Grid Force brings an ambitious new take of the Battle Network style

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by Amr (@siegarettes)

  • Grid Force: Mask of the Goddess
  • Developers - Taito, Pyramid, M2
  • Publisher - Square Enix
  • Switch, PS4

Self-described as a “tactical bullet-hell RPG”, Grid Force is in reality a Mega Man Battle Network style game. Presented with visual novel style branching dialogue and illustrated comic panels, it immediately impresses, and continues to do so as the scale of what it’s attempting is revealed. Grid Force is unafraid to reinterpret the core ideas of its inspiration, with arenas that vary drastically, and a large roster of playable characters that shake  up the way battles play out on every screen. Unfortunately, Grid Force’s ambitions often overreach, leaving the execution of its many ideas inconsistent through its runtime. 

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My favorite ways to play GBA

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by Amr (@siegarettes)

The GBA is one of my all time favorite consoles. With an iconic, pocketable form factor and an expansive library of games, I’m still finding ways to enjoy it, over twenty years after its release. And with so many different options to revisit that library, it can be easy to get wrapped up in finding the “perfect” way to play it. But the truth is, so much of the handheld experience is wrapped up in the hardware you play it on, that the best option is going to be different for each person. 

So today I’m going to run through my favorite ways to play GBA, why I picked them, and what makes each great. 

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The Retroid Pocket 2+ Experience: Flawed, Frustrating, and Fun

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by Amr (@siegarettes)

  • Retroid Pocket 2+
  • $100 via Retroid, $150 via Amazon
  • Android based emulation of whatever systems you can load onto it, up to the Dreamcast

Emulation handhelds sell an incredible promise. Multiple generations of consoles and handhelds, all on a single device , with a unified control scheme and the added features of years of emulation development. But more often than not, these devices are a bundle of compromises with features packed in no matter if they make sense. 

The Retroid Pocket 2+ initially seems to be exactly that–an incremental upgrade for a sub 100 dollar device, reusing the same shell and awkward controls,running on an outdated version of Android. No matter how you cut it, any modern Android smartphone with a decent USB controller is going to outpace it in performance. So it better offer some other compelling reasons to pick it up. 

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The Analogue Pocket Experience: A Beautiful, Overengineered, and Disappointing GameBoy

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by Amr (@siegarettes)

  • Analogue Pocket
  • $220 for the Pocket, $100 for the Dock
  • Plays original GameBoy, Color, and Advance carts. Additional adaptors allow you to play Game Gear carts and (ostensibly) Lynx and Neo Geo Pocket in the future

After a long period of big promises, delays and drama, the Analogue Pocket is finally here. An HD, portable solution for playing GameBoy games (and possibly more), the console seems to have made big waves in the retro scenes. On paper, it seems like everything you’d want out a modern GameBoy, and more. But how does it hold up as an actual portable, meant for everyday use? After four months with the Pocket, I’m here to tell you what the Analogue Pocket experience does, and doesn’t deliver, with some comparisons to other devices before the final verdict. 

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Dimension Tripper Neptune Short Review

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by Amr (@siegarettes)

Every once in a while Neptunia will draw me in with a new premise, something that promises to break up the monotony of the main line games. Like Superdimension Neptunia vs. SEGA Hard Girls, Dimension Tripper Neptune does this by drawing on the appeal of SEGA properties, this time with taking after SEGA’s Space Harrier. Sadly, the resemblance is only superficial, and the comparison once again doesn’t work in Neptune’s favor. 

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Metroid Dread makes big gambles that don’t pay off

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by Amr (@siegarettes)

With over a decade since the last mainline Metroid or Castlevania game, it’s hard not to notice that MercurySteam has been given the keys to both parts of the Metroidvania namesake. And when looking at their catalog it’s hard not to ask “Why them?”

They opened their career with a series of derivative action games–with a special 3DS entry that has the pleasure of being one of the worst entries in both the series and genre writ large–then moved onto a ramshackle remake of Metroid II. A game that aspiried to make the story of Samus doing genocide into a sick fucking action game. 

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It’s as if someone saw the work that a small studio like Climax did on Assassin’s Creed Chronicles, and went  “those are the people we gotta get to do our next big game.” To be fair, that gamble did work out for Shattered Memories. 

So here we are again, with MercurySteam left to bring to life yet another long awaited title to life–but this time without the baggage and tonal issuses of Samus Returns. 

A decent chunk nto Metroid Dread the gamble still hasn’t paid off. But it doesn’t exactly bust either, leaving us at more of a break even point. 

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G-Darius HD Short Review

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By Amr (@siegarettes)

  • Dariusburst Another Chronicle EX
  • Developers - Taito, Pyramid, M2
  • Publisher - Square Enix
  • Switch, PS4

“You will see the birth of new lives” with these dramatic words you’re sent off into the cosmic sea of G Darius. Flying through landscapes of oceans, prehistoric forests and psychedelic space, G Darius gives the impression of a struggle against time and evolution. All of this is backed by a score made of distorted vocals, crowd sounds, industrial percussion and swelling choirs that would almost feel at home in a horror game.

The drama comes to a climax with the capture system, which not only allows you to capture enemies for new weapons, but also mini-bosses, with both enabling you to engage in spectacular laser duels with stage bosses.

The only letdown in the package is the HD transfer, which is certainly sharper, but lacks the extensive gadgets found in other M2 releases.

G-Darius may not be the revelation advertised, but its cosmic landscapes still deliver quite the journey.