Aggelos 2 (Multi) Review

A rare Saturday morning review to start your weekend on the correct foot--or perhaps, "the correct wing" would be more apropos to say! Our first review of September takes us to the angelic skies, to the demonic depths, and all lands in between with Aggelos 2.  

 An angelic Metroidvania with a little bit of a demonic side to it.

2018 saw the original Aggelos release, a Wonder Boy-inspired 8-bit style action-adventure game that I ended up enjoying. Now, almost a decade later we see the sequel arrive on all major platforms, upgraded with a 16-bit style, much more ambitious series of worlds to navigate, and the RPG systems eliminated. 

Aggelos 2 features the ability introduced early in the game to shift between Angel and Demon forms on the fly. Both have their own uses, as light attacks will deal more damage to dark-based foes, and conversely dark/demons attacks will deal more damage to light-based foes. Though it works the same against our hero as well, where if he takes damage from light attacks in Demon form, he'll lose more health. 

Our angel/demon hero has both melee and long-ranged offense available to him.

Regardless, both forms can launch magical beams from their sword for super helpful ranged combat, as well as get up, close, and personal with their sword for melee maneuvers. Both can also fly to the left and right for a temporary amount of time, and true Metroidvania fashion, this power of flight eventually allows both to fly around without being locked to the X-axis. 

Perhaps the greatest point of contention I have with the Angel and Demon forms in Aggelos 2 is how the right-most face button uses a magical vial. In Angel form, this magical vial heals for a set amount. However, in Demon form, this vial merely speeds up your character. Within particularly stressful and intense moments of action with Aggelos 2, chiefly boss battles, I found myself often wasting these potions in Demon form instead of healing myself. Needless to say, this resulted in many deaths when healing instead of speeding my character up would have sufficed and saved my attempt. When runbacks to bosses (i.e. the path and time it takes to head from the nearest save point to the boss you're aiming to take down) can be a bit lengthy a lot of the time, this can be mildly frustrating at best and utterly agonizing at worst. 

Demon form prefers to make his enemies get the "point".

The original Aggelos was a smaller endeavor, featuring a world that could be crossed and explored within minutes. So small, in fact, that a map wasn't even included for exploration. Aggelos 2, by comparison, is a much meatier game, for better or worse. Not only is there a massive light world to explore, but there is also a second map, a dark, demon world to navigate as well, entered through various portals scattered around the game world.

Fortunately, this time around, a map is included in Aggelos 2. However, that isn't without a series of issues. For one, it's difficult--if not flat out impossible--to tell where different environments and biomes are within the map. Everything on the map is the same color. Collectibles, of which there are many, in Aggelos 2 do not appear on the map when discovered or collected. Instead, the developer insists on putting beacons on the in-game map to note where important, notable discoveries and places to return to are located. This is its own ball of worms, as it's quite easy to forget what reason and why a beacon was placed, so you can return to where a beacon was placed only to remember, "Oh, wait. I still can't do this yet." Different icons for the beacons would alleviate this problem.

Use your energy to perform powerful sword and beam attacks. Just watch that energy meter!

It's not helped that there's not always the best signposting or generally logical leading or luring of the player towards where they should head to next in Aggelos 2. This is one aspect where Aggelos 2 utterly fails in its world and map design. Many times I found myself completely without a clue on what was required of me and where I should explore. I even did some unintentional sequence breaking by having enough hearts to brave entering lava-filled paths and coming out the other side with enough health to progress safely. Apparently, desperation breeds exploration, especially when you just want to make some semblance of progress and the aforementioned lack of helpful map markers don't assist in allowing you to do that.

The two-map world allows for fast travel within it, but you're limited to particular statues at the start of the game. It's not until about halfway through that you find a weighted button you can stand on, which opens up all statues--not just as certain type--to allow yourself to be teleported to on the fly.    

The aforementioned collectibles come in various forms in Aggelos 2. From heart and energy vessels that boost your maximum health and magic energy respectively, to wallet upgrades that boost the maximum amount of currency you can carry by 100 with each upgrade collected, Aggelos 2 is in no shortage of things to find and collect--which makes the previously mentioned map issues so vexing. 

In the early game, flight is limited, so you use a grappling hook to latch onto a scale walls.

The greatest collectible is that of golden eggs, of which there are 100 spread around the game's two maps. These offer different rewards upon returning to the shrine in the game's lone town, one reward for every ten eggs returned.  

No doubt the original Aggelos was a challenging game, all said and done. Aggelos 2 isn't necessarily an easier or harder game; it's just different in its difficulty. Aggelos 1 used an experience point and level system, where you could pretty much grind your way to be stronger. In Aggelos 2, this leveling system is gone. Instead, and in true Metroidvania fashion, through collecting upgrades as well as finding special statues and shrines that boost your attack and defense, you become stronger and more resilient. Aggelos 2 does have a mostly steady difficulty curve, but it does noticeably jump up the first time you enter into the demon world.  

Perhaps the largest challenge within Aggelos 2 other than overcoming confusion in navigating the world and knowing where to go next, is that of boss battles. These are all required in order to achieve the best ending in the game, and these require some serious skill to beat. Between the area of effect, occasional bullet hell patterns being launched at you (these can be negated by slicing your sword at the bullets with the correct matching Angel/light or Demon/dark form) and learning when to go on the offensive and when best to bob and weave to avoid the attacks, these battles usually aren't a "first try, GGs" affair. You'll be attempting them multiple times, and the previously discussed runbacks make for some added aggravation.

Bosses are large, in charge, and will generally take several attempts to overcome.

Aggelos 2 took me about 12 hours to achieve the good ending while finding all of the collectibles to be discovered across the game's two worlds. Needless to say, the latter part was no easy task. In this time, I did encounter several glitches, such as enemies clipping through walls and becoming stuck, my character being caught in a specific animation upon accidentally using my sword and beam special attacks at the same time, and other graphical issues. 

That said, Aggelos 2 is an impressive looking game all the same. The 16-bit visual style is full of color, detail in the environments and especially the beefy amount of monster types in the game, as well. Musically, the soundtrack offers catchy themes of a retro styling that one can't help bounce around in their heads, even after the game's been turned off. 

Aggelos 2 is all-in-all a solid Metroidvania that delivers lots of sweaty palm-inducing action, especially with its level of challenge and difficulty when it concerns its boss battles. Perhaps the greatest challenge, however, comes in a less than stellar way, with its confusing navigation due to a lackluster map system and quality of life features that are entirely absent. Aggelos 2 doesn't necessarily rise up to Heaven, but it also doesn't plummet into the depths of Hell, either.

[SPC Says: B-]

A code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review. 

This game was played via the Steam Deck and PC versions. Aggelos 2 is also available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series consoles, and Xbox One.

1,100th Review! Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time (Multi)

It's somewhat mind-blowing to me that SuperPhillip Central has reached this latest milestone: 1,100 reviews. I have no plans of stopping any time soon, at that! 

Our 1,100th review (not-so-coincidentally published at 11:00 a.m. Central time) is a game I've been meaning to cover, but it got lost in the shuffle, like so many games did when I was focused on other aspects of life. Speaking of Lives, this game has 12 of them, but after playing this game over 100 hours over the past year, I feel I have zero, ironically! 

That said, Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is a meaty game, and would have probably been runner-up for my Game of the Year for 2025 behind Donkey Kong Bananza. Does that spoil how much I enjoyed this particular game? Perhaps, but I hope you still enjoy this milestone review all the same. 

 A game that steals time, too. /complimentary

The original Fantasy Life released in 2012 on the Nintendo 3DS. As a game, it was a life sim that featured plenty of cozy elements, combat, and plenty of Lives to manage. The sequel had been in development for quite a while, even having to retool itself during development. When a game gets in "development hell", for lack of a better term, like Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time did, it's hard not to assume the absolute worst of the final product--or at least worry heavily about it.

Somehow, someway, the sequel released, and it's no wonder why the game took so long to come out of the oven. With three unique worlds, so many gameplay systems interacting with one another, and an overwhelming amount of things to do, it can feel like Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time would suffer from bloat or feature creep. Instead and again, somehow, someway, Fantasy Life i manages to mesh and gel all of these systems into one comprehensive and complete entity.

As the subtitle would suggest, Fantasy Life i's story is a time-traveling tale through the past and present. It's a humorous affair with plenty of chuckles and even laughs to be found, though it occasionally can get slightly serious as well. The latter moments are few and far in between, keeping the game's story light in tone overall.

Well, Ranoah, after playing this game for over 100 hours total with every achievement unlocked, 
I can confidently say that... no. No, I do not.

It's difficult to describe what Fantasy Life i's main draw is, because there is honestly so much to this particular sequel. There's, of course, the Life system, which essentially puts your character in the role of various jobs. These Lives come in the form of three categories: combat, gathering, and crafting. Each Life starts at level 1 and gain experience points to level up in various ways, and each time a Life levels up, they get points that can be spent on that Life's skill board. This grants them better proficiency and abilities to utilize their Life better. 

Obviously, combat-related Lives spend their time battling creatures and other enemies. Gathering-oriented Lives chop trees, reel in fish, and mine for ore, in the case of Woodcutter, Angler, and Miner Lives respectively. Finally, crafting Lives do all their magic at workbenches, using drops from the former two Life categories to create all kinds of goodies, whether that be equipment, furniture, food, etc. 

Find the sweet spot by circling around this ore, and strike to deal some serious damage!
Just be sure to mind your stamina meter "ore" you'll tucker out before you finish the job!

Each Life starts you off as but an apprentice, but as you complete specific tasks for each Life, you earn points that eventually grant you to higher ranks. These ranks give rewards to your Life, as well as introducing a higher tier of more challenging tasks to complete. For combat Lives, these require felling certain monsters. For gathering Lives, it's all about chopping down certain trees, catching certain fish, or mining specific ore and reaping the rewards from them. Crafting Lives require you to make specific recipes via time-based mini-games, and some need to meet a certain quality as well. 

Crafting takes the form of these mini-games, requiring taps and holds of buttons and 
occasional spins of the analog stick to make new equipment, furniture, food, and more.

In a way, all of the Lives are interconnected. You need combat and gathering Lives to get enough drops and materials to assist your crafting Lives to make the required recipes for new ranks, as well as to better equip your combat and gathering Lives. That's whether with new weapons and stronger tools, or armor in the case of combat Lives. 

That's why it's pretty ideal to essentially sign up for all Lives at the start of the game once the Life system opens up. To be fair, it's a pretty tedious process to start the process in 12 different Lives, and it can also be overwhelming to have SO many different tasks available at once. However, it also makes the world much more accessible and available to you, opening up a ton of places and activities to enjoy.

You always have something to do within Fantasy Life i, whether you follow along with the story or not!

That said, Lives are just one part of Fantasy Life i. Another piece of the game is that of an open-world land called Ginormosia, introduced relatively early in the game and not mentioned until close to the very end of the base game's story. Ginormosia is home to various regions, each with pop-up challenges to optionally complete, monsters to defeat, ore to mine, trees to chop down, fish to catch, and so forth. As you complete challenges and perform feats within the world, you gain points for that specific region. Once you reach certain point thresholds, you can speak to the talkative tower of that region to level it up, making the rewards and challenges of that particular region greater. 

Ginormosia is well, quite a bit ginormous with plenty of points of interests to find and visit.

Ginormosia also features inspirations from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, between its Korok-like Leafes hidden all around and with its shrines sprinkled and scattered all across the land. Inside these literal shrines are simple enough puzzles to solve and challenges to complete to unlock characters called Strangelings, which can be turned back into human form at your home base.

That includes these shrines that are scattered all about the land of Ginormosia.

This leads me to yet another part of Fantasy Life i: your home island. This can be outfitted with homes (including your own, which can be customized and fully furnished inside), farms, and other buildings for your Strangelings turned humans to live. The indoor and outdoor furniture and other knickknacks can be placed all around your island as well. This is another optional part of Fantasy Life i, but it is rather rewarding. It's essentially something out of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, so if you have any familiarity with that game, then you'll feel right at home (both figuratively and literally) with this part of Fantasy Life i. 

Also on your home island is that of Treasure Groves, which grant you access to Rogue-lite dungeons where your Lives are put to the ultimate test. Some floors require specific proficiency in a particular Lives to pass. Some floors are Harvesting ones, needing you to dig up all of the crops. Some are Fishing floors, requiring you to fish up all you can in search of a specific item. If you're not at a proper level with a given Life, you'll find these objectives next to impossible, especially as you go back in time further and further. Each Treasure Grove sapling you plant grows a completely different grove to explore, and seldom are two ever the same. However, both the challenges and the prizes for completing them make the Treasure Groves incredibly fun and rewarding to take on.

So much of Fantasy Life i can be immensely overwhelming when you lay everything out like I just did, especially as there is a TON of grinding is present--whether monsters, monster drops, leveling up Lives, etc. That won't be everyone's bag of Dosh. Fortunately, you're seldom ever really forced to do anything. Sure, you're encouraged to follow along with the story, which helps in advancing the plot and reaching new areas to access better materials and rewards, but truthfully, you're allowed to do what you want when you want. 

One of the combat Lives is that of a Magician, for magical ranged fighting!

Thus, if you want to dedicate time to customizing your house to your heart's desires, you can do that. Heck, you can even NOT customize your house to your heart's desires, and you can still enjoy the game fully. Whether it's leveling up your Lives, finding new materials help in crafting better gear, exploring and ranking up Ginormosia's dozen or so regions, tracking tasks to rank up your Lives, or engaging in one of the myriad other overall fun activities in Fantasy Life i, it's all up to you. There is certainly no shortage of things to do and accomplish in Fantasy Life i, and an aspect I really enjoyed is that while playing, while exploring each piece of the game, I was always making progress towards something. There's seldom downtime or the feeling that I was just spinning my wheels for no reason.

Perhaps the most impressive piece of Fantasy Life i is how you have multitudes of all of these contrasting systems, such massive gameplay systems that overlap, that you'd think a game this seemingly bloated just wouldn't work. The mind-blowing aspect of this to me is that it actually all does. Between the Lives, the open-world Ginormosia, the story, the exploration, the island and home customization, the various tasks, challenges, and quests to complete--it all works and it pretty much all complements each other well without feeling like the game is too big for its britches.

Speaking of being too big for its britches, this Napdragon is about due to take a dirt nap with our team fighting it!

It's not all well thought-out, as multiplayer somewhat seems like an afterthought in Fantasy Life i. You can have friends visit your islands, but there's not much interacting or activities to do together on said islands. While you can explore both the Past and all the unique places it entails, as well as enter Ginormosia with friends, you're limited in how long you can explore together. There's a strict time limit, and while you can remake a lobby and rejoin each other after time runs out, there's really no rhyme or reason to why this limitation is required. Treasure Groves, however, can be embarked with a full party of four friends or strangers, offering the full grove to be enjoyed.

Beyond the limited multiplayer options that aren't too impressive, what did impress me was the presentation of Fantasy Life i. The game is positively gorgeous, and moments where you stand at the top of a peak in Ginormosia, seeing the massive draw distance revealing pretty much the entirety of the continent for your viewing pleasure? Absolutely jaw-dropping. The character and creature models are delightful, as are the environments you embark in and explore. 

Bring along some CPU companions to aid or cheer you on in battle, as well as level up more quickly, too!

On the sound front, the voice acting is suitably charming, much like the rest of the game, though quips by CPU party members that can optionally join you while out and about can get extremely repetitive. After hearing a companion say, "I'm worried about you" for the tenth time in less than three minutes, I realized maybe this was less commentary on my character's well-being and more on the fact that I hadn't eaten in five hours because I was so enamored with the game. 

Musically, many of Nobuo Uematsu's magnificent compositions from the original Nintendo 3DS Fantasy Life make a return in the sequel, but there also brand-new themes and tracks to be heard as well.Either way, the soundtrack is comprised of a lot of lovely songs that seldom if ever get grating on the ears, unlike your companions' various quips.

Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is a game that after such a long development time and arguable development hell, it shouldn't work as well as it does, and perhaps it's a miracle for that reason. Between its complementing gameplay systems that hardly ever clash against one another, the "play as you want and as the mood strikes" level of freedom you eventually get, utterly massive post-game, and stupendous visual style and presentation, Fantasy Life i is an easy game to get lost in and lose hundreds of hours to. I admittedly did and have no regrets either. Not when the game is such so lovingly crafted and well done as a whimsical adventure.

[SPC Says: A-]

This game was played via the Steam Deck, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2 versions. Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is also available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5.

Gravity Circuit (Multi) Review

A new review for an older indie game is here on the site, and at this review's conclusion, we're officially one review away from SuperPhillip Central's 1,100th! A massive number of reviews on the site, for sure, and some might even be called "quality" at that! Your mileage will vary, of course! Regardless, let's take a look at a game that recently received a sequel announcement: Gravity Circuit. As a massive Mega Man fan, I'm kicking myself for not having played this sooner. Better late than never, though! 

Time to break some circuits

Gravity Circuit recently celebrated its third anniversary in July and an announcement of a sequel arriving next year. Of course, with a third anniversary celebration, I'm a little late to the party on covering the game. That said, as a rather large Mega Man fan and nerd, I felt I was lacking by not playing this game yet. In the end, Gravity Circuit is not just one of the best indie Mega Man-likes available, but it also manages to outdo many of the Blue Bomber's own entries.

After some time of peace and after having been defeated long ago, the Virus Army unexpectedly returns, laying siege to the planet in a bid for total world domination. The resistance known as the Guardian Corps have been weakened and spread too thin with no alternative than to call an old hero into the fold: Kai. This robot mercenary wields the fabled Gravity Circuit, giving him the power to take the fight to the Virus Army and hopefully vanquish them once and for all. 

Gravity Circuit's story is one that doesn't meander or mess around too much, but it does throw some surprises and twists here and there. Ideally, it'd be possible to fully skip all cutscenes, if only for the repeated plays the game encourages you to perform, but this isn't always possible. Still, what's here doesn't get in the way too often. The gameplay is the star of the show, and it makes a darn good first impression.

Said first impression puts players into the role of Kai in an opening city stage, sort of reminiscent of Mega Man X's opening highway stage. Here, the basics of Gravity Circuit are taught to the player. Whereas Mega Man X utilizes his X-Buster to shoot foes from far away, Kai prefers a more up, close, and personal approach. 

Eat robot foot, Virus Army!

Kai's Gravity Circuit gives him the ability to punch and kick foes into submission, turning their bodies gray. Upon this, Kai can pick up and chuck the robotic corpse of his opposition into other enemies and faraway objects. He also has a hookshot to utilize, allowing him to attack foes from afar with its much weaker, but somewhat safer penetrating point. Weakened enemies can be grabbed by the hookshot, and then, you guessed it, tossed to oblivion.

The hookshot isn't just a weapon; it's also a means for traversal. Whether to swing across otherwise impossible to cross chasms, lift himself up to higher areas, or allow him to perform some acrobatic maneuvers, Kai's hookshot is an invaluable tool to progress through levels and get through the game. This is alongside is standard dash and optional but super useful burst techniques.

Kai gets into the swing of things, and players will, too, for that matter, 
eventually moving through stages with surgeon-like precision!

These burst techniques give Kai an extra edge in combat. Through using up some energy from a gauge, Kai is able to perform special moves and abilities in turn. These can range from powerful, move-interrupting uppercuts to bosses, lengthy power beams that give Kai knockback upon using them, and even piledrivers, as if he were preparing for a WWE wrestling match against C.M. Punk. Either way, these bursts definitely even the odds, or if you're proficient enough a player, make things even more favorable for Kai in the war against the Virus Army.

After the initial stage is complete, Kai has access to the Guardian Corps base. It's the hub that features various NPCs, though at the beginning of the game it's awfully lonely inside. Like any traditional-style Mega Man game, eight stages become available to play in any order. Each houses a Robot Master--or rather, Circuit, that must be taken down, one that is causing havoc in its particular area of the world.

The Circuits' stages in the game give plenty of variety, offering different platforming obstacles, environmental hazards, and contextual challenges to overcome. From the junkyard's dripping purple goo, that slows Kai's movement down to a total stop if he gets covered in it, to the snowy mountain's propensity to freeze our protagonist in ice at a moment's notice due to its plethora of enemies and hazards, Gravity Circuit presents players plenty of trials and tribulations.

Each stage features unique hazards, such as the boilerworks's penchant for lava, fire, and lasers!

Fortunately, and also unlike its inspiration, Gravity Circuit does not punish players severely in its gameplay. Yes, the game is a challenge, for sure, but players won't be facing instant deaths upon slamming into a bed of spikes, falling into a bottomless pit, or getting crushed like a robotic pancake, either. Instead, Kai is placed back at the safest determined spot (i.e. one without enemies or hazards) in the stage to try the section again, simply with less health than he had previously to work with.

Checkpoints are little repair stations similar to Shovel Knight. There, players pay a fee of the energy chips earned through exploration and defeating foes, to recover Kai's health and energy immediately. Each time the station is used, the cost goes slightly up for the next visit, at least in the same level on the current run of that stage. The developers weren't overly generous with the checkpoints, but they weren't miserly with them either. Folks will have to fight through and endure some grueling and occasionally lengthy sections of stages to reach one checkpoint to another.

Stages themselves are linear in true Mega Man-style fashion, but they're also brimming with secrets and side paths. From health and energy upgrades, to innocent civilians needing to be rescued, there is a lot to find and collect within the initial eight Circuit stages. 

Some civilians are easily spotted but hard to reach. Others are equally hard to find and reach, 
requiring some proficient platforming and destroying certain walls to reach!

Saving civilians helps in not only making the Guardian Corps base feel less empty, but it also enables Kai and the player by extension to purchase new passive parts and chips that can be equipped to our protagonist. Three of these can be equipped at once, ranging from extra energy recovery and less health consumed by falling into hazards, to more accessible assists, like a double jump. 

Gravity Circuit isn't too lengthy of a game, which shouldn't surprise any fan of classic Mega Man style games, but that isn't to say the game isn't one players can't enjoy for a long time. My first playthrough took about five hours to complete, but then there is a New Game+ mode that transfers everything over from a player's previous playthrough. There's also Circuit Mode, which is like the standard story, but allows Kai to tap into his health to use burst techniques when his energy is empty. Then, throw in the just over 50 unique achievements to tackle (some requiring playthroughs without collecting health and energy upgrades or buying extra techniques or parts), boss rushes, and more, and this is a game that all in all took me about 12 hours to earn everything within.

On the subject of play control, Gravity Circuit mostly sticks its landing. The platforming is top-notch, and the impact of punching and kicking enemies into submission--it really gave me the feel of being a badass, powerful rock'em, sock'em robot. Badass and powerful, yes, but invincible and faultless, no. Sometimes I found that using the hookshot, especially on diagonals--something needed quite often to do to swing across gaps and such--was hard to successfully do. Many times I saw Kai helplessly fall into the pit because I couldn't get diagonal to register, either on the D-Pad or control stick, properly 100% of the time. As one can imagine, this was quite the frustration, especially on playthroughs without the double jump ability afforded to me. 

The Virus Army comes in all shapes and sizes, and Kai's foot is currently meeting 
the faces of each and every one of them.

Further, I found dashing and jumping in conjunction to be a bit inconsistent. Holding the back left trigger on the controller initiates Kai's dash, but when I started to dash, I couldn't always just at the same time. This, like the diagonals of the hookshot before it, led to more failures in platforming than I would have liked. Still, overall, Kai handles, controls, and plays otherwise well.

Gravity Circuit contains an 8-bit-inspired graphical style to it. The amount of pixelated details in the stages, environments, and backgrounds are truly something to behold. A lot can happen on screen at once, and unlike the NES inspiration that the game takes after, Gravity Circuit does not feature the same sprite flickering or flashing the plagued the original NES hardware for games of this type of that era. On the sound side, the music is incredibly catchy and feels like something out of Mega Man. No notes--besides the obvious and catchy musical ones. 

While Gravity Circuit isn't a perfect encapsulation of everything I love about Mega Man, the devs and designers clearly did their research, or at the very least grew up with Mega Man like I did and know what makes these classics so enduring and endearing. Gravity Circuit is a wonderfully paced, action-packed romp that doesn't outwear its welcome, delivers delightful run and jump gameplay, insanely smart level design, and plenty of platforming, boss battles, and other combat scenarios that will test every player's mettle. A superb effort all-around.

[SPC Says: A-] 

This game was played via the Steam Deck version. Gravity Circuit is also available on PC, Nintendo Switch, as well as the PlayStation 4 and 5.

Teeto (NS2, NSW, PS5, PC) Review

After this past week's LIFTED review, we take a look at another indie platformer from the month of July. Whereas LIFTED took on a 2.5D approach, we're going full three-dimensions with the cute, charming, and colorful Teeto, available on PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Switch 2 (the latter is the version of the game this review is based off).

Saving the world from sinister shadows? It Takes Teeto, baby!

Teeto is a 3D platformer built off the same vibes as exploration-based platformers such as Spyro the Dragon and Banjo-Kazooie. The latter is highly reminiscent of Teeto, as both star a pair of protagonists that work together to run, jump, and otherwise platform their way through levels. Whereas Banjo-Kazooie has a more complicated move-set to it, Teeto utilizes a simpler control setup. Teeto can jump, double jump, glide with the help of Nory, a pink bunny companion, roll, attack, and ground pound. 

A brief pause, a momentary respite to breathe and take in the scenery.

It's with Teeto's special transformative abilities that make what otherwise might be a standard fare platformer into something more intriguing. Teeto can interact with various objects in the levels of the game and take on their properties. For instance, a flower can transform Teeto into a vine form, allowing him to grapple specific faraway points with his vine arms and swing across them. There's also big boulders that Teeto can assume the abilities of, allowing him to ground pound with more force, breaking open floor and ground that otherwise would be impenetrable. 

Teeto looks ready for spring with all of that flower power!

Teeto features four acts within its 5-8 hour runtime, and each act consists of six levels. The first five levels are exploration, platforming-based with different side and main objectives to complete. The sixth is always a boss level of some form. 

There are three types of collectibles to be found within Teeto's levels: powerful purple polygonal vessels of energy known as Vionite, which serves as the game's Power Star equivalent to Super Mario 64, or to bring Banjo-Kazooie back up, that game's Jiggy equivalent. Collecting these is paramount as a certain amount is required to open up future acts in the game. 

Vionite are housed in hidden locations, but other times they're rewarded for completing objectives and tasks for NPCs in levels. Some may have you finding and fetching a lost bone for a dog, destroying a set number of shadow flags in a level, or even reaching the top of a small summit in a literal ode to the popular co-op multiplayer game PEAK. The objectives are varied enough to keep the game from growing stale, if the platforming and creative level design don't do that already.

Give a dog a bone, and you'll be rewarded with some much wanted Vionite!

Other collectibles include tiny, cute, blue, gooey creatures called Michaels. These are small in stature, but have a late-game purpose. While difficult to discover since they are tiny, the telltale sound of their giggling makes sure you won't miss them hanging around. Michaels humorously come in unique styles, such as "Chronically Online Michael" or "Michael Who Just Bought a Drone". 

The other type of collectible fills up a gauge, and that is of stars. Different sized and colored stars bestow more energy in the gauge, and a side goal is to fill the gauge in each level. The stars are also Teeto's form of currency, which is used to purchase new costumes and outfits for Teeto to adorn--from a Lucahdor wrestling costume to a superhero outfit.

I like a game where the collectibles are shown in order. That is, if you're near the level's exit and you pick up a Vionite, it won't be listed as the first Vionite collectible in the level in the UI. This is insanely helpful and welcomed for knowing if you've missed a collectible in a level. Usually you have time and the opportunity to backtrack, but sometimes you're stuck having to replay a level to pick up a missed goodie. Because the objectives and platforming are so enjoyable with tasks being fun and movement feeling great in general, I found myself actively seeking out every collectible and thus, 100% completion.

Teeto is positively energized, ready to [literally] charge into battle.

The levels themselves are full of interesting challenges and locales. While you start in traditional mascot platforming fare, such as caves, forests, and mountains, Teeto quite quickly picks up the pace on originality, having our two heroes enter subway stations, grocery stores, and through electrified backyards of suburbia. Some levels are more open-ended, while others have a more linear design to them. Either way, there is plenty of ways to go off the beaten path, discover a cleverly hidden collectible and find something of value.

Speaking of electricity, an electrified lawn certainly is one way to keep unwanted guests off of the grass!

Teeto is designed not just for solo play, but you can even bring a friend locally to play the game with you via split-screen play. Both players have a surprising amount of freedom, able to move far away from one another and pretty much can split up tasks between them or opt to work together on an objective simultaneously. The only times players are forced together are between areas/rooms or certain story triggers in levels. I was amazed by how well the co-op worked, and really, Teeto truly shines in its co-op and how it executes it.

Platforming is pretty breezy, as is the game itself. Checkpoints are fair, and falling to Teeto's demise is seldom a huge punishment. You don't lose progress or collectibles nabbed; you simply start at a nearby point in the level. Really, the only sticking point in the level of challenge is that of boss battles. Teeto and Nory only have three hearts between themselves to work with, and while bosses do drop hearts of restorative health when they're attacked, these battles are more challenging than anything else within the game. A certain 2D plane battle in the third act I found more frustrating and difficult than anything else by far in Teeto's adventure, other than the final boss battle itself.

Bosses serve as a modest but noticeable jump in difficulty compared to everything else within Teeto.

If there are any huge gripes other than the difficult jumps that come from the boss battles, it's that the enemy variety is woefully lacking. There's probably just four or five generic enemy types of Shadows to contend with. 

More worrisome and annoying were the crashes, at least on the Nintendo Switch 2 version that I played. These crashes happened twice upon falling into two separate pits in the final act of the game. Further, there were moments where the game completely locked Teeto out of certain actions, like aiming and attacking with his blob blasts, or worse yet in the snowy mountain level, being completely unable to jump after being shot out of a cannon. I either had to return to the hub or better yet, just plummet from the summit to my doom to get the controls and actions working properly again.

Nevertheless, what always worked for me was the presentation of the game. Teeto is a charming and cute game graphically, offering nothing truly amazing visually, but what style it has works and works well. The draw distance is rather lovely, and certain vistas and vantage points, like the top of the aforementioned snowy mountain level, shows off a gorgeous sunset. 

Absolutely breathtaking. Just be sure not to slide off the side, Teeto and Nory!

On the sound side, Teeto doesn't disappoint, but also doesn't overly delight either. The voice acting has a charm to it, but the music I would struggle to say is excellent. It's certain serviceable, but there's nothing truly memorable outside of perhaps the level clear theme. Certain typos in the game, especially during one of the more important scenes in Teeto, made for a less than fantastic impression, as well.

Teeto shines in its simplicity, whether that's its platforming gameplay or its graphical style. Its transforming mechanic, used to solve environmental puzzles and perform platforming, lends itself naturally to the gameplay without feeling shoehorned in. Glitches and bugs aside that will no doubt be cleaned up as time and patches roll on, between the co-op, fun objectives, craftily hidden collectibles, and level of charm, Teeto was a game I enjoyed hitting 100% completion on. While it isn't a title that hits the same highs of Banjo-Kazooie, Spyro the Dragon, or any other 3D platforming titan Teeto might have inspiration from, it's a wonderful game all the same. 

[SPC Says: B-] 

A code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review. 

R-Type Dimensions III (Multi) Review

All month long we've been looking back and celebrating Capcom's Blue Bomber with MEGA MAY. Let's interrupt this themed month for a little longer to look back at another classic franchise, albeit a shoot-em-up series: R-Type! This review of the recently released R-Type Dimensions III is based off the Nintendo Switch 2 version of the game, and here is the SPC verdict.

Lightning strikes thrice

The original R-Type III was a game that was quite frankly, super punishing in its difficulty, but offered rewards for the players who overcame its challenges and learned to persevere over the game. Now, over three decades since its original release, R-Type III is back with new bells, whistles, and improvements but also some unfortunate major downgrades as well with R-Type Dimensions III.

Let's start with a quick (and I do mean, quick) history lesson. R-Type III: The Third Lightning originally released in 1993 on the Super Nintendo being the first R-Type series installment to not release in arcades. It boasted Mode 7 effects such as the ability to grow and shrink its individual sprites to impressive effect, for one. Unlike past entries which were made by Irem, it was developed by Tamtex.

My "pew pews" with my lasers go "pow pow" on the targets they hit.

R-Type Dimensions III takes the original R-Type III: The Third Lightning game and applies myriad configurable options and amenities to it, such as the ability to customize the controls to your liking (for the most part), as well as freely switch between the original 2D visuals and the all-new 3D mode with a touch of a button. Both graphical modes allow the optional application of scanlines as well. 

Seamlessly (well, with a little slowdown here and there) switch between 2D and 3D graphical modes with a button press.

The visuals of 3D mode are really cool to look at. You have specific segments where the camera can move dynamically to tilt the perspective in an awesome way. Other than that, everything is impressively detailed, from the enemies, whether they be piloted crafts or organic alien nightmares, to the background and foreground geometry. The music has received polish too in 3D mode, offering real instruments as opposed to soundfonts, and it really brings new life to the original's already impeccable, impressive soundtrack.

Another added inclusion is that of a local two-player co-op mode. The original R-Type III had two players able to play, but upon one player's death, it simply switched to the progress of the other player's run. The time around, actual co-op is present, affording two players to pilot their respective ships on the same screen at once. This is a really nifty addition!

Overwhelming odds? Well, two can literally play this game!

Starting off a run in R-Type Dimensions III, you get a choice between three Forces. These bestow your ship with a miniature ship of sorts that grants unique abilities and weaponry. This additional arsenal of firepower can be independently deployed or attached to your ship, which brings some added strategy to the game--of what to pick up and where to place it. There are sections of stages more suitable for deploying while others are better for having your Force attached to your ship. Depending on your particular play style or how you want to initiate and take on a given run, the choice of your starting Force is important to factor in. Each selectable starting Force has its own advantages/disadvantages, pros/cons, benefits/weaknesses to the battles at hand, which is a cool, albeit expected touch.

The original R-Type III wasn't a game you just played through casually and expected to reach its end without any friction. No, this is "Friction: The Game" in top tier form. It's a game that demands your dedication to it, but one of the greatest rewards for an R-Type player is mastering a given stage--perhaps even going for that coveted no-death run.  

Deaths aren't optional for beginners, and heck, even advanced players used to the R-Type series. It's expected. It's mandatory. It's a constant influx of ship explosions, whether from stray bullets, to walls closing in and crushing your ship on the fly. Memorization is key, and even then, you have to properly execute what is expected of you to survive. This is indeed an incredibly challenging, difficult game.

The stages themselves are designed in a masochistic way that losing lots of lives is quite easy to do, unlike everything else in R-Type. Even from the first stage, you pilot your way through the starting openness of space with modest amounts of space debris flying at you, but soon find yourself entering a claustrophobic series of walls that close in, shift about, and even at one point spin while requiring you to move out of harm's way in the process. 

From open space shenanigans to inner alien action, R-Type Dimensions III takes you all over.

Fortunately, the added Infinite Mode alleviates some (but nowhere near all) of the aggravation. Instead of Classic Mode's limited assortment of lives and spawning you back at the last checkpoint, Infinite Mode--as true to its name--grants infinite lives and also respawns you directly back into the action from your current location. Sure, this also means that you can respawn immediately back into harm's way, losing yet another ship in the process, but it's a minor inconvenience for the power of unlimited lives.

That said, it would have been a nice touch to include some kind of rewind capability for at least Infinite Mode. As deaths result in your ship leveling down to its original under-powered, woefully weak state, it makes for an agonizing playthrough, especially when you're perishing every 5-10 seconds like this R-Type "pro" did (read: I absolutely, positively sucked at this game).  

As a shoot-em-up, R-Type Dimensions III is as nice as they get, at least control-wise. Threading the needle through enemy ships, bullets, and hazards feels pleasant and precise. You're not going to die because the controls weren't responsive, that much is for certain. 

Infinite Mode presents players with an unlimited amount of lives to spend.

However, and quite unfortunately, this remake presents new issues not found in the 1993 original rear their ugly head in. For one, hitboxes feel considerably "off" and inaccurate. This means that deaths happen a lot more than they otherwise would due to your hitbox being larger than it's specifically supposed to be. Shots that don't even graze my ship could end in an explosive result, for example, and frustratingly so.

Furthermore, many enemies don't properly register with a helpful visual clue you're hitting them, either with a flashing animation as bullets pelt them or anything else visually. Was I actually dealing damage to a baddie? It was difficult to tell, such as with the second stage's boss, and with a game that's already punishing in its level of challenge, these oversights and added aggravations do not make for a good impression--especially since they appeared to creep and leak over into the 2D portion of R-Type Dimensions III as well!

No doubt the original developers enjoyed Ridley Scott's Alien series.

It's hard to recommend playing R-Type Dimensions III over the original, especially if you're a purist or diehard fan of the 1993 SNES classic because of these oversights. They make the game much more challenging and pretty much to an oftentimes unfair degree. Those new to the series or game might not mind these issues as much, but the game will essentially curb stomp these players unbeknownst to its dastardly, dire difficulty. The added bells and whistles like switching between 2D and 3D mode, Infinite Mode, and the two-player co-op mode--to name a few--are great additions, but are they worth suffering through a flawed, botched R-Type III remake over the original? Unfortunately, the answer is an emphatic "no".

ININ Games has already put out a statement regarding these issues--in fact, said statement released a day after the game's launch. So, the grievances to the gameplay that players have will hopefully soon be patched, but the fact that this is how the game was launched to begin with doesn't instill much confidence. For the time being, it's best to wait out a patch/update to R-Type Dimensions III and just play the original R-Type III in the meantime. It's a much better experience, even without the aforementioned modern bells and whistles.

[SPC Says: C-] 

A Nintendo Switch 2 game code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.

Elementallis (Multi) Review

Taking another detour from reviewing Mega Man games for MEGA MAY, we turn to a Zelda-like indie game that released towards the end of last month: Elementallis. Here is the SPC review!

The elements come together for one highly capable Zelda clone.

In the world of Elementallis, the elements that hold the world together are breaking apart, and it's our protagonist's guilt-driven duty to restore them. The story of Elementallis and the motivation behind the custom-named hero (who can be selected as male, female, or non-binary--a nice option to see) are essentially all to do with the sins of their parents. The protagonist's parents set off the chain of events that have sent the elements wild and is seeking to right their wrongs. It's an intriguing premise, though not greatly helped by the overabundance of chatty characters with a lot of words but little of value to say, segments of dialogue, and interruptions to the gameplay. Still, it's a worthwhile tale, all in all.

After the initial bits of story, you're thrust into this Zelda-like adventure's world. Elementallis does a pretty good job of indirectly and organically guiding you to your next objective or area you're supposed to go. This is done by presenting you with roadblocks in the form of gates that require certain elements to destroy, remove, push out of the way, etc. 

Every adventure starts somewhere, and in Elementallis, the journey proper begins in this forest habitat.

Each main environmental zone, or biome, in the world of Elementallis has its own problem due to the elements being out of wack. For example, the first main zone you go to, that of a volcanic mining area, sees little in the way of lava flow due to the volcanoes at the top of the mountains slumbering. This proves to be a problem for the town below which uses the lava to assist in crafting and forging weapons and armor. Thus, our hero needs to make their way to the zone's temple to restore the element to its rightful glory.

That's basically the structure to Elementallis. You head to a new zone--be it a lava mountain, forest, beach, and so forth--listen to the plight of the people in the zone, make your way to the temple, solve puzzles and beat the bosses inside, and restore the element to hopefully bring back life or at the very least a sense of normalcy or calm to the area.

There are times where the camera will zoom out to impressive effect to present a nice sense of scale, 
as seen here with this glimpse at this icy temple we're about to embark into.

Temples in Elementallis are the dungeons of the game. These house plenty of puzzles to solve, whether that be pushing blocks onto buttons to weigh them down, for example, a multitude of enemies to defeat, copious amounts of keys to unlock doors, and of course, hazards and obstacles alike all over. 

Oh, come ON! Even Indiana Jones only had to deal with ONE rolling boulder!

The first phase of each temple involves reaching where the dungeon "item" slumbers. In this Zelda-like's case, this always comes in the form of a new elemental magic. There are eight total to collect in Elementallis, thus there being eight temples to travel to, through, and complete. Each elemental magic is guarded by the temple's midboss, and then you progress forward to the room housing the magic itself. 

Elementallis once again follows an indirect, organic manner of teaching the player how to use a new elemental magic by making entrances into the room housing the magic one-way. The only manner of exiting the room is to use the just-learned magic to form an escape route. For instance, with the fire elemental magic, you use it to launch fireballs to light two braziers, thus opening the locked door in true Zelda-like fashion. This then allows you to reach the temple's big key through solving puzzles and making progress with your new magic, and then facing the temple's boss.

Each elemental magic serves a dual purpose. The Water magic not only serves as a shield, 
but it also allows you to walk over bodies of water.

Again, in true Zelda-like fashion, Elementallis' bosses generally involve using the magic you earned from its boss's temple to use the power against it. Still, even with this knowledge in tow and in the back of your mind, these encounters can still idle between difficult and obnoxious. Thankfully, there are ways to mitigate the challenge through having potions of various types in your possession, such as those that temporarily boost your attack or defense, or serve as a one-time "pick me up" upon losing all your hearts.

Between the constantly moving conveyors and the shocking shots of electricity that stun you, 
I was admittedly not a fan of this particular boss battle.

With each elemental magic earned, new areas of the overworld open up for exploration. The fire element can burn obstructing thorns, the nature element can be used to grow climbable vines on specially marked spots of ground to scale to reach new areas, and the ice magic can freeze the ground in front of you--making certain otherwise immovable objects able to be slid across the ice. By the end of the game, you have eight elements to utilize, but it's never hard to cycle through them thanks to a radial menu that can be brought up at any time during gameplay. This slows the action around your character as you make an elemental selection. 

Overworld exploration isn't just useful for finding out where to go next and how to progress. Instead, it's also for discovering a bounty of treasure in the world as well. From health-increasing Heart Pieces (collecting four bestows a new heart to your health) and Mana Shards (the rule of four applies here, though these extend your Mana/magic gauge), to Gold aplenty, Potion slots, and Wallet upgrades, there is plenty to find that makes exploring Elementallis' world worthwhile. 

The Wind magic allows the ability to dash across certain gaps, like this one for a Heart Piece.

While using the elements and having them serve as items is a clever concept, Elementallis doesn't do that much with the concept. Puzzles tend to always devolve into the same things. If you see a brazier, light it with the fire magic. If you see a patch of soft dirt ground, use the nature magic to plant a seed that turns into a vine. If you see a destructible wall, use the earth magic to destroy it a la bombs in Zelda. There's very little thinking outside of the box throughout the game. One item or magic seemingly always just has the same uses each time, so you pretty much by the end of the game are continuing to go through the motions with the game's puzzles.

I would have liked to have seen more interactions between elemental magic. The game does little to encourage using multiple elements on enemies, and instead you basically rely on only one at a time. Thus, by the time the game does require you to use two elements to solve a puzzle, I was flummoxed initially because the game hadn't really taught me until this moment to even think about combining elements. And this is in the final temple of the game where this happens. Thus, when I had to look up the solution, I was more annoyed than anything else. Again, had the puzzle design and game encouraged combining elemental magic ahead of time and in a consistent basis, this solution would have been more natural to me.

That notwithstanding, Elementallis' world is absolutely dense with secrets. There's definitely a lot to do outside of following along the main story path, whether that be collecting the previously discussed Heart and Mana Shards, increasing your Wallet capacity, upgrading your sword and armor, adding slots to your inventory to hold more Potions (these Potions are a must in the unlockable Hero mode, where enemies don't drop hearts and you take double damage from attacks), and completing various side quests, including an optional dungeon. 

Looks like these Snowmen brought snowballs to a Nature magic fight.

Also optionally, there's a Bestiary that you can complete. By defeating new enemies, their page gets added to said Bestiary, and through defeating a given enemy a specific number of times, their entry fills out more and more until it's fully complete. This is not only needed for achievement purposes, but it's also just fun to fill out for lore reason, too.

Overall, Elementallis was an enjoyable journey for me. It doesn't reach anywhere near the same highs of the Zelda series it's inspired by, but it does bring some new ideas to the table. While I would have liked less chatty interruptions in the game, more required elemental interactions, and a greater use for these elements for solving puzzles instead of the same rote solutions, I did like exploring the overworld for secrets, how organic exploration in general was, and the simple visual charm of the game. Elementallis may not have absolutely floored me in its 15-20 hour adventure, but it did impress all the same.

[SPC Says: B-]