against these Tennis titans illustrates how deceptively complex this game is. You’ve gotta keep shot style, strength, and section in mind on every exchange. Aim and execution have to be perfect whenever possible as well. I tried out several difficulty settings, and you know what? It’s pretty satisfying to land even a single point against these guys on hard mode. It’s a real motivator to improve your technique.

All told, this was a brief look at TopSpin 2K25. That is, I’ve still got a lot of questions before the full game drops next month. I want to see the Career Mode, the character creator, and the rest of the game modes. Plus, everyone is waiting to see what the microtransactions are like. 2K has had a difficult relationship with those systems in the past. Will this game be more of the same, or are we in for a paradigm shift? Even so, what I’ve seen so far is pretty promising. Keep an eye on this spot for more complete coverage in the future.

The post TopSpin 2K25 Is The Tennis Game You’ve Been Waiting For appeared first on COGconnected.

Strategy RPGs are not normally known for innovation. To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with slowly building on an established formula. Plenty of franchises do an amazing job making tiny changes to winning ideas. This just means that unusual new games land with that much more impact. Unicorn Overlord feels familiar and brand new all at the same time. I was simply not prepared for this kind of approachable complexity in a strategy RPG. These are new depths we’re exploring, make no mistake.

Our story follows a young prince of a conquered kingdom. He’s setting out to recapture his throne and eliminate the despot who’s taken over the continent. Along the way, you meet a whole host of characters, many of whom will end up in your army. The narrative is crammed with betrayals, tragedies, new alliances, and old villains. Along with a mystery or two. To be honest, I wasn’t especially invested. The writing is great, don’t get me wrong. Every line is full of personality. It’s just not enough to drag me away from the mechanics. I’m paying just enough attention to follow along while staying fully locked into the combat.

Brilliant Battle Mechanics

This is where Unicorn Overlord truly shines for me. Battles happen in real time, sort of. You can pause at any moment to give commands. Every unit on the battlefield is actually a squad consisting of several fighters. Said fighters have a complex rock/paper/scissors relationship with one another. Fights happen automatically, but you can choose how your moves play out with a gambit-style system. Even things like unit position within the squad can make a huge difference. Plus, you get a straightforward damage report before the fight even happens, if you’re paying attention.

The rock/paper/scissors analogy feels woefully insufficient. There are dozens of unit types, each with a different relationship to the other units. Witches, Shamans, and Wizards all fulfill different functions. Same with Soldiers, Fighters, and Hoplites. I love tinkering with different combos, and seeing how they perform on the battlefield. Watching a new squad of five effortlessly destroy a previously untouchable opponent is a wonderful feeling. Although I did get sick of watching combat play out automatically after a while. You can always skip the battle and get straight to the results. This becomes a pretty alluring option, especially if you’re grinding out sidequests or squad levels.

Skip To The Good Bits

Making new squads on a regular basis also prevents your lineup from getting too stagnant. There’s no experience earned on the bench, so everyone’s gotta fight if they want to get stronger. Thankfully, type matchups are more important than levels. This means even your weakest soldiers are able to contribute. At least, they can if you’re clever enough. I can’t get enough of the battles in Unicorn Overlord. I sought out every side mission I could, just to find more fights to win. Every time I got stuck, it was another chance to reorganize my whole army. What new combos would win the day this time?

But wait! There’s even more you can do to power up! New equipment and new skills, for starters. Each unit can be promoted beyond its original role. Your gambits can be re-arranged. You can level grind, if you’re into that sort of thing. Or you can do all the sidequests for even more rewards. The point is, you’ve got options if you’re feeling stuck. This is my favorite kind of roadblock, the kind you can patiently plot your way around. Plus, any solution that gets me more combat time is a good one.

Of course, this is also a Vanillaware game. For the unfamiliar, this means gorgeous 2D character models. Everyone you meet is beautifully rendered and lovingly animated. Every major character, all the unit types, the NPCs, everyone. The backgrounds and the environments are lovely, but they can’t compare to the characters. We’re talking vibrant colors, tons of details, and elegant designs. Said designs are almost reason enough to spend time with every unit in battle. I want to see how they move, how they attack, and how they react. The music and the voice acting are good, but they can’t compare to the artwork and animation in terms of quality.

Gorgeous Character Models

I can’t overstate how addictive I found the combat in Unicorn Overlord. Not only are the battles thrilling and engaging, but you get to watch the map change with every victory. Towns that you liberate are restored. Guards can be posted at each one, reinforcing the reality of your influence. You watch the empire’s shadow dissolve before your light with each win. Somehow, the tactile map and the exhilarating fights combine to keep you itching for your next encounter. I don’t just want to win, I want to wipe this usurper from the continent altogether. Everything else fades in the face of this mission. I’m saving the world, not to restore my kingdom, but to complete the map.

This is very much my kind of RPG. One where I can tend to a massive roster of fighters, a sort of garden of fantasy violence. The combat is simple to execute yet endlessly deep, with new layers constantly revealing themselves. The art direction is fantastic and the gameplay loop is terribly addictive. I found the story perfectly okay. It’s an effective vehicle for bringing me more battles in an organic fashion. I like the writing, though I recognize it’s more style than substance. Truly, Unicorn Overlord plays to its strengths. If you also long for a battle system so compelling it obliterates the rest of the game, then you can’t miss this one.

***A PS5 key was provided by the publisher***

The post Unicorn Overlord Review – A Bold New Strategy appeared first on COGconnected.

3D platformers are a tough sell most of the time. Retro graphics and weird controls are hard for modern gamers to swallow, you know? But Penny’s Big Breakaway cuts through all of that. The aesthetic is crisp and compelling, yet still evocative of that bygone era. Meanwhile, the controls are precise and elegant, with room for some incredible stunts. Rather than cling to past glory, this game carves out new space on familiar ground.

Speaking of familiar territory, Penny’s Big Breakaway has some clear influences at work here. The dev team cut their teeth on Sonic Mania, and it shows. But this isn’t quite a straight homage to any era of Sonic, not exactly. Instead of blasting through setpieces at max velocity, Penny gives you a set of well-worn speedrunner’s tools. Things like alternate routes, air combos, dashes, and power-ups make speed a constant companion. If you’re good enough, you can blaze through these stages with reckless abandon. If anything, the music and the visuals do more to evoke that elusive Sonic vibe. Certain songs are especially good at this trick, pulling you all the way back to the Dreamcast era.

A note for the PC players – Penny’s adventure ran beautifully on my laptop with zero issues. Although I’m using a pretty beefy Intel i7-13620H processor with a 4060 GPU, optimization still plays a role. My one problem was that the framerate would run crazy high when left to do so. Best to keep it locked at 60FPS if you don’t want the whole game running on turbo mode.

All Killer No Filler

Players looking for a more lean experience will be thrilled with Penny’s Big Breakaway. Almost all of your runtime is dedicated to 3d platforming challenges and stage exploration. Things like plot and downtime have been trimmed right to the bone. Not that there isn’t a plot, of course. Penny’s world is fleshed out as much as it needs to be. You know who she is and what her goals are. Plus, NPCs sprinkle flavor text as you breeze by them. It’s all quite efficient, really.

Environmental storytelling is the main course, with cutscenes as more of an appetizer. This whole world is fixated on performance, on presentation. Everything is bright, vibrant, and soaked in colors. You’re told the ‘Show’s Over’ when you run out of lives. A disappointed audience chimes in when you fail a given task, and they cheer all your successes. The entire plot revolves around a court performance gone badly wrong. The action is kept front and center, while the story crowds around the sidelines.

Since the action is so prominent, the controls have to be equally precise. And they are! Or at least, the controls in Penny’s Big Breakaway are as good as they possibly can be, given the circumstances. This is a blistering 3D platformer, after all. You’re gonna overshoot and swan dive into boiling magma a couple of times. But the jumps, dashes, and yo-yo swings all feel terrific. Most importantly, the camera is locked in place. This goes a long way toward precision in your exploration. It’s so much easier to predict things like jump arcs when your perspective is this rigid.

Tough But Fair

The challenge level still escalates at a crackling pace, however. There’s an organic hard mode built into the game, which I appreciate. If you just want to survive each stage, that’s simple enough. But you can also go for every collectible and sidequest for that extra challenge. While the stages start out straightforward, this changes quickly. On the other hand, the tougher levels feel tough in a fair way. Success is just a matter of practice and patience. I got stuck plenty of times. But it never derailed my playthrough. I just needed to chip away at the problem in question for a little while.

3D platformers can still be done well, it turns out. All you have to do is focus on the action, fix the camera in place, and fine-tune the controls. Things like the narrative still need your attention, just not as much of it. I was pleasantly surprised by this game. Penny’s adventure is well-crafted, colorful, and tons of fun. The challenge level gets pretty high, sure. And the controls are still built for speed. But this is all part of the package. If you’re looking for a new 3D platformer, Penny’s Big Breakaway should be at the top of your list.

***A Steam key was provided by the publisher***

The post Penny’s Big Breakaway Review – What A Performance appeared first on COGconnected.

Final Fantasy stories are enormous, epic affairs that start big and only get bigger. FF7 (the original) is a sprawling tale crammed onto three discs and three dozen hours. We’ve seen how Remake started to fill those shoes. The stage was set, the stakes were high, and expectations were even higher. And after playing the whole dang game before writing this review? Final Fantasy VII Rebirth does a terrific job of escalating things. This game is bigger, bolder, and better in almost every way. A couple of sections had me cracking plastic in frustration, yes. But the overall vibe was one of wonder and joy.

The story picks up roughly 24 hours after the last game ended. We kick things off with an extended flashback, one that sheds some light on Sephiroth and his motivations. I’ll avoid most story details, if only to keep this review under 2000 words. The intro chapter is nice and short, while chapter two blows the doors open. It’s the open world, baby! As much as I love the bustling cities, there’s something incredibly peaceful about the wilderness in this game. At first it feels a bit lonely, but you’re quickly set up with a whole bunch of quests and missions to tackle. Chocobos and fast travel points keep your commute more manageable, and level recommendations keep you from getting blindsided.

Spoilers Ahead, Friends

One thing I noticed right away about the combat is the ATB system. Items, spells, and special abilities are all tied to these limited charges. Somehow I felt more shackled to this system this time around. For example: this fight’s going sideways, and you need healing. If you do it, you’re vulnerable while it’s happening. Might get interrupted, might not even happen. If one of your companions does it, you might be waiting a while. Companion ATB charges take ages to build up, for one thing. And if you don’t have them equipped with the right materia, it might not happen at all. Your best bet is rapidly switching characters and making sure everyone has healing equipped at all times.

But don’t get me wrong! While labor intensive, this system is nonetheless an engaging one. You have tons of materia to experiment with, lots of characters, and lots of moves. Plus, the Synergy system encourages further experimentation. They’re basically limit break combos. You can unlock a ton of them through basic upgrades, which rules. On the other hand, I never knew exactly when they would unlock in any given battle. This made it hard to plan fights around them in general. I’m sure a system exists that lays out exactly how Synergy attacks work, but I never figured it out. Maybe everyone involved needs some ATB charge built up? I survived several boss fights thanks to a timely Synergy attack or two.

Many Ways To Win

For the most part, you have access to your whole party. But anytime you don’t, it’s a chance for someone besides Cloud to take the lead. This gives you access to unique exploration tools, like Barrett’s machine gun or Red’s claws. You’re also shoved into several bespoke team combos. I appreciated the chance to play around with every character. It kept me from sidelining anyone for too long. The only character I hated controlling was Cait Sith. He’s great, okay? A fun, charming character with a lovely narrative arc and some cool moves in combat. But his exploration/puzzle-solving section is hot garbage. The whole game slams on the brakes so I can struggle to throw a big metal box into a moving target from an awkward angle.

To be clear, this nonsense with Cait Sith is an unusual low point. The minigames in Rebirth are numerous and delightful. While I loved Remake, it didn’t have nearly enough wacky distractions for my tastes. This game is crammed with them. Queen’s Blood, the card game, is fantastic. There’s a racing game, rhythm games, a sit-up contest, frog battles, Cactuar hunts, Chocobo catching, and dozens more. You’re hit with new mechanics for tiny challenges at a crackling pace. Some of them will be familiar to fans of the original game. Twice as many will be brand new. The crazy side content was a true highlight of my whole playthrough.

Excellent Voice Work

Special mention goes to the voice acting and the writing in Rebirth. All the main characters, and most of the minor roles, are over-the-top magic. Cloud is a fascinating mix of mindless determination and hometown charm. Tifa and Aerith play off each other beautifully. Aerith in particular is whimsical at a weaponized level. She’s disarming, affectionate, and infectious. Red’s performance is downright remarkable in its own ways. And I saw so many awesome performances from smaller roles. I saw a couple of accusations of AI voicework being used. I can’t say for sure whether or not this is true, but I can say I never heard it myself.

You can play the game on Normal, Easy, or Dynamic difficulty modes. I played through 80% of the game on Normal. I won’t say exactly which fight made me give up and switch. But I’ll tell you this: my level, my equipment, and my materia were completely irrelevant. The entire fight was down to my ability to perfectly dodge, block, and read my opponent’s moves. And the fight has a second phase. I got so mad I almost threw my controller through my TV. To be clear, there are no other battles in the entire game that rely on or require these specific skills to this degree. It’s a one-on-one battle. It’s this specific fight that kept me from giving Rebirth a perfect score. I cannot overstate how incredibly frustrating the whole experience was.

Compelling, Powerful Plot

Finally, the story. I loved the narrative arc in Rebirth. The pacing feels right, the characters are fleshed out, and the major beats hit properly hard. You get a sprinkling of secrets and teases throughout the plot that keep you engaged. The villains are compelling and cool. The stakes feel nice and high. And the ending feels like an ending. By which I mean you’re not left hanging too badly. Everything wraps up pretty well while leaving things open for the inevitable third act. All I’ll say regarding certain story beats is maybe stay off social media before and during your own playthrough.

This Final Fantasy VII project is a massive undertaking of an impossible scale. A single release stretched into three games? Preposterous. And yet, so far the team is totally nailing it. The first game was a smash hit, and Rebirth runs laps around it in almost every way. The performances, the plot, and the gameplay are all much improved. With a couple of notable exceptions. While I hated one or two sections with venomous passion, they aren’t enough to spoil the experience. The game is less than perfect, but not by much. If you’ve been hotly anticipating this release, you were right to do so. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is a fantastic follow-up to a pretty incredible game.

***A PS5 code was provided by the publisher***

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Guides:

• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Wiki
• Walkthrough
• Collectibles
• World Intel
• Side Quests

The post Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Review – Big, Weird, Beautiful appeared first on COGconnected.

Normally, Mario games are all about freedom of movement. Mario vs Donkey Kong mostly does away with this, which I wasn’t prepared for. This latest iteration of a long-running puzzle series trades that intense physicality for careful planning and clever solutions. Yes, I’ve somehow never played a single game in the MvDK series. As a total newcomer, I’m impressed by the game’s ability to make you think. On the other hand, the platforming is too intense for such limiting controls.

Fans of the series will recognize this release. Nintendo has taken the original GameBoy Advance title and rebuilt it from the ground up. The music, the visuals, and all the underlying systems are brand new. The result is a familiar game with a fully modern look and feel. For the most part. This is still a side-scrolling puzzle/platformer, after all. The character models have that distinct Nintendo polish, and the environments are equally slick. Buttons, blocks, and deadly traps all look tangible and tactile. The animations are smooth, though movement is decidedly less so. But this is by design.

Walk, Don’t Run

Since this is a puzzle game, Mario’s moves are more subdued. He’s almost like a regular dude, with a tiny jump and a gentle walking speed. There’s no running in this title either. He’s exactly as vulnerable as always, but your limited motion range somehow emphasizes this weakness. And I know, okay? I get why he has to walk slowly and jump badly and stop when he lands. All the puzzle designs are built around his more limited movements. It’s just a bad time, sometimes. I found myself holding Y to run time after time. I knew full well it was useless. Yet I did it all the same.

Puzzle design in Mario vs Donkey Kong is clever enough, but there’s a platforming aspect as well. I got used to the controls, though one obstacle nearly defeated me for good. Any level with the falling bricks is immediately the hardest one in that particular world, full stop. It’s here that not being able to run feels downright cruel. I lost countless lives to that malevolent stack of stonework. And you will too!

The Bricks Are The Worst

Beyond the blasted bricks, the rest of the level designs are terrific. New ideas are always being added to the mix. Things like conveyor belts, color switches, spike pits, and ropes all keep things fresh and frantic. You’ve got a whole host of different enemies as well. But thankfully, their movements are just as restrained as your own. While the sheer number of level elements gets a little dense, you’re never overwhelmed. Instead, new ideas are introduced with a steady drip-feed, one stage at a time. Thanks to this system, I managed to get pretty far before getting well and truly stuck the first time.

Mario vs Donkey Kong can get tough in a lot of interesting ways. There’s the Classic and Casual modes, for starters. Classic mode has a timer, one-hit KOs, and no checkpoints. But, you can also make things harder with the presents. Every stage has three to collect, and they can really complicate things if you let them. You can even add more challenge to boss fights by finishing them without being hit. On the other hand, you can add a second player to make certain puzzles a bit easier. The game is exactly as hard as you want it to be, which rules.

Stuck On The Landing

I quickly got used to the controls, with one exception. Mario has this habit of stopping after landing a jump. That doesn’t sound like a huge deal, but it’s a real momentum killer. Especially if you’re trying to run from something deadly, that extra few seconds can be immediately fatal. I lost a bunch of lives accidentally standing around while some monster or other hazard struck me down. It sounds awful, but I never felt discouraged by these failures. The game lets you restart any section quickly, which can circumvent any loss of life. If you’re quick enough, that is. Even a game over screen isn’t a giant obstacle to your progress. Things got tough, but I never felt like I couldn’t move forward. I just needed to try again.

The puzzles in this game are clever, well-constructed, and satisfying to solve. At the same time, the platforming can be frustrating. The jump mechanics take some getting used to, and the controls don’t have that Mario feel. But this too is a sort of puzzle to solve. You’ve got to learn the basics all over again, in a way. Once I accepted this, Mario vs Donkey Kong really opened up for me. I took my failures in stride. I pushed for perfection whenever possible. Soon enough I was having a great time. For longtime Mario fans new to this series, this new paradigm might take some adjustment. But I assure you, this investment of time and effort is worth it.

***A Nintendo Switch code has been provided by the publisher***

The post Mario vs. Donkey Kong Review – Perilously Fun Puzzles appeared first on COGconnected.

Persona games tend to sneak up on me. Having played the original, I expected my time with Persona 3 Reload to be a bit of a chore. Instead, I’ve found myself charmed and compelled at every turn. There’s new content to explore, new visuals to take in, and new mechanics to master. Gameplay feels more modern, and the voice acting has gotten a major upgrade. Maybe it’s been too long since I played the original, but this feels like a major improvement. Actually, what’s new with this version?

You can control every party member directly in battle, for one thing. The voice acting has been re-cast and expanded. There’s a bunch of new music in the soundtrack, which rules. You can play through new side missions for extra content, as well. On the other hand, there’s a couple of things from Persona 3 Portable that won’t be appearing in Reload. There’s no female version of the protagonist, and the game is missing the FES epilogue. So it’s not the definitive version of the game. But if this is your first time playing, none of that missing stuff matters much.

Rebuilt From The Ground Up

Honestly, I haven’t played the PS2 original in so long all of this is brand new anyway. All I’ve really retained is a distant nostalgia for the setting, a sense of familiarity. This is pure Persona, no filters, no filler. The music is dripping with style and the visuals are extra crisp. The gameplay loop contains valuable lessons learned from previous titles. It feels like your time is respected here. You can explore Tartarus at your own pace, expand your social links how you like, and play as you wish. The narrative pacing is a little off, however.

Major game events feel marooned between oceans of routine. I love the school/socialize/dungeons loop, don’t get me wrong. But I waded through hours of that before getting to any sort of serious plot. Things eventually pick up, but they take quite a while to do so. On the other hand, if you’re looking to be eased into the heavy business, Reload is paced perfectly. Plus, a lot of these little moments are quite well-written. I liked learning about my classmates and their lives. The voice acting really helps elevate their stories as well. I just want more main narrative sprinkled in more often.

Battles Are Better Now

Reload elevates combat well beyond the original. Directly controlling your whole party is a serious game changer, for one thing. Things like boss battles and rare enemies feel more approachable. Not easy, exactly. You can just be more specific in your strategies. What does make things easier is the shift system. While criticals and weak point hits still get you an extra turn, now you can pass that turn to another party member. This increases your odds of continuing the chain, which can turn the tide of battle. Theurgy strikes are more of a cool bonus than a serious game-changer. But really, any advantage in a Persona game is a welcome one.

And yet, the improved combat system is also a problem for pacing. Major story events are locked to the calendar. This means Tartarus (the dungeon) has progress gates that only unlock after a certain date. So you can get to the ‘end’ of the dungeon in a couple days, if you’re good enough. So now that school/social/dungeon loop is just school/social. Not only is this a little dull, but ignoring Tartarus can have serious consequences. Like being wildly under-leveled for the final section of the game. Don’t make my mistake, is what I’m saying.

Meaningful Connections

Not to disparage the Social Links sections or anything. Connecting with these people still feels tangible and valuable. Whether it’s the star of the track team or the couple running the bookshop, it’s all gold. Fostering these bonds leads to more powerful Personas, but that’s not why I do it. I want to learn more about this town and its inhabitants. I want to get closer to the exchange student, the student council, and my other classmates. Even if the routine gets a little repetitive, it’s still comforting and engaging. Getting entangled in these little lives is honestly the highlight of the Persona series.

Also, the music? Absolutely top-tier. Both the original and the new tracks are infectious powerhouses that you will never forget. Somehow those jams from 2007 still feel like the future of music. Plus, the new songs slot right in without a hitch. People talk about battle music hyping them up, but these tracks get you moving. Real foot-tapping, bouncing-in-your-chair kind of energy. Find these songs on Spotify or YouTube, and you’ve unlocked a new cheat code for productivity.

Top-Tier Soundtrack

The visuals trick you a little bit. They’re so familiar, so essentially Persona, that you don’t realize what’s changed. But make no mistake, this is a huge leap forward compared to the PS2 version. I refreshed my memory with a longplay on YouTube, and it’s night and day. The backgrounds are gorgeous, the level of detail is insane, and the character models! Everyone is so beautiful now. The outfits are more stylish, their animations are more fluid, and their proportions make more sense. We’ve come quite a long way since 2007.

I loved this game when it first released on the PS2. It felt almost too cool for console gaming, too crisp for the era in question. Even now, Reload carries a timeless charm that keeps me engaged. The battle system has been polished, the visuals are totally overhauled, and the game is bigger than ever. There’s pacing problems to be sure, and the gameplay loop isn’t for everyone. Plus, fans of certain versions will find this edition somewhat lacking in features. But maybe that’s okay? I’d rather judge this game on what it is, rather than what it isn’t. And Persona 3 Reload is an excellent evolution of a PS2 classic that fans new and old will almost certainly love.

***A Xbox Game key was provided by the publisher***

The post Persona 3 Reload Review – Better Than Ever appeared first on COGconnected.

MSi isn’t the first name I think of when it comes to high-powered gaming laptops. But after spending a couple of weeks with the Stealth 16 Studio A13V, my internal list may need revision. This computer is packing some serious firepower, especially for a portable device. MSi hasn’t quite solved the heat issues plaguing most gaming laptops, but it runs like a dream otherwise. Well, with a couple of minor exceptions of course.

That sounds ominous. It shouldn’t! The Stealth 16 is a beautiful rig, complete with all the RGB bells and whistles you could ever ask for. The keyboard has that adjustable rainbow shimmer I’ve grown to love. The keys themselves feel smooth yet tactile. I immediately attached a mechanical keyboard, but that’s a strictly personal preference. The screen resolution is only 1200p, but the refresh rate is a silky smooth 144Hz. The GPU is a monstrous GeForce RTX 4060. The model I tested was packing an i7 processor, but you can also spring for the i9. I wish there was more than one USB port, but I’m old-fashioned that way. Instead, you get a USB-C port, a thunderbolt charging port, a microSD slot, and an ethernet plug.

It’s worth mentioning that I’ve been testing the more restrained model on the Stealth 16 lineup. Beefier models sport that i9 CPU, yes. But there’s also an option for a 4K display and a GTX 4070 graphics card. While my version was pretty potent, there are greater heights to be achieved yet. But even with my specs, achieving that coveted 60 fps was fairly straightforward. Heck, 60 was quite often the minimum framerate, depending on the game I was playing. And yet, I found myself consistently underestimated.

Runs Like A Dream

I ran into a curious issue while testing the Stealth 16. Whenever a game prodded the laptop to determine the optimal settings, it kicked me down to medium or low. Forza Motorsport was sure I couldn’t do more than that, and yet! I ran the game on high settings with no issues. The framerate settled somewhere between 110 and 85fps, depending on how intense the race got. I managed ultra settings as well, though the framerate dipped below 60 a few times. Remnant 2 also had no faith in my machine for no good reason. That game ran without a single hitch, at least during my testing period.

This isn’t to say that you can get ultra-level visuals without any adjustments, though. Forza Motorsport required some careful fiddling before the framerate stabilized on Ultra. Destiny 2 was much more forgiving, but this is somewhat uncommon. I’ve made my peace with this element of PC gaming in general, though it’s still worth mentioning. Honestly though, I had to make comparatively few adjustments to get everything running smoothly. Just tweaking a handful of settings was usually enough.

Gaming laptops get crazy hot, and the Stealth 16 is no exception. The CPU can get all the way up to 87 degrees Celsius. That’s not hot enough to fry any hardware or anything, but still. You can adjust the fans to compensate for the heat, but that software doesn’t come with the machine. I mean, there is the MSi Center, but it’s too basic to be of any use. I had to find and download MSi’s Dragon Center software instead. I wish that came pre-installed, but it wasn’t too difficult to track down. On the other hand, the fans aren’t too loud even on max settings. You’ll definitely need headphones while gaming, though.

Packing Some Serious Heat

I didn’t spend much time testing the battery. They tend to be the weak point in gaming laptops, especially ones with GPUs this beefy. I did run one solid gaming session that took the battery down to 15% in about 80 minutes. Which is unfortunately pretty standard for a rig like this. If you’re doing lighter work, you can expect a bit more battery life. But really, what else is a laptop like this for, if not serious gaming?

The keyboard is responsive and snappy. Since this is a 16-inch model, you’ve also got room for a proper number pad on the right side, which I appreciate. I’ve long outgrown the primal need for glowy buttons, but even so! These are some impressive RGB lights on display. You can easily choose between several different settings, depending on how distracted you want to be at all times.

Laptop gaming is all about trade-offs. In exchange for portability you’re always giving something up. Battery life, cooling systems, and raw power all come to mind. And yet, the Stealth 16 makes these trades seem worth it. The fans are beefy enough to beat back the worst of the heat. That GTX 4060 can handle almost anything you throw at it. We haven’t quite cracked that battery problem yet, but I’ve made my peace with this. If you’re in the market for a portable gaming rig, consider the Stealth 16. It’s sleek, sexy, and crazy powerful.

***A retail copy of the hardware was provided by the manufacturer***

The post MSi Stealth 16 Studio A13V Laptop Review – Playing With Incredible Power appeared first on COGconnected.

Life in the Han dynasty was apparently pretty brutal. At the very least, death was around every corner for its rulers. Such is the lesson imparted by Reigns: Three Kingdoms. But don’t worry! As far as brutal murders go, most of yours will be quick and painless. Sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself. Have you ever wanted to live like an ancient Chinese head of state? Well, now’s your chance! But again, expect your reign to be pretty short, in general.

The game is played through a series of card battles and snap decisions. Along the way, you pick up reinforcements, travel to new regions, and uncover new quests. You also die like, a lot. Your progress doesn’t quite reset, however. Instead, you come back as the cousin of the last doomed ruler. You see, all of this is a simulation of sorts. You’re being ‘sent back’ to a simulation of the Han dynasty. Each successive attempt gets you further along the timeline. Although, whether or not you succeed in your ambitions isn’t guaranteed. It isn’t easy keeping track of all the quests, characters, and fatal pathways.

It’s Tough To Be The Boss

In fact, it took me a couple dozen runs before I even figured out what was killing me. The bars at the top of the screen slowly fill up. Which I assumed was a good thing. But no! Get too brazen with the military and they stab you. Be too nice to the peasants and the nobility burns your house down. I was frustrated and confused until I stopped trying to please anyone in particular. Apparently, good rulers are a little bit awful to everyone they meet if they want to live. It’s counterintuitive, to say the least.

Your goals aren’t exactly clear when you set out. Be the best ruler you can be, maybe. Try and stay alive as long as possible? Become the emperor? It’s all very nebulous. Eventually, I figured out I was playing towards a specific year in Chinese history. Unfortunately, doing so means suffering through some very familiar prompts and pathways. How many times must I hear some child’s riddle before this is all done? How many Confucian parables will I be presented with? So far, just the one. Over and over again.

Run It Again

While there is a lot of repetition, it also happens crazy fast. You can chew through thirty prompts in a minute if you’re so inclined. The pace of Three Kingdoms can be blistering or laid-back, it’s up to you. Of course, if you move too fast, you can end up dead without understanding why. But even now I’m a little lost on what does or doesn’t prove fatal. You can’t please everyone all the time, but the military seems extra prickly. I’ve gotten the ‘fifteen spears’ treatment a baffling number of times. There’s just no pleasing those people!

On the other hand, I’m impressed by this game’s complexity. Every prompt spins you off into a whole new pathway, often with numerous consequences. There’s a new questline buried in almost all of them as well. You’re forced to be cruel, selfish, benevolent, and oblivious in equal measure. You get second chances for most serious branches, and reincarnation is almost instantaneous. to say nothing of the battle system, which has its own hidden depths.

Very Fast-Paced Battles

Combat seems simple at first. You and your opponent have a ring of cards. You spin said ring to attack your opponent. If you eliminate a card with actions left in your turn, you can attack them directly. It only gets complex when you realize that most cards have extra properties you can call on. Like the non-combat sections, battles are super fast. If you want, your generals can even fight them for you! Like all your other decisions, this has potential risks. But that’s always the catch with Three Kingdoms. Nothing is as simple as it seems on the surface.

Ultimately, I wanted to like this game more than I actually did. The pacing is excellent, the systems are deceptively deep, and the interface is well-crafted. Plus, your consequences for failure are expertly balanced, giving you a lot of freedom to fail. On the other hand, the constant repetition is exhausting. It feels like the roguelike treadmill set to a dead sprint. And while you’re forgiven for failure, you’re also not pointed to success. I had to poke, prod, and muddle my way to any sort of goal. You can absolutely succeed, but the road to that point is a long and meandering one. If you’re looking for a unique take on Chinese history, you’re in luck! But be warned: many pitfalls and dead ends await you.

***A Steam key was provided by the publisher***

The post Reigns: Three Kingdoms Review – Live Fast, Die Repeatedly appeared first on COGconnected.

Tickets for the Hype Train are so cheap and plentiful these days. Sooner or later everyone is on board, gassing up the latest AAA masterpiece. Inevitably this leads to bitter regret, confusion, anger, and disappointment when things don’t turn out the way you hoped. Chances are you got burned by at least one of the items on this list. Here then, are COGconnected’s ten most disappointing games of 2023.

10) Diablo 4

In a way, Diablo 4 was doomed from the beginning. No game could possibly measure up to a decade’s worth of anticipation. After many players got burned by Diablo 3’s stark departure from the formula, 4 was a beacon of delicious possibility. What if things were different this time? This is the lie called hope, smiling as a scorpion’s tail unfurls behind you. To be fair, the game was fine. But it most definitely was not ‘Diablo’ good. Not by a long shot. And who knows? Maybe this too will end up better than the product we got at launch. Stranger things have happened, after all.

9) WrestleQuest

Wrestlequest is a wrestling RPG that was, uhhhh… Apparently it wasn’t great. Unlike some other entries on this list, Wrestlequest didn’t let down the entire gaming world. And that’s okay! Sometimes a disappointing game only has to hurt the members of a very specific community. It’s got all the makings of a top-tier love letter to the sport: colorful artwork, RPG elements, quirky writing. Actually this one is making more sense. Developers fell hard for this aesthetic, but it’s a real anglerfish. We’re too savvy for quirky retro charms anymore, a game’s gotta have some serious barbed hooks to keep our focus. Wrestlequest just couldn’t quite pierce our cheeks, so to speak.

8) Lords of The Fallen

A remake of a 2014 game, Lords of The Fallen let players down on a tidal wave of bugs. You’d think a remake would be a slam dunk in terms of player expectations. Give us the old biz, but much better than before. Easy, right? Well, maybe not so much. While the devs were great about fixing bugs, they also ‘fixed’ the in-game economy to a cataclysmic degree. After a lot more backlash, the devs corrected this issue by by not fixing it at all. Instead they solved a different problem in the hopes of sort of fixing the first one. Mark goes into more detail here. Long story short, mistakes were made, some were fixed, and many people were sad. But, there were fewer disappointed players than when the game first launched! So, that’s something.

7) Hogwarts Legacy

In terms of disappointing players, Hogwarts Legacy is a tricky one. You see, if you grew up a huge fan of the series, this was an all-timer. Without those rose-tinted lenses, the game doesn’t look quite as good. This is further complicated by the fact that so many gamers are also HP fans. As such, depending on who you ask, this is either a 1/10 dumpster fire or a 9/10 masterstroke. Hogwart’s Legacy is a layer cake of disappointment. Either you’re let down by the game’s many alleged flaws, or you’re crushed that so many of your straight friends didn’t boycott it. Or, on the flip side, you’re frustrated that more of your friends never played it for some reason. Truly there’s a little something here for everyone.

6) Hellboy: Web of Wyrd

Hellboy: Web of Wyrd is the second deep cut on our list. But not to worry, smaller games can also be massive letdowns. The devs worked hard on bringing the comic book’s style to life. This somehow translated into choppy animation and bland, cookie-cutter backgrounds. Also, the actual combat is plagued with problems. It really seems like Hellboy can’t catch a break as far as adaptations go. Another object lesson in the limits of style versus substance. Your game can’t just look awesome, it’s also gotta play right.

The tragedies continue on the next page! Even more unfortunate game releases await!

The post Most Disappointing Games of 2023 appeared first on COGconnected.