Kitaria Fables (Multi) Review

SPC enters the mid-stretch of September with a new review. Check out Kitaria Fables from developer Twin Hearts and publisher PQube. 

Not a cat-astrophe of a game, but you might not be feline fine with all of the grinding involved.

Kitaria Fables combines two tasty flavors--hack and slash combat with farming and crafting gameplay--to create one meaty adventure, though one not without an excess of grinding and backtracking. These two negatives, however, did not outweigh the fun I had with Kitaria Fables, but they will deter a sizable chunk of potential players from diving into the game.

There once was an event known as the Calamity that occurred in the world of Kitaria. Animals and monsters alike grew ravenous and aggressive, and now, in a more peaceful time in Kitaria, the Calamity threatens to reawaken. You play as a cat soldier who is sent to Paw Village by the Empire for a dual purpose: protect Paw Village's denizens and undergo an investigation as to what is causing the current aggression in surrounding animals.

The animal denizens of Paw Village welcome you with open arms,
hooves, paws, and whatever else they might have!

Kitaria Fables is a game of two parts. One is more enjoyable than the other, and that would be trekking and gallivanting around Kitaria, exploring areas, defeating enemies, and picking up their drops and loot. The other is taking care of a laundry list of tasks and quests that mostly require crafting to complete. 

Your character doesn't level up or gain experience from defeating enemies. Instead, your only reward is craftable materials and goods dropped by defeated foes. You use these materials to craft a litany of items, such as equipment like swords and bows as well as armor and accessories to boost your kitty's attack and defense respectively, and quest goods. Whether it's new equipment or quest-related goods, you're going to be doing a ton of combat to take down enemies, take their loot, and then make the appropriate goods to make any kind of headway in Kitaria Fables.

From colorful forests to grassy plains, oh, the places your cat will go!

For some, this will be an enjoyable process, even with the insane grind in play. For others (and I suspect most potential players), they will be easily and quickly put off by how much of the aforementioned grind is necessary just to make progress. This is compounded by there being no universal item storage. Instead, each chest you store goods in is separate from the rest. With multiple chests around the world of Kitaria, that means a lot of traveling. Forget where you put an item you need? Well, then you unfortunately have to do even more traveling just to remember which chest has the item in it that you want. 

You're also given very limited pocket space to carry around items with you. Just two rows with two more that are unlockable through a nighttime seller in Paw Village. Therefore, storage becomes dicey relatively quickly in the game. 

You can also farm in Kitaria Fables, and this is incredibly simplistic. You till the soil, you plant crops, you remember to water daily, and in a few in-game days, the crops are ready to be harvested, either to be sold for money or delivered to complete the conditions of a given quest. Really, farming is nice as an option to have as an alternate way to earn money, but by an early point in the game I was better served to simply sell the loot I received from monsters rather than farm at all. It quickly became redundant and pointless to bother farming at all, unlike in a game like Rune Factory that blends combat, gathering materials, and farming in a much better way.

You have plenty of room to farm, but whether you'll actually need to use it is another thing.

Combat is a strong suit for Kitaria Fables, and is indeed my favorite part of the game. You start out with a simple sword, but you can eventually acquire a bow to use instead. I stuck with my trusty blade and upgraded it to the point where I would cleave enemies into submission quite quickly, save for boss-type foes. Enemies have tells, and this is similar to the Trials of Mana remake, where a red zone will appear to show where an enemy's attack will land. It's as simple as moving out of the red zone or better yet, rolling out of the way (since the invincibility frames for this evasion maneuver is tremendously generous), to avoid the attack.

You can set a special move or magical ability to each of the shoulder buttons,
 and a consumable dish or item to each direction on the D-Pad.

Still, that's not to say Kitaria Fables is an easy game. It's quite difficult starting out. As you grind money and materials to make better equipment, the game becomes much easier. Understandably so, of course! I eventually earned a pair of wings that granted me a 10% lifesteal ability, meaning that for every physical attack I did, I got 10% of whatever damage I delivered to a foe restored to me. This made me borderline invincible, rolling or not! 

I enjoyed how equipping weapons and armor didn't just serve as a noticeable upgrade to my cat's stats, but it was also noticeable in appearance. Equipping a new sword, wearing a new piece of armor, headgear, or accessory would show on my cat soldier as being worn in all of its lovely glory. I adore touches like that, and that certainly made the grind more worth it for me, other than utterly decimating enemies by the endgame. 

Be extra careful around enemies with an aura like this one. They're quite powerful foes,
but the rewards for beating them are rather worth the effort!

Kitaria Fables is a bit of a lengthy adventure, taking me around 20 hours to fully complete, or at least earning all of the achievements from completing every quest within the game. That understandably took a lot of grinding, crafting, backtracking (and unfortunately, the fast travel mechanic still leaves a lot of running around to be found), and countless hours beating down the same enemy over and over hoping for enough drops of what I needed. Many will call this busywork or just work in general, but I found it oddly therapeutic and enjoyable. 

"Snow" time like the present to make your way through this frosty mountain!

At the end of my 20 hours with Kitaria Fables, I found myself having played some marathon sessions of over five hours at times. There's certainly a "let's do one more day" or "let's do one more quest" type feeling I got from this game. There is definitely no shortage of things to do to preoccupy yourself in Kitaria's whimsical world, whether that be monsters to slay, materials to craft, treasure chests to open, bosses to battle, dungeon-like areas to explore, and quests to complete. You'll be doing all of this with a hefty focus on grinding and backtracking, too, so if you're not of the right mind for an experience like this, you need not accept your invite to Paw Village. Sure, you'll probably be put on the Empire's bad side, but at least you won't have to do busywork--whether enjoyable (like it was for me) or not.

[SPC Says: B-]

A code was received by SPC from the publisher for the purpose of writing this review.

Fallen Knight (PS4, XB1, NSW, PC) Review

We turn our attention to a game that originally released on iOS devices. Now, Fallen Knight from FairPlay Studios marches triumphantly on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Steam. At the game's mobile launch, it had but one difficulty and a lack of modes. The console and Steam release of Fallen Knight sees the complete game available day one. So, how is it? Let's find out with the SuperPhillip Central review.

A Not-So-Good Knight

FairPlay Studios' Fallen Knight reminded me heavily of Zero's gameplay as found in the Mega Man X and Mega Man Zero games. That's why I so wanted to love Fallen Knight, but unfortunately, several kinks in Fallen Knight's armor: lackluster level design, mediocre controls, and one frustrating game mechanic make for a Mega Man-style romp that does not really deserve full knighthood.

Fallen Knight sees you playing as Lancelot, tasked with taking down a terrorist group who has attacked the city, wishing to let the world know some kind of secret that Lancelot and the rest of the futuristic Knights of the Round must protect with their lives. After all, 'tis their duty! What follows is six levels of hack-and-slash 2D side-scrolling action.

Otherwise a standard and typical Mega Man clone, Fallen Knight throws in an intriguing gameplay mechanic in order to separate itself from the pack. Players can choose to simply slash their way through enemies, or they can opt to disarm foes by parrying them just before they attack Lancelot. However, the window to perform a parry is so insanely narrow--maybe just a few frames--that this mechanic did nothing but frustrate me. It's worth parrying enemies and defeating them that way, as you earn Honor Points that can be spent in the in-game shop, but again, parrying has a high learning curve to get down part. There are some parts that you can equip to Lancelot to increase the window of opportunity available to parry, but it's still quite arduous to nail. 

Slice, slash, and otherwise sever your enemies with Lancelot's sword.

This is most prevalent during the boss battles, which you can opt to either fight them in a traditional way (i.e. chipping down their health until they're eliminated), or attempting to disarm them. Starting off, it's best to just defeat bosses, as trying to disarm them is a whole other dilemma. Bosses can only be disarmed by parrying each and every one of their strikes during one of their special attacks. Said special attacks are otherwise unblockable, albeit avoidable with careful dodging. Some attacks require up to four perfect parries to determine a successful series. It's not just good enough to parry a special attack once, though, as you have to do it three times to successfully disarm a boss, earning an Honor Point bonus for doing so. Since bosses only perform special attacks that can be parried sparingly, this means if you wish to disarm a boss and mistime a parry, you have a bit of a wait for another opportunity for the boss to use its special attack. It's a pain in the proverbial butt.

If you're just battling bosses to beat them, Fallen Knight's bosses can be fun.
If you're trying to disarm them, they can be a genuine pain in the neck.

Though it is pretty paramount to acquire Honor Points through disarming enemies and bosses because that's the currency of Fallen Knight. Between stages you can purchase a bevy of upgrades and parts to Lancelot with said Honor Points. Some of these parts are only available for purchase after completing certain objectives, such as disarming specific bosses. Important purchases include health and Power Core upgrades--the latter of which are used to equip more parts to Lancelot at once. Meanwhile, different parts give Lancelot the ability to double jump, dash in midair, recover health faster, shoot a beam from his sword, provide a longer window for parrying, and much more. Different parts cost require different Power Cores with the more powerful parts taking up the most Power Cores. It's a balanced system overall, but the necessity to grind for Honor Points--which again, aren't the easiest to obtain thanks to how strict the timing of parries is--makes for genuine headache.

Parts in the Armory are at the ready for Lancelot to equip them once purchased.
Just make sure you have enough Power Cores available to wear them!

Furthermore, the actual levels of Fallen Knight aren't too interesting to play. The first level doesn't just serve as an introduction to the game's mechanics, but also serves as an introduction to the game's love for blind jumps and limited enemy variety. There is basically just a handful of enemy types to speak of, which does make learning parry patterns simple enough, but doesn't really make for much enjoyable variety. There are also HP Up items "hidden" in each level--one per level--and I put the word "hidden" in quotes because they're practically impossible not to discover. The levels are incredibly linear and devoid of opportunities for exploration.

More so than the clumsy and clunky parry system and the poor level design is the lackluster control of Lancelot himself. Swordplay works well enough, and it does feel good to slice and dice your way through enemies, but movement is hardly sublime. Running or jumping up walls seems cool at first, but too many times I'd find myself grabbing onto walls when I didn't want to. Often I'd find myself getting hit because of these cases. Furthermore, the hit detection in Fallen Knight seems a bit off, as well. On many occasions I'd take damage despite not exactly being near an enemy's strike or attack. 

Fallen Knight's story won't take players too terribly long, but that's assuming they get their feet wet with the Casual difficulty. If that's the case, the story won't take more than hour to reach the end. However, there is also the standard difficulty, various ranks to achieve from playing well, disarming bosses, a mode where you can play as another knight: Galahad, and a boss rush mode, too. There is no shortage of content to be found in Fallen Knight, but whether it's worth playing through is another story. 

Regarding the presentation of Fallen Knight, it's a mixed bag. The visuals harken back to some less than favorable Mighty No. 9 comparisons, but at the same time, this is a budgeted indie effort. I can't be harsh there. However, I can be harsher when it comes to the framerate, which can occasionally turn into slideshow levels. For a game that requires precision parrying, dodging, attacking, and platforming, that's a big issue. Framerate issues aren't heavily prevalent throughout Fallen Knight, but when they do rear their head into the action, things get ugly quite quickly. 

Eventually, you will learn the strict timing of parries, and almost be able to do them consistently.

Additionally, the text in Fallen Knight has various grammar issues (for instance, confusion between "its" and the contraction "it's") and words left out from sentences completely, which makes for a less than polished presentation. Nonetheless, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention one strong point with Fallen Knight's presentation, and that's the soundtrack. It is full of bangers and catchy tunes. The sound team did a great job here.

At the end of the day, and after Lancelot's sword had been put back into its sheathe, I came away from Fallen Knight disappointed. Well, actually I was frustrated and disappointed. The timing of parrying needs just a little bit more adjusting to be reasonable. As is, it's just too darn narrow. I don't want to effortlessly parry and defeat foes, but I also want some consistency here. Lackluster level design, clumsy controls, and occasionally troublesome framerate problems, round out my issues with Fallen Knight. This Mega Man-like has plenty of potential, for sure, but it hasn't yet been met. Thus (and unfortunately), I must decree that I hereby dub thee, Fallen Knight, a disappointing game. 

[SPC Says: C-]

A code was received by SPC from the publisher for the purpose of writing this review.

New Super Lucky's Tale (PS4, XB1, PC) Review

After our 950th review two Fridays ago, let's get the motor running as we gun for review 1,000! We start the run to 1,000 with a game I previously covered on another platform, the Nintendo Switch version of New Super Lucky's Tale. Now, I review the game as it has launched on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Here's is the SPC review of New Super Lucky's Tale.

A tale so nice, I played it twice.

If you're having a case of deja vu, don't be alarmed. While SuperPhillip Central previously covered New Super Lucky's Tale, that was the Nintendo Switch version that released late last year. Now, Lucky's journey to return home to his family arrives on more platforms, though this time around without a retail version in sight, at least here in North America. While intrinsically the same game as what was found on the Switch, New Super Lucky's Tale now on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC has some differences that make it my preferred version of developer Playful's game.

New Super Lucky's Tale's adventure takes our precocious young hero Lucky through multiple hubs that connect all levels together, as one would expect from a game of this nature. The levels are entered through portals scattered throughout these hubs, and inside them are veritable treasure chests of platforming goodness. 

Lucky engages in some barnyard shenanigans in this second world level.

There are three main types of levels in the game, and they all range from great fun to just good fun. The levels where you can fully explore the surrounding areas in 3D platforming environments are the ones that are the former. The auto-runner levels are at the other end, requiring precise leaps and activation of switches to reach the bonus areas containing more currency and hidden collectibles. Finally, the 2D side-scrolling platforming levels serve as the part of the game in between the two aforementioned level types in terms of the entertainment factor to be found.

Regardless of the level type, there are four pages of Lucky's obtained tome to collect in each. One is earned by simply reaching the end of the level. Another is earned by collecting all five L-U-C-K-Y letters. Then, there's one for accumulating 300 coins in one run of a level, and lastly, there's a hidden page usually discovered by completing a puzzle or stumbling across a secret area or "hard"-to-access part of a level.

Be on the lookout for golden letters like this "K" in levels if you want to earn a prized page.

I put "hard" in quotes because New Super Lucky's Tale is a bit of a breezy game--for the most part. When you're performing pure platforming challenges, the game isn't too taxing. You'll be racking up Lucky's lives count faster than you can lose them. This is because hearts are plentiful, and even things like falling off a level doesn't result in an instant life lost. Instead, you just lose a heart from Lucky's health. 

That said, there are some stronger challenges posed in the game, particularly after the final boss has been given a catnap. There are pure tests of platforming skill to take on, but there are more arduous and quite frankly, annoying marble-rolling sections that, while optional, need to be beaten to fully complete the game. These have you controlling a board, tilting it in all directions as Lucky rolls around in a ball as you attempt to collect every coin in the level without losing all his hearts. These are the lowest point of an otherwise enjoyable game--and even then, they aren't too trying for one's patience.

Apart from marble mini-game levels, there are also puzzle mini-challenges that appear in many of New Super Lucky's Tale's hubs. These put your brain muscles through their paces, as they require you to move sliding statues around so they eventually all land in their proper places. The catch is that statues hit by Lucky's tale don't stop moving until they hit the end of the track or another statue. Later statue-sliding puzzles offer a tremendous mental test, and I was quite literally stumped at some until a lot of trial and error. 

As I said already in this review, New Super Lucky's Tale isn't a strong challenge, really. Perhaps if you want to get all of the trophies and/or achievements, depending on your platform preference, as there are some "take no damage" challenges. Thankfully, for the small challenge that is present in the game, it's not due to the camera or the game's controls--something that other 3D platformers can't attest to so strongly. 

No matter the perspective, New Super Lucky's Tale is a good time.

No, Lucky controls wonderfully, whether you're using his signature burrow move to dive underground to travel underneath soft surfaces (emphasis on "soft", as Lucky can't dive through concrete--it's bad for the cranium, after all) to either move through levels faster, collect buried coins, or pass through obstacles that are otherwise impenetrable above ground. This burrow move also can be used to home in one enemies to leap on top of them, defeating them. That's not the only offense Lucky has, either, as he can also whip his foes into submission (or at least a temporary daze). Finally, offering more aerial versatility is Lucky's double jump, which can also end with a twirl of his tail to get some extra distance or a safer landing. 

This enemy meets Super Lucky's "tail"!

If there's one other thing beyond the limited difficulty of the game that makes New Super Lucky's Tale a little bit tougher to recommend for its full price is that the game is awfully short. Beating the game, and then earning all of the trophies took just under ten hours for me to do. I'll no doubt return to the Lucky's colorful world every now and then (heck, I did for this review since I already covered the Nintendo Switch version last year), but bear in mind that this isn't a lengthy adventure by any stretch of the term.

Meanwhile, when it regards New Super Lucky's Tale's presentation, Lucky's world is suitably colorful and charming, whether that's the vibrant environments or the personable characters. The latter uses gibberish speak (and sometimes singing) which was pleasing to me. The dialogue that is spoken is rare, mostly done as bookends to the adventure. Lucky himself exudes personality, and just like with my Switch review, I still adore the way he looks at and makes faces at the camera when he stands still for a short while. With regards to performance, the PlayStation 4 version features vastly reduced load times when compared to the Switch version, which is terrific considering how plentiful load screens are in the game, but there are still issues with unstable frame-rate in parts of the game. Musically, Playful's composers have done a great job bringing forth mostly catchy and engaging music to the ears. Most of it I wouldn't listen to outside of the game, but in-game it works. 

While this foe gets its stinger hit back at it thanks to Lucky's furry appendage.

New Super Lucky's Tale isn't the type of platformer that starts out with a breezy level of challenge and then gets ultra grueling by its end. Instead, the difficulty curve with regards to pure platforming is more of a modest one than something you'd need mountain climbing equipment to scale. That said, what is present for the brief adventure is both adorable and enjoyable, offering mostly clever ideas and well executed concepts from start to finish. Here's hoping we see more of Lucky in the future--preferably a completely brand-new adventure next time instead of the same game in a slightly varied form.

[SPC Says: B]

A PS4 code was provided to SPC by the publisher for the purpose of writing this review.

Cat Quest II (NSW, PS4, XB1, PC) Review

After the conclusion of this next review, SuperPhillip Central will be at its historic 900th review. Before we get ahead of ourselves, however, let's turn our attention towards Cat Quest II from developer The Gentlebros. Here's the SPC review!

Using at least four cat puns was in my review "claws."

It's an age-old question that has spurred serious debate between pet lovers everywhere: cats or dogs? In developer The Gentlebros' Cat Quest II, the question hasn't just spurred serious debate, but it's actually started a war--in the lore of the game, of course (that might be important to note)--between the canine army and their rival feline forces. As a pair of pitch paw-fect protagonists, one cat and one dog, you set out to put an end to the war, whether alone--switching between the two characters on the fly--or via co-op with another player.

Cat Quest II plays out within a huge, sprawling, marked world map--much like you'd see on a globe--with various dungeons and ruins sprinkled about. A good portion of the map is readily available to traverse and explore, but of course, like any RPG of this type, the deeper you go into the map, the more challenging and higher levels enemies you'll encounter. Through defeating enemies and completing various quests--both story-related and optional--your characters level up, get stronger, and are better suited and capable to take on tougher tasks and trials.

Go west, young pets! Adventure awaits!

Many of the quests in Cat Quest II take you inside caves and single-area dungeons that are teeming with tricky traps, enemies, and other dangers. Many of them are themed with the types of hazards or enemies involved, but at the same time, the environments don't run a particularly large gamut. In fact, it's quite the opposite. In caves in the cat side of the kingdom, dungeons are rock floors surrounded by water, and in caves in the dog side of the kingdom, dungeons are stone floors surrounded by sand.

Painful spikes, hostile enemies, and traps aplenty? Looks like a dungeon to me!

While I did say dungeons are full of danger and teeming with trouble, they're also teeming with treasure and other beneficial goodies, too. There's plenty of loot to be discovered in these dungeons, as well as rewards from completing quests, and these mostly come in the form of equipment.

The equipment your unlikely animal duo stumbles upon is for both form and fashion, as they can be leveled up by either paying a special blacksmith to upgrade them, or through discovering duplicates as quest or treasure chest rewards. In addition to that, some equipment have secondary bonuses, like increased experience when equipped, boosted health, higher resistance to certain elemental magic, and more. As an aside, your characters can actively be seen wearing the weapons and armor you equip, which is a nice touch.

Quests are easy to follow along with, as there's generally always a guiding arrow pointing in the direction you need to head towards on the map. The quests in general essentially have you fetch an item, or take out a group of enemies, or enter a dungeon to do a combination of the two. Certain side quests have silly stakes, which is purr-fect for the tone of the game, such as one where you do battle with the villain Meow-Face at the behest of a certain caped canine crusader named The Doge Knight. Other quests either play it a "little" more seriously or just feel like busywork. Regardless, quests are perfect for bite-size play, as seldom do they last longer than five minutes, so even the "busywork quests" do not waste too much time.

The main story of Cat Quest II takes about 5-10 hours to complete, depending on your pace and skill level, but fully finding everything in the game, completing all side quests, and collecting all that there is to collect will take 10-15 hours at a minimum. Thus, there's a fair amount of content to Cat Quest II.

Cat Quest II offers hack and slash action-RPG combat to tantalize prospective players, and overall, battling enemies works well. It's simple and accessible, but it can grow a bit repetitive, much like the quest structure of the game. Still, depending on your equipped weapon of choice, you can unleash quick slices and slashes with a sword that do little damage but attack the enemy more often, or opt to use a heavier weapon to strike slower but ultimately harder. Or, you can choose to have one of your pet partners be a tank, attacking enemies head-on, while the other serves as a healer or otherwise magic (Mana) user.

Combat is simple but enjoyable, and when playing solo, your AI partner is pretty helpful.

Of course, defense, too, plays an important part in Cat Quest II's combat, and avoiding enemy attacks is a combination of easy to see coming and hard to cheese, making for a nice balance. When an enemy is about to attack with a physical blow, a light red circle will surround them. A dark red ring will then expand from the center, and when it encapsulates the light red circle completely, the attack occurs. Avoiding magic is a little trickier due to no window to tell when a spell will come crashing down, but the spot where the spell will strike appears a small amount of time beforehand, giving you a brief window to hightail it out of harm's way.

Cat Quest II is a game that certainly doesn't outstay its welcome, as I feel any further padding would just add to the occasional tedium and repetition I felt while playing the game at times. For this reason, for me, the game was best to play in bursts rather than an extended period of time (other than my first gaming session with it). Filled with charming personality, clever humor, a colorful world, satisfyingly simple and accessible combat, and enough cat and dog puns to last you till you wait for the inevitable third installment, Cat Quest II is far from purr-fect but by no means a cat-astrophe either. (I'm so sorry for the puns. Please don't go.)

[SPC Says: C+]

AeternoBlade II (NSW) Review

SuperPhillip Central's next review as we inch towards the site's 900th total review is AeternoBlade II, the sequel to a game that originally debuted on the Nintendo 3DS. With a bigger scope and a larger scale, does that make for a game that's a better title?

Time isn't on this game's side.

I had a small interest in the original AeternoBlade which initially launched on the Nintendo 3DS. I played the eShop demo, but never got around to playing the full version. Shame on me, then, because since I didn't play through the story of the first game, I entered AeternoBlade II, a sequel with a much grander scale and scope, not knowing what the heck was going on story-wise.

AeternoBlade II starts out as a linear affair with players being introduced to the three playable characters in the game, each with their own play styles. However, the character that is the most prominent throughout the adventure is Freyja, a young woman who players can use yellow orbs from defeated enemies to level up her stats (such as HP, MP, Attack, and so forth) as well as level up her various abilities.

The game soon turns into a regular Metroidvania-structured game, having non-linear exploration, puzzle-solving, boss-battling, clearing out rooms filled with enemies to progress, and returning to past locations with new abilities to access previously unreachable areas.

Where AeternoBlade II attempts to shake things up and differentiate itself from the endless competition of Metroid and Castlevania-style clones to those games' thrones is with the game's time-manipulation abilities. These are used in a twofold way: in combat and to solve puzzles. Some abilities create clones of your character to be able to hit multiple switches at once to open gates, while others rewind time for everything except your character, allowing them to ride up platforms that would otherwise continuously move downward.

AeternoBlade II also splits up its gameplay between a traditional side-scrolling perspective that occasionally finds the camera in a 2.5D approach while other times it employs an over-the-shoulder look. Unfortunately, the latter creates more problems than the approach is worth, as the camera loves to get caught behind walls and geometry, and trying to dodge enemies coming at you from multiple directions is nothing but an impossibility.

What further aggravates with AeternoBlade II is how difficult the game is. Part of that is the clumsiness of the combat and collision detection, making it so enemies don't really have any tells to if they're taking damage. It also makes it a challenge to see what is happening on screen, meaning evading attacks is also obnoxious. And while it's nice to have an arsenal of attack types to each character (a weak attack, a strong attack, a launch attack, and the aforementioned time powers), the flow of combat just feels off when you can't cancel out of attacks easily.

AeternoBlade II attempts to be too big for its budget. The character models and environments are ghastly, the camera is terrible, the combat is too clumsy and stiff to be attractive, the difficulty is too high because of how atrocious combat is, the voice acting is awful, and I've lost progress multiple times due to the Switch version of the game crashing on me a handful of times. I appreciate the attempt at making a lengthy adventure, but with the developer's budget, the scope of the game should have been reined in and instead given more polish than what is currently here. As is, AeternoBlade II is a game that you should avoid, and no amount of manipulating time can fix that.

[SPC Says: D]

A review code was provided for this review.