What has suddenly become one of my most anticipated games of the year, Mario Tennis Aces, now has a new trailer courtesy of last Thursday's Nintendo Direct. Scope out this extended trailer showcasing the new gameplay elements like Zone Shots and Super Shots, to see why Mario Tennis Aces has launched high on my list of most wanted games in 2018!
Monday, March 12, 2018
Super Toy Cars (NSW) Review
I never like having to review a game negatively. For some people it's a lot of fun, but I personally don't find joy in shredding apart the work of someone else. I try to be selective with what games I cover, and Eclipse Games' Super Toy Cars seemed like a fun, simple racing game. I was unfortunately mistaken, as you'll see by my review.
I have vivid and joyful memories of hanging out in my childhood home, building and constructing massive kits built out of Micro Machines and Hot Wheels toys. (But never combined, as the Micro Machines are too small to be mixed with the Hot Wheels. Look it up -- it's a punishable offense!) So, you can bet that my interest was piqued when I came across Eclipse Games' Super Toy Cars, a game that recently released on the Nintendo Switch. Unfortunately, I won't quite have vivid and joyful memories of playing this game. Far from it.
Super Toy Cars doesn't have the most original name out there, nor does it have the most original racing modes to it either. The main single player mode pits you against challenge after challenge, trying to earn the maximum amount of points in each event if you so desire. Of course, there's no real motivation to do so, so I simply went through the motions and placed in a race so I could move on to the next event.
These challenges/events don't boast the highest level of creativity, but they're certainly serviceable. There are multi-lap races with weapons, time trials, elimination-style contests, checkpoint-to-checkpoint trials, and the lone imaginative type of race on display, one where the rules are similar to elimination but instead of having a clear track to race on, it's one littered with explosive mines. Even still, this mode can underwhelm when the hills and ramps of the tracks hide mines from your vision until it's too late. To be fair, that doesn't happen often, but it's just another issue I have with Super Toy Cars in general that amounts to a mountain of problems rather than a molehill.
As you complete events, you earn money that can be used to purchase and upgrade vehicles. Completing events in first place awards you with new skins for vehicles, which is something fun if you can stand the obnoxious physics and controls to do this. (I couldn't.) There are a wide variety of vehicles to purchase and collect, offering something for everyone, but at the same time, as you progress in the game, you have to keep selecting better vehicles. You can't just stick with your favorite model and just upgrade it continuously. There's a limit to how many times you can upgrade a given vehicle, and the AI just gets faster and faster. You'll simply get left in the dust in races and won't be able to compete without buying new vehicles, even if you don't care for their models or builds.
Then comes the truly despicable part of Super Toy Cars: the actual racing itself. Nothing is more exciting than speeding off a ramp and hitting the ground, suddenly losing every last bit of momentum you had in the process. Actually, I'm lying. Nothing is more exciting than speeding off a ramp and hitting the ground, having a random chance of suddenly losing every last bit of momentum you had in the process. There's also the thrill of having opponents push your car -- no matter what its weight is -- and being spun out of control, losing valuable time and race positions in the process. Or how about the astonishing awesomeness of going at full speed, drifting, and having that drift that is supposed to maintain your speed around corners instead slow you down much more. Not really worth drifting just to gain power for a boost, now is it?
Nearly every facet of Super Toy Cars just comes off as irredeemable. From races where cars push you around, into walls on a frequent basis, while you can't do the same to them -- no matter your own vehicle's weight, to visuals that do less than impress, Super Toy Cars is a frustrating mess to play. The handling of each vehicle doesn't help either, offering at best a slippery feel to all of the cars racing, making any type of precision performance driving an impossibility. Simply put, I'll just stick with my Micro Machines and Hot Wheels rather than this crash and burn of a racing game.
[SPC Says: D-]
Review copy provided by Eclipse Games.
Tabletop Flop
I have vivid and joyful memories of hanging out in my childhood home, building and constructing massive kits built out of Micro Machines and Hot Wheels toys. (But never combined, as the Micro Machines are too small to be mixed with the Hot Wheels. Look it up -- it's a punishable offense!) So, you can bet that my interest was piqued when I came across Eclipse Games' Super Toy Cars, a game that recently released on the Nintendo Switch. Unfortunately, I won't quite have vivid and joyful memories of playing this game. Far from it.
These challenges/events don't boast the highest level of creativity, but they're certainly serviceable. There are multi-lap races with weapons, time trials, elimination-style contests, checkpoint-to-checkpoint trials, and the lone imaginative type of race on display, one where the rules are similar to elimination but instead of having a clear track to race on, it's one littered with explosive mines. Even still, this mode can underwhelm when the hills and ramps of the tracks hide mines from your vision until it's too late. To be fair, that doesn't happen often, but it's just another issue I have with Super Toy Cars in general that amounts to a mountain of problems rather than a molehill.
As you complete events, you earn money that can be used to purchase and upgrade vehicles. Completing events in first place awards you with new skins for vehicles, which is something fun if you can stand the obnoxious physics and controls to do this. (I couldn't.) There are a wide variety of vehicles to purchase and collect, offering something for everyone, but at the same time, as you progress in the game, you have to keep selecting better vehicles. You can't just stick with your favorite model and just upgrade it continuously. There's a limit to how many times you can upgrade a given vehicle, and the AI just gets faster and faster. You'll simply get left in the dust in races and won't be able to compete without buying new vehicles, even if you don't care for their models or builds.
Nearly every facet of Super Toy Cars just comes off as irredeemable. From races where cars push you around, into walls on a frequent basis, while you can't do the same to them -- no matter your own vehicle's weight, to visuals that do less than impress, Super Toy Cars is a frustrating mess to play. The handling of each vehicle doesn't help either, offering at best a slippery feel to all of the cars racing, making any type of precision performance driving an impossibility. Simply put, I'll just stick with my Micro Machines and Hot Wheels rather than this crash and burn of a racing game.
[SPC Says: D-]
Review copy provided by Eclipse Games.
Friday, March 2, 2018
Pokken Tournament DX (NSW) Review
We're not resting on our laurels here at SuperPhillip Central. No, immediately into March we're leaping into our first review! Pokken Tournament originally released on the Wii U near the end of that system's life cycle in 2016. Now, Pokken gets a second time to shine with the Nintendo Switch's Pokken Tournament DX.
Fight for your right to Poké -- Again!
The fighting game genre is one I am definitely not adept in. Quite the opposite, actually. Despite my love of the genre and the zany cast of characters, explosive action and awesome combos that these games deliver, I just can't wrap my head around them (or I guess, "my fingers around the controller to hit all the required buttons", in this case). 2016's Pokken Tournament on Wii U was one of those fighting games that I could actually hold my own in, which definitely didn't hurt my thoughts on it. Nearly two years later, and I have returned to the game with this Nintendo Switch port of the game, Pokken Tournament DX. With more Pokemon to get skilled with and more modes to master, is Pokken Tournament's Switch port worth checking out again?
Pokken Tournament DX is an atypical fighting game in that it sometimes takes place in a 3D arena while on other occasions occurring on a 2D plane. These two different planes are known as phases. Battles begin with opposing Pokemon facing off in a wide open arena, able to circle around one another and avoid attacks. When one Pokemon deals enough damage through a specific type of attack, what occurs is a Phase Shift, changing the battle dynamically from a 3D one to a more traditional side-scrolling 2D encounter. Phase Shifts regularly occur in battle, and they tend to result in lots of HP being depleted by the opponent on the receiving end of it.
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| With a fiery and fast punch to the face from Blaziken, Lucario goes stumbling backward in pain. |
The game's 20+ Pokemon (with this deluxe version introducing several new Pokemon into the mix like the arcade version's exclusives, Scizor, Empoleon, Croagunk, and Darkrai, as well as the Switch exclusive Decidueye) each feature their own repertoire of moves, ones great for smashing through defenses, ones that are perfect for setting up Phase Shifts, and much more. Learning a given Pokemon's move set is imperative to earn that coveted "W" in the win column, and if you find a Pokemon that you like, you should think about sticking with it to improve your comfort level with that Pokemon. Or you can play like me and switch between Pokemon at your leisure, which is just as fine as an option thanks to the helpful tutorial mode, which not just doles out the basics of Pokken Tournament DX's rules and controls, but it also supplies you with a set of moves and combos for each Pokemon you use in a safe practice setting.
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| The arrow-aiming Decidueye is an exclusive Battle Pokemon in this version of Pokken Tournament. |
Pokemon like the mascot of the series, Pikachu, and his much more mobile and technical fighting counterpart, Pikachu Libre lead the charge (literally, with their electric attacks) with speed-based attacks, while other Pokemon like Charizard, Machamp, and Garchomp use their power to seal the deal and hopefully the win. Each Pokemon plays uniquely enough (even potential clones like the aforementioned duo of Pikachu and the characters of Mewtwo and final boss of the game Shadow Mewtwo), allowing for a wide spectacle of moves to learn, involved combos to pull off, and timing to get down.
Battles are exciting endeavors that really get my pulse pounding and palms sweaty. Timing your attacks so you don't leave yourself open for a counter by your opponent is always key in a fighting game, but Pokken Tournament DX furthers the strategy involved by incorporating a rock-paper-scissors aspect to attacking. There are three types of attacks and each one is bested by and strong against another. For instance, a grab can be stopped dead in its tracks by a normal attack, whereas a normal attack will get bodied by a counterattack, and a counterattack will easily be nullified by a grab. This attack triangle means that if you are on the receiving end of a counter, you have much more damage taken off of your health gauge than you would otherwise. Needless to say, it's good to vary types of attacks used and to concentrate so you can counter and react well to your opponent's actions.
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| Phase Shifts come about from all sorts of attacks, such as this headache-inducing dropkick from Machamp to Gengar. |
As battles wage on, your trainer and Pokemon's Synergy gauge increases. When it's full, you can let loose a Synergy Boost, an offensive and defensive boost that puts your Pokemon in an almost Zen-like state, able to ward off most weak attacks without flinching. You can also use your Pokemon combatant's ultra-strong special move once per Synergy Burst, and if it connects, it deals great damage to your opponent. It can be the difference between clinching the current round and creating the start of a marvelous comeback.
In addition to the Synergy Gauge, there is also a smaller gauge, the Support Gauge. Before beginning a match, you select from 20+ duos of Support Pokemon. These are Pokemon that couldn't quite muster a full move set to be on the actual roster of Pokken Tournament DX, but still get a role to play in battles anyway. At the start of each round, you pick from one of your two Support Pokemon to assist you when your Support Gauge is full and you press the proper button to call them in. Some have offensive properties while others use defensive or healing ones to help out. A perfect call-in for a Support Pokemon can interrupt your opponent's flow, making a match that was going their way start shifting towards yours.
The first time you turn on Pokken Tournament DX, you'll be greeted by an NPC named Nia, who is more of hassle to listen to than a help. Besides being grating to listen to, she has "wonderful" advice mid-battle such as telling you when battles aren't going your way. Thanks, Nia. Wouldn't have known that without your help and without your need to sort of rub that in. Fortunately, you can remove her appearance entirely from battles so you won't hear any of her unhelpful commentary.
Other than a quick introduction of the game from Nia, you get to make a character that serves as your avatar. Starting out, the customization options aren't too expansive, but as you complete matches in the Ferrum League, the main single player mode of Pokken Tournament DX, more and more outfitting options are unlocked. Everything from sports jackets to graduation gowns, glasses to monocles, and even sunset backgrounds to accessories like surfboards are available eventually, and they can be purchased with currency earned from battle.
As I said, the Ferrum League is the primary mode for those wanting some hands-on time with Pokken Tournament DX before jumping in with the sharks for online play. The Ferrum League features a series of leagues that get progressively more difficult, having you start each league at the 100th rank and earning your way within the top eight. This is performed by winning battles against opponents of varying ranks in sets of five, and after each set, your performance is evaluated and you move up or back in rank. Once you reach the top eight, you enter a tournament to determine who the winner will be. Win that, and you do battle with the current league champion to allow you to move on to the next league.
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| Empoleon isn't entirely new to the world of Pokken Tournament. This piercing penguin Pokemon made waves in the arcade release. |
As the leagues play out, a story unfolds relating to a mysterious Pokemon dubbed by the people of the island as Shadow Pokemon. This strange Pokemon is causing havoc across the island, and while you're participating in the Ferrum League, you occasionally are forced to do battle against the powerful Pokemon. Thus, you're not just fighting through league battles and ordinary matches of that type over and over again. There are some breaks in the mode for story-related reasons.
Also included in Ferrum League this time around for the Nintendo Switch version of Pokken Tournament is the addition of challenge walls in each of the mode's leagues. This is a set of 16 challenges per wall that task you with completing optional goals (e.g. use a specific Battle Pokemon multiple times in battle, get a Phase Shift a certain amount of times total, etc.) for awards. As you complete these goals, panels on the wall will be removed, ultimately showing a picture for completion, and netting you with a unique reward in the process. Some of these panels are a bit tedious to finish off, as having to meet the requirements (such as winning 45 matches in a given league) can requiring quite a bit of grinding. Throw in the fact that later leagues have multiple walls of panels to tackle, and by the end of the Ferrum League, I was thanking Arceus that these were entirely optional. (But the completionist in me still tried to go after them anyway.)
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| Score the battle's first hit for some nice and well earned bragging rights! |
Other modes in Pokken Tournament DX include a versus mode against the AI where you can face any Pokemon at any difficulty on any arena for practice and for fun. There is a new 3-vs-3 mode exclusive to the Nintendo Switch version that pits three Pokemon against another team of three in an elimination-style bout. Two Pokemon face off at once, and when one is defeated, the next on that player's team comes in to take its place. Meanwhile, the opponent's Pokemon must stay in and keep fighting until it either carries the entire team to victory or falls in battle and must, too, be switched out. (Sorry, Marvel fans. No mid-battle character switching here!) A separate versus mode can be played between two local players, either on two different Nintendo Switch screens or in split-screen, another new inclusion in this Switch port. However, split-screen suffers from a spotty frame-rate, so it's not the most recommended way to play with nearby friends and family.
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| I think Charizard mistook Garchomp for a pile of charcoal in this picture. |
Additionally, there are also Daily Challenges that pop up which by the virtue of their name, change every day. The win conditions are always the same, but the Battle Pokemon or Pokemon team you use is pre-determined. Winning these earns you skill points that can be used on your Pokemon to increase their attack strength power, defensive ability, and Synergy or Support capabilities.
Once you've gotten accustomed enough to the controls of Pokken Tournament DX and have developed a nice sampling of skill, you can choose to hop online to battle players internationally. You can play with friends, setting up private rooms that require passwords to enter, or you can try out battles against total strangers in either casual fights or the more tense Ranked matches. Starting in Ranked, you begin at rank E5. Winning battles increases this rank slowly, from E5 to E4, E4 to E3, and when you get to E1, E1 to D5. This allows you to face off against players who are at your skill level so you're not immediately overwhelmed. That's mostly how it works in Pokken Tournament DX, though you get the occasional battle against someone who's way too good for his or her rank who just flat out owns you 2-0.
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| Swing your partner 'round and 'round, Machamp! |
Pokken Tournament DX offers a robust and comprehensive fighting system that possesses a large amount of depth to it, perfect enough to master for fighting game professionals but accessible enough to not leave any other players behind. Both fighting game fanatics and Pokemaniacs alike can enjoy Pokken Tournament DX. With already released and upcoming DLC in the form of new Battle and Support Pokemon and constant updates, Pokken Tournament DX delivers a fighting game fever that Pokemon trainers the world 'round will want to catch and train their Pokemon to do battle in.
[SPC Says: B+]
Thursday, March 1, 2018
Review Round-Up - January / February 2018
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| The elegant cast of Fire Emblem Warriors leads the charge for the initial two months of 2018 on SuperPhillip Central. |
Starting out in January, I took a look at Sonic Forces, where I made my own avatar and joined the forces of good to take down Dr. Eggman. The game wasn't perfect obviously, but it didn't leave a bad taste in mouth like it did so many critics and fans either. I gave the game a C+. Following that was my return trip to Hell with the Nintendo Switch port of DOOM. The game's only gotten better with a recent patch, but at the time I reviewed DOOM, I awarded the game a stellar B grade.
Coming out from the depths of Hell, I entered into a swath of games all receiving average or near-average grades: the Super Mario 64-inspired Poi: Explorer Edition (C+), the charming adventure game World to the West (C+), the clever isometric puzzle-adventure world of Vesta (C), and the multiplayer hijinks of Kirby Battle Royale (C+).
Last but not least, Fire Emblem Warriors took the crown for featured game of these past two months, earning itself an impressive B grade. I didn't like it more than Hyrule Warriors, but there really aren't any Warriors games I enjoy more than that Zelda take on the formula anyhow!
Before we adjourn here, check out The SPC Review Archive to stay up to date on all the reviews posted on this site -- past, present, and future!
C = average
Sonic Forces (PS4, XB1, NSW, PC) - C+
DOOM (NSW) - B
Poi: Explorer Edition (NSW) - C+
World to the West (NSW, PS4, XB1, PC) - C+
Vesta (NSW, PS4, XB1, PC) - C
Kirby Battle Royale (3DS) - C+
Fire Emblem Warriors (NSW) - B
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| While not as elegant, Sonic Forces has a cast that is certainly memorable for many. The game is surely worthy of a mention for these past two months. |
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
800th Review! Fire Emblem Warriors (NSW) Review
It's a monumental day for SuperPhillip Central! We've amassed 800 reviews as of this new review on the site! Not a day too early or too late either! A day after my birthday and a day before a new month rolls around. Nice! Here are my thoughts of the Nintendo Switch version of Fire Emblem Warriors! Here's to the next 100 reviews!
Hyrule Warriors was a Dynasty Warriors game that incorporated a myriad of satisfying elements from The Legend of Zelda franchise to create a Zelda Musou that was a pleasure to play. It having a tremendous amount of fan service for those who love the series didn't hurt things either. When the game released and after the hype winded down, Nintendo fans quickly brainstormed what would be another franchise from the big N that would be perfect for the Musou treatment. A clear winner in that debate was Fire Emblem, which recently has become quite popular over the past five years.
Apparently, Koei Tecmo and Nintendo both agreed with the fans here, joining together to make Fire Emblem Warriors, the resulting project, a reality. While Fire Emblem doesn't have as much of a draw with the mainstream as Zelda, can one who knows little about Intelligent Systems' series of strategy RPGs still find enjoyment out of Fire Emblem Warriors with its fast-paced action focus?
Like any Dynasty Warriors style game, Fire Emblem's take on the Musou genre pits an all-star cast of characters, this time all related to the games of the Fire Emblem franchise, and throws them into pulse-pounding, action-packed quarrels across a great many battlefield. With just a sword, axe, bow and arrow, or lance to your name, the joy of games like this is being able to feel like a one-man unstoppable army, unleashing your might on a plethora of foes, mowing them down by the hundreds with fantastical attacks and combos.
Most maps require you to secure enemy bases and defeat particular opponents on the battlefield to progress in missions. This is all the while defending your own bases and characters yourself. Fire Emblem Warriors makes this process easier by allowing you to command your forces before and during battles. You select a character on your side and set a point of interest on the map screen for them to travel to, such as an enemy location, a base, or a specific grid on the map. You can have up to eight characters on your side at one time, with a maximum of four of them being playable, able to switch between on the fly with the up direction on the Left Joy Con. Having these options opens up new battle strategies, and makes it on harder fights that you're not as easily overwhelmed by the enemy as you attempt to make sense of all of the carnage on the battlefield. Dictating where your units move and what opponents they do battle with can be the difference between a swift victory or a horrible defeat.
Of course, some Fire Emblem trappings go into this Musou take on the franchise, so you can't just send your units willy nilly to battle. Like its patriarchal series, Fire Emblem Warriors uses a weapon triad, which takes a paper-rock-scissors like approach with weaponry. Obviously, instead of using rocks to crush scissors to smithereens -- swords, axes, and lances are the three weapon types used in the game. If you use a weapon strong against a certain opponent, they'll go down with ease, while using a weapon that they can easily defend will make that enemy take a lengthy period of time to whittle their health meter down. Likewise, the weapon triad works against you as well, making it so you can get bodies by certain weapon types if you're not careful, especially if you're under-leveled. Additionally, it's important to consider magic tome users, archers, and Pegasus Knights as well, as archers can immediately take out Pegasus Knights with one or two hits of their arrows while being weak to spells of tome users.
Dynasty Warriors and Musou games seldom have complex controls, and this is also the case with Fire Emblem Warriors. Through a simple series of presses of the X and Y buttons, one for light attacks and one for heavier attacks, you slice, dice, thrash, and attack your way through enemy defenses, all the while carving a path towards victory. As you attack and defeat foes, two gauges increase. One is the Warrior Gauge, which when full allows you to press the A button and unleash a powerful and impressive-looking attack on a group of enemies in the vicinity. It's perfect for clearing a room or surrounding area with ease.
Furthermore, when the higher powered gauge fills and is used, your character enters Awakening Mode, granting them the power to break enemies' guards effortlessly and build up a huge combo and K.O. streak. Also, when a stronger opponent like a base or enemy captain performs a heavy attack, if you dodge it, a circular meter will pop over their head. If you deal enough damage to empty this meter, you'll unleash a special power attack that will take out a considerable amount of enemy health, perfect for depleting a more difficult foe's health bar more quickly.
After battle, you get a tally of rewards given to you in the form of weapons, materials, and money. As you progress in the various modes and difficulty settings of Fire Emblem Warriors, the weapons you find from fallen foes on the battlefield and occasionally found after battle have improved stats to them, sometimes offering higher attack power and many slots to store abilities in. These abilities can range from taking out monster-type enemies in one hit to getting higher defense in battle. Materials have two uses: upgrading weapons and upgrading your characters' skills by using crests. Crests improve aspects of your character such as increasing their combo length, granting them the ability to use healing items mid-battle, being better at defending against specific weapon types, and much more.
I must say, however, that I wish there was a more streamlined process to upgrade each character in Fire Emblem Warriors. It's not so much an issue at the beginning of the game where you have a limited number of characters to select from, but by the end of the story mode, you have about 20 individual characters, each with their own crests in three categories. I found that after each battle I did I was moving between character page after character page, using new crests to provide new skills for each character or simply checking to see if something new could be learned. It's an involved process, and one that many players will spend a fair amount of time devoted to if they want to have a fighting chance on higher difficulties.
While not as tedious, changing weapons is also something that you will want to do in Fire Emblem Warriors as well. Thankfully, FEW offers the ability to optimize your equipment to use the strongest weapon available for a given character. Still, it only bases that off weapon power and not things like added slot bonuses that weapons also possess.
Outside of the story mode, taking up to 10-14 hours to complete if you're not revisiting missions, there is the History Mode which is Fire Emblem Warriors' side mode. However, unlike what Hyrule Warriors offered in side content with its Adventure Mode, FEW's History Mode is much less of a headache. History Mode tells the tale of numerous stories within the Fire Emblem mythos.
This mode is played out on traditional Fire Emblem series maps, but instead of each skirmish being a quick one-on-one fight as seen in the FE games, they unfold in Warriors form with different objectives and conditions to consider. Successfully completing a battle might have barriers get removed from the battlefield to access new portions of the History Mode map, or backup forces might be called in as well. Winning a battle also rewards you with a prize, and you get a special prize for completing a mission with the highest grade possible (usually performed by clearing the battle under a set amount of time, while taking low damage, and taking out enough enemies).
History Mode provides a double dose of the content story mode already provided, bolstering the playtime of Fire Emblem Warriors to astronomical levels. You're definitely going to be getting your money's worth by purchasing this game. Throw in the ability to play with a friend locally and DLC packs for new characters and costumes, and the amount of content is seemingly endless without wearing out its welcome.
Fire Emblem Warriors isn't the most technologically advanced Nintendo Switch game on the market. Textures and environments don't do overly much to make you wish to marvel at them, but the characters do animate wonderfully and have lots of color and vividness to them. While the visuals don't particularly excite, you can use one of two options to run FEW at a higher frame-rate with a lower resolution, or vice versa, which is an option I don't see much on home console releases. Thus, if you prefer 60 FPS with less pronounced features or 30 FPS with more detail, you can get it. Either way, it's nice to have a choice. The amount of foes on screen is also amazing to see, but you decidedly have less enemies to slice through in cooperative play, where the frame-rate is iffy at best. As a series, Fire Emblem has a terrific soundtrack to it, and many of the remixes and rearrangements in Fire Emblem Warriors sound energizing, though some are muffled by all of the voicework and action going on on the battlefield.
If there's one big gripe that Fire Emblem fans will have with this version of Warriors is that the roster isn't the most remarkable to be found. Only picking and choosing from mostly modern releases like Awakening, Fates, and Shadow Dragon means that the representation for the entire Fire Emblem series is not that admirable -- merely passable at best. Perhaps the developers wished to keep some picks for a sequel, but what is available now from a limited selection of games is rather disappointing to say the least. Fans have made it no secret that they don't care for the small amount of games and characters represented in Fire Emblem Warriors, and I can't help but agree with them on this point.
That notwithstanding, Fire Emblem Warriors does manage to be a delightful Musou game that is filled to the brim with content, unique battles, scenarios, and customization options to give anyone a satisfyingly good time. Though some characters play too similarly -- and the selection of characters and games is a bit on the small side representation-wise -- Fire Emblem Warriors doesn't disappoint much when it comes to the unmatched thrill and pleasure of striking down enormous swaths of enemies with a few simple-to-pull-off strikes and stylish combos. Sure, the simplistic combat of the Warriors franchise hasn't much evolved, making the games repetitive at times, but when you're defeating 100 enemies with one Warrior gauge attack, how can you argue? You're a Fire Emblem all-star, after all, destroyer of worlds.
[SPC Says: B]
These warriors are ready to come out and pla~a~ay!
Hyrule Warriors was a Dynasty Warriors game that incorporated a myriad of satisfying elements from The Legend of Zelda franchise to create a Zelda Musou that was a pleasure to play. It having a tremendous amount of fan service for those who love the series didn't hurt things either. When the game released and after the hype winded down, Nintendo fans quickly brainstormed what would be another franchise from the big N that would be perfect for the Musou treatment. A clear winner in that debate was Fire Emblem, which recently has become quite popular over the past five years.
Apparently, Koei Tecmo and Nintendo both agreed with the fans here, joining together to make Fire Emblem Warriors, the resulting project, a reality. While Fire Emblem doesn't have as much of a draw with the mainstream as Zelda, can one who knows little about Intelligent Systems' series of strategy RPGs still find enjoyment out of Fire Emblem Warriors with its fast-paced action focus?
Like any Dynasty Warriors style game, Fire Emblem's take on the Musou genre pits an all-star cast of characters, this time all related to the games of the Fire Emblem franchise, and throws them into pulse-pounding, action-packed quarrels across a great many battlefield. With just a sword, axe, bow and arrow, or lance to your name, the joy of games like this is being able to feel like a one-man unstoppable army, unleashing your might on a plethora of foes, mowing them down by the hundreds with fantastical attacks and combos.
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| Make a path through the opposition like a knife through butter. |
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| Many lives were lost to Rowan's blade on that fateful day of battle. |
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| As long as Cordelia is out of the way of archers' shots, she's golden in her goal to demolish enemy forces. |
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| With a press of the A button, unleash incredible Warrior attacks like this one when your gauge is full. |
After battle, you get a tally of rewards given to you in the form of weapons, materials, and money. As you progress in the various modes and difficulty settings of Fire Emblem Warriors, the weapons you find from fallen foes on the battlefield and occasionally found after battle have improved stats to them, sometimes offering higher attack power and many slots to store abilities in. These abilities can range from taking out monster-type enemies in one hit to getting higher defense in battle. Materials have two uses: upgrading weapons and upgrading your characters' skills by using crests. Crests improve aspects of your character such as increasing their combo length, granting them the ability to use healing items mid-battle, being better at defending against specific weapon types, and much more.
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| Fire Emblem Awakening's Chrom isn't here to show off his new armor. That much is for certain. |
While not as tedious, changing weapons is also something that you will want to do in Fire Emblem Warriors as well. Thankfully, FEW offers the ability to optimize your equipment to use the strongest weapon available for a given character. Still, it only bases that off weapon power and not things like added slot bonuses that weapons also possess.
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| Don't worry, female Robin fans. You can pick that version of Robin as an unlockable costume option. |
This mode is played out on traditional Fire Emblem series maps, but instead of each skirmish being a quick one-on-one fight as seen in the FE games, they unfold in Warriors form with different objectives and conditions to consider. Successfully completing a battle might have barriers get removed from the battlefield to access new portions of the History Mode map, or backup forces might be called in as well. Winning a battle also rewards you with a prize, and you get a special prize for completing a mission with the highest grade possible (usually performed by clearing the battle under a set amount of time, while taking low damage, and taking out enough enemies).
History Mode provides a double dose of the content story mode already provided, bolstering the playtime of Fire Emblem Warriors to astronomical levels. You're definitely going to be getting your money's worth by purchasing this game. Throw in the ability to play with a friend locally and DLC packs for new characters and costumes, and the amount of content is seemingly endless without wearing out its welcome.
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| Things get a little dicier in cooperative play, but Fire Emblem Warriors is still more than playable (and enjoyable, too). |
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| I think this enemy is regretting saying, "You'll rue the day you ever did battle with me!" |
That notwithstanding, Fire Emblem Warriors does manage to be a delightful Musou game that is filled to the brim with content, unique battles, scenarios, and customization options to give anyone a satisfyingly good time. Though some characters play too similarly -- and the selection of characters and games is a bit on the small side representation-wise -- Fire Emblem Warriors doesn't disappoint much when it comes to the unmatched thrill and pleasure of striking down enormous swaths of enemies with a few simple-to-pull-off strikes and stylish combos. Sure, the simplistic combat of the Warriors franchise hasn't much evolved, making the games repetitive at times, but when you're defeating 100 enemies with one Warrior gauge attack, how can you argue? You're a Fire Emblem all-star, after all, destroyer of worlds.
[SPC Says: B]
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