Uncharted 4: A Thief's End Review

A pirate’s life for me!

(This review contains spoilers!)

          Wow. Just wow.

          I’m looking out on a beautiful Madagascar vista, rendered so perfectly it almost looks like it’s real. If you showed someone a picture of it without any prior knowledge of where it came from, I’m certain they’d say it was real.

          Then it dawned on me. This year celebrates the 20^th anniversary of Super Mario 64, one of the first full 3D games ever made. In 20 years, we’ve gone from blocky Mario and polygonal Goombas to gorgeously lifelike backdrops. It’s almost unbelievable.

          But anyways, onto the game. Uncharted 4 is the (supposed) final installment of Naughty Dog’s action-adventure franchise, and if this is truly the end, it goes out on the highest note possible.

          Before now, my favourite game of the original trilogy was Among Thieves, the second installment. I felt it really captured that adventurous spirit in a way neither 1 nor 3 was able to do. But just a few hours into 4, it’s clear who the real winner here is.

          Everything is done with so much love, affection, care, and painstaking detail, it’s obvious that everyone working on the project wanted it to be the best it possibly could. Playing Uncharted 4 is like reading a really great book before bed, where you have no idea what’s going to be around the next page and you just need to see what happens in the next chapter before you sign off for the night.

          This is partly thanks to the work of the cutscenes and voice acting. Whereas in several games it feels like the story, graphics and gameplay are each battling it out for the spotlight, the three blend so seamlessly together in Uncharted 4 that you’d never notice the difference. Nolan North, Richard McGonagle, and Emily Rose all make their return as Nate, Sully, and Elena respectively, each of them bringing as much charm as ever to the table and remind you why you love these characters so much. North especially does an excellent job as always, mixing his usual sarcastic wit with some excellent serious moments that really bring the character together.

          Newcomer Troy Baker joins the cast as Nate’s brother Sam, and while Baker is just as excellent as everyone else, Sam starts to feel sort of cookie cutter after a while. That’s not to say he’s a bad character, because he isn’t, but when compared to such big personalities of the other 3, he sort of falls flat.

          The villains in this game are also excellent, matching the deadly Zoran Lazarevic from game 2 in both personality and diabolicalness. Rafe absolutely feels like the kind of person that would meet with Nate at the end of his adventures, and their conversation during the climax only escalates that.

          The gameplay is fantastic as well, mixing what was great about the original 3 with several new tricks of its own. Nate’s new rope is lots of fun to use, as you Tarzan your way around from rock wall to rock wall. The sliding is really fun as well, but it does pop up a little too much in my opinion. Towards the end of the game, it starts to feel like Nate is exploring a giant slip n’ slide instead of a catacomb. Still, it’s a really fun mechanic, and one I hope they build on, should they decide to return for round 5.

          The Uncharted staple shoot-outs make a return as well, but they feel a lot smoother than they ever did before. The arenas you’re placed into are much bigger, and give you much more room to breathe and alternate paths to take as you make your way through your enemies. If you want to swing your way up to the top and take them out from above, there’s probably a way to do that.

          Cars, boats, and deep sea diving all make their Uncharted debut, and they work very well. The diving controls work very well, and while it can sometimes be difficult to see where you’re going while underwater, it really adds to the experience. I also enjoyed the driving mechanics, but I wasn’t quite so much a fan of the sections in the car where you have to bring it with you everywhere, forcing you to drive it in some very awkward positions and go through some very drawn-out and unnecessary puzzle solving to try and get it through. When chasing down baddies at high speeds, however, the car is one of the most fun toys in the whole game. My absolute favourite part in the game is in the car, as you make your way downhill in a fantastic sequence as seen at last year’s E3.

          Speaking of great parts, the climax is one of the best. Unfortunately, the third acts gets off to a very sluggish start, but all that is forgiven once you make it towards the end. Your knowledge of Uncharted mechanics, both old and new, will be put to the test, and it all culminates in a fantastic boss fight I’m sure we’ll be talking about for years.

          I’m not sure what else I can say about Uncharted 4. It’s just that good. It really feels like the grand adventure we’ve been waiting so long for, and it completely goes beyond any expectations I had for it. You’d have to be as insane as Henry Avery to pass this one up.

FINAL SCORE

10/10

Legendary

Editorial: What Animal Crossing means to me

What Animal Crossing means to me

          Animal Crossing has always held a special place in my heart. I was only about 6 years old when the GameCube original came out, and I remember that I’d play that game every single day for months upon months.

          It wasn’t just me, either. My parents, brothers, aunt and uncle, cousins, and even more got hooked on the simple pleasure of Animal Crossing as well. When I think of the series, one of my first thoughts immediately goes to that feeling of family, and how much fun I’ve always had playing with them.

          After Wild World, which I didn’t like, and City Folk, which I enjoyed, we got the magnum-opus of the series: Animal Crossing New Leaf. New Leaf was everything I ever wanted in an Animal Crossing game, and more. You can swim, build more than just bridges around your town, there are dozens of shops plus a tropical island, loads of new villagers to hang out with, special characters and holidays are back, and it’s all wrapped together in a lovely package that would bring a smile to even the most cynical of people.

          The strange part is, no matter how long I leave the game, I’ll always come back. Just this week, as I was taking a break from Uncharted 4, I got the strange urge to play New Leaf again. I started it up, and played around a little more. One hour turned to another, and suddenly I had accomplished a lot more. I finished paying off the Moai Statue I commissioned to be built months earlier. I was warned about and then able to stop one of my favourite characters moving away. I finally accomplished something I haven’t ever had the courage to do in an Animal Crossing game, and catch the deadly bees.

          Then, I came back the next day. And the day after that. And the day after that. My 3DS is sitting next to me as I write this, and I’m planning on playing again sometime later. Part of me has to wonder, though, what is it about New Leaf that keeps me coming back over and over again?

          As I strolled through my small town of Endor for what must be the thousandth time, I thought to myself about what exactly made this game so special. I stopped into the Roost Café, spending 200 of my hard earned Bells on a cup of coffee that does absolutely nothing.

          After leaving, I said hello to my favourite villager: Alfonso the crocodile. He’s one of the final two villagers who’ve been living in my town since Day 1, the other being Mac the dog. I’ve heard almost all his dialogue before, but sometimes he’ll surprise me with something new. Even if he’s just repeating the same things over and over again, I never miss a chance to say hi.

          With summer coming up, this meant that the rarest bugs and fish would be up for grabs once more. I’ve decided to set a goal for myself: before the end of the summer, catch myself a coelacanth, a tarantula, and a scorpion. Those are the three rarest catchable critters, and I haven’t been able to get my hands on them yet.

          But still, I didn’t know why I was doing that. It had been almost three years since New Leaf’s launch. Why was I only setting this goal for myself now?

          Then, it dawned on me. The reason I kept going back to New Leaf. It’s because Animal Crossing does something that no other game does. Instead of being a race to the finish line, you can take a quiet stroll on your way there. Say hello to the wolves, cats, and anteaters you meet along the way as well. Try and find that rare fish you’ve been looking for, and if it doesn’t show up, try again the next day. Animal Crossing is one of the few games where you can just sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride, without feeling pressured to complete your goal in record time.

          I feel like New Leaf calling me back came at the absolute perfect time. As I venture through Nathan Drake’s wild and violent world again, it’s nice to take a break from guys shooting at you every once in a while, and just relax and dig for some fossils to relaxing music.

Star Fox Guard Review

Five Nights at Slippy’s

(This review is spoiler-free!)

          It’s a sad day for the Star Fox franchise. Not only was Zero a disappointment on a massive scale, but as it turns out, Star Fox Guard, the game included as basically a pack-in bonus to the main game, somehow manages to run circles around it.

          When I first heard about Guard, it sent tons of red flags up for me. It’s basically a Wii U tech demo from an E3 long since passed, reskinned with a Star Fox design, and it stars Slippy, arguably the most hated of the four leads.

          Yet surprisingly, it somehow works. Not only that, but I’d say that whereas Zero is a disaster that should absolutely be avoided by all except the most passionate of Star Fox fans, Guard is a fun time that I’d absolutely recommend to fans of puzzle or RTS games.

          So what’s the point of Guard? Well, you’re in control of the camera system of a mining colony/maze that is currently being attacked by robots. Your job is to flip through the cameras and take out the bots with lasers before they make it to the core.

          It sounds simple, but I had a lot of close calls while playing. I’d often be down to my last line of camera defences as I tried to locate and take out the robot threat.

          Speaking of the robots, while the designs aren’t great and are by no means original, it’s fun to see all the different types that show up. Some of them look like radar dishes that take out cameras, others explode into smoke bombs, and still others are shaped like miniature tanks that can cost you the game if you let them get far enough. They aren’t exactly memorable enemies, but for a game like this, they work just fine.

          The rest of the presentation is about the same. The graphics are no better than Zero’s were, looking more like a late Wii game than a late Wii U game. Onscreen, all the cameras are displayed on monitors, surrounding one large monitor that displays the feed of the camera you’re currently in control of. This may seem like a bit nitpicky, but the other cameras show a choppy, 1 fps version of the main cameras. I would’ve liked to see a live feed instead, but it really doesn’t matter. For a smaller game like this, I can forgive that.

The sound design and music is nothing special either. Each area only gets one song that loops endlessly, and by the time you’ve reached the final level and are ready to move onto the next planet, you’ll be on your hands and knees praying you’ll never hear that specific tune ever again.

          The controls I found were a little more hit-or-miss than I would’ve liked. Guard thankfully drops the gyro-controlled nightmare Zero insisted on you, going instead for the standard control stick movement. However, the cameras movement is extremely sensitive, often requiring you to make the slightest of adjustments to properly aim at the robots. In a game where aiming is one of the most important parts, this can be a big problem.

          Moving through the cameras also takes some time to get used to. Instead of cycling through them looking for the one you need, you look down at the GamePad to find which one you need, and then tap it with the stylus to activate the feed on the TV screen. It can be a little disorienting at times, especially when you’re in a rush and desperately looking for the right camera, but it works for the most part. As an added plus, you can see the robots on the GamePad as well, so you’re able to keep a close eye on them while you scramble around to find the camera you need.

          Right now, Star Fox Guard is available for $15 on the Wii U eShop. I’d say look at some videos of the game first before deciding if it’s worth the price, and you should absolutely not buy the physical bundle with Zero. For what it is, Guard is a fun puzzle/RTS/tower defence game that’s good if you have some time to waste, but not much else. If you feel like it’s something you’d like, I’d say you should absolutely go for it.

FINAL SCORE

6/10

Okay

Ace Attorney Episode 7 Review

The show must drag on

(This review contains minor spoilers!)

          Last week’s episode of Ace Attorney has the dubious honour of being the first thing on this site to ever receive my lowest possible score, thanks to how boring, useless, and skippable it was. Considering that, how did this week fare?

          Well firstly, I don’t know if the budget’s been slashed or something, but the animation quality’s continuing the nosedive I first noticed last week. Character movement is choppy, the facial expressions are weak, and shots often linger for awkward amounts of time with very little going on to warrant our attention. There’s even a scene where Edgeworth throws a spear for Phoenix to catch. We see him hold out his arms, and then the spear magically appears in his hands, which then, in a single frame of animation, fall to the floor under the weapon’s weight. If you blinked, you would miss it, and that’s completely inexcusable.

          There’s also the continuing problem of the characters. I don’t think I’ve mentioned this before, but I actually really like the way the show portrays Edgeworth. He’s the one thing that feels like he jumped right off the game screen and transitioned perfectly into the anime. The voice actor for him always does an excellent job as well.

          Aside from Edgeworth, all the characters continue to be as bland as stale bread. Phoenix, Maya, the Judge, and even the witnesses have all been reduced to one note personalities, and none of them really make even the most exciting of court cases fun to watch.

          That’s the main problem with Ace Attorney: It’s not fun to watch.

          I can see it being enjoyable if you haven’t played the games, but if you have and you enjoyed them, all that’s waiting for you here is a watered-down version of the storyline. I remembered playing through the first game, I kept going back to it because not only was I invested in the storyline, I was having a blast uncovering the mysteries.

          Here, I just feel like I’m watching one play by numbers murder mystery after another, with nothing to really take away from it.

          If I must say one good thing about this episode, the conclusion is one I didn’t remember from the game, and is a very satisfying wrap up to an ultimately boring case. I still don’t think it’s worth sifting through all the garbage to get to it, though.

          With the final case on the horizon, Ace Attorney has one last chance from me to pull it together and really prove itself as able to exist on its own without resting on the laurels of nostalgia for the games. With that, I wish it luck.

FINAL SCORE

3/10

Bad

Space Patrol Luluco Episode 7 Review

The Quest for Ogikubo

(This review contains spoilers!)

          I don’t know how, but week after week this show never fails to surprise me with what it has up its sleeve next. This episode is nothing less than a shining example of how to make a comedy anime. A plot thread is introduced, including a major threat, and it’s solved in the most hilarious way possible.

          After being transported through the universe at the conclusion of Episode 6, Luluco and crew have stumbled upon a planet made entirely of yarn that has an exact replica of Ogikubo on it. They figure that they can locate Earth’s Ogikubo somehow, but are captured by some villain who is able to manipulate people using the threads of string from the planet.

          This one-off villain is the episode’s first success. He supposedly takes the appearance of whoever you desire the most, resulting in Luluco seeing him as Nova. I’m sure he gave a very interesting speech about his diabolical plans, but Luluco hilariously talked over it all, theorizing about who Nova saw him as and whether it looked like her.

          The animation was top-notch in this episode as well, even if all the other aliens were just plain white. The reactions on Luluco, Midori, and the others were a riot to watch, and I found them all to be extremely expressive. That’s to say nothing about the always excellent Judgement Gun Morphing scenes and the artwork used for the ending.

          Ah, the ending. Let’s talk about that. After escaping from the villain’s clutches, the Space Patrol morphs into their weapons to arrest him for his space crime. Not wanting to be defeated by their hand, the villain blows himself up, igniting the entire planet on fire, all set to what I’m pretty sure is a song from Kill la Kill. I really need to watch that show, especially after seeing this one.

          The aftermath of the explosion is handled pitch-perfectly for a comedy anime, as the Space Patrol declare their job done and rush off, ignoring all the aliens panicking as their planet burns to the ground. As tragic as it sounds, it’s handled perfectly, and I had to actually pause the episode I was laughing so hard.

          This episode was the best of Luluco we’ve seen so far, but at the same time I’d really like to see how the showrunners top this one. You’d really need to pull out all the stops to do it one better. With this, Space Patrol Luluco has officially cemented itself alongside the likes of Watamote and Non Non Biyori as my favourite comedy anime of all time.

FINAL SCORE

10/10

Legendary

Steven Universe Review: “Gem Drill”

Use the D-Pad

(This review contains spoilers!)

          Immediately following the events of Super Watermelon Island, we have Gem Drill, Steven and Peridot’s own adventure!

          This really feels like the showrunners were trying to tie up most of the loose ends still dangling from earlier episodes so Season 3 can become its own beast, as we got the defeat of both Malachite and the Cluster back-to-back.

          Speaking of the Cluster, I was a little underwhelmed by it. Sure, it looked fantastic, and we had some excellent psychedelic moments when Steven connected and spoke with it, but I feel like we kind of got gipped on this giant world-destroying beast. I mostly blame the show’s length on why the problem was solved so quickly, but did we really have to solve it right now? Why not go down and see the Cluster, have to go back for whatever reason, and then go back down and have Steven talk to it. It gives us more time to understand the Cluster and really see why this is such a huge threat.

          Anyways, pacing issues aside, this was a really good episode. Peridot had lots of great jokes as usual, and we even got a little insight on what it was like for her back on Homeworld. It’s nice to see that she’s already happy to be a Crystal Gem now, and we don’t have to go through the typical “fine, I’ll join you, but I won’t be happy about it” arc that so many redeemed villains have to go through.

          The scene when Steven talked to the Cluster was really great as well. One has to wonder if Steven can use this power to heal corrupted Gems like the Centipeetle.

          The resolution was really good as well, with Steven continuing to prove that it’s better to talk your way out of problems rather than fight. I especially like the design of the bubbled Cluster. It’s really colourful, and I hope we get to see it again.

          All in all, a good episode, despite the pacing issues. With the promise of Lapis’s return on the horizon, the latest batch of Steven Universe episodes look incredibly promising.

FINAL SCORE

8/10

Great

Steven Universe Review: “Super Watermelon Island”

Alexandrite vs. Malachite in the smackdown of the century!

(This review contains spoilers!)

          After a four month break, Steven Universe finally comes back with the first episode of Season 3! Rejoice!

          And what a first episode it was. Super Watermelon Island encompassed everything that makes the show great: epic battles, giant monsters, excellent characters, gorgeous animation, superb voice acting, and really genuine moments that make you smile and go “aww”.

          So, let’s take it from the top. Malachite is back, and so are the Watermelon Stevens. The Stevens have built a society for themselves on Mask Island, complete with farmers and a shaman. Every once in a while, they sacrifice a Steven painted with a star on his chest to Malachite in order to stop her from destroying them all.

          With Steven using his dream powers to watch the carnage from the perspective of a Watermelon Steven, the Crystal Gems leap into action and go to stop Malachite once and for all themselves.

          What follows is one of the best fights we’ve seen in the entire show, save for the classic Stronger Than You scene. The Gems fused into Alexandrite to take on Malachite, using weapons of the other fusions we’ve seen in the show, as well as a few surprises of her own. In contrast, we got to see Malachite using Lapis and Jasper’s abilities, including her very own pair of water wings.

          The one thing I didn’t like about this sequence, however, was how it kept cutting back to the Watermelon Stevens. Since Steven is possessing one of them (kind of creepy when you think about it), he led the charge and enlisted the help of the other melons to help take down Malachite.

          It was cute enough, with a few homages to the Ewok attack from Return of the Jedi. But still, did we really need to take a break from the action to hear Steven give a speech in gibberish, or see the melons suit up and get ready to fight?

          Anyways, the episode ended with Alexandrite using a Crystal Gem inspired arrow to separate the fusion, retrieving Lapis and Jasper once and for all!

          Well, for the most part. Jasper fell into a crack in the earth and no one seems to be upset about that. Jasper isn’t one of my favourite characters, but I can imagine we’ll be seeing her again before too long.

          This was an excellent start to Season 3, and I genuinely hope we’ll be getting more episodes like this to come.

FINAL SCORE

9/10

Amazing