TastyRetroGaming

Evercade EXP

Obviously this hardware review was coming, if any of you follow my socials, it’s what the vast majority of my posts have been the past month or so. I have so many others I could finish or start but I’m having way too much fun with this device which I ignored for far too long.

I have known about the Evercade systems for a while, I just kinda waded past them like a rogue floating turd in the ocean as it didn’t seem something I necessarily thought was for me, I’m not sure how really. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

This nifty little gadget has been my go to handheld since purchasing it, now it’s not your full console experience nor your Switch or Switch OLED, let alone a steam deck, Odin or whatever else you might choose to play. And, granted all these other devices are probably perfectly capable of running homebrews or emulators but they aren’t the real deal. Not like this. These gaming systems run either relicensed games for their cartridges or even newer indie games stylised and purposely developed for older styled game systems. All neatly packed in their multi game cartridge, as each one comes with a range of 2 to 20 games loaded onto them.

My current little collection. I’m sure it’ll swell in due time.

As for the version I chose to buy, I purposely chose to get the white EXP rather then wait for the shinier more spangled version the EXP-R dropping soon. I was far too enticed by the 18 pre-loaded Capcom titles on the system. Namely the original SNES version of Breath of Fire. Having a super Nintendo system myself for a while now, I admittedly haven’t bought any new titles for it as much as I’d like too. This particular title however outside of the re-released Gameboy Advance version I have I can’t get for my region. So, outside of buying a pal or Japanese region SNES and importing this game I can’t play it the way the good lords wish me too. This all changed the moment this glorious little console graced my sweaty palms.

Your homescreen once you’ve got a game in. You can’t beat a jovial jaunt through Nosgoth in the original PS1 games of the Legacy of Kain.

Again a few other titles installed that gave me a happy twinge were Mega man, Mega man X and Street Fighter II Hyper fighting in its full arcade version beauty. So even before any cartridges are snuggly fitted into the back of the console you’ve already got a sickening back catalogue of games to come too terms with. It’s any avid collectors moist laden dream, why complete a game I’ve had collecting dust for three years when I can start 18 more at the same time?

Just a few of the titles loaded for your enjoyment.

Not to mention the extra 9 hidden games, which can be unlocked in the settings menu under secrets input the correct codes or on the main menu screen, even more endless hours of fun can be had. I won’t ruin the codes for you, but it’s easy enough to find with a certain search engine.

Again just a few of the hidden titles you can play.

Something small I do enjoy about evercade game boxes are along with the cartridges come these nifty game manuals. Now I think the art of a game manual being included with a game seems to be dying and it’s not particularity a trend I appreciate. These tiny folded laminated joys, come with the games controls and if it’s a fighting game it will even list each characters combos. I just love it. I’m what you’d call a forgetful gamer or just genuinely bad. So, having these to hand make my life just that little bit better.

The game manual that comes with the console itself. All you need in life a good manual.

Depending on what sort of game you are playing, there is a wee button on the bottom left of the console with the letter ‘T’ on it. This being the tate button allows you to flip the rotation of the screen so you can play with just the D-pad and the extra A and B button. This is one of these features that when you read you can do it you kinda just ,’oh cool’ and move on with your life. I say nay to that sort of thinking. It’s old and outdated. Say yes to forward thinking, especially these neat little functions. Some games excel with the in game switch, making for a more fun time.

The old switcheroo, this is NNNNNN a game I may genuinely be addicted to.

Even though you can buy a more traditional style home console version of the Evercade, something I’m sure I’ll get in the near future, if you wish to still sit in front of your tv you can get yourself a mini HDMI to HDMI cable slap that bad boy straight into the back of your tv. Then, ta-daaah! You’ve got your EXP as a controller and all the marvels of the games that become alive and in technicolour, all in glorious 50 inched 4K.

The screen isn’t the biggest and ideally for my dead eyesight, it could do with being just a smidge bigger. It’s a minor complaint in the grand scheme of things. The IPS screen that is used is lovely and bright though, the colours do really come through. Having a vibrancy that lets the older games pop more.

I think the system itself has a decent heft to it, it doesn’t feel too over cumbersome and in my beastly hands it does fit nice and snug. Much like the cartridges that slot in and out all nice and smooth like.

I personally find this hard to not give it a 10/10. I just can’t find any faults with it. It does what you want if you want old retro games from the Atari or C64 days. Plus some more modern titles like Duke Nukem, Tomb Raider and some of my personal favourites in the Legacy of Kain series. The battery lasts me about 4 hours which is reasonable. The one big downside I will say there is revolves around the games themselves. Having come somewhat late to the game, with licensing it means some of the cartridges aren’t in print any more as it were. Meaning, they now class as legacy games. Making a couple hard to find and already falling into the deep crevice of second hand store pricing if you can find them. It’s not completely horrendous now but I can imagine in the future it’ll definitely be something that’ll cause a sense of grief.

As previously mentioned overall I rate this a real big 10/10. Certifying this properly Fuckin’ Tasty. I love this contraption and hope to enjoy many more fruitful years enjoying old but new titles all these years later.

Released 15th December 2022.

High on Life

I was interested in this title from when it was first announced being a fan of Rick and Morty. So being an Xbox exclusive a console I don’t have I just assumed it’d fall into the category of games I may play one day. Then on top of that all the stuff Justin Roiland had been doing came to light and caused it’s own controversy which effected this game along with Rick and Morty. With him voicing the main gun Kenny in the game plus many many others NPC’s. I decided to go ahead and purchase it still whilst it was on sale. If for no other reason it supports everyone else involved,with Roilands involvement ending before the DLC High on Knife was released as well., squanch games acknowledging the wrong doings he’d done as well.

Now, I wasn’t completely sure on what the entire game would be outside of a first person shooter set in alien worlds and that all your arsenal are alien life forms that are talking guns.

It’s not a massive game by any stretch and even though the planets are slightly open world, the game is linear. There are no side missions to be had only story missions which are objective orientated. It’s mainly go here and kill these enemies along the way, with new weapons you unlock and the occasional new enemy type that appears.

Just a few snippets into some of the lcoales you explore.

The main plot involves the silent as well as faceless hero finding Kenny the Gatlian sentient gun. Whilst the G3 cartel invade Earth and begin smoking humans as a new high. Get the title now, ey ey? Your house gets teleported to Blim city and you meet a now injured and retired Bounty Hunter named Gene. You take up his place along with his bounty hunting suit. Where you then kill the G3 officers one by one.

The big bad of the gameand the head of the G3 Cartel. Who ends up getting an unfortunate explosive anal passage death.

There is five guns in the game all of which are their own personality and come with their own skill set. Now I’d argue Sweezy is the best weapon as you can fire multiple rounds into an enemy and use her special ability to multiply all the effects in one blast from holding down the firing button. Gus is the shotgun style gun, Kenny the pistol and creature shoots his own babies who attach to enemies and explode. Plus the best character is knifey who pretty much gets forgotten about once you get Gus. You have Lezduit for the final mission only who is the most powerful gun in the game.

A family pic, these are the five main guns of the game and Gene.

Combat is mid in this game, its competent enough and each weapon does feel different when fired, so not entirely bland, but it’s nothing like what you’d expect in a standard AAA budget game or even a lot of AA games. There isn’t much to it to be even remotely be counted as standout and the enemies aren’t particularly numerous or difficult. Just a few variants in melee, shooting, sniping or the bigger hulk, bullet sponge style character. It’s all cut and dry stuff you’d expect. Knifey only stabs or you can do a critical execution style move, something that could’ve had more life put into it. He also doesn’t get any upgrades in the base game.

In terms of setting each area isn’t massive and the only explorable parts are when looking for lugboxes which are chests that contain either money, weapon upgrades and collectible cards. This is mostly only worthwhile doing if you want the platinum trophy.

This is a Lugbox that gets gored by knifey to obtain it’s treasures.

The worlds and creatures that inhabit each place though are colourful and varied enough to give the game enough setting and world building. With a start of in game lore coming from the many talking npcs who talk loads. You traverse across a jungle mining planet, a desert and futuristic cities. They are similar in style and aesthetic to that of Ratchet and Clank, but lacking the part where you return to find golden bolts whilst unlocking new areas.

Your portal interface and bounty board to complete the main campaign.

The game won’t be for everyone as well, due to its humour and the sheer amount of swearing. It’s offensive and definitely aimed for fans of rick and morty style comedy with the toilet humour cranked up to a rather healthy 10. At one point there’s a drug addict who’s coming down and ends up passing out in his own ‘shit piss’. I found this game to have some real funny moments in it but I can definitely see why someone wouldn’t.

Your invenotry, standard stuff. Outside of where you meet an alien who gives you this if you so desire. Carrying it until the end and you ping a trophy as well.

Something else the game would do that if the humour isn’t for you the 20 adverts that are in the game will annoy the shit out of you. Some of them are fairly funny others do grate on you a bit after the third or fourth time you’ve seen them.

Also if you don’t fancy playing the game there are I think four full movies in game you can stand your character in front of a TV and just kick back and watch it in their entirety. There’s also a warp disc that can be purchased that transports you to a cinema which is dedicated to this past time.

You can buy and find upgrades as well, so you can increase ammo capacity, fire rate, damage, health and shield capacity. So all of the usual suspects in these sort of games. I’d argue they are lacking a bit though as if you didn’t purchase or find any of them it wouldn’t really impact you’re ability to complete the game in anyway.

The remaining few upgrades i had yet to buy. Mostly limited and don’t really add all that much to the gameplay.

In terms of traversing around the game, again, it isn’t world breaking you can use knifey to latch on to points, magnetic boots to help climb silver paved areas and a bit of a weak jetpack. Which even once it’s fully upgraded the fuel still runs out quicker then what’s useful. Plus it has a weird height restriction on it. Sweezy and creature help unlock hidden areas for lugboxes but don’t do much else.

These forums are in game challenges, you unlock more as the game progressive and you are rewarded with in game currencies. I’d argue this is only worth going out your way for if you intend to do a platinum trophy run.

I can’t say I ran into any technical difficulties or glitches during my play through. Something that was an issue on release for the Xbox Series. This could be due to patches and fixes it’s since received but my experience was pretty solid. I’m not one that cares all that much about frame rates or other nit picking shit like that. As long as it doesn’t freeze, crash and stutter I’m a happy guy. This falls straight into that category.

Overall I’d rate this game a decent Tasty gaming 6/10.

The game isn’t too long about 10 hours to complete so it doesn’t over stay it’s welcome. I think the shooting could be a bit tighter and a bit more to combat as a whole. A few side missions to help build the world up and give you more of a reason to explore. Better upgrades and more challenging enemies. All of which could easily be corrected in a sequel. I find myself often saying this for first entry games of a new series. That it’s a strong foundation, and that is the truth here. Keep everything they’ve already done and just add to it. A few passive skills to unlock wouldn’t hurt. The humour isn’t for everyone but if it’s cheap enough it’s worth giving ago if you’re a bit short on anything to play at the moment.

Released July 22nd 2023 on Sony Playstation 5.

Cat Quest 2

I bought Cat Quest 1 and 2 on a bit of a whim due to the fact they were both like £2 on sale from the PS store. So I thought, why not? And, i’m so glad I did. As you can see in my previous review of Cat Quest 1 I really enjoyed the quick and nifty RPG.

With this sequel they’ve improved upon nearly everything. The first noticeable improvements are the graphics. Immediately you notice the higher quality of detail. From the shading on the traversable map. The water, the translucence of the floating clouds above. All the while losing none of the charm of part and whimsy of part one.

The two kingdom capitals that house the waring faction of cats and dogs.

You have two playable heroes this time as well, whom you can swap between at anytime. Having expanded the map to contain two kingdoms, one is the land of the cats and the other is dogs.

Having two heroes you have even more weapons and armour options, which function the same as in the first game. You initially find them in chests or you get them as rewards and they can be upgraded at either the armourer or blacksmith to improve their stats. This time round the game feels more balanced and the builds you choose to use feels more worthwhile as a direct result.

Your new and improved menu UI, it’s still not the best but far better then in Cat quest 1. You swap between each character to select what weapons/armour and magic to equip to them.

There are more dungeons to be spelunked this time around, and they have been overhauled. They still aren’t massive and only take a couple mins to run through. Still quick, fun and to the point. But they look better along with having more traps and better enemy variety. Plus a few of them are now trials, which are three to four enemy waves you have to defeat. A small improvement but in the platinum run it helps out instead of the same sort of monotonous dungeon each time.

The vastly improved dungeons you come across 73 of them on your way to 100% the game.

The main story is better, it’s still not the best but there’s a slight continuation from the first game. Some returning side characters appear and even smaller ones for a few side quest as you go along your journey. Which even if you haven’t played the first, it won’t infringe upon playing this game in anyway.

Combat is pretty much the same as last time. You can attack and roll once the red circle triggers on the enemies to allow time to dodge the incoming attack. You have magic attacks returning again. This time you have 12 to choose from, each hero can equip four ago once you’ve found the corresponding rune stones. Which also boost your overall mana pool.

The three shops you use to upgrade any of your spells or equipment.

Along with these, there are four royal arts which are passive abilities. A new feature to this sequel. You get water walking, added damage to your roll whilst you dodge into your enemies. A power smash attack with critical hits doing added knockback damage. You don’t get flying this time round which would’ve been a massive help in mopping up during the last few hours. However, water walking is still mightily helpful.

They’ve added a few quality of life improvements as well, you can scourer the map properly this time it still doesn’t come with a zoom function though. The menus are better to navigate through and there are fast travel points dotted around for slight easier travel. If you want to do multiple playthroughs there are three save slots and multiple difficulties with new game plus. Now it took me 11 hours to do everything and that’s with me playing it slightly badly. So it’s not the longest game, nor the shortest. The quick fun, nature of the game really shines through each time you play it. Whether for a quick half hour or a few hours a go.

The fast travel hub to a few helpful markers around both traversable kingdoms.

I’d argue the side quest still suffer the same as the last game, now the idea is supposed to be quick and easy. Which they achieve and they are fun, don’t get me wrong. It just misses the mark in that there needs to be a few bigger side quests that are bit longer then go here, kill these monsters or clear this dungeon. Just something a bit meatier that could award you with bigger stacked upgrades for you weapon or they end in a much bigger dungeon with a bigger mini boss to defeat.

The world and lore of the game is expanded on as well, adding to the story started in part one. I have high hopes for three and have seen good things from it. As long as it follows the improvements from 1 too 2. I can only imagine those few niggle points will have been addressed and will make for an even better game which is already really doing most things right.

Overall I’d rate this belter of a game a highly Tasty 8/10.

A great sequel too an already slightly hidden gem of a game. Where it only gets better from the moment you boot this game up. A quick, fun and easily replayable game that hopefully sets up the third game just as well as one did for two.

Released September 24th 2019, Sony Playstation 4.

Cat Quest

I picked up this game on sale for £2.49 I think it was after completing Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and feeling a bit lost as to what to play next. I can say that I am glad that I chose to pick this up.

It’s a whimsical action role playing game which is similar to the older Zelda games. Where the entire world is inhabited by humanoid cats and the world littered with dangerous monsters.

You play as a nameless and mute hero, so pretty standard stuff here. So all the talking and exposition comes from your companion spirit guardian, Spirry. The plot of this game is that you are in search of your sister who was taken by the evil Drakoth.

On this search you are able to traverse the world at first by foot, but later you gain the abilities to walk on water and even fly. These come along as you defeat the evil dragons summoned by Drakoth. As you are marked with the Dragonblood emblem you are the only one who can defeat them.

The overworld is inhabited with a constant respawn of monsters to fight, where each area they become harder to fight. So, you can only go through each area effectively as you level up.

The capital along with two message boards where you can get side quests from.

In order to level up the defeated monsters drop gold and exp orbs, and the levels come with stat increases. Gold can be used to go to the smith and open either a chest of 50 gold or 5000 gold. These give you new armours and weapons which also stack increasing their levels and stats. This does allow for slight character build as you can go for defence, damage or magic. With the middle ground option being a bit of two of them. Some give high damage but decrease health, or give high magic but low weapon damage etc.

You also have 7 magic attacks you can buy and upgrade, equipping up to 4 at one go. You get the power of fire,lightning,ice, healing, doubling in size, spike traps, and the best move an aether like laser beam.

Your basic magic menu where you can equip any variation of the four available to you.

Whilst adventuring around the land, you will come across many dungeons to explore. These dungeons only take a few minutes each and aren’t particularly large. With the goal simply to clear them, which is done by defeating all the monsters inside and claim the chests within.

Now some of these dungeons you’ll visit a few times as the towns you find all come with quest boards and have roughly three to four quests to complete. All rewarding you with exp,gold and new items.

Your armour and weapons menu again, basic and not the easiest ot navigate.

Nothing in this game is long, overall the game only takes about five to six hours to complete. With a couple more to get the platinum. It’s as simple as do the main quest, level up to level 99. Go through all dungeons and find the monuments which give a bit of lore to the game.

It’s a nice experience. Nothing over stays it’s welcome and you’re never particularly bored. Combat happens in real time, it’s quick and to the point. You attack and can dodge, and use your magic which replenishes whilst landing successful blows upon your foes. You can save and heal up at rest points which are everywhere.

The game has a great cartoon design and aesthetic to it, it’s a colourful throwback. Giving me early final fantasy, Breath of Fire or Golden Sun vibes. One nice feature which even some bigger games fail to do is every bit of armour or weapons once equipped show up on your hero. Also having a weird fetish for rituals and summoning circles. Even going all in for it on a four side quest journey involving Santa Claus. Where you save Kitmas.

I think in terms of drawbacks, it could have had a bit of a better plot, slightly bigger map. Gold for the most part doesn’t start stacking up until you are around level 40 which is a detriment when items have levels which require buying a shit load of chests. I think the combat could have just a bit more to it, even if it was just a shield with a block function. Also, maybe having like four or five bigger much harder dungeons. Not too mention when you zoom out on the map it’s static so you can’t look round. It also falls into the same trap of giving you all the best gear far too late into the game so it’s worthless. You can complete every dungeon and mission by the time your level is around the mid 80’s mark.

This game is a banging and Positively Tasty 7/10.

A quick and quirky adventure in the land of dragon slaying cats. What’s not too like? And for a few quid you can’t go wrong with some easy dungeon spelunking across a magical, monster filled land.

Released 10th November 2017, Sony PS4.

Game Collection update August 24

Just another quick game collection update in-between the reviews that’ll will continue coming your way.

I’ve got a good spread this time, and if you have been following my on any of my socials you’ll have already seen what I’ve amassed the past two months.

I’ve got a few titles I’ve been after a while which makes me very happy. I’ll start with the PS2 titles. Here we have Guitar Hero 3, Call of Duty 1 and 3. Along with Max Payne 1 which the case has seen better days and the manual is mising, which is less then ideal. A couple of film adaptations in Star Wars revenge of the Sith and Peter Jackson’s King Kong. And a title I have been after some time and comes in near mint condition which is a blessing these days. Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga. A game I was enamoured with but never owned only borrowed for a brief time. Potentially being my first proper JRPG. Next up in the very near future will be the sequel to this beast of a game to round out my collection even more.

Rolling onto the PS3, my newest additions for this console are Lord of the Rings: War in the North, Castlevania Lords of Shadow. Two games again I want to repurchase as having regretting my youth in trading in everything I have to rebuild parts of my collection. The last Simpsons game to be made and it’s that old it doesn’t come with trophies. This doesn’t take away from the fact it’s a really good game. Finally, Alice the Madness Returns, this was one of these games I managed to get an absolute steal with, as it’s becoming increasingly harder to find and going up in price and I’ve been after it since getting my PS3 about 8/9 years back.

I have one new game for the Nintendo Ds, in Guitar Hero on tour, a bit of theme here I think. Which you can also find a review on this game locked and loaded already from a few weeks back. Along with a new title for the Gamecube a favourite of mine from my much younger days. XIII, a game that didn’t deserve the piece of shit remake it got and ruined it’s cult legacy. You’d do yourself a favour and play it as it was supposed to be played and that’s on the Gamecube.

And lastly, my newest additions which are for my second favourite handheld console of all time the small and might PsVita. Again if you have the time a review of this console is ready to be read on my site. I have three new games for this system, start with the worst in Fifa football a custom built game for this system. Then the Mortal Kombat 9 port with all DLC content and my 2^nd favourite pick up of this update in Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus. The more complete version of the PS3 title of Ninja Gaiden sigma. With the best way to play being this version on the Vita.

So another collection update comes to an end, I’m sure I’ll have another one ready to go soon enough. As I’m already eyeing up a few rare titles to purchase as well as always been on the lookout in my travels.

As always my friends stay happy, safe and the most important stay Tasty. Until next time.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

When I did my review on the PS5 edition of the Final Fantasy 7 remake, I was probably a bit biased and wearing nostalgia googles. I maintain my review stance and still say it’s a 10 out of 10 game. This however, is a true 10 out of 10.

This game is truly a behemoth in it’s own right as well as being the second game in a planned trilogy. Now I know this game really does aim for fans of the original more than anyone and it does rely heavily on having played that on PS1 or recently enough to know what the fuck is going on.

Without trying to spoil too much, this game doubles down on the ending of the remake with the multiverse time lines. As well as really bringing in aspect of other stories from the surrounding game series. Taking a more prominent role is Zack from Crisis Core, theres a few flickering scenes that’d you blink and miss from the film Advent Children, as well as character tweaks and outright changes.

From a story point this is a true masterclass in story telling, and this is namely done in the writing and world design. The characters are so well fleshed out and actualised. From all the interactions from the benign chatter as you run around, to the carefully design synergy attacks during combat. Everyone has their time to shine and given reason to care for. The voice acting is of a gold standard across the board helping bringing the correct nuance and intonation as they talk. Having dedicated side quests where a certain companion takes centrefold. You can deepen your bond by selecting the correct dialogue choice and actions. This doesn’t amount too much but you do get to hang out with one of your chums at the end of chapter 12 depending on who you are closest too.

The party comprises of Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Barrett, Red XIII, Yuffie and Cait Sith with the remaining Cid And Vincent being present but not playable. I think this game does a real service to making them all stand out as well as when controlled in combat all of them feel like they could be the protagonist of any JRPG series themselves. My party usually consisted of Cloud, Tifa and Yuffie and Using Tifa as the main heavy.

How to change your mateira, weapon abilities and view stats.

Whilst fighting you can do the standard of attack, dodge, and defend. Whilst charging up your ATB gauge to use spells, items and abilities. New to this title is being able to use synergy attacks as well which also grant temporary boons, like increasing the ATB gauge to three instead of two or temporary unlimited MP or nulifying physical damage etc. You also have Limits and summons to help dealing even more damage.

I think the fighter is tighter than the remake and more engaging. You have less control over the builds as your character, weapon and party level all increases. You get stat increases to the character as well as the weapons stats. You can pick the order you unlock your character skill trees but you can obtain them all with two playthoughs which you’d need for the platinum. You definitely hit harder but in return also get hit harder. This time round the devs really upped the sheer amount of boss fights as well as making them far harder. It’s by no means the hardest game in existence but some bosses do cause you a wee bit of grief. Along with a few hidden bosses the most prominent being Gilgamesh. Where once you’ve completed all the protorelic missions which there are 4 to each region. Something I wasn’t the biggest fan off you unlock his island which ends in a fight with him.

Gilgamesh as the sand giant who gets on your tits throughout the dunes of Costa Del Sol.

The game world covers nearly all of the planet this time rather than just the linear Midgar of remake. Now rather then being a complete open world it’s more of a connected up overworld with self contained open areas. Now you get Chocobos to run around faster which each come with their own terrain specific abilities which help traverse the grasslands or desert of Cosmo Canyon. I think this game looks phenomenal and not just graphically. I think some may disagree but the sheer level of detail and effort gone into each areas design is outstanding. From lush pastures, to thick forest encompassing ancient ruins or the rocky terrain lording above the desolate desert below. Or the chilled summer vibes from the beach resort at Costa Del Sol.

As you go around each area, there are a plethora of enemies just plumming it around to run into and battle. Now most bigger enemies or mini bosses only spawn from finding all of the areas intel and summoning them or from a side quest that takes place. Having the variety to fight makes for battling again being better then remake. I thought remake was a bit limited in enemies as well as very little in open areas which stunted it somewhat.

Fucking Tonberries and their one hit killshot. Fuck ’em.

I should probably mention Chadley a returning Professor Hojo created shinra cyborg who helps you by acting as a guide, materia merchant as well as giving you access to beating the summons such as Titan, Odin and Bahamut to use in battle. He pops up all the time, and if you find a life spring, do a battle challenge, the protorelic quests for each area or activate a beacon he will pop and chat some shit at you. It’s fairly constant. I didn’t mind it all that much though, but I think that I played this game from release until recently and it was broken up that much I was never exposed to him in big chunks. He even creates an AI himself called Mai who then also chats shit at you.

The duality of Red XIII, also just a sheer apreciation at the visual fidelity of his design.

The game only has I think something like 34 side quests which isn’t loads but for the most part they are such an improvement over remake. They mostly count for something or help expand on the world and lore of everything. But what this game does have in absolute spades is mini fucking games. I’d argue this is my one draw back from this game. There is an endless stream of them. Now I like mini games as much as the next person but this on regular interval forces you to play them. The games platinum is locked behind them if that’s something you’d usually go for. Having to complete them on hard mode which is unlocked once initially completing them. Most of them I didn’t mind and I often go the highscore with minimal effort but some of them just blow ass.

The world map and misison, Queens Blood and Protorelic tracking.

This sentiment isn’t bestowed upon the might that is Queens blood. My favourite addition to the series. This is what Gwent was to the Witcher. I loved it in fact I wish there was more of it, and more trophies specific to this pass time. I did everything to do with this, I collected all the cards, beat everyone and I wanted more at the end of it. The story that centred around it was weak but it needed to be there to give you more reason to play it. Chocobo racing was fun as well, very Mario Kart like, I did however hate those bastard Cactuar gates which are designed to ruin your life.

Tonally this game is peak Final Fantasy, you have such sincere heartfelt moments which are broken up by the grittier darkness of the looming dying planet. The mental struggles of Clouds fragmented mind from the five years of torture he endured and then you randomly find yourself battling in a colosseum whilst a past villain is on the DJ decks and his cronies are rap battling at you. I find the levity something to behold. This happens through much of the game with the last few chapters really failing up sadness and serious nature of the main story. Forgoing the campiness and comedic moments that are sprinkled throughout.

I do have complaints about the lack of Zack and Sephiroth in the 40 hour long story. I assume this is because they’ll be used more in part 3. I do like how they’ve made Sephiroth straight up evil though whilst retaining the madness he gained in his pursuit of Jenova. I think this was the right choice stylistically and creatively with the game being expanded in such a massive way. Really abusing Clouds psyche against himself by repeated getting him to try and kill his companions.

The Whispers returning En masse even with their own white varience along with Sephiroths further control over the timelines.

So some slight downsides as much as I don’t want to admit them. The overworlds were sometimes not fun to go around, Gongaga was a bit shite, you had to bounce around on big ol’ mushrooms in specific orders. This was mildly infuriating but nothing major, now I hated Cosmo Canyon, you had use your Chocobo to glide around to platforms which you were kept afloat by fans on the ground and air. Some times you had to loop around near half of the map. Luckily you can fast travel to markers everywhere, from settlements, any side stuff you’ve cleared, Chocobo stops you’ve fixed so the more you do the easier it is along with the fetch quests that send you here there and every fucking where.

Just a real visual treat across the board, truly one of the best looking and designed games of this generation so far.

I really enjoy this story and I love the way it’s gone, expanding it’s own universe by using all the media that has subsequently being released since 1997. The over reliance on knowing everything that happened in all these games just stunt the end somewhat. I think the open ended nature of the game is left so we can all sit and speculate what it means. Who knows what, who’s from which timeline, which ones were merged, destroyed, whose swapped places. As well as not really explaining the black or Holy Materia enough. As well as taking away the scene of Cloud putting Aerith in the water. Which is beyond iconic. Now I do personally believe this will be in the last game as a moment of clarity when everything is fully explained but we will see.

Honestly this game is superb. I can’t physically rate this any lower then 10/10. It’s Real Fuckin’ Tasty.

As long as you are intending to play the entire trilogy and just played the main scenario you’d be in for a real treat. The nearly fully realised world of Gaia, as a party of expertly written characters trying to save it. Along with tight and precise combat that’s never a slog. It’s hard to not want to keep going and put the game down. It’s only hampered by slight pacing issues caused by an over abundance of mini games which I think because the developers put so much effort into it they wanted to make sure you played them. I can’t recommend this game enough.

Released 29th February 2024 on Playstation 5.

Guitar Hero on Tour

This was a fairly recent pick up and has some what taken precedent over other games. Namely due to my childhood nostalgia running ripe once I saw it and because as previously mentioned, any relatively short handheld game is far easier for me to complete lately.

Now this is somewhat of a quick take review but this is due to being one of those games that there isn’t really a lot to cover. Also, if you have any experience playing any iteration of this series you’ll know exactly what it is.

So, like any normal guitar hero game this comes with it’s own imaginative way of electronically playing the guitar. This comes in the form of the grip and strap. This adapter plugs straight into the Gameboy Advance port of your Nintendo DS. It can be played left or right handed, so for me being a righty. I just tilted the DS anti clockwise and was able to play the four colour coded frets with my left hand and use the guitar shaped pick to strum the touchscreen in time to not create any dead notes.

This game only comes with 25 songs and a tiny campaign. This career mode comprises of five sections where you play bigger venues as your notoriety rises. Each block contains five songs to master. No boss type song either to prove more of a challenge.

Within each block there are four separate difficulties starting from easy going to medium, hard and expert. Again the usual for this series. I always start on medium as on easy you don’t tend to have to use the blue fret button and I don’t see the point in that. It took me only a couple hours to go through the entire thing not having to replay any songs. And for the most part medium didn’t provide much of a challenge unless I had to play red and blue simultaneously for a chord. Which more often then not my dexterity failed me.

The left screen acts as the stage and the tab then scrolls the notes to play, whilst the touchscreen has the guitar. In order to successfully play a note you have to hit the strings on the touchscreen as you press the fret. You gain a score multiplier for hitting a successful chain of notes. This can be further bolstered by activating star power, which does use the microphone niftily you can either shout into it or blow into to activate not losing your flow as you go along.

You can unlock alternate attires for the few characters you can pick and get some extra guitars to play on stage with as well. But for the most part it’s highly lacking. I know this is a handheld version of a console game but they did put half if not a third of the effort in.

The game runs surprisingly well, as I did think it’d have a chance to be laggy or not as responsive as it should be. You just have to make sure you full press down on the buttons as it won’t respond correctly and give you a miss. Ruining a nice long combo. The other thing to watch out for is if you’re in the zone to make sure you don’t stray too far from the guitar strings as you’ll be playing in time but still missing the notes.

Now the game doesn’t look like complete shit but, it does look it’s age. Fairly fuzzy around the edges and even for the hardware it’s on with the DS not being the most powerful console ever made. I think it passes muster.

My big complaint about the game is even though you can play each song on four varying difficulties, and there is a guitar duel mode where you use pick ups to stop a rival guitarist playing correctly racking up a bigger score, due to the lack of songs and only being able to play the guitar part of the song it’s not all that replayable as I can’t imagine you’ll want to keep playing the same few songs all the time. As for my music tastes it’s nowhere near heavy enough. It’s all but lacking in metal music. You do have Nirvana, Incubus, Ozzy Osbourne and Red Hot Chilli Peppers sprinkled about though.

Overall I rate this a respectable and Tasty 6/10. It’s an admirable attempt at porting a bigger more fleshed out console game series to the little handheld. If it’s there to play you may as well, but you’d probably enjoy playing something else if you can.

I could only find a decent picture in Italian, i’m not sorry.

Released June 22nd 2008 on Nintendo DS.

Into the Breach – A quick take review

I initially bought this game on sale for my Switch a good while ago on a whim and never really got round to playing too much of it.

However, in between trying to play any game normally which more often than not I fail at, trying to to fit in life, work, uni work and being a dad there is little time left for gaming. So, having a game like this or Binding of Isaac is perfect to fit in small doses.

I’ve not played it for more than a couple hours having failed miserably on my first few runs as it required me to use my brain. This turn based strategy game with rogue like elements is a quick grab and play.

You play as humanities last hope in giant mechs against the invading alien threat of the Vek. Now you start with a primary squad of three. All teams comprise of three but throughout game play you are able to level up the pilots, find new armour new pilots with different skills, as well as varying types of weapons and armour.

You are tasked with liberating four islands where they are split into separate procedurally generated missions for each run. So no two games are the same where you are tasked with defending civilians or the grid which if buildings are destroyed and it reaches zero you lose.

You drop your mechs into the allotted areas and the vek or boss veks will spawn throughout the game until the turn counter reaches zero and you win the round. Your objectives come with secondary objectives which can reward you further like collecting a pod with new cores and weapons.

Much like each mech the Vek are only able to move in certain manners and attack specifically, so up close and personal, long range bombing or buffing their allies etc.

Now game over here isn’t a complete reset, you are able to transfer a pilot with all accumulated experience with you to start a new campaign.

Each campaign you can choose difficulty as well as a few game modifiers to make it even harder if you wish. I’m not ashamed to admit I had to drop it to easy after a few goes. As I suck major ass at this.

With each run you are awarded coins, to get coins you must reach a milestone or a team specific action. With coins you can purchase new teams to do battle against the Vek with. Along with the standard enemy threat you also have the incoming threat of thunder storms or if you are controlling the terraformer. You can use this to your advantage by punching them into an incoming thunder strike, drowning them in the water or crushing them as grassland becomes desert.

If you are on the defensive you can repair yourself, set up barriers or even if you want to take a hit, place your mech on a square where a new Vek will emerge from halting them completely.

For many I assume this basic tactical play is mere child’s play but for me it can be a wee challenge. But with each round only taking a couple minutes as it runs at a fast pace. You can easily pick this game up in very small goes and achieve a lot even if the Vek win in this timeline. You are always able to go back and give it another run.

I’d rate this game a very respectable and highly tasty 8/10.

An easy but well thought out and executed turn based strategy game that can be played as leisurely as you’d like. With fantastic art direction and infinite re-playability and honestly who doesn’t love a good bit of mech V alien sci-fi action.

Released on Nintendo Switch 27th February 2018.

Game collection update

I’ll admit my reviews have dwindled somewhat lately, this isn’t due to personal choice,no. I namely blame having three uni assignments dropped at me in the space of a month. Now they are out of the way I can try and get back on track.

Especially having the dual use of the Switch and my Portal, I should be able to zip through some of my backlog in no time. I am half way through two reviews as we speak and one shouldn’t be too far behind.

Now even though my gaming has halted somewhat, my collecting has not. If anything I’ve been more rampant with that then ever as of late. And if you follow my instagram or facebook pages you’ll see I’ve periodically posted my new additions. So this post is somewhat just a quick overview of everything I’ve acquired lately. A bit of an overdue update, I have more yet to come that I’ve already purchased and a few more titles in the post. So there will be much more coming your way my tasty lot.

So as you aware of my amazing photography skills from previous updates, you’ll see I’ve attempted some stylistic flair now. In showcasing my ample collection.

I’ve added a few Wii titles, in Destroy all Humans Big Willy Unleashed and Far Cry Instincts. Then I’ve gained Halo Combat Evolved Anniversary for the Xbox 360. Along with a lesser known gem on the PS3 in Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom.

For the PS2 I’ve added Mercenaries and Shellshock Nam ’67 as well as the Hitman Triple Hit pack, And rounding off this consoles additions is my favourite new game for now in Evil Dead and a Fistful of Boomstick. Most the time i’ve only really bought games I’ve played and have just wished to replace but this is genuinely a game i’ve never played. Being a massive fan of the Evil Dead film and tv series I am very much looking forward to giving this a bash.

I decided to get some more handheld titles as my DS and 3DS collection is missing many a title I wish to own. I managed to nab a couple of ebay bargains and for the DS I’ve added two Final Fantasy titles. With Crystal Chronicles Ring of Fates and Final Fantasy 3. I didn’t stop there oh no, I also went out of my to buy Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars, complete with the map. Not only is this one of my top DS titles it’s also one of only eleven titles that got slapped with an 18 certificate for the console. A wee bit of trivia for ya, don’t say I don’t give you anything people.

On the 3DS so far I only managed one more title for now and that comes in at the series that is the mighty Dragon Quest. Specifically Dragon Quest VII Fragments of the forgotten past.

I also added a few games to my PSP collection. The three new titles in question Killzone Liberation to add to the Killzone series I’ve nearly completed. Along with Grand Theft Auto Vice City Stories and the legendary God of War Chains of Olympus.

So as you can see not too many games for this part but far more then I’ve added thus far in one chunk. It only gets better or worse depending how you see this game collecting endeavour as I have like another ten or so titles to catalogue and showcase in the coming weeks.

As always don’t forget to visit the site regularly or keep up to date via one of my social media accounts. And the most important part of all, forever and always. Stay Tasty my friends.

Layton’s Mystery Journey – Katrielle and the Millionaires Conspiracy.

I love me a bit of the Professor Layton games, especially the original trilogy. Now the other titles have their own merits still and for the most part are just as fun but they are lacking somewhat.

This spin-off was initially released on the 3DS and as a game for your phone for IOS and android I believe, before dropping like a year later as a deluxe edition on the switch. Now I think the deluxe edition is more for show than anything. Without looking too much into it I think some puzzles were changed and the ordering swapped over, you can get all the daily extra puzzles and clothing DLC from the get go. It may be a bit more than that but that’s the meat on the bones of it I’d guess.

Now unfortunately the puzzle master who did the six main line games before for the original trilogy and prequel trilogy sadly passed away. It does show somewhat in the puzzles this time round. A lot of them a fairly similar or just a harder version of the previous one so the variety has dipped and if you play it for long enough chunks you kinda just get used to the pattern you are looking for. I won’t say I breezed through it some of them did properly stump me, and made me use some of the precious hint coins you find on your travels.

For this spin-off game rather than you being Professor Hershel Layton and his trusty companion Luke you play as his adoptive daughter Katrielle, who has started her own detective agency in London.

Some of the new supporting characters, Emiliana and Inspector Hastings

One of the biggest draws for the early games was the story that interlinked over titles along with its unique and distinct look. The kinda Victorian, steam punkesque setting. The weird ambience and music, all the strange designed characters you get to know as you travel back and forth from differing locations. Now a lot of this carries over and you can tell it’s set in the same world, but it all just seems dialled down.

Some of the areas you wonder round on the chapters.

Even on the switch with the clearer and brighter HD, and the added rumble from the joy cons to add to it even more then the DS or 3DS could. It just lacks. Now the game runs smoothly, the animation and voice acting are top notch but the weirdness isn’t quiet there and the new characters don’t feel as fresh or fleshed out as much as they could.

The story is told over twelve chapters which revolve around solving a case per chapter. Taking around an hour and a half per one I’d say so if you just want to complete the game without doing any optional puzzles you’d be looking at around 17-18 hours. But if you want to do everything revisiting the chapters opens up more puzzles. As well as utilising the touchscreen to tap at everything to find hint coins, fashion coins, hidden collectibles as well as hidden puzzles.

Your UI for working round the game and mini games.

I think collectively with daily puzzles there’s something like 550 puzzles to work though, as well as three mini games you can do at any time. One is finding the perfect four course meal for some supporting characters. You have the mini maze game for Sherl where you have to get to the exit in a required amount of moves. And lastly the shop game where you have to direct customer to purchase everything in your inventory.

Each puzzle still awards you picarats the higher the amount the harder the puzzle in theory. With the daily puzzles awarding you points to unlock bonus behind the scenes stuff from the entire backlog of the series. You unlock furniture points so you can decorate Layton’s office as you’d like as well, and can even get new outfits for Katrielle and Sherl.

Puzzle difficulty comes fromthe picarat rating.

So there is a lot to be done and keep you occupied as long as you like quick thinking riddles or brain teasers. So going in as a new fan I’d doubt you’d be too disappointed but going in as a long standing fan it is a bit underwhelming. The story isn’t the strongest even if the games had already started losing it’s initial more grounded roots and the supporting cast isn’t as interesting either. You have Sherl a talking dog with amnesia who is the best new addition, Ernest Greeves, Emiliana Perfetti and inspector Hastings which round out the main characters.

You collect six pieces of info to complete a case.

Overall I think there is a lot of enjoyment to be had and the game story is neither tasking nor does it overstay it’s welcome. Each chapter being relatively bite sized really allows for ease of play along with re-playability for at least two rounds of each chapter. Along with the bonus content that can be earned through the extra puzzles at your disposal.

I’d rate this game a respectable Tasty 6/10, an easy going puzzle driven story that’s only lacking due to the hefty weight of it’s main titles legacy bearing down on it. If given the chance a sequel could easily improve on a lot of small things amounting to a much better experience overall.

Released on Nintendo Switch, November 8th 2018