Gal*Gun 2 (PS4)

Gal*Gun 2 is a rail shooter where you play as the protagonist, a high school student. A package appears out of nowhere that contains a gun and a VR headset. Naturally, he puts on the headset and suddenly an angle, Risu, appears. She tells you that she has been assigned to you as your demon hunting partner. With only 19 days to go, you must meet the quote of demons hunted before the deadline. You’re armed with the pheromone blaster to shoot the girls who have been possessed by demons. It’s not a great story by any means, but it is an excuse for the crazy premise.

And the premise is where it is at. It’s so ridiculous that it crosses the line from being offensive to being too exaggerated to take seriously. The game is in first person, and you move the reticule to shoot the large numbers of female students who are rushing towards you. You can aim at three places for each student: their head, body or legs. One of them will be their weak point, which is an instant kill, otherwise they’ll have to get hit a few times before they are down. The explanation here is that they get euphoria from your shots…

Every so often, students exude a purple aura and are attached by chibi versions of the demons. You’ll need to shoot the demons off before you can easily take down the student. The demons can then be shot or sucked into your weapon. Sucking them up gives you higher points at the end of the level. The other thing is that you cannot freely move about. You’re stuck in that spot until all the girls are shot down, then you move onto the next area. Sometimes the game gives you a choice in which direction you’d want to go but it rarely gives you anything meaningfully different. The game is a bit restrictive in this way.

The thing that strikes you at first is the graphics. They are… not great. They feel like low resolution models that are blown up and while it may be okay for the smaller screens of handhelds (the previous game was on the Vita, and this game is also available on the Switch), it does not look good on your TV. It feels really budget. The gameplay doesn’t fully make up for it either as the shooting is only serviceable at best. Your shots lack heft and impact. The shooting doesn’t feel good as a result and all too often, you’re not sure whether your shots hit properly or not. The whole game feels clunky this way, like it was built for consoles a few generations ago.

The game has three types of levels. The first one is the one that is also the most fun. It’s the mode that you’d expect, which is that you are supposed to shoot everything that moves. The second mode still has you shooting everything but with the added annoyance of staying in one spot (instead of moving through the level) and protecting a character from being hurt. The third and last is the least fun, as this one has you moving around the level to find a number of items. These items are hidden in the environment, and it is down to luck to find everything within the time limit, not helped that their placements are random each time.

Having gameplay that relies on chance is never fun, but the game does it a number of times, leading to some slight frustrations. The game itself isn’t hard, but when you fail the level due to chance, it is not fun. Boss battles can sometimes rely on luck in finding when and where they appear, and when the shooting is this clunky, it’s not a great experience. This means that boss battles can drag out for longer than required as you need to wait through yet another cycle before you can progress.

There are six endings which mostly depend on the romance path that you pick. There’s your angle partner, Risu, your neighbor that lives next door, Chisu, and your childhood friend, Nanako. The bulk of the game remains the same, so it is even more egregious when the game only features one save slot. It wants to force you to replay the whole game multiple times to get all the endings, rather than just allowing you to save at strategic places and reload. While you can still do that, it requires a bit more effort as you need to close the game down and then backup your saved data to either the cloud or to a USB.

If you die in a level, you don’t have to restart the whole thing. There are frequent checkpoints which helps make this an even easier game than it already is. Despite being forced to replay the story multiple times, it’s made slightly better, depending on how you see it, by the short length. There are only a handful of story missions, which you can finish in around 1.5 hours, a bit faster when you skip the cutscenes. If you know what you are doing and the requirements for the endings, then it is quite simple to breeze through, it’s just a tad repetitive. The game has a bunch of side missions but they’re basically the same things, reusing the same environments, so there isn’t much replay value in this game.

If you’ve played Double Peace, then a lot of the environments will feel familiar. The developers have reused a lot of the layouts, which is quite disappointing. This feels like a reskin rather than a proper sequel. There are a few fan service dedicated features, such as the doki doki mode where you keep shooting a particular girl until they go into ecstasy. You can pose pretty much all the character models in the game. You can even use the demon sweeper gun to suck up their clothes during gameplay.

Overall, Gal*Gun 2 has one objective, and it provides all that. It’s a fan service game with a ridiculous premise, that while it still does work, it is weakened by the repetitive nature and lack of new features compared to previous games. The graphics are disappointing too. You don’t expect state of the art graphics but when they’re this low resolution, it can be distracting. The story is too short and too much of a write-off, the developers could have had a wild time creating all sorts of funny stuff but instead we get some uninspired stuff. It just seems to lack the charm of the previous games.

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Toy Review: Transformers Generations Studio Series Rhinox (ROTB) (Voyager)

Review:  #791

Name:  Rhinox

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  Maximal

Line:  Generations - Studio Series

Year of Release:  2023

Size Class:  Voyager (Wave 21)

Mold Status:  new

BEAST MODE:

Depicting Rhinox from the Rise of the Beasts film, Rhinox transforms into a mechanical rhino.

This is generally an okay beast mode, but the grey plastic used is quite bland.  What makes it worse is that some pieces of plastic are unpainted, contrasting some of the shinier painted plastic.

Rhinox is not a bad size for a Voyager, helped since he has a beast mode, which are generally larger.

Articulation is really bad, you can move some of the limbs but it is generally not advised since they are jointed in unnatural places.

The robot weapon can peg onto the top but it is just for storage as it looks ridiculous like this.

The front legs also look off, the official configuration in the instruction manual makes them look really awkward.

An average beast mode, but at least it distinctively looks like a mechanical rhino.

TRANSFORMATION:

Uninspiring and a little bit annoying at times as you are trying to move some pieces that get in the way of each other.  The torso piece in particularly can be hard to get a proper grip on.  The rear legs become the robot feet, while the front become the arms.  Then all that is left is to rearrange everything into the robot torso.

ROBOT MODE:

Rhinox didn't have much screentime in his robot form in the movie, and he looks a tad bit awkward here.  The proportions are such that he has a huge upper body and a skinnier lower body.

The back has a plate with the rhino tail attached, as far as kibble goes, this is quite decent.

The head sculpt leaves some to be desired, especially since the half painted nature makes it look worse.

Again, he is an okay size in robot mode, although thanks to a few hollow parts, he can feel a bit light.

He comes with a cardboard stand, but unfortunately the scene is based upon a deleted scene, so it never appeared in the movie.

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

His robot weapon is a mace / hammer.

He can hold the weapon in either hand.

When not in use, the weapon can store on his back.

As per usual with contemporary Transformers, there is an overreliance on friction joints, so plenty of things will pop off, particularly his shoulder pads.

Otherwise, Rhinox has an average robot mode.  The figure just seems to lack charm even though he has no major flaws.

OVERALL:

Rhinox is an average toy.  Both modes aren't bad, but they aren't amazing either.  In particular, the figure just feels so soulless, like not enough effort was put into the attention to detail that you would expect Studio Series figures to have.  The figure pretty much screams that it was pushed out on a tight deadline.

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Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (PS5)

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is the sequel the first Spider-Man game, this time exclusively for the PlayStation 5. Thus, it tries to use all the features of the system and it is a good showcase of the hardware. It builds upon the original and its spin-off Miles Morales. This game will instantly feel familiar to everyone who has played any of the previous two games. You unlock abilities at a fast pace, so it doesn’t feel too repetitive in getting back to how powerful Spider-Man was at the end of the previous games. The game is set in New York, and it is an expanded city that you can explore with both Spider-Men. You can swap between them at almost any time and anywhere, although there are specific story and side missions for each of them.

Spider-Man can naturally swing through the buildings and the webslinging remains as tight and fun as ever. It is simple, as you just need to hold down the R2 trigger but there are some little bits like being able to dive, jump, build momentum and speed up that makes it more engaging. It is fun swinging around to the point of not even needing or wanting to use the fast travel system. That’s helped by fast travel needing to be unlocked by completing side missions in each area. The traversal is further improved by the new web wings ability that allows Spider-Man to glide at high speed. With the added bonuses of wind tunnels scattered around the city to boost your speed and keep you aloft even longer.

In terms of combat, it also builds upon the original system but that was always one of the more generic and weaker areas of the game. You build combos by punching enemies and you can keep the combo counter going up by not getting hit. Spider-Man can dodge and parry. His main melee is a punch, but he has plenty of gadgets to help him. The two Spider-Men has slightly different combat abilities, given that Miles has bio electric powers, so his special abilities tend to utilize those. On the other hand, Peter uses the extra metal legs on his back instead. Spider-Man can throw stuff in the environment at the enemies. Build enough focus meter and you can one-shot certain enemies. Enemy variety comes in the form of stronger tougher ones that appear where you are required to approach them in a slightly different way. However, combat in this game can tend to become dragged out with enemies that can take a lot of hits before going down.

In addition to the combat sections, there are some stealth sections where Spider-Man is in a room, and he must pick off the enemies one by one. He’s provided with plenty of tools such as knowing when an enemy is safe to be defeated and being able to walk on his own webs across the room. The latter makes it much easier compared to the first game. Although if you hated the Mary Jane stealth sections of the first game, be prepared for some more here. These are improved for sure… but still much less fun compared to the Spider-Man sections. Yes, it is good to break the monotony and provide some variety but when it is so much less fun to play, it’s probably better to include them in the first place.

Naturally, the graphics are phenomenal, and it is some of the very best at its time of release. The original games already looked great, but it is even nicer here. Maybe it is not a huge difference at first glance, but then you’ll notice all the small details that it has. There are a few modes to choose from such as a performance mode with higher framerate, or you can opt for higher visual fidelity instead at 30 FPS. You can combine the two along with some raytracing to target 40 FPS which scales nicely with a 120 hz TV, complete with variable refresh rate to reduce screen tearing. The game has a ton of accessibility and customization features to make the game exactly how you want to play it. You can make it easier or harder, tweak specific elements and parts of the UI, it’s quite handy and impressive.

The story starts off extremely slowly. It is too slow in fact and can be a boring slog. This is because you play this game to play as Spider-Man, rather than Peter and Miles. When you are forced to play their sections and slowly walk from one place to another for some story exposition, it is a slog. It takes around a third of the game before it picks up. Despite having two protagonists, their stories aren’t too intertwined, as Miles feels like he is more focused on his own small scale personal story, while Peter has more encounters with the brand-new threat of this game, Kraven the Hunter.

Kraven gets an introduction and is then regulated into the background for a short while as his mercenary team executes his plan. It is somewhat annoying that his team seemingly has unlimited numbers and resources. Anyway, he is shown to be a formidable foe, able to easily beat Spider-Man’s other villains. Then there is Harry, who makes a healthy return from his illness. Of course, this isn’t a coincidence as the game introduces the Symbiote, which means Venom will eventually make an appearance.

If you have watched any Spider-Man movies or read any of the comics, then you will be very familiar with the Symbiote / Venom backstory. The game tries to go for something different, however, it generally still follows most of the main beats so it can be predictable. You can tell right from the beginning what is going to happen. However, the developers managed to differentiate Spider-Man’s combat style when he has his Symbiote powers. Spider-Man plays more aggressively and is more powerful, so it can be a lot more fun as a result.

The game makes a ton of use of the DualSense controller, and at times, it is too much. There will be constant haptic feedback, from the gentle tapping of Spider-Man’s feet when he is sneaking, or a jolt when being hit hard by an enemy. The game goes for the adaptive triggers, as they will constantly change with how much pressure is required based on what’s happening onscreen. At times, these events feel gimmicky, while at other times, they enhance what’s happening on screen, adding to the tension of the story.

There are a lot of side activities everywhere you go. The variety gradually unlocks along with the story. These are mostly generic styled missions but at least they do not take that long to individually complete. Rewards for completing them are used to unlock the many numerous suits the game has to offer for each Spider-Man. While completing all types of missions will grant experience points, which are used to level up and the level is shared between the two protagonists. Each level up grants at least one skill point and these can be used to unlock abilities specific to one of the Spider-Men, or shared abilities between the two.

The pacing ramps up in the last third of the story and it then suddenly moves way too quickly. The story is filled with many highs and many lows. There will be things you’d have to do in missions that will feel like a chore. Then it might be followed with some fast-paced adrenaline filled boss fights that manages to convey the strength of being Spider-Man extremely well. Ultimately though, the story has a lot of flash and style but is missing just that small amount of substance to really cement its place.

The game takes around 15 to 20 hours to complete the main story itself. After the slow start, the way it wrapped up the various villains felt too quick. It’s like the Spider-Men finally confronts the villain for the first time or two before they are defeated. It was like a rush of battles and epic encounters, being over too quickly. After the main story, you can continue to finish off the side stuff. Some of the side missions have their own short storylines, so a bit of effort has been put into them.

Overall, Marvel’s Spider-Men 2 is an iteration, rather than a revamp, of the previous two games. It plays very similarly and effectively, but it polished off most of the rough edges to provide a smoother, nicer, and better experience. There are still rough edges, especially when it comes to early story pacing, as well as the gameplay. Having variety is good, but the things that you are forced to do in some missions are a chore and not very engaging. Kraven was a formidable foe in the beginning but as you’d expect, he is eventually overshadowed by Venom, where there are some genuine moments of dread and fear in his appearances.

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KonoSuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World! (2023)

KonoSuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World! is based on the light novel series, which itself is a spin-off from the main KonoSuba series. It is 12 episodes long and follows Megumin in a prequel from before she met Kazuma and Aqua. When Megumin was very young, she saw first-hand the power of explosion and that was what kickstarted her obsession with explosion magic. The thing with explosion magic is that it is powerful but also extremely impractical. It requires an absurd amount of MP that most people don’t even have enough of to cast it. And even if they do, they won’t have enough MP to do anything else afterwards. Furthermore, explosion is so powerful that it just wipes out everything in the area.

Megumin is just old enough to start at the magic academy in the Crimson Magic Village and there, she also meets Yunyun. The point of magic academy is to train and teach the kids about magic, get enough skill points for them to learn magic, upon which point they officially become an adult. This being the Crimson Magic Village, everyone is a bit out of the ordinary. Exaggeration is a key skill that is highly regarded, and this is what makes the anime so funny. You can never anticipate how a character would act, or how a situation would pan out because it’s so unpredictable.

Megumin was always a bit cruel to Yunyun in KonoSuba but she’s a bit more of an obvious tsundere here. She can be mean to Yunyun, but at the same time, shows that she cares about her very much. Megumin is a lot more practical and cruel-hearted due to the poor situation of her family. We learn about her little sister Komeko and the black cat that is Megumin’s familiar. Yunyun remains the socially awkward lonely girl who’s easily intimidated.

It’s good to know that Megumin hasn’t changed from before she met the KonoSuba cast. She is still irrationally obsessed with explosion and still causes a lot of trouble with it. Megumin can be quick and clever enough to take opportunities when they present themselves. The backstory with Yunyun is fleshed out and while Megumin does constantly take advantage of her, their friendship can be seen as strong.

Despite not having the rest of the KonoSuba gang, especially Kazuma and Aqua, this spin-off still manages to hold its own. Megumin is interesting enough of a character to be able to carry the whole show. Coupled with the crazy antics of the Crimson Magic Clan where commonsense is out the window, and flashiness and style are what is most important, and this results in a very entertaining anime, despite the simple animation at times.

There is a little bit of an overarching plot across the season, being that the seal of the dark goddess has been weakening, which is causing more and more monsters to appear. Throughout all this is the normal life of Megumin as she goes to school and deals with all of that. The dark goddess subplot is played loose in that it shows up for a short time, and then subsequently disappears for a length of time before randomly reappearing. It’s not at the forefront and sometimes it isn’t even at the back of your mind.

The anime doesn’t stay only within the village as it chronicles Megumin’s journey up until she meets Kazuma and Aqua. We get to see some of the events that were referenced in the main series, and how her actions have consequences. When Megumin travels to Arcanletia, you’d know that the anime is going to ramp up the craziness. You can’t believe your eyes when you see just how much Megumin has influenced the Axis Church. The reactions of the characters to the unbelievable events that are unfolding in front of them are priceless.

There are times where the animation is nice and others where it is of a poorer quality. It likes to play off the poor quality with onscreen gags, but it’s still distracting even if the scene is funny. However, as per usual, the voice acting saves it and the voice actresses of Megumin and Yunyun has done an amazing job. Despite the lack of action, the series wasn’t known for them anyway. Megumin doesn’t get many chances to showcase her supreme power, but when she does, it will remind you just how powerful explosion magic is. This has the side effect of causing Megumin to be a bit too egotistical, being mostly all talk, in many situations as she doesn’t have a chance of displaying her abilities.

Like the main series, with the lack of a more complex plot, the season finale does its best to do some sort of satisfying ending. Megumin and Yunyun does indeed close off the big plot points and defeats the big bad of the season, if they could be called that at all. It’s a good stopping point given that it ends upon Megumin’s first real interaction with the wider cast of KonoSuba.

Overall, KonoSuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World! is a good spinoff. As it is a prequel, it is forced to focus only on Megumin, so the interactions and camaraderie can be weaker than the main series. However, Megumin, being such a colorful character, managed to hold up the season on her own. Coupled with the funny moments and interactions with several characters, thanks to the craziness and absurdity of the Crimson Magic Clan, there are plenty of laughs and it makes for an enjoyable anime.

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