Recent reviews by Carrionjr

Do you like playing Diablo single player? If you do, then Torchlight is for you.

Made from Ex Blizzard staff, torchlight is a hack and slash that has you delve into the dungeons below the town to destroy creatures corrupted by ember and stop an evil force from destroying the world. You can pick from 3 different classes that match what was available in Diablo (a Warrior, Rouge and Magic user, though they are renamed to the Destroyer, Vanquisher and Alchemist).

While offering many of the same options as diablo, it does have a few differences that sets it apart. While each dungeon is random (same as Diablo) and the characters skill progressions works much the same as Diablo 2 (some skills feed other skills) you do have a few new options. Your character can have a pet assigned, that helps by sending loot back to down. There is a fishing minigame where the characters can use the fish they capture for different effects, and to transform their pet into something different. You can at any point retire your hero, which grants an heirloom to your new character with some of their skills and stats, which in effect servers as a new game+ mode (which can be accessed at any time as once you pick a difficulty level its locked for that character.

The difficulty varies wildly, depending on which class and skills you pick up, what loot you find, and the base difficulty. I played the Destroyer and found it quite fun and his skills were quite useful and suited for my play style, however on the hardest difficulty kiting was needed to progress. It got to a point where I was only able to kill a few monsters, retreat/heal before jumping back into the fray, as before my character was wading through an entire level of monsters and rarely using healing items. I’m not sure if I was under leveled for the area or needed better loot, but it got hard fast in a way that diablo never did. Don’t even get me started on the end boss. That was a nightmare.

The game offers native support for custom mods, which can be accessed at any point from the town map.

Graphically the game looks like a cuter version of Diablo- everything looks cartoony. The game isn’t aiming for a dark and depressing feel so the tone works quite well (even if you are trekking through Ruins, Crypts and other gloomy places). Similarly, the music and sound is the same, instead of screams and roars of creatures you get grunts and the effects of weapons clashing over the top of a relatively mild music score (again think of the Diablo music score with a lot of string instruments). A lot of the enemies are just reskins, with more hit points and extra abilities as you go deeper. I think the total amount of unique enemies (not including the re-skinned variants) sits somewhere between diablo 1 and 2 (but closer to 1).

You can gamble loot, and enchant items much like the Diablo series, and there are hatch quests to do if you want to take a break from the standard dungeon. If you have an itch to play something Diablo-ish but don’t want to play diablo then this is the game for you

If you are chasing 100% achievements then expect to become a master of this with multiple runs required, 5 hours speed runs, very hard hardcore mode, a run from each character type, hatch quest plus requiring mods to be installed.

Mighty No.9 should be a textbook case of how to not destroy the expectations of everyone who was craving this game. There hasn’t been a Megaman or Megaman X game in years, this should have been a cakewalk for this team to do and other studios have shown they can get very close to getting that Megaman feel. I’ll get this out of the way first- I’m not going to go into the gripes about the Kickstarter campaign, or the long wait, or all the other campaigns that were started before this way finished- they have been discussed to death already and you can check from other sources if you still wish to support the game by buying it.

The game is good fun if you leave your expectations at the door. If you are expecting a new Mega Man X game, then look elsewhere. The X series were forgiving in a way mighty No. 9 isn’t, and may staples of that series are missing from this game. If you were expecting a new Mega Man game, then you would be closer- the game is as unforgiving as Megaman was, and the stages require knowledge and a far greater timing of entering controls than what you would expect. I would say that this game is trying to as be close as it can to a Megaman game while trying to not be a Megaman clone. It’s confusing in this manner, and things are implemented in ways that you wouldn’t expect.

For me the biggest gripe I found were the controls weren’t as pinpoint as would like. I would often fall into a pit or miss time a jump when I’m sure I pressed the buttons on time. Pressing the button earlier would also lead to deaths so I’m not sure if it’s just me, but I felt a lot of the games frustrations were born from this one mechanic not working as I expected it to. Instead of destroying an enemy and picking up the health pill you have to weaken them and dash through them to recover health, it’s something that’s vastly different from every Megaman clone I’ve played. It adds a new element to this type of game that I can see adding a much-needed change to this type of game, however I can also see it putting a lot of people off. It does offer a consolidation that the missions do advise the boss’s weakness, which should be listened to as they aren’t a pushover. Unlike Meagman games where having the correct powerup would make you almost godlike when fighting the bosses, in Mighty No. 9 you still need to jump, dodge and scramble out of their way, while dashing to absorb their health to take them down. if you have the correct boss cured when taking on a different stage they can join you and help in different ways. It was a nice touch which I haven’t seen in a Megaman game.

Graphicly, the game isn’t anything special. It looks nice, and does what it needs to do, but doesn’t wow with either the effects or enemies. It might be because usually you are racing through the stages focusing on the path and enemies ahead. The only time you really stop are the areas where you are forced to fight in a constricted space where you are watching the background for attacks. I’ll admit that It does run very smooth however. The music didn’t grab me as much as the Megaman X Series did.

Story wise, its seems like it’s trying to be a lighter hybrid of both the original Megaman series and the X series, but doesn’t pull it off as well. You don’t destroy the bosses, but cure their infection (see a much nicer version of Megaman). I found a lot of the actual story was like it had already been covered in previous Megaman games (it’s not like there isn’t 20+ games in the Megaman series so some crossover is to be expected). The DR light copy wasn’t as inspired (I got the feeling it’s a more mature version of Flint Lockwood from Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs). The end boss is a poor mans infected Zero from Megaman X. It’s hard to shake that disappointment that there wasn’t something greater- I was expecting something else and it just feels like you have already been down this road. The lip syncing is terrible as deserves a mention of itself.

The boss fights can be interesting, however once you know their pattern and what they are weak to you with a bit of trial and error you can take them down. I didn’t find the powers you copy from them to be really inspired (other than the wind power and one of the others I used for the end boss I can’t really remember using them at all). I know I was missing the upgrades that the Megaman X series is famous for, I really wanted to hunt through the stages for secrets, power up the blaster and boss weapons for a super blast- it’s just all missing from this.

If you are chasing 100% achievements then I would advise you are going to be in for a very long slog- finishing the game within 60 mins- due to effort it takes to get used to the controls and timing it took me over that to clear the first stage!

I recommend this game but not as a Megaman clone, but of more a challenge game much like Super Meatboy.

If you haven’t played Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes then do that first before starting Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. If you have then strap yourself in for a fun, roller-coaster ride of betrayal, intrigue and murder as you slither and sneak your way across Afghanistan, Africa and your Diamond dogs base in order to enact revenge on those who destroyed your MSF base and killed all who were stationed on it.

This game is a masterpiece- the story twists and turns at every angle, and there are so many references to the Phantom Pain suffered by all major characters (not just the loss of your arm before being fitted with a replacement). Those who are new to the series might be confused as to who everyone is and about some of the previous events as they are mentioned regularly, but there is enough information provided (either through direct cut scenes or collectables) that by the middle to end of the game you can figure out majority of what is happening, only for the rug to be pulled out from underneath your feet right at the end.

The game is controlled as a open world 3rd person shooter, but vastly rewards players for not killing (killing will lower your overall mission rank). The 3rd person viewpoint is critical as it allows you to see a wider range, so you can spot anything that might detect you and give you away. It’s mostly open world, with missions limiting you to parts of the overall map, but giving you the freedom to tackle the mission how you want. I thought this was a great setup, and when the mission is done you can usually continue on your way with the open world exploration- there is lots to see, do and collect. You can use support characters that you gain throughout the game to support you in each mission, from Quiet, the mute female sniper to D.D. an orphaned wolf puppy that you find and raise. Each comes with their own equipment and abilities, and their usefulness will vary depending on mission. If you don’t look after them in mission then you have to wait for them to heal, so you can’t just send them in and expect them to do all the work. If you feel like a challenge you can do missions as someone other than Snake, each character has a full bio of abilities and stats. You can request supply drops and extra equipment as needed though it will cost you either money, materials or vehicles. The missions themselves are great, and many aren’t unlocked until others are complete, some just seeming to be there as filler, but others advancing side stories in conjunction of the main story as all the plot pieces slowly fall into place.

The graphics and attention to detail are amazing, you can see the rain roll down Snakes armor, when you do kill an enemy if you pick them up (to hide the body) Snake gets covered in blood. If you don’t shower when returning to base the soldiers stationed there will comment on your appearance and stench. Your actions in game also influence your appearance- if you continuously murder enemies or commit immoral actions (building a nuke) then you will gain a darker appearance, blood will always be on your armor and the shrapnel in your head will look like a large horn. If you perform good actions, such as rescuing hostages, stunning enemies (or destroying nukes) then this effect is reversed.

The music soundtrack is amazing as well, you pick up cassettes throughout the game and play them in your Walkman. You will likely need to stop listening to it quite regularly as you need to listen to mission briefs and updates that happen throughout the game, but that’s not an issue, and the voice work for all the characters is amazing.

The characterization and growth of characters displayed is amazing, from watching Snake try and fumble his way out of the hospital in the first mission, to replaying it at the end but with all the knowledge you have learned and seeing all the details that were initially missed is an eye opener. Watching Snake cope with the signs of PSTD when discovering mementoes of Paz, and dealing with Huey to finding out Quiets history all add character development and keeps on reinforcing the idea of Phantom Pain. The base building concept is great, making you want to go out of your way to collect base materials and collect soldiers with good stats. There is a point in the middle of the game where this concept is turned on its head (I thought it was an evil trick and I didn’t see it coming but well played) that again really drives home the concept of Phantom Pain.

The multiplayer component comes in the form of raiding other players bases for resources, staff and nukes. This adds an interesting dimension to the game, as you need all of the above items (except nukes) to upgrade your base and equipment, but if you stockpile it too long others can take it. If you don’t have the hero status, you can’t assault a base that has a nuke, but having a nuke makes you a very large target (and ruins your appearance).

If you are aiming for 100% achievements then it’s possible, but you will have to sink a lot of hours into the game, as there are a lot of side missions and collectables. I would recommend doing it, or at least finishing all the side missions as a fair chuck of the games plot isn’t explained until you do (Quiets disappearance)

There is a lot of DLC, but none of it is needed unless you like extra costumes for your characters to dress in, many which are references to previous games.

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes is an open world, 3rd person Action/Stealth set as the prologue for the full game Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. The first question you should ask is should I play this or just skip to the main meal that is Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain? I would recommend playing this, as it will introduce you to many of the game concepts that are used in The Phantom Pain. As someone who hasn’t played any of the Metal Gear games on previous systems it also introduces you a whole host of important characters, lore and the main antagonist of The Phantom Pain. You can also abduct/help certain people on the island that will appear as staff on your main base in The Phantom Pain, which will give you an early game boost to your bases ranking for upgrades.

You control Snake for all of the missions except a side mission which you control Raiden. I found controlling both characters fun (Raiden’s mission was about killing body snatcher aliens and was quite enjoyable). As snake you can slither, sneak, run and gun and hijack enemy vehicles to rescue Chico and Paz from XOF. The emergency evacuation side mission where you rescue Hideo Kojima, was a blast, and if you collect all the badges around the island there’s a funny scene of snake catching them- it’s nice to see these little touches though out the game. Unlike the Phantom Pain, Ground Zeroes rewards you being super quick through the missions, so the optional objects can mostly be skipped (I would recommend doing them to fully complete your experience, unlock the side op’s and pick up the logs to listen to what is happening).

The game itself is short, but since it’s a prologue that is to be expected. By the end of it I was eagerly awaiting the Phantom Pain’s release, as Ground Zeroes ending finishes on a cliff hanger. Some content has been censored as some of Paz’s tortures tapes can be quite distressing to listen to, and the ending is also difficult to watch once you know what Paz has been through.

The graphics and attention to detail look amazing, and the voicework is also really well done. If you are a fan of the series then snake’s main voice actor was replaced with Kiefer Sutherland (that is a different arguments) who does amazing work, and it shouldn’t let you be put off playing this (without giving away vast parts of the plot it makes sense for this to be the case in the Phantom Pain, but not so much in Ground Zeros).

Other than boycotting the Metal Gear series for Konami dreadful treatment of Hideo Kojima (the series creator) and replacing Snakes original voice actor (David Hayter) there is no reason to not own and play this.

Prototype is an open world, 3rd person action-adventure where you play as Alex Mercer, a man who is amnesic and finds himself hunted in a city where the blacklight virus outbreak is transforming people into monsters. Alex is armed with amazing abilities to change his body and absorb the genetic traits and memories of people and monsters he kills around him.

The games plays a lot like an open world GTA 3 or Saints Row 2, with superpowers instead of health pickups. Combat is satisfying as you destroy enemies (infected and military personnel), learn new abilities and hunt down memories from key targets to try and stop the infection spreading. Your Devastator abilities are fun to unleash, and can drastically turn a giant fight in your favor. High jacking helicopters and tanks is also good fun.

While the plot is explained in the game fairly well, it’s annoying when you miss a few of the key personnel walking around the city, as some of the finer plot points will be unknown until you find them (and they aren’t necessary to continue the main plot of the game). That said, it was still well done, and contained quite a few twists and kept dropping them all the way to the end of the game.

I thought the portrayal of key players in the game was very well done-the alpha hunter was a good concept, something very much like the creature from The Thing hunting you, and you don’t know where it is for majority of the game. I pitied the main antagonist (Elizabeth Greene), unlike most games she was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, and didn’t deserve anything of which happened to her (you could argue the same for Alma in the F.E.A.R series). It’s good to see that Alex isn’t trying to be a hero (the ends justify the means in stopping the virus), and as you play it’s easy to forget about the innocents that you consume in your quest to stop it. Consuming a bystander and then going into disguise mode was also good, though very easy to break out of. (and almost unused by the end of the game).

This just might be the best short movie ever made. It is everything that made the 80's great, in one place. Anyone who can hack time with a Nintendo power golve deserves the title of Hackerman!

Evoland is overview of how RPG’s have changed over the last 20 years, ending with the Super Nintendo / Playstation 1 era. While the games plot is a very high overview of Final Fantasy 7 and Zelda (most of the characters names are direct copies of FF7 with a slightly different spelling) the real interesting concept of the game is the Game’s meta, which evolves as you advance further into the game.

You start out with something that looks like it was made in the 80’s, with gameplay styles and menus from the very old-school RPG’s and as you beat each dungeon/boss it upgrades to a new era (I remember playing some of the older RPG’s and it’s just as painful now to look at). Even items bought from shops affects the game in this style, such as more RAM (to make some of the animations more fluid) or another upgrade which reduces the time it takes to save the same.

Each area of the map is heavily influenced by the age it is trying to depict, with the late 80’s early 90’s era having fake walls in dungeons, gaining color and moving from 8 bit sprites with no animation to 16 bit sprites, the late 90’s moving from random turn based battles to real time battles (think Secret of Mana), to something that looks a lot like the Nintendo 3DS graphics used for the Final Fantasy remakes. Hats off to a battle that looks like it uses mode7 (used in Some Super Nintendo games where things focus on the center of the screen and the background/stage rotates around it.)
The music is likewise based on the era, and fits the theme of the game. It’s not going to win any awards, but each map/area’s music fits the stage well, and brings back a sense of nostalgia.

The only gripe I can really think about on this game is it’s not very long, so you will likely finish it in one or two sittings. This is including doing everything for all the achievements (unless you have never played a RPG and have no idea of the methods the older games used like fake walls).

There are some hidden collectables scattered around the world to collect (with a hint much like the old Zelda games), so there is something other than powering through the stages to do, but there isn’t great enemy diversity (I think most areas have 3-4 enemies) so each area gets repetitive quickly.

I would recommend it if you like RPG’s and want to talk a quick walk down nostalgia lane.

NARUTO SHIPPUDEN: Ultimate Ninja STORM 4 is a fun, 3D arena fighter that while being simplistic in design can take a while to master. It has its flaws but is still worth playing and is a must have if you like the Naruto Manga or anime. STORM 4 continues where STORM 3 left off (STORM Revolution being ignored other than one or two fights), and focuses on the last arc of the 4th Great Ninja War, including Obito’s decent into darkness and why he became the masked man, Sasuke reviving the previous Hokage, the 10 tails battles, Kabuto’s redemption, the final battle against Kaguya and the final battle
between Naruto and Saskue.

There are now forks in the story progression, which allows for you to break up the story of who you are using (eg Naruto or Sasuke). You still have to do all of the battles in the arc to move onto the next chapter, but it lets you mix it up if you are getting bored of using certain characters. I found this time around a lot of the battles are a lot harder - the enemies have four health bars to your two, and there are a lot of interactive battles (press a button at a certain time). To get an S rank you also need to finish with over 90% health and there are no recovery items (no ninja tools)- this makes getting a S rank a matter of grinding some missions (there’s only one mission that had me screaming at the screen- whoever made the Might Guy vs Madara fight needs to be taken out back and beaten. You can just select the Movies and stills to watch (once you have beaten the corresponding fight), so it’s nice that you can re-watch the game at a later date.

The game is animated very well, and the main game is voiced all the way through. For some strange reason, some missions have a full cut scene while some are just stills with a voice over. It does distract from the experience, luckily not many missions have the stills/voice over so it’s like playing the Anime. I found that this game focused a lot on the villain’s, you play a fair chuck of the game as Tobi, the masked man, Obito, Kubuto. It was interesting to do the some of the fights from previous games from a different perspective, but that does seem to be a lot of what Naruto is about. As with the previous games, most of the fights devolve into a spamming combo’s, ninja attacks, and ultimate’s. Since they all have different ranges and ways of connecting, it does turn into a game of rock paper scissors until you have a good take on the opposition. The music sounds like it has in all the other STORM games, likely it has been reused, which isn’t a bad thing as I’m sure some of it comes from the Anime.

There are plenty of customization that can be done, some things unlock from playing the game and DLC’s, other things have to be purchased in “the store” (Naurto’s in game store where you trade money and items you have picked up from battles for title cards, pictures ect)

Adventure mode plays much like STORM Revolution, you have your town, places to visit and people that need help. There are plenty of grindy quests to be done in all of them, but they are much easier (Ninja tools). A trial of the gales plays like Sakura’s dating service, trying to set Naurto and Hinata up together- it has its moments of humor and is obviously set before the Naruto: The Last movie. There are a few DLC packs that can be purchased, Shikamura’s DLC focuses on Shikamura and the other ninjas of the hidden leaf, following their progress after the final battle. It is heavily tied onto Gaara’s DLC, as they follow the same meeting between the Hokage and the Kazekage, but from different viewpoints. It’s also fun watch Ino try and set Shikamura and Temari up before turning her attention towards Sai. After the meeting with the Hokage, Gaara leans what is means to be the Kazekage from the other Kage. A lot of the battles use different characters other than those used in the main story, and since the cast is very large it’s a good way get players to use some of the less used characters. One of the features that I thought was missing was ring outs, but they do appear (infrequently) in the adventure mode.

Boruto’s tale follows the plot of the Boruto movie, but plays much the same as above. Majority of adventure mode is just stills with voice over the top instead of being fully animated- I thought this was a shame and let adventure mode down compared to the main game.

There is a fair choice of stages to select, and some of the stages have destructible backgrounds (Konoha village is a great example. I thought this was a very nice touch, and I don’t remember seeing it in the previous games). There are other stages that have some obstacles on the course, which can help/hinder depending on your character.

The survival and tournament league make a return- for more grindy achievement fun.

If you are chasing 100% achievements then it’s possible, but be prepared to grind some of them out. At least there’s no RNG so once you know what you are doing, it’s just a matter of putting it into practice.
I thought this was a solid ending for the STORM series.

Of Orcs and Men is an action RPG, that allows you to control the massive elite Orc warrior Arkail, and the assassin goblin Styx. Finally, a game that deviates away from the tried and true Orcs are bad and need to be killed trope, Of Orcs and Men lets you play as both on your quest to kill the emperor and free Orc-kind from slavery.

Set in a medieval time, Orcs are a hunted race. Those not killed in battle are enslaved to work on the wall, a massive structure that divides the human nation from the Orcs lands, or sent to work in the mines, which is usually a death sentence. Goblins fair worse, as no-one knows where they have come from and since they can’t be trained they are usually purged on sight. I found the plot and setting to be very well done, and it was good that even though you are doing evil acts (there is a lot of murder in this game), the game presented them in such a way it doesn’t feel like evil- this age is worse than the dark ages, and only the smartest and strongest survive. It felt refreshing to play as “the bad guys” in a sense, as those around them are worse and I feel by the end of it your actions are justified. You control Arkail & Styx (at the same time) and murder and stomp your way across the human nation killing everything in your way. It’s also good to see that Arkail and Styx don’t get along (not until their personal quests and done near the end at least- as they know each other’s past), so it’s fun listening to them ♥♥♥♥♥ and snap at each other.

Gameplay wise it can get a little repetitive, usually sneaking around an area with Styx to assassinate as many enemies as you can, before going into a real-time mode of pounding whatever is left. Styx is good for kiting, killing un-armored enemies and archers, while Arkail is good for pounding anything into the ground. Both have two skill tree’s they can level up, and while on easier settings you can pick a few dud upgrades, on harder settings that will hurt you. Some of the fights are broken up where you only have one character to control, so your usual strategies fly out the window when this happens, and if your upgrades aren’t chosen wisely then you might find some fights nearly impossible to get through. The split in the upgrade tree right before the end was really good, and lets you choose which aspect of each character you want to focus on (either controlling Arkail’s rage or unleashing it and either Styx’s gaining magic or better assassination skills). I must say Arkail’s raging and going uncontrollable early in the game was frustrating, but by the end I loved it (just keep Styx away from him). Most of the missions are linear, though some offer a few different paths through them. There are plenty of side missions for extra items and XP, and believe me you want the XP for the endgame upgrades (they are that good).

While I found Styx, Arkail and a few of the other main characters were designed very well, the environment backgrounds looked a little dated/blurred, but I thought they were still good, and I found the voicework to be well done. The music just plays in the background, it’s nice but I didn’t find any music scores that really stood out from the rest. You will likely be focusing on Arkail and Styx bickering at each other.

If you are chasing 100% achievements then it entirely possible, but you might want one or two playthroughs to make sure you know which upgrades to pick.

Set in the free state of Berlin, after the dragon Firewing awakened and attacked it you play a Shadowrunner who is contacted by a old colleague to perform a job. Like all good games this run goes bottom up pretty quickly and sets the stage for you to investigate who commissioned your job, why it went bottom up and what you need to do to end the threat (if you want to).

The characters in Dragonfall are great- each has a personality, their own problems and thoughts, from the tough as nails Eiger to the emotionally dead Glory. Talking to them between missions can open up new quests (each with their own outcome- you can fail these) to revealing a little more about their character. The plot twists and turns constantly- nothing is straight forward in this game, and my revenge plan quickly disappeared as I had to thing of the greater picture in the end. There are a whole range of options that will sway the ending, not just what you advise your comrades to do but what you do during missions will count as well. Some of the missions contain great moral choices, which can be a tough choice between what might be the right thing (a loose term for ethics in a dog eat dog world) and cold hard cash.

You have more options in missions this time around, and while you are a still limited to which ones you can select at major points in the game (it’s usually 2-3 missions per major story mission), the city hub gives you a lot more things to do and characters to talk to. There are a few faces back from the first game, and there are enough references from the events in the first game to make the world connected (there is a great cameo from one of the characters in the third game). Customising your character is easy and straight forward, with missions allowing you to pick who you want (there are a few instances of forced companions). The missions contain a lot more options in them now, hacking and Etiquette options are used more often now, which make more viable character builds.

The city hub does allow you to do more things, but it’s still limited in scope- this would be my biggest (and only) gripe. I did like having a bomb shelter named after me though.


if you are chasing 100% achievements for this game, then its easily done, but you will likely need a few saves.