Battle Fantasia Revised Edition Review (PC)

First arriving in arcades in 2007, Battle Fantasia has now been spruced up and brought to the PC market. The last time we played the game was back on the 360 a good few years ago so it seems a surprise that Arc Systems have decided to revive it so many years later. There are some improved visuals and other minor tweaks but this is really the same game as before just now available to a new audience.

The thing that sets Battle Fantasia apart from other games in the genre is its visual style. The game has a more comic book look than its stable mates such as Gulity Gear and Street Fighter. It’s reminiscent of games such as Dark Cloud and certainly creates a colourful and imaginative world. The backgrounds are especially good with lots of moving elements and the character designs aren’t too shabby either with a host of unique looking fighters. To accompany the visuals is an epic sound track and voice over.  It brings to mind Soul Calibur and certainly sets you up on an epic fantasy adventure. 

While the look and feel of the game are refreshing and very enjoyable they can’t quite mask the fact that the actual fighting is somewhat generic. The 3D models moving along a 2D plane struggle to create any real sense of speed or flow and matches can appear sluggish and somewhat predictable.

The systems at work aren’t particular deep or inspiring either. Aside from the ‘Heat Up’ mechanic (where you put your character into a sort of super mode), there’s nothing here that hasn’t been done before (and most of the time a lot better).  The characters themselves do redeem the experience somewhat as they are a little different but bouts lack the intensity you would expect more often than not. Currently the game is also suffering from real network problems with lag and disconnections an all too regular occurrence. 

The single player options are what we have come to expect from fighting games now. You have the standard arcade, training and survival modes and a story mode which further develops each characters adventure. Aside from a few extra lovely looking comic scenes this doesn’t really offer much different to the main arcade mode though but is an enjoyable way to experience the lore of the world.

Despite the games faults there is something endearing about it. The art style and presentation are of such a high standard that we found ourselves sticking with it for far longer than we probably would have done otherwise. There are little things like characters having hit points instead of just the generic energy bar and the epic sounding voiceover that show that thought has gone into trying to make something that’s stands out in a crowded market.

Overall, if you love fighting games then there is some fun to be had with this due to the fact it does a few things a little differently and has a unique look to it. We didn’t find it particularly deep or exciting over a long period of time but certainly dipped in for short bursts to experience the fantasy atmosphere that it whips up. It’s certainly not a bad game and there is so much potential here that a sequel would be welcome, but at the minute it’s hard to see it being played for long when there are so many alternatives already available. The fact the net code is currently in a real mess certainly won’t help it either.

Overall 6/10

RONIN Review (PC)

Another week and another retro styled platformer with slick presentation and the promise of something a bit different arrives. Devolver as a publisher and developer have certainly been at the forefront of this indie surge and also normally good value on the promise of bringing games with a retro style but that also add something a bit different to the  market. RONIN is no different.

Following the story of a heroine who wears a bikers helmet you are set with the task of taking down five key figures in a corporation. Revenge is high on the agenda as the story (such as it is), slowly unfolds and faces on a photograph are first circled and then crossed out.

The game is heavily influenced by Mark of Ninja and there’s a bit of Gunpoint and N+ in there as well but it has its own key gimmick that sets it apart from almost everything else out there. You start by jumping, climbing and sneaking around but when enemies see you time freezes and the games goes into a turn based mode. It sounds a bit strange but it works excellently.

When in turn based mode you can see where the enemies are going to shoot (or teleport slash with swords), and the idea is to time your jumps and strikes to avoid the maze of red sight lines. If you are hit you die instantly and have to start from the last check point so it requires a perfect run through each section of the game. It takes a while to get used to but once you have worked it out it’s quite unlike anything else. 

The system isn’t perfect as there are certain moves like climbing over ledges or simply walking forward a few paces that you can’t do in the turn based sections. Instead you are restricted to leaping, striking and swinging on the grappling hook. This can be frustrating when an enemy is just out of slash range and you have to leap over to them instead of move a few paces but in general it works and holds up well throughout the games more hectic levels.

Completing all the objectives in a level (spare civilians, kill all enemies, don’t trigger alarms), allows the spending of a skill point on extra abilities which you’ll need to have any hope of progressing through the later levels. These skills fall into three categories - throwing your sword, creating decoys and throwing shurikens. If you level up one area completely you can also teleport. Using these skills requires a meter to be filled within the turn based time by knocking over and killing enemies.

There are times while playing that you’ll find yourself repeating sections numerous times as this is one tough nut to crack once you get to the later stages. There are also a few issues with regards to the guide arrow for your jumps and swings. Several times we leapt for a ledge only for the second turn to show we were clearly going to miss it and plummet to our doom. There are a few issues with the stealth elements of the game as well but nothing that’s going to stop the fun.

Negatives aside there’s something about RONIN that kept us hooked from start to finish. It’s got a great style and the music is exceptional. When you get into the flow there’s something almost hypnotic about the turn based slaughter and we always kept pushing through to the next level. It took us about five hours to complete but we’ll be diving back into new game plus very soon.

Overall, RONIN tries something different and just about manages to pull it off. There are a few elements that don’t work quite as well as others but this is a well put together and well-designed game that offers something different to what’s already out there. You’ll need a bit of patience and perseverance but it’s a game that’s well worth getting into and shows real promise from the developer.

Overall 7/10

Adventures of Pip Review (PC)

Written by Thomas G.J Sharpe

Oh me, oh my, yet another platformer with retro-aspiration. It would appear that the bit-aesthetic is still in full flow, for various reasons, but it is prudent to remember that the quality of character is not to be judged upon frail comparison. Adventures of Pip makes a great stab due to an innovative and engaging central game mechanic that acts as a vital load-bearer to what could be just another grunt in an ever increasing forlorn hope.

The core of the game revolves around the ability to evolve and de-evolve the titular Pip from single blocky square to fully realised 32-bit character. Each evolution has unique abilities, be it attack or movement based, but the innovation comes in the transitional moments, from one state to another. For example, from 2^nd level evolution is a simple pixelly figure, you can send a shockwave as you devolve to a single pixel. With this you can blast away environmental elements.

This neat trick, played out in different ways up and down Pip's evolutionary ladder creates a progressive, layered experience far from a linear platform experience. The gameplay is a case of matching your state to the context, which can involve backtracking and lateral thinking, always bearing in mind where you can evolve back up and down. This is not to say that the platforming is lacking in pace. There is a nice variety of enemies and environmental obstacles, but sadly, nothing you haven't seen before.

The story is nestled right up to the core mechanic, involving an ambitiously evil Queen, who desires the full hi-res treatment, casting the rest of the populous of the land into single-pixel poverty. Indeed, there is a joyous representation of class strata through the different stages of resolution. Perhaps the developers at Tic Toc Games are implying that Pip, as the effective hero, is only able to accomplish great feats by transcending social stagnation and embracing the differing benefits provided by his contextual, relative and current class position. Or maybe it's just a platformer.

A key factor, as always with this genre, is the controls and their immediacy to player and action. It's no Meat Boy, but control-wise nothing really is. This is a more considered affair, rather than a relentless twitch-reaction flurry of perfectly executed wall-jumps, twists and ducks, although Pip has all these elements. I played with a controller and found it perfectly functional, responsive and quick. The challenge of the game is weighted in the variety of abilities, rather than the thunder of digits on buttons. Pip's animations feel immediate and very much engaged with your presses.

With all this praise, I'm sure you're waiting for a crushing ‘but’. The music is brilliant, summoning up some decent pastiches of platformers-past with epic and sweeping, yet catchy ditties. The UI is cheerfully blocky, nodding at Zelda et al. The world map is a cheeky Mario nod. It's all there. So, where is the ‘but’? I would have to mark it back from any higher than an 8 on it's ability to slightly numb you. The areas go on a bit too long, so after you've been introduced to new abilities and situations, then you're tested on them, the scenarios lingered too long for my patience. I was desperate for the bosses to appear. (Editor’s note – the game is also not the friendliest for colour blind gamers due to spikes blending into the backgrounds)

On the point of bosses, they are Robotnik style affairs, but ramp up the need for pitch-perfect jumps which seem a little unfair compared to the levels themselves. Not that I don't want a challenge, but you realise very quickly what you need to do, but can take far too many attempts. At least for my skill and patience. In any case, this is my gripe, which I think drags Pip from a “must buy” level to a “get if you love platformers” section.

All in all, however, with Adventures of Pip, Tic Toc Games have made something cheerful, innovative and entertaining, if a little long in the tooth for my jaw.

Overall 8/10

I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream Review (PC)

As point and click adventures go IHNMAIMS is certainly one of the darker and most out there ones. Based on the short story of the same name is follows the story of five humans who are held captive by a group an artificial intelligence known as AM. AM has destroyed the earth and now keeps the five humans alive for its own sadistic pleasure. They are held immortal and eternal tortured, so far they have been tormented for 109 years.

The game works in the traditional point and click way. You move around with the mouse and click on times to pick up and things to interact with. There are dialogue trees to work though as well and unlike many point and click games you can die. AIM won’t let you really die though and instead will drop you back at the start of the adventure so it pays to save often.

However, each of the chapters can be completed in numerous ways with different actions being carried out throughout. Your characters have a spiritual health bar which increases whenever they do something good and decreases when something bad happens. The state of the bar at the end of the level along with the route you have taken to completion results in determining if you have been successful or not (something you won’t know for sure until the final act).

Taking control of each of the five captives in turn, players must solve a mystery relating to each of them. These act as self-contained mini adventures and change dramatically in content. One minute you might be wandering around a fantasy castle making deals with the devil while another adventure is set in a prison camp where horrific experiments are being carried out on the inmates. The one thing that does stay consistent is just how dark it all is though.

There is no humour here and each of the characters has to overcome nasty things in order to make it through their section. Everything relates to things in their past and they are certainly not for the faint of heart. One of the characters main aims is to commit suicide so that gives you a hint as to the tone. It’s also very easy to make mistakes which lead you down the darker sides of the adventure. A number of times thing happened that surprised us or we didn’t even know could be avoided and this can be frustrating.

Frustration is one of the biggest problems with IHNMAIMS. It’s wildly changing frame of reference within the different setups for the adventures made us feel that much of the time we were simply fumbling our way through it instead of having great revelations. Often using items on things when you’re stuck can have a bad effect or bring the story to an end without any warning and when you are intricately trying to get something sorted it’s beyond annoying. In one scene we accidentally clicked on something in the background and our player was immediately dragged back to the hub world by AIM without any warning or chance to abort our action.

Overall, IHNMAIMS is a strange one. The story is excellent and the dark tone and menacing atmosphere are something you don’t normally find in this type of game. The multiple routes are also good (in theory) and it does a lot right. However, it never really clicked with us. Without the humour it dragged a bit and the fragmented stories of the captives and changes in tone and design didn’t really help this. A lot of time we were solving things without really knowing why we were doing it and I would be surprised if we dived back in to find the alternative ways through the game. It’s certainly worth playing through once though and one ever point and click fan should at least try.

Overall 7/10