Lumines Electronic Symphony

Another great puzzle game of the Vita

Game no: 305
Genre: Puzzle
Platform: PS Vita
Released Date: 2012

What is it about?
A puzzle where you combine for small block that comes with added sound and effects 

What I liked?
- This game is pretty straight forward. You drop the blocks, it disappear. Rinse and repeat. Every time the background music, theme and blocks will change
- Getting more than 9 block combo is awesome 
- There are shuffle blocks which helps in the last minutes when you are stuck. 
- Voyage mode is awesome. 

What I didn't liked?
-  Some stages are faster and some stages are slower. Really makes playing a challenge 

Status: Finish voyage mode. 

Fun Factor: A great puzzle game that can be picked up and played 

Tearaway

Finally after putting it of for years, I finally played this game.

Game no: 207
Genre: Platformer
Platform: PS Vita

What is it about?
You play as Iota, a messenger in the paper world. You are task by giving a message to the sun (which is you). From there your adventure begins

What's Great
- This game fully uses the vita capabilities from touch screen, rear trackpad, gyro sensor, camera and voice recorder.
- Your face is at the sun and when and it looks cool when Iota is looking at you
- By using the rear trackpad your finger pops out in the screen. If you look closely, you can see the rear camera showing the real world.
- Take pictures by using multiple camera functions such as wide lens and high speed.
- Each item can be made in real life. By taking pictures of it, you can print the actual model and make it in the real world.
- The gameplay is awesome and each stage is focus on different types of gameplay which makes it never boring.
- The story is also great and the ending is very unexpected. (which is awesome)
- Lots of hidden passages to get extra items.

What's not so great. 
- Like all good things, It eventually ends.

Great for: Vita owners
Not so great for: Those who doesn't like cutesy graphics and jumping

Status: Finish the game with 69% of collectibles
Fun Factor: Spectacular... Game of the year contender (which is 4 years too late, the game was out 2014)

The Swapper

A puzzle game on the moon

Genre: Puzzle
Platform: PS Vita

What is it about?
It's been a while but you are in a planet and you have to navigate the planet by solving puzzles

What's great 
- Puzzles are intuitive
- The use of multiple people to solve the puzzle

- Graphics has a very dark feel to it 

What's bad 
- The game puzzle doesn't teach you what to do, so you do get stuck. And stuck you get... A lot
- That's all about the game... Going from one room to solve puzzles

Great for: Those who love puzzle games
Not so great for: Those who wants easy solutions to puzzle cause some of them are not.

Status: Played a couple of hours and quit due to the inability to solve puzzle 
Fun Factor: Fun until you get stuck. 4 - 5 hours tops.

Titan Souls

8-bit Dark Souls

Genre: Action
Platform: PS Vita

What is it about?
You wake up with a single bow and arrow. The arrow can be called back upon. You open to explore the world and fight a lot of bosses.

What's great 
- Controls are tight. Very responsive
- Pixel art looks cute.
- Difficulty curve.
- Clever way to fight bosses

What's bad 
- Difficulty curve. Its freaking hard. You will die. A lot. This game is a glutton for punishment
- No instruction. You have to figure it out youself.
- No map so you just end up wondering around for the next boss to fight
- Can't pause just like dark souls I guess
- When you die you restart at the checkpoint and you have to walk again to the boss

Great for: People who love to challenge their dexterity in beating bosses
Not so great for: People who want to play a game to relaxed (ME)

Status: Beat a couple of bosses and then give up due to keep on dying.
Fun Factor: You'll end up rage quitting. Game is great but its not for everyone

Volume

Reminds me of Metal Gear Solid VR Missions

Game no: 204
Genre: Puzzle
Platform: PS Vita

What is it about?
I don't really understand the story that much but from what I can gather is that you are a rebel who uploads a program which creates simulations that are called "volumes". Then you used this volume to simulate real world environments where you navigate and steal some stuff

What's great 
- The stages are all interesting. It teaches you the mechanics of the game and change the situation when you gotten used to it
- The amount of items you get and each play a different role it navigating the stages.
- Enemies bring different range and challenges
- Checkpoints are plenty but only if you didn't trigger the alarm. You could just run your way through the course but there is no fun in that.
- Voice acting is superb. It will start a story during gameplay and will continue it through the next stage.
- The text files that are found in the game.. Some are hilarious
- Online leaderboards

What's bad 
- Not sure it was not designed for the Vita. The vita keeps on crashing a couple of times
- The story really doesn't make sense or it just doesn't make sense to me
- No weapons but it is a stealth action game.

Great for: Those who prefer stealth games and likes to takes things slow
Not so great for: Those who wants action and face paced combat

Status: 100% the game. Finish the whole main story
Fun Factor: Great game. You won't get bored since the levels are only 2-3 mins long.

Type: Rider

A fun game consist of fonts

Game no: 203
Genre: Platform
Platform: PS Vita

What is it about?
You play as a colon and have to navigate through various fonts over the years

What's great 
- The stages are really interesting. Each font gives a different challenge in terrain
- Collected A till Z provided a challenge. Also there is a bonus &
- Puzzles at the end of each stage
- Great info about the history of fonts
- Secret comic sans stage

What's bad 
- The game is short. Just when you want more it ends
- Controlling a colon is a hit and a miss

Status: Finish the game with the extra stages
Verdict: Great game. Should be played at least once

WRC FIA World Rally Championship

My favorite racing genre

Game no: 193

Genre: Racing

Platform: PSP

Who will like to play this game?

- People who like racing in general. Rally is the most technical when it comes to handling and drifting. You need to know when to press the accelerator and when to break.

What will I expect?

- A lot of tracks. Multiple weather and a good day and night cycle.

When does the game get fun?

- The game is tons of fun. The Expert does get difficult but players who love to challenge themselves will stick with it.

Where does the game feels lacking?

- I can't access all the track unless we take a higher difficulty.

How did I rate it?

- A masterpiece. A lot gave it a bad review but that is just subject to your own individual preference 

Status: Finish novice championship

Dustforce

Chim chimeny chim chimeny chim chim cheroo.

Game no: 191

Genre: Action

Platform: Ps Vita

Who will like to play this game?

- For those love short and sweet burst of gameplay. 

- People who love to clean

- Combo breakers

What will I expect?
- A hub world where you connect with a lot of other worlds 

- 4 different characters which plays almost the same but with different dusting equipment.

- The feeling of getting a total kill combo when you get your super meter charged up.

When does the game get fun?
- The game is fun. Killling (oops) I mean dusting the stages does get fun. When you get a combo it does make the game more enjoyable

Where does the game feels lacking?
- The precision controls will drive you insane. Everything needs to be timed in the precise moment. You will end up falling down from time to time and that does kill the mood of the gameplay.

How did I rate it?
- Fun for a couple of hours. This game is meant to be in short short burst. If you have time to kill and are a gulton for punishment I suggest pick this game up

Status: Played a couple of hub worlds and I call it a night. Deleted and never looking downloading it again.

A Boy and His Blob

Man this game was fun until physics killed it 

Genre: Platformer

Platform: Ps Vita

Who will like to play this game?

- This game is a remake of the classic SNES title with the same name. If you like physics based games, you will like this game

What will I expect?
- Puzzle solving and blob manipulation

- A warm and fuzzy feeling inside

When does the game get fun?
- Ok the game is not that fun. I was just liking the relationship that the boy and his blob was having. The game has a very serious one hit kill situation where anything you hit, fall or touch will send you to your death. There was one place where I kept dying until I rage quit.

Where does the game feels lacking?
- The whole premise feels a bit too slow. The Snes port was a bit faster than the Vita port. They did however update the graphics to HD quality which is good but the gameplay did not survive the test of time in my opinion.

How did I rate it?
-If you can get pass level 12 and figure our the puzzle I am sure this game will be an enjoyable run. But for those who doesn't have the time and patience, I would suggest to skip this game out.

Status: Rage quit after level 12

The Wolf Among Us

First game of the year. Let's try a new style of review

Game no: 189

Genre: Adventure 

Platform: PS Vita 

Who will like to play this game?

- Those who love a great narrative. This game offers 4 branches of dialogue and each decision we made will change the outcome of the story.

What will I expect?
- Lots and lots of cut scenes.

When does the game get fun?
- The games is never fun. But the story is so interesting that this game feels like a day off playing.

Where does the game went wrong?
- The game is not totally great. The vita port is lacking in response time, so some of the Quick Time Events are a bit too fast to react. This makes the games itself feels less enjoyable.

How did I rate it?
- Fun for one time. You need to play at least 3 times to experience the full story. But its mostly the same thing.

Status: Finish the game and the main story line

(700th post) 

Jak 3

The last game which in my opinion is the best

Game no: 175

Genre: Action 

Platform: PS Vita

First Played: 2004 (PS2)

What's is it about:

The story continues with new environment and a dessert now.

Gameplay consist of:

- Jumping

- Fighting

- Platforming

- Shooting 

- Vehicle jacking

- Racing 

- Upgrading Weapons

- Escort missions

- Puzzle solving

- Skating

- Evolving into Dark Jak

- Evolving into Light Jak

- Car Combat

- Dessert Exploration

What I liked: 

- The storyline and voiceover is great. More cutscenes

- The stages are well crafted 

- No load times

- The city is big and you rarely feel lost

- The bikes handle well

- The dessert has more challenges

- The dessert cars has a mad max feel to it

- The weapon is just one weapon with 4 different transformations

- Skate returns but not as much .

- 12 different weapons to choose from.

- Game is not as hard as before 

- Ending was awesome

What I didn't Liked:

- The game gets hard as nail after mission 59. I do notice these stages are relatively short. But the intense difficult makes the game a bit longer.

- The cars handles good but physic are like jelly. Car jerks around to much.

- Need to collect precursor orbs to upgrade weapons and cars. Which extend the game time but its very tedious. 

Vita port (what's wrong with it)

- Framerate is stable. (30 Fps)

- The L2, L3 and R3, R2 button are mapped at the back which makes you accidentally hit it by accident. 

Status: Played until the last 8 mission. After dying for the 50th time. Just youtube it until the end credit. It still counts 

Score: A rare gem, worth to be played once (but not on Vita)

Severed

The finger is mightier that the joystick.

Game no: 178

Genre: Adventure

Platform: PS Vita

What's is it about:

A girl who lost his family and severed his hand travel to underworld to located them.

Gameplay consist of:

- Hand swiping. The hand is the sword. Short swipes for small damage. Long swipes for high damage. Charged swipes for powerful damage.

- Exploring 

- Puzzle solving

- Metroidvania. 

What I liked: 

- The story is interesting 

- There are 7 different variants of enemies each different ways to kill them

- The upgrade system and crafting 

What I didn't Liked:

- The enemies spawns to fast. Gets harder in the end

- The cloud boots doesn't seem to work. Or the timer in those boot makes it hard to fight 

- The bosses are hard as nails

Status: Finish the story till the end credits.

Score: Worth to be played at least once.

The Amazing Spider-Man

Spider-Man, Spider-Man does what ever a console Spider-Man...

Game no: 177

Genre: Action 

Platform: PS Vita

What's is it about:

Follows the events after the first Amazing Spider-Man movie. Follows a new villain but old friends and enemies  

Gameplay consist of:

- Web swinging around New York

- Combat

- Stealth

- Puzzle Solving

- Fetch catching 

What I liked: 

- The story is interesting enough to follow till the end. 

- Web swinging around New York is damn satisfying

- Active dynamic combat works and doesn't work. It is a mixed bag.  

- Web rush mode makes it easy to stop time.

- Unlimited webbing.

What I didn't Liked:

- Stealth sucks.. Sometime it works, sometime it doesn't

- The dynamic clothing gets torn off when you get hit too much. In then you'll be 60% naked

- Fetch quest get tedious.

- Spider-Man is not that strong. Get's shots easily.

Status: Finish all 12 chapters until the 13th chapter. Considered it done

Score: Great way to waste time. 

Jet Set Radio

Plays like the dreamcast version. This game is a like an old cat... Still good to look at but does not age well.

Game no: 176

Genre: Action 

Platform: PS Vita

What's is it about:

Street gangs fight to control the city by using 

Gameplay consist of:

- Skating

- Executing tricks 

- Graffiti-ing 

What I liked: 

- Stages has a lot of entr and points and rails to grind 

- Grafitti painting never gets bored 

- Each character has a unique stats and personality 

- New challengers are quite fun to execute

- Camera is not free roam. Due to the fact the dreamcast has one analog stick 

What I didn't Liked:

- The constant getting of spray cans when you run out 

- The map is confusing to read 

- The timer doesn't help because the game ramps up difficulty after you paint a couple of walls. The trick is to plan your path ahead of time.

Status: This game is true to the dreamcast port. Nothing has change even the controllers. Played till the last 3 started and keep on dying. Decided to just YouTube the rest.

Score: Worth to be played at least once 

Ultratron

Another dual stick shooter

Genre: Shooter

Platform: PS Vita

What's is it about:

Some kind of space invaders clone where you control a robot with 360 degrees of motion

Gameplay consist of:

- Shooting

- Avoiding obstacles  

- Upgrading

What I liked: 

- Shooting is fun even though movement is a bit janky

- Upgrading weapons system is good but not as great as Titans Attack

What I didn't Liked:

- You die very fast.

- Enemies you kill, you need to go over there and collect points to get money. Very tedious system.

Status: Played until the 2nd level. Didn't beat the game 

Score: You'll be bored after a couple of hours

Jak II

Dark souls of action platformers

Game no: 174

Genre: Action 

Platform: PS Vita

First Played: 2002 (PS2)

What's is it about:

The continuation of Jak and Daxter but this time it is set in a city. Like GTA.

Gameplay consist of:

- Jumping

- Fighting

- Platforming

- Shooting 

- Vehicle jacking

- Racing 

- Upgrading Weapons

- Escort missions

- Puzzle solving

- Skating

- Evolving into Dark Jak

What I liked: 

- The storyline and voiceover is great. More cutscenes

- The stages are well crafted 

- No load times

- The city is big and you rarely feel lost

- The bikes handle well

- The weapon is just one weapon with 4 different transformations

- Skate plays a huge part in the game. When it work, it good.

- This is the longest action game I've played. Clocking in at 18 hours ++

What I didn't Liked:

- Where do I start... The game is hard as nails. The segments are less than 5 minutes long. Assuming you have cat like button reflexes and can make every jump in one continuous motion

- There are some stages where it will take a while to reach checkpoint. Then you keep dying again and again.

- The skating segments are hit and a miss. the grinding seems uneven and you keep falling down.

- The transformation its not a intuitive until you get the final upgrade

- The traffic in the city is a mess. You will end up hitting a guard and it will cause everyone to fire you. 

Vita port (what's wrong with it)

- Framerate is stable. (30 Fps

- The L2, L3 and R3, R2 button are mapped at the back which makes you accidentally hit it by accident. 

Status: Played until the last 5 mission. After dying for the 50th time. Just youtube it until the end credit. It still counts 

Score: A rare gem, worth to be played once (but not on Vita)

Jak and Daxter: The Precursors Legacy

Do not play this game on your vita for the first time...

Game no: 171

Genre: Action 

Platform: PS Vita

First Played: 2000 (PS2)

Factory Sealed: 148

What's is it about:

A action platformer where a guy and an ottsel travel the whole land searching for artifacts.

Gameplay consist of:

- Jumping

- Fighting

- Platforming

What I liked: 

- The storyline and voiceover is great

- The stages are well crafted 

- No load times

What I didn't Liked:

- This game is a real gem so there is nothing I don't like do I am going to complain on the vita version

Vita port (what's wrong with it)

- Framerate is teribble (the lowest is around 15fps)

- Buggy all around (especially the swings)

Status: Beat the game until the end credits. With 80 powercells

Score: A rare gem, worth to be played multiple times (but not on Vita)

LEGO Batman 2

Way better than Batman v Superman

Game no: 170

Genre: Action 

Platform: PS Vita

What's is it about:

Batman needs to save Gotham from Joker and Lex Luthor

Gameplay consist of:

- Puzzle solving 

- Fighting 

- Costume changing

- Hero swapping 

- Lego Building 

What I liked: 

- The story line is funny and enjoyable (mostly the reason you play the game)

- Different Batman and Robin skins

- Play as other DC heroes

What I didn't Liked:

- The game gets repetitive after 2 stages. You probably stick with it due to the easiness of the gameplay.

Status: Beat the game until the end credits. Unlock more modes.

Score: Great way to waste your time. Really you can watch tv while playing this 

Titan Attacks!

Asteroids for the 21st century

Game no: 168

Genre: Shooter

Platform: PS Vita

What's is it about:

Titan's have invaded the earth. It's up to one tank to stop them.. Really just one tank???

Gameplay consist of:

- Shooting

- Weapon upgrades

- Boss Battles 

What I liked: 

- Shooting mechanic

- Upgrading is fun

- Shield needs to be refilled so you can survive the whole game 

- When you die it will save all you upgrades 

What I didn't Liked:

- After the 100 wave you can continue but when you die you have to start at wave 80.

Status: Beat the game until the final Titan 

Score: A rare gem. Worth to be played multiple times.

Aqua Kitty Dx

That was a waste of $1.99

Genre: Shooter

Platform: PS Vita

What's is it about:

Milk supply is running low. But it is available in the earth's core. So a group of cats explorers have to drill in the earth's core. It's our job to protect them from the aliens. Oh yeah, it is in 8-bit

Gameplay consist of:

- Shooting

- Saving the miners

What I Liked: 

- The story is downright absurd.

- The shooting is fun

What I didn't Liked:

- The game gets repetitive after a couple of stages.

Status: Played 4 stages and then I was done. 

Score: You'll be bored after a couple of minutes.