Back(log) to the Front: Weeks 23 and 24

Super Smash Bros Ultimate

Does anyone actually care what I have to say about Super Smash Bros Ultimate? It’s a love letter to all the previous ones while also keeping things fresh with the Souls system. Yet…I’m still awful and flounder in every battle. That’s okay. I still have fun.

Of course some of the most fun is the collection aspect. Not only unlocking all of the characters or winning new music, but the inclusion of Souls adds more to the game for suckers like me. It scratches that same part of my brain that Pokemon does – I have to have them all. Even if I don’t have any intention of using them…gimme gimme gimme.

The fighting is still as hectic as ever with characters darting everywhere and items causing more chaos to use or avoid. The World of Light is like a huge arcade mode of sorts letting you decide how to tackle a huge world as you creep towards the final boss. It’s larger than I expected and there isn’t any rhyme or reason as to how I’m tackling it, but it’s open enough for you to do it that way. Aside from blocked paths requiring certain spirits to progress, the paths are yours to explore.

I haven’t spent any time with the mini games or stage builder as of yet, but it’s cool they are included. It helps make the “Ultimate” part of the name more on point. I like that the stage builder allows for online downloads so you can test ones others have built, and I can only imagine the amount of ding dongs to swing from that people have created on there.

I’m not going to go hard into Super Smash Bros Ultimate. It’s just a fun time sink that I’ll never devote the time required to be great at this game. But there’s plenty of game here and I’ll continue to chip away at it from time to time. If anything, it’ll be fun to get some multiplayer in with family during holidays and get togethers.

MeiQ: Labyrinth of Death

MeiQ: Labyrinth of Death is a first person dungeon role-playing game from developer Compile Heart. I have a tendency to never finish these games, and this one will be no different. While I have somewhat enjoyed my time with it, there were far too many drawbacks to keep going.

First off, if you like your big boobie anime girl games, MeiQ: Labyrinth of Death falls in with those games. Damn near every girl has a design to make you scramble for the power button to avoid your wife noticing. Even if you can get past that, the designs in other areas such as your guardians (robot partners) or the enemies are nothing extravagant. Kind of plain in a way. Perhaps things get more interesting further down the road, but quite a few hours in and nothing has left a lasting impression (other than the boobies!).

The battle system is slightly intriguing in that you can arm your guardians with different arms providing attack variations including combos. Equipping different designs or stones can also improve the base stats making them more capable in battle. The main characters have less options (stones only outside of select dress options for Estra) making them more of a fallback option outside of some magic they possess. Aside from that, the turn-based battle system is a drag and not really a fun thing to engage in.

The story could be interesting, but nothing so far has grasped my attention. Every so many years the stars stop rotating and a group of individuals with special abilities have to conquer beings in four towers to restart the stars. So far I’ve ran into essentially fetch quests requiring me to venture back to a previous dungeon to locate an item to progress in a current one. The back and forth is somewhat dull and moving through dungeons is a slog. Some dungeons are also more frustrating than others (long distances traveled for dead ends) so its concerning every time a new dungeon is started since you don’t know what you’ll get.

Yet…despite my complaints….I don’t really hate the game. I know I won’t continue, but it’s because I know there are other options out there to play. MeiQ: Labyrinth of Death has some great things about it that don’t go far enough. And I’m only willing to go so far as well.

Sonic the Fighters

Well…I had a feeling it was bad….and I wasn’t wrong. But I was curious, and you know what they say about curiosity killing (Big) the cat. I saw it on PlayStation Now and gave it a shot.

Now, I’m bad at fighters. This game…somehow I’m even worse. Literally just kick and punch my way through as I was unable to land the more special moves whether it simple throws or quick leaps/glides at the enemies. Fortunately on easy mode, kicking and punching works the majority of the way through, though you only need to do it with one character since each ends the same and is equally disappointing.

I do have to say though…I kind of like how the game looks. There are only eight (eleven if you count the hidden) playable characters in the game ranging from Sonic to Knuckles to even Espio. Because of their simple designs, the polygons that make up their look hold up somewhat well. Rudimentary sure, but not as bad as I had assumed for an old Sega CD game.

Even the animations aren’t that bad. While the gameplay is atrocious, launching characters or flattening them like a pancake still works. The stages are small and lacking in anything appealing though and the nod to losing rings when being hit leads to an unending tune of annoyance as it uses the same soundbyte as the main games. Over and over again with each hit. It becomes grating.

Sonic the Fighters is not good. It still looks great for the most part, but it’s boring and doesn’t have fun gameplay. If you have the nerve to try it, you could finish a characters’ arcade mode in under 10 minutes. Just depends if you feel that it’s worth it.

Another batch of games out the door. I’m finding myself checking out How Long To Beat in an effort to decide how many games I tackle in any given week. I have a few in mind for the next few weeks, but we will see how that plays out.