To a T (PC)

To a T is a weird game, from the creator of the Katamari series. Whereas the Katamari series at least still has a concept that sounds interesting and understandable on why it can be addictive, T a T… doesn’t really. It has a unique premise that sounds like it could work, you play as a character who’s stuck in a T-pose (the default pose of character models in games and computer animation), and you see how this affects their life.

The game starts off by giving you the ability to customize the appearance of the character somewhat, plus name them whatever you like. The default name is Teen, and he’s a 13 year old boy living in Japan. The game is basically a slice of life story, as Teen goes to high school. Soon after the story starts, you’ll realize that Teen’s T-pose issue was always there since birth, although there is some cryptic dialogue from his mother that suggests that there may be more to it.

However, the game is slow paced, and is designed to be relaxing and chilled, with little tension, if any. All the gameplay are mundane things to do, such as getting Teen to school, using the right stick and the shoulder buttons to manipulate his arms so that he can eat or do other things. It’s amusing to see how he copes with doing normal things with his arms stuck in a T-pose, and it can be clever every so often, but since it’s mostly the same, it can get mundane and bland.

The controls are very easy, giving that you just use the analogue stick to move, a button to run, and the rest of the buttons as prompts which perform different things depending on the context. It’s a semi-open world, as Teen can explore his neighborhood. Everyone speaks gibberish, but you are expected to read the text dialogue to understand what they are saying. There are some weird things in Teen’s world that are just accepted, such as him permanently stuck in a T-pose, and the giraffe that makes food that just seems to be everywhere.

Teen has a dog, named Dog, who follows and guides Teen around. Dog acts as the objective marker, since it’ll lead you to where you need to go next. The game has fixed camera angles, and usually side on so that Teen runs from left to right. However, these angles will shift, which makes exploring confusing since you can’t see what’s coming up ahead, or lose your orientation due to the camera shifts. There are some minigames scattered around, but aside from the main story, there aren’t many side activities. You get to explore the town and collect currency, but there’s not much incentive to do so.

The story starts off focusing on Teen not appearing keen to go to school. There are no surprises why, given his condition, there are bullies. It will eventually move on and resolve that issue, given it’s a coming-of-age story. Unfortunately, that story is bland and down to earth, except for the random strange things that are accepted as normal in this world. It picks up in the final third of the game, where the story really takes a turn for the strange, yet somehow still makes sense. That’s not to say that the plot twist was not predictable, but it has a heartwarming finale.

There’s plenty of casual fourth wall breaking, even though the characters act clueless about it. The story is split up into episodes, complete with an “opening” and “closing” theme. There’s eight episodes, which are around half an hour to an hour each, depending on how much you want to get sidetracked. So, the game itself takes four to five hours to finish. After the story, you can reload your save and explore the town but nothing new unlocks.

Overall, To a T is an interesting and experimental game, although it lacks a gameplay hook. The story itself is good, given it’s more of a chilled and relaxing slice of life game as it slowly explores Teen’s life and background, giving a reasonable explanation for his permanent T-pose. The ending is interesting but given the slow pacing and mundane content, it is hard to say whether the payoff is worth it. A lot of the game feel boring given all you do is run around and read dialogue.

-----------------------------------------------

For other game reviews, have a look at this page and this page.

Support this blog by purchasing from Amazon using this affiliate link.

(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)

Toy Review: Transformers Age of the Primes Skydive (Deluxe)

Review:  #903

Name:  Skydive

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  Autobot

Line:  Age of the Primes

Year of Release:  2025

Size Class:  Deluxe (Wave 3)

Mold Status:  retool of Age of the Primes Air Raid

JET MODE:

Skydive transforms into a jet, with his defining feature being the patterns on his wings.

It's a decent enough jet mode, but it's looks simple and it is simple.

He is okay size for a Deluxe figure.

Skydive is a retool of Air Raid, and the main difference is in the tailfins.  It's a bit disappointing that Skydive is a retool but it is also understandable (and the Aerialbots never really had that much unique character anyway).

The biggest negative is the undercarriage kibble.  Skydive is thick, which is disappointing, and it's because the whole robot is shoved underneath.

A decent jet mode, just a shame about the undercarriage kibble.

TRANSFORMATION:

Skydive has a simple transformation, and that makes him boring, adding to the generic feeling of the figure.  The cockpit folds back.  The legs unfold from the back, fold out the arms and then the head, and you're done.  Effectively the whole robot was the undercarriage kibble from jet mode.

ROBOT MODE:

Skydive's robot mode is accurate to his onscreen appearance, and there's now an added splash of red to help break up the black and grey.

For such a simple Transformer, he carries a decent amount of kibble.  Not only the cockpit on his back, but the tail fins behind his legs are giant blocks sticking out too.

The head sculpt is okay, the face has surprisingly organic curves to it.

He is approximately normal height for a Deluxe.

Again, the retool in robot mode is minimal, mainly regulated to a new head.  Well, it's better than a straight repaint.

Articulation is fine, he has joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, waist, hips, knees and ankles.

He comes with a pair of guns.

The guns aren't too big, in fact, they may be a little bit thin to look good.

The guns can peg onto the wings on his back, the same place as in jet mode.

As mentioned earlier, he has a lot of kibble, which makes him feel lazier, in that the designer could have done a few additional things to make him cleaner.

In particular, those large blocky legs can feel awkward to pose.  It's also annoying that the rear tailfin is only attached via a 5mm post.

While this is an inoffensive robot, it's also quite generic and bland.

OVERALL:

Like the rest of the Aerialbots, Skydive is only one to get if you wanted Superion.  He's not a horrible figure, but just lacks any sort of cleverness or ingenuity in his design.  It's a symptom of the G1 character, but when translated into toy form, he just feels so generic and bland.

-----------------------------------------------------------

For other Transformers reviews, have a look at this page and this page.

Support this blog by purchasing from Amazon using this affiliate link.

(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)

Toy Review: Transformers Generations Legacy United Cheetor (Core)

Review:  #902

Name:  Cheetor

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  Maximal

Line:  Generations - Legacy: United

Year of Release:  2024

Size Class:  Core (Wave 2)

Mold Status:  new

BEAST MODE:

This version of Cheetor is based upon his Beast Machines appearance, which is rare, this is the first update since the original toy.

He transforms into a techno-organic cheetah, and looks okay.  Being this small, there are compromises and that is that his legs are huge for the body.

He's Core class, so he isn't that big.

The two swords from robot mode can peg onto his shoulders, and makes him look a lot more aggressive.

Poseability is almost non-existent either, his can move the legs a little bit since they're on balljoints but it's not much use.

You can see how crowded the legs make him to be, but to be fair, this is still a pretty good representation of the character.

A decent attempt at the beast mode given the size constraints, and the designer managed to pull it off quite well.

TRANSFORMATION:

It is probably good that they went for Core class, since the transformation suits this size level the most.  You literally just need to stand the cheetah mode up, flip the front paws away to reveal the robot fists, and fold the beast head back to reveal the robot head.

ROBOT MODE:

Despite the simple transformation, we still get a relatively decent robot mode.

He doesn't have too much kibble, only the beast head on his back.

The head sculpt attempts to pack in a lot of details for the size, but it makes him look cartoony since the head is so small that there's only so much that they could do.

Since you've stood up the cheetah, Cheetor is a lot taller in robot mode, he's around the usual height for a Core class figure, although with less mass given his slimmer limbs.

Articulation is okay, he had joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, hips and knees.

He comes with a pair of swords.

He can hold the swords in his hands and they actually look great.

You can even combine the swords together for a bigger dual bladed weapon which looks really good.

And lastly you can leave those swords pegged onto his shoulders.  He has the "chicken" legs, so they're double jointed, which can make them a bit more finnicky to pose well.

If you like the Beast Machines aesthetic, this is a strong and solid robot mode.

OVERALL:

The designs from Beast Machines didn't get the best reception, and it is a good thing that they didn't try to sell this in a more expensive size class.  Even in the Core class, Cheetor hasn't been too popular, but this is not a bad figure.  The beast mode is compromised but the robot mode is quite good, and for such a small figure, it is quite an accurate representation of the character.

-----------------------------------------------------------

For other Transformers reviews, have a look at this page and this page.

Support this blog by purchasing from Amazon using this affiliate link.

(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)

Toy Review: Transformers Age of the Primes Micronus Prime (Deluxe)

Review:  #901

Name:  Micronus Prime

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  Autobot

Line:  Age of the Primes

Year of Release:  2025

Size Class:  Deluxe (Wave 3)

Mold Status:  new

MICRONUS PRIME:

Micronus Prime himself is a small, almost Mini-Con sized figure.  He's a wide bulky blue robot.

He's pretty non-descript (and you'll see why later with his alternate mode), but the blue paint used is nice since it's got a shiny metallic sheen to it.

The head sculpt is okay, a bit too serious, especially for this size.

Above is a comparison against a Micromaster and a Core figure, to give you a sense of his size.

That said, for this size, he has a great range of articulation, with joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, hips and knees.

Unfortunately, and this is part of the gimmick, but he has translucent plastic for his arms and legs, including the ball joints.  Thus it is fragile and very prone to stress marks straight out of the packaging, if not after your first transformation.

As long as you don't play with it too much... (which is ironic) it not a bad figure.  Good concept but the choice of materials to questionable.

Micronus has a simple transformation as you just fold all the limbs together to form a disc.

VEHICLE MODE:

Releasing Micronus as only a Micromaster sized figure is not going to fill up the Deluxe class value, so he comes with a single wheeled bike of sorts.

It is a very unique design, although the side exhausts are very obviously the robot hands.  The wheel itself can also roll, despite the transformation.

Micronus can sit on the seat, and his arms rotated so that the fists holds onto the handlebars, fully securing him on there.

There's a bit flaw with this vehicle mode though... and that is it cannot stand up by its own.  There's no flat piece or whatnot on the wheel to keep it upright, and it's a very poor design.  Yes, you can fold the exhaust down to act as a stand but it doesn't look proper then.

Size-wise, given the transformation and the separate figure, the whole set is a little bit smaller in footprint compared to other Deluxes.

It's a compact vehicle mode, you can see from the side how short it is, it has more height than it has in length.

The teal / aquamarine and black color scheme works surprisingly well.

A unique vehicle mode, just hampered by the flaw that it cannot support itself upright.

ARMOR MODE:

The vehicle can split up into multiple pieces, and it is designed so that it can be attached to another Deluxe, similar to a Weaponizer.

It's not great, mind you, given it just gives the robot a huge backpack and some extra kibble behind the legs.  Even the wheel as a shield weapon looks ridiculous given how thick it is.

TRANSFORMATION:

Unfortunately, Micronus is a partsformer, so you will have to split him into multiple pieces to get the robot mode.  It's fairly disappointing in this aspect.  But anyway, the wheel comes off and it unfolds rather interesting into the legs (given that it goes from a wheel shaped thing into a pair of legs and waist).  The sides including the exhaust detach to form the arms, and the rest of the vehicle is the torso.

Pegging it all in together, you'll notice that the torso is hollow, this is is because you will need to get Micronus Prime himself into his disc form and insert it into the torso.

Once that is done, you can finally close the panels together.  It's an interesting design and one that is ambitious to do in Deluxe, given that Micronus takes up so much space.  You are left with a wider robot as a result.

ROBOT MODE:

Micronus' robot mode looks good, and if you didn't know, you wouldn't have expected that the torso can be opened up to reveal the disc shaped Micronus Prime inside.  It's a neat idea and one that is executed quite well here.

Alas, he has a huge amount of kibble at the back.  The vehicle mode's front, as well as the support struts that attaches to the wheel.  The designer tried to make it look better here, giving fan-like pieces at the end (that actually spins), but it's tacky.

The head sculpt is nice, with the silver visor, if a bit taller than it is wide.

Given the transformation, Micronus is short and stocky in robot mode, however, he doesn't have that many hollow parts and feels compact.

One thing is that you detach a separate transparent circular piece with Micronus' insignia (which is also the Mini-Con insignia), that you attach to the chest, it's a pretty cool look.  Plus, the torso panels have gaps in them so that you can see through to Micronus.

Articulation is good, he has joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees and ankles.

He doesn't have waist articulation due to transformation.

He also doesn't have any handheld weapons.  It's not a huge deal given his fingers literally are guns, so they look good enough there.

The legs are interesting, as they're jointed a little differently due to transformation.  Given the shorter legs, it can be challenging at times to get a good pose out of them.

A unique robot mode, both in terms of construction and in aesthetics.

OVERALL:

Micronus Prime is a good figure, despite the compromises and flaws.  The vehicle mode is the biggest one, not being able to properly stand up by itself.  Micronus himself would have benefited from being cast of normal plastic rather than a more fragile transparent plastic.  But the transformation and the concept of the bigger robot mode being some sort of armored shell for Micronus himself is really cool and executed well here.

-----------------------------------------------------------

For other Transformers reviews, have a look at this page and this page.

Support this blog by purchasing from Amazon using this affiliate link.

(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)