PixlBit

The month is basically over, and so I'm wrapping up my hack 'n' slash games and getting ready to start my platform game theme for April. Here's the last stuff I played this week. 

Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance II (remastered version on Xbox Series)

I remember playing the first one in the series co-op with my friend back in '03 or thereabouts and really liking it. I may have even played it both on PS2 and Xbox back then. There was some slight differences between them, if I remember right. But I don't remember playing the sequel. This has a  more involved crafting system but otherwise seems very similar to the first one. It was dissapointing to play it solo. There's no online multiplayer for this remaster, just local. I got to Lyran's Hold and couldn't get out of that place. Something I had to do to open a door but couldn't figure out what. I get a little annoyed at having to look up walkthroughs all the time, so I took a break. 

Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers (back compat on Xbox Series)

This is a bit of a sexploitation game. You control two female sword fighters, one whom starts out in her skivvies. You can pick up clothes in the levels and dress them up, which will change their looks in battle which is neat. The levels are pretty bland and basically just arenas full of zombies. Some levels end in boss fights. I couldn't quite understand the power-up system. You fight until you power-up and then your powers drain your health. It seems like a kind of time limit mechanic. You're powered but you have a limited time to finish the level before you collapse. There's a lot of blood and your character gets drenched in it. You even have to clear your sword of blood or it will stick in enemies, trapping you for a time. The fighting isn't too bad, kind of fun - you can do a spin move that looks cool - but level objectives are a little confusing - and I got stuck on a boss fight with a character that uses guns instead of swords. 

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (back compat on Xbox Series)

I played this a long time ago on Xbox 360. It's pretty great, but this time I found the fighting a bit unresponsive. There are these little delays in using force powers multiple times, and sometimes a block move just won't happen when you need it in a flash. It made me have to slow down in battles, which seems to be counter to the point of it all. Still, I love throwing things around even though I found it tricky to aim those things. Great fun, this is. 

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (back compat on Xbox Series)

This is totally God of War put in the Castlevania world. You've got all the elements of God of War from the first two games in this: giant bosses you have to climb to beat, a chain weapon, cinematic visuals, environmental puzzles, climbing, even the music sounds similar. All of which isn't bad because GoW I & II are some of my favorite all-time games. The only things I didn't like were the fixed camera that sometimes made navigation difficult, the slightly slower battle reaction times to GoW,  and the Titan of Chapter 2. You have to grab a flaming rock out of the air and throw it with a spinning move. It kept hitting the ground as I rotated my body, driving me crazy trying to get it to launch forwards. Great game though. Lots of fun. 

And that's the last of the many games I got to in this genre this month, 35 in my count (I only completed maybe 8 of them though). I have them all in one place on my wordpress site (which will drop in a few days). I wrote different reviews and added some screen-shots and my own videos there.