Date played: December 12th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 9/10
Lab Zero Games is a very small team who made the Skullgirls fighting game, which I loved when I played it a while back. The company decided to make a new game, a 2D RPG influenced by Metroid and Valkyrie Profile, but it won't be out until 2018... They put out a free prototype to garner interest and funding, so I downloaded it and gave it a shot.
The first thing that stood out is the incredible animation, just like Skullgirls. The heroine moves very fluidly and has a real sense of weight and movement. It's just gorgeous. I played through the prototype with my daughter and she loved everything about the game too. Combat is super interesting, with a traditional turn based system inspired by Final Fantasy's "Active Time Battle", but throws in some action reminiscent of Valkyrie Profile or Paper Mario.
I got to use four characters at once, each of them with great special moves and unique attacks. The heroine uses punches and later on, axes to attack. Then there's an archer and a dude that whips his turban around to attack. Finally, my daughter's favorite is a lady spellcaster who wears a tiger skin and casts fire and healing spells.
Combat really clicked with me. There are three types of basic attacks for all characters, as well as a special attack and a block. Enemies hit pretty damn hard, so it's important to keep enemies stunned as often as possible and to heal quickly. I fought countless monsters, including a giant boss that had so much health, I had to whittle away at it while keeping my crew healed up over a solid 10 minutes of fighting.
Outside of battle, there's some light exploration, with some areas walled off until an ability is gained. For example, when I got the axe, I gained the ability to chop down vines and climb walls. I'm really interested in playing more of this game, but unfortunately, I won't be able to do that for a good long time.
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 9/10
Lab Zero Games is a very small team who made the Skullgirls fighting game, which I loved when I played it a while back. The company decided to make a new game, a 2D RPG influenced by Metroid and Valkyrie Profile, but it won't be out until 2018... They put out a free prototype to garner interest and funding, so I downloaded it and gave it a shot.
The first thing that stood out is the incredible animation, just like Skullgirls. The heroine moves very fluidly and has a real sense of weight and movement. It's just gorgeous. I played through the prototype with my daughter and she loved everything about the game too. Combat is super interesting, with a traditional turn based system inspired by Final Fantasy's "Active Time Battle", but throws in some action reminiscent of Valkyrie Profile or Paper Mario.
I got to use four characters at once, each of them with great special moves and unique attacks. The heroine uses punches and later on, axes to attack. Then there's an archer and a dude that whips his turban around to attack. Finally, my daughter's favorite is a lady spellcaster who wears a tiger skin and casts fire and healing spells.
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| This boss fight was very intense and challenging |
Outside of battle, there's some light exploration, with some areas walled off until an ability is gained. For example, when I got the axe, I gained the ability to chop down vines and climb walls. I'm really interested in playing more of this game, but unfortunately, I won't be able to do that for a good long time.
