Recent reviews by Haptimastós

Therapeutic.

Buff Wolverine. Or rework him into a tank. Please.

I love Dizzy.

I've greatly, GREATLY enjoyed Rivals of Aether 1. Honestly, I prefer its movement and overall game-feel to Smash Bros. My biggest issue with the game right now is that, pretty much none of the characters that I play ended up in the base roster, with those being: Etalus, Sylvanos, Ori, and Clairen.

The one that did, Clairen, feels completely different from Rivals 1 in my opinion. Clairen feels sluggish, clunky, and unsatisfying. Hitting tippers in Rivals 1 wasn't difficult at all but, it always felt satisfying and more importantly, it always felt like I actually deserved the hit. Between the weekend beta, steam next fest, and my little time with the full release; I can't tell you how many times I've said aloud, "What the ♥♥♥♥, that was a tipper?" She's always been a very newbie friendly but she somehow feels even more dumbed down than her original version.

It's incredibly disappointing since, I've been playing Krag to switch things up and, he feels pretty much exactly like he does in Rivals 1. (Maybe a little bit better even.) It's not all negative, I feel like Ranno plays much better in Rivals II but nonetheless, he's not my kind of character. I wouldn't have bought the game if future additions to the roster weren't free.

I would say that I'm pretty experienced with gatcha games. I've dabbled in a bunch of them over the years but I've only ever felt like two were worth actually forking out some dosh on, this one is pretty damn good honestly, going off of my first impression. The story is a bit of a mess but it still has potential. Give it a shot!

Needs more Ork's.

d('^'d)

Please add a third accessory slot, I'm trying to make a Makima costume for Leo. d('^'d)

(Edit: Please add Akuma as a DLC fighter. It would be incredibly funny.)

Thank you, dev's. d('^'d)

This game is what happens when you take a bunch of good stuff and throw it in a blender. The fast, unrelenting, perfectionist inducing, loop of violence and general aesthetic offered by Hotline Miami, a hint of Katana Zero in comedic energy and visual flair, and finally, a WHOLE lot of Post Void. (Later referred to as PV) The time mechanic, frantic gun play, and general structure are clearly heavily inspired by PV. I don't think this is any secret or something they're trying to hide either considering the most useless and bizarre upgrade from that game rears its ugly head here too, IYKYK.
Just wanna preface by saying no shade to PV, it's a game I haven't finished and have only borrowed off a buddy for an hour or two but I had far more fun here and need to accentuate why that is. If you gotta choose, I'd grab this one but they're both good in their own right. (I say before directly comparing them for the rest of the review ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ) The reasons why I like MMJ more are mainly stemming from the inspirations I listed earlier, which i’ll discuss later, but the key piece here is the boot.

The boot is the best part of this game. (This section is about movement but boot is more eye-catching, aint it?) I have an inkling that the developer's knew this considering sneakers are the primary reward.
The dash in PV is pretty brief and doesn't have any invulnerability or damaging properties. This works well considering the level design is far more chaotic and difficult to navigate, enemies are built to slow you down and make the time mechanic more of a fear than an adrenaline booster. (At least from my experience and taking into account the more abstract and eerie art direction) I assumed this game would be the same so I spent half of the first floor just kinda tapping sprint for quick little boosts until I realized how you’re actually supposed to play.
Now I need to break the thought here to establish something important. It was mentioned earlier in regards to PV, level design. To my knowledge the game is pretty much entirely randomly generated but no matter what the layout is with quick reactions no sidetracking or stuttering is required. The game rewards cooler, more difficult kills with more time. Headshots, nut shots, Doom Eternal style finishers (Made available by picking up items lying around), and most prominently, environmental kills. The way you’re supposed to dash is long strides gotten by holding the button. When you past the peak of your momentum, dash again. Continue this rhythm to make a mad dash towards the exit, mowing down anything in sight along the way. You can indulge in the boot with two methods: dashing into something or right clicking. Dashing into things automatically booting enemies really lets that rhythm cook. Most of the enemy placement is built to condition you into knowing when to shoot and when to boot. Environmentals nets you time, ammo in the clip, and a sweet, sweet dopamine hit.
The coolest moments I’ve had in this game are times where I can look at a layout and not even think about an enemy in front of me. I can walk through a corridor knowing who I can just walk into and boot which just leaves nailing what I actually have to aim at. This type of decision making is only encouraged by a later enemy type that can’t be shot. You have to use a finisher or whip out the boot.


The rest of the gameplay is solid. I like all of the weapons outside of the Plasma Rifle and MAC-10.
Going through them, the swords are good. The main difference between the two from what I could decipher is that flame is pure damage and ice was able to freeze enemies. Freeze was good for beefier foes from a distance since all you needed was a nice boot to the head to take’em out after but I still preferred being able to just kill from range without needing to run over and finish the job. Biggest boon of swords is taking out locked doors and their upgrades being really solid.
The shotgun gets all the positives of a sword from longer range but more tactful reloading is needed since the animation is pretty damn long.
Pistol and Rifle are my favorites, putting them in the same category since I don’t have much of a preference between them. They’re the most satisfying to do well with, right next to the joke weapon. (One of my favorites in a game. Yes, really.)
The MAC-10 is the easiest weapon to use, it didn’t feel very satisfying no-braining my way through with it. It’s a good weapon and all and at a visceral level feels better after upgrading but still didn’t jive with what I like about the game.
The Plasma Rifle slows you down. The game is about going fast so nah. It’s good and all but it’s just kind of a turn-off. If it was a normal boomer shooter I wouldn’t really have complaints about it at all but honestly I dunno why it’s here.
The first time I used the railgun was the final boss. It’s fun, I kinda like it, but again it’s pretty slow. If you wanna get better at using the boot it’s a fun challenge though.
There aren’t any specific upgrades or anything I feel inclined to talk about. Most of them are pretty good, some of them are kinda useless and I dunno why they exist, some of them are things I wish were there on default. They almost make me wish this game would get DLC to further flesh out the pool, maybe add a new weapon? Compound bow? Chainsaw?
The soundtrack is good, not as good as the inspirations I listed earlier, but they’re all easy on the ear, lo-fi, synth bangers with some slick chip-tune tracks mingled in. (“Second Life, Sort Of…” & “Chrome Arena” specifically go hard though.) Final note on the soundtrack, just thought it was a neat reference, but the song “JankenPOW” sounded a lot like “ EEEAAAOOO[www.youtube.com]” to me.
Moving on, the visuals are pretty spectacular. There’s some iffy looking stuff in the later cutscenes and I guess I’m not a big fan of some of the voice acting but I like Jack and that’s all that really matters; considering he’s the only one you can’t mute or skip without turning voice volume off. From a surface level perspective that’s all I can criticize. When it comes to stuff I want to praise? Just look at it.
The only thing I really wanna note here as a little extra praise is the subtitles. Assuming this is a neat little reference to older anime translations back in the 90’s some of the text just flat out isn’t what’s being said. Same general message, it’s not like Ghost Stories adlibbing, it’s just a little bit off here and there which was fun to notice. It was consistent enough I felt like it had to be an intended decision rather than a bunch of typos.

Hopefully you’re convinced that it’s worth your time. One of the few times I’ve seen a game, thought it was cool, waited for launch day, and it was actually good.